text:
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<title>DocumentTaskRunner.processArtifact - biomedicus-core</title>
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biomedicus-core / edu.umn.biomedicus.framework / DocumentTaskRunner / processArtifact

processArtifact

fun processArtifact(artifact: Artifact): Unit


Sir David Attenborough has urged global action on climate change, saying it is the greatest threat humanity has ever faced.
The famous documentary-maker also blasted world leaders for not taking the danger seriously.
"The awful thing ... is that people in authority and power deny that when the evidence is overwhelming," he said.
"They do that because it's easier."
Attenborough has joined a growing chorus of calls for action on climate change, including US President Barack Obama and Pope Francis.
At the end of the year world leaders will meet for a landmark climate change summit in Paris, where they hope to agree on methods of tackling the danger.


As a small business owner, and new homeowner, I realize the financial challenges that many of us face. Big businesses and large conglomerates look at small projects as a nuisance. I see them as an opportunity. No project is too small. Maybe you only need a light switch or receptacle replaced. Give me a call, I would be glad to help.
EUREKA! Electric was founded in 2008 for the purpose of providing homeowners and small businesses with expert electrical troubleshooting and repair at low, affordable prices.
My primary focus is on electric service replacement, main panel replacement, and general residential wiring and repair. We also install residential backup power systems. There's a lot of talk these days about what would happen if we lost our electrical grid through some natural or man-made disaster. A back-up power generator can take the worry out of that. From a small stand-by unit to power just the heat, refrigeration and a few lights, to a full size whole-house back-up power system. We can give you peace of mind.
Copyright © EUREKA! Electric, LLC. All Rights Reserved.


This website (this "Site") is owned and operated by Buck and provides information about the services offered by the Buck.
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text:
What is the top 10 Disney song?
What is the most listened to song?
1. Ed Sheeran – Shape of You 3223393957
2. The Weeknd – Blinding Lights 3128061347
3. Tones And I – Dance Monkey 2642704868
4. Post Malone, 21 Savage – rock star 2489462596
Was Disney Encanto a flop?
Animated feature films Walt Disney and his studio launched into the feature…
Did Encanto beat Frozen?
Encanto's "We Don't Talk About Bruno" topped the Billboard Hot 100, beating out Frozen's "Let It Go" to become the first Disney song to top the chart in 29 years.
Which movies did Encanto beat? Encanto surpassed Frozen's "Let It Go" as Disney's biggest hit from an animated film on the Billboard Hot 100. Read also : What is Celine Dion most viewed song?. Back in 2014, Frozen's "Let It Go" reached #5 on the Billboard charts.
Is Encanto Disney's biggest hit?
"We Don't Talk About Bruno" from "Encanto" now tops Billboard's All-Time Disney Songs Chart. To see also : How did Encanto do Oscars?. The smash hit 'Encanto' is now the biggest hit of several generations of Disney animated films.
What age is Bruno Madrigal?
Who is Bruno son Encanto? Bruno Madrigal is one of the main…
#biggest #billboard #disney #encanto #frozen

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Jared Kushner, the President's son-in law and the Secretary of Everything, got his security clearance downgraded. Not stripped, just downgraded. Too little too late. 4 foreign governments have tried to have their way with him which is really bad for America because Jared needs foreign money to get him out of his billion dollar debt.
Ivanka still has security clearance, though, which means she'll tell Jared everything after the governesses put the kids to bed because Jared is her husband and the president is her father.
Trump voters either don't know what nepotism means, they don't care, or they're sleeping with their sister.
Hope Hicks spent 9 hours with the House Intelligence Committee. She didn't say much. She's a communication director and she never says much. Hope is like a granddaughter to Trump. Perhaps if she weren't his surrogate granddaughter he'd be dating her. Or maybe he is dating her and that's just one of thousands of lies that they're telling.
Hope Hicks says that telling white lies in the White House is just part of her job.
The president got the kids their own communications nanny director in the fall. His name is Josh Raffel and he just quit. Were Jared and Ivanka too much to handle or is he getting the hell out of there to save his own ass? He won't say if he has been interviewed by Bob Mueller. Either way he won't be putting working for the Trump family on his resume.
NSA Chief, Admiral Mike Rogers, says Trump has not given him any orders to disrupt cyber warfare declared on us by Russia. They're already meddling in the 2018 election and Big Daddy Trump is totally cool with it.
We're under attack and the President of the United States has done nothing.
It's Black History Month. Slaves built the White House and the Capitol. Bill O'Reilly said that it wasn't that big of a deal because they were well fed. 12 American presidents owned slaves. 8 of them owned slaves while they were president. Andrew Jackson owned the most — he had 160. He called slaves "unfortunate creatures." Trump has a portrait of him hanging in the Oval Office.
Once built, the doors were shut tight on the slaves that built it. You can't come in here. This is the WHITE house.
Failed presidential candidate, Ben Carson, got a job running Housing and Urban Development (HUD) because anybody who would take a job working for Trump is a puke face, ass kissing, dumb shit loser and a perfect fit for America's first crime family. He said that poverty is a state of mind and that slaves were immigrants. He's cutting programs for the homeless, elderly and the poor but he just bought himself a new dining room set for his government office for $31,000. He's not paying for it. We're paying for it. Ben Carson was black but now he's white.
Republican hypocrite fun fact: Steve Montenegro, a candidate for Congress in a special election in Arizona, just conceded after he got busted sexting with a staffer. Montenegro is married AND a minister. He was running for Trent Franks' seat. Trent resigned over sexual harassment allegations. Trent endorsed Steve. So did Sheriff Joe Arpaio. The Republican Christians are scratching their heads wondering, what's the big deal? Why quit? After all, the Republican Bible, in Trump 3:18, clearly states that pedophilia, wife beating, and sexting when you're married and a minister is OK as long as a Democrat doesn't do it.
Trump said he wanted to raise the age of gun buyers and then he quickly took that back because he does that a lot.
Dick's Sporting Goods isn't waiting for Congress to do the right thing. It's not selling assault style rifles anymore and they won't be selling guns to minors.
A Florida House panel approved arming teachers over the objection of Parkland parents because Republicans never go against the NRA family.
An elementary school in Oklahoma installed bulletproof shelters inside classrooms to protect students in case someone comes in with an AR-15 that they bought legally.
The kids have returned to school today in Parkland after watching their friends get murdered on Valentine's Day. Gun nuts are sending them death threats and the Republicans are rationalizing this by saying that the left put them up to it.
Trump announced he's running for re-election in 2020. He hired his web designer, the bearded geek who ran social media on his last campaign, Brad Pascale, to be his campaign manager because he wants to keep double agents in the family.
Wiseguy International
Sean Backstrand
Heightgate: Doctor Kuhlman measured Obama on 2/28/2010 with his shoes on; so Obama isn't 6' 1" but…
TimGolden
Donald Trump Has Left The Room. Now What?
The Braying Ass
Dean Pagani
In Light of Current Events: Some Thoughts on Antisemitism, Freedom of Religion, Right Speech, and…
Russ McKenzie Wood in The Water Tower
Is This What Trumponomics Looks Like?
Paul Constant in Civic Skunk Works
Every Late Night Talk Show Is A Sleazy Plutocratic Rim Job
The Election & Beyond, Part I
Alex DiBlasi


New Listing at 2966 Altus Dr. Fayetteville, Ar.
Enjoy privacy, convenience and comfort in this custom built home on 7.79 acre estate in coveted NE Fayetteville! 2 Spacious Master suites on main level, fabulous kitchen, formal dining and office, with 2 large bedrooms upstairs for the children. Heated Gunite pool and hot tub, 5 car garage, and a 24x30 metal barn.


text:
package com.codewaves.codehighlight.languages;

import com.codewaves.codehighlight.core.Keyword;
import com.codewaves.codehighlight.core.Language;
import com.codewaves.codehighlight.core.Mode;

public class CsLanguage implements LanguageBuilder {
   private static String[] ALIASES = { "csharp" };
   private static String KEYWORDS_KEYWORD = "abstract as base bool break byte case catch char checked const continue decimal " +
         "default delegate do double else enum event explicit extern finally fixed float " +
         "for foreach goto if implicit in int interface internal is lock long " +
         "object operator out override params private protected public readonly ref sbyte " +
         "sealed short sizeof stackalloc static string struct switch this try typeof " +
         "uint ulong unchecked unsafe ushort using virtual void volatile while " +
         "nameof " +
         "add alias ascending async await by descending dynamic equals from get global group into join " +
         "let on orderby partial remove select set value var where yield";
   private static String KEYWORDS_LITERAL = "null false true";
   private static Keyword[] KEYWORDS = new Keyword[] {
         new Keyword("keyword", KEYWORDS_KEYWORD),
         new Keyword("literal", KEYWORDS_LITERAL)
   };
   private static String TYPE_IDENT_RE = Mode.IDENT_RE + "(<" + Mode.IDENT_RE + "(\\s*,\\s*" + Mode.IDENT_RE + ")*>)?(\\[\\])?";

   @Override
   public Language build() {
      final Mode VERBATIM_STRING = new Mode().className("string").begin("@\"").end("\"").contains(new Mode[] { new Mode().begin("\"\"") });
      final Mode VERBATIM_STRING_NO_LF = Mode.inherit(VERBATIM_STRING, new Mode().illegal("\\n"));
      final Mode SUBST = new Mode().className("subst").begin("\\{").end("\\}").keywords(KEYWORDS);
      final Mode SUBST_NO_LF = Mode.inherit(SUBST, new Mode().illegal("\\n"));
      final Mode INTERPOLATED_STRING = new Mode()
            .className("string")
            .begin("\\$\"")
            .end("\"")
            .illegal("\\n")
            .contains(new Mode[] {
                  new Mode().begin("\\{\\{"),
                  new Mode().begin("\\}\\}"),
                  Mode.BACKSLASH_ESCAPE,
                  SUBST_NO_LF
            });
      final Mode INTERPOLATED_VERBATIM_STRING = new Mode()
            .className("string")
            .begin("\\$@\"")
            .end("\"")
            .contains(new Mode[] {
                  new Mode().begin("\\{\\{"),
                  new Mode().begin("\\}\\}"),
                  new Mode().begin("\"\""),
                  SUBST
            });
      final Mode INTERPOLATED_VERBATIM_STRING_NO_LF = Mode.inherit(INTERPOLATED_VERBATIM_STRING, new Mode()
            .illegal("\\n")
            .contains(new Mode[] {
                  new Mode().begin("\\{\\{"),
                  new Mode().begin("\\}\\}"),
                  new Mode().begin("\"\""),
                  SUBST_NO_LF
            }));
      final Mode STRING = new Mode().variants(new Mode[] {
            INTERPOLATED_VERBATIM_STRING,
            INTERPOLATED_STRING,
            VERBATIM_STRING,
            Mode.APOS_STRING_MODE,
            Mode.QUOTE_STRING_MODE
      });

      SUBST.contains(new Mode[] {
            INTERPOLATED_VERBATIM_STRING,
            INTERPOLATED_STRING,
            VERBATIM_STRING,
            Mode.APOS_STRING_MODE,
            Mode.QUOTE_STRING_MODE,
            Mode.C_NUMBER_MODE,
            Mode.C_BLOCK_COMMENT_MODE
      });
      SUBST_NO_LF.contains(new Mode[] {
            INTERPOLATED_VERBATIM_STRING_NO_LF,
            INTERPOLATED_STRING,
            VERBATIM_STRING_NO_LF,
            Mode.APOS_STRING_MODE,
            Mode.QUOTE_STRING_MODE,
            Mode.C_NUMBER_MODE,
            Mode.inherit(Mode.C_BLOCK_COMMENT_MODE, new Mode().illegal("\\n"))
      });

      return (Language) new Language()
            .aliases(ALIASES)
            .keywords(KEYWORDS)
            .illegal("::")
            .contains(new Mode[] {
                  Mode.COMMENT("///", "$", new Mode()
                        .returnBegin()
                        .contains(new Mode[] {
                              new Mode()
                                    .className("doctag")
                                    .variants(new Mode[] {
                                          new Mode().begin("///").relevance(0),
                                          new Mode().begin("<!--|-->"),
                                          new Mode().begin("</?").end(">")
                              })
                        })),
                  Mode.C_LINE_COMMENT_MODE,
                  Mode.C_BLOCK_COMMENT_MODE,
                  new Mode()
                        .className("meta")
                        .begin("#")
                        .end("$")
                        .keywords(new Keyword[] { new Keyword("meta-keyword", "if else elif endif define undef warning error line region endregion pragma checksum") }),
                  STRING,
                  Mode.C_NUMBER_MODE,
                  new Mode()
                        .beginKeywords(new Keyword[] { new Keyword("keyword", "class interface") })
                        .end("[{;=]")
                        .illegal("[^\\s:]")
                        .contains(new Mode[] { Mode.TITLE_MODE, Mode.C_LINE_COMMENT_MODE, Mode.C_BLOCK_COMMENT_MODE }),
                  new Mode()
                        .beginKeywords(new Keyword[] { new Keyword("keyword", "namespace") })
                        .end("[{;=]")
                        .illegal("[^\\s:]")
                        .contains(new Mode[] { Mode.inherit(Mode.TITLE_MODE, new Mode().begin("[a-zA-Z](\\.?\\w)*")), Mode.C_LINE_COMMENT_MODE, Mode.C_BLOCK_COMMENT_MODE }),
                  new Mode().beginKeywords(new Keyword[] { new Keyword("keyword", "new return throw await") }).relevance(0),
                  new Mode()
                        .className("function")
                        .begin("(" + TYPE_IDENT_RE + "\\s+)+" + Mode.IDENT_RE + "\\s*\\(")
                        .returnBegin()
                        .end("[{;=]")
                        .excludeEnd()
                        .keywords(KEYWORDS)
                        .contains(new Mode[] {
                              new Mode().begin(Mode.IDENT_RE + "\\s*\\(").returnBegin().relevance(0).contains(new Mode[] { Mode.TITLE_MODE }),
                              new Mode()
                                    .className("params")
                                    .begin("\\(")
                                    .end("\\)")
                                    .excludeBegin()
                                    .excludeEnd()
                                    .keywords(KEYWORDS)
                                    .relevance(0)
                                    .contains(new Mode[] {
                                          STRING,
                                          Mode.C_NUMBER_MODE,
                                          Mode.C_BLOCK_COMMENT_MODE
                              }),
                              Mode.C_LINE_COMMENT_MODE,
                              Mode.C_BLOCK_COMMENT_MODE
                        })
            });
   }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Her books are wonderful and quilting/sewing/creativity themed.
Oh wow. Celebrity/Best Selling Author visit. I know some serious Hallmark fans that would have paid to attend this retreat. I better stay tuned because next thing we know Tierney will be cooking with Patti Labelle next. Quilters are much or appear to be much more social than photographers. I guess we are too busy hiding behind a camera to talk.
Yes us Quilters are strangely social!
Love all the brilliant colors and of course all of the animals represented in the blocks. So many creative people! I love reading about your quilting adventures.
I have a Wilcox Gibbs hand crank machine but is not in a nice restored conditions. But it makes a nice conversation piece. Thanks for your blog. The blocks are pretty.
Women that was able to own a sewing machine back then was very proud of it. They would have their picture taken with the machine. It saved them many hours of hand sewing even cranking or peddling. They could earn their own money at home sewing for others.
Wonderful post! Oh those TP colors! Just so inspiring & beautiful. Lately I'm more of a transitional quilter, playing with brighter colors & patterns than I've ever felt comfortable with. So you came into my phone right on time!
What a great retreat! Those blocks have brilliant colours in them. You were very industrious over your few days!
What stars you all are — I looked at and admired each of the blocks. And well done on your "intervention" Tierney — another quilter in the fold. I couldn't quilt believe that Tula Pink had called one of the ranges Zuma, but so be it.
I love every oneof those big dot fabrics!
I know – I could not decide which one was my favorite!
Fabulous!! I love the blue squirrels and the raccoons, heck I love them all!!!
Thanks for reading Kathy and not going into Tula overload ha!
Oh, this looks like a party! I love how each of you put your own stamp on this project… Everyone's using the same fabrics, and yet you all came up with something different! What a fun retreat… And I love that frog motif in one of the TP fabrics. How adorable!
I really love the idea of picking random blocks to sample from an old block book! And I think that using one fabric line for the random blocks would pull all those blocks together beautifully. I will have to add that to my to-do list.
I also love your idea of watching the video of Tula Pink while working with her fabrics.


Everyone, Intel is hosting a dinner and workshop at NIPS in Long Beach CA on Friday December 8th. Please register at the following link you are interested and can attend in person.
Learn how to use the Intel® Movidius™ Neural Compute Stick to deploy deep neural networks at the edge.
Market research estimates there will be as many as 20 billion connected devices in the market by 2020*. These devices are expected to generate billions of petabytes of data traffic between cloud and edge devices. In 2017 alone, 8.4B connected devices* are expected in the market which is sparking a strong need to pre-process data at the edge. This has led many IoT device manufacturers, especially those working on vision based devices like smart cameras, drones, robots, AR/VR, etc., to bring intelligence to the edge.
Through the recent addition of the Movidius™ VPU technology to its existing AI edge solutions portfolio, Intel is well positioned to provide solutions that help developers and data scientists pioneer the low-power intelligent edge devices segment. This webinar will provide developer-level insight into Intel's Neural Compute Stick – a low-cost, form-factor developer kit for low-power vision based embedded inference applications.
* Insights into how Movidius™ VPUs are pioneering DNN accelerated vision processing.
* Introduction to hardware and software components of NCS.
* Walkthrough of online resources for NCS developers.
* Workflow of network profiling and application development using NCS.
@chicagobob123, we are unable to host a hands-on workshop @ CES 2018, but will keep you and the rest of our developer community informed about upcoming events. Alternatively you can check for latest events on https://developer.movidius.com/announcements.
If you are interested, we have a 1 hour on-demand webinar for early adopters of NCS - https://software.seek.intel.com/NeuralComputeStickWebinar_Reg. We plan to roll out more such webinars in 2018.


text:
Home News Education
Does CPS have school Monday? Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Pedro Martinez reject CTU's return-to-learning proposal 'we will not relent'
CHICAGO (WLS) — Chicago Public Schools parents remain in limbo regarding whether classes will be held on Monday.
School has been out since Wednesday and there's still no deal over COVID-19 safety. There's still no clear decision about classes resuming Monday.
Teachers said they want to be in school but believe CPS schools needs to ramp up testing like local private schools have. The Chicago Teachers Union held a press conference Saturday afternoon to discuss to discuss their latest proposal to the mayor's CPS team.
The proposal requests that students begin remote learning on Jan. 12 before returning to in-person learning on Jan. 18 unless state or city health departments determine that conditions are not safe for in-person school at that time.
CTU's proposal also requests that CPS randomly test at least 10% of the student and staff population every week at every school. That program would allow students to opt out. The proposal would require CPS to pause in-person learning for 14 days and transition fully to remote instruction citywide if the COVID-19 test positivity rate in Chicago increases for seven consecutive days, remains at 15% higher than the rate from one week prior for each of those days and reaches 10% or greater on the seventh day.
CTU members also requested that any school with 25% or more of its staff out due to COVID-19 cases or exposures for two consecutive days will be transitioned to remote learning. For schools with 100 or more employees, a transition to remote learning will take place if those cases reach 20%.
They also introduced rules for remote learning if student exposures reach certain percentages. Elementary schools would transition to remote learning if 30% or more elementary homerooms have more than 30% of students instructed to quarantine or isolate. High schools and departmentalized middle school programs would go remote if more than 25% of the total student population had received such instruction.
Following the news conference, Mayor Lori Lightfoot and CPS CEO Pedro Martinez released the following statement:
"CTU leadership, you're not listening. The best, safest place for kids to be is in school. Students need to be back in person as soon as possible. That's what parents want. That's what the science supports. We will not relent."
Mayor Lori Lightfoot appeared on CNN Thursday night with optimism about the negotiations.
"There's no reason why we can't get a deal done this weekend and get our kids back in school, but there's got to be goodwill on both sides," Lightfoot said. "Everybody is talking about what's best for them, but nobody is bothering to ask necessarily the parents or the kids. We want them in school."
The mayor has ruled out a return to remote learning despite some schools handing out Chromebooks this past week. She said in-person learning is still safe.
Still, for the third day in a row, CPS students were not in class Friday. But Mayor Lori Lightfoot expressed optimism that a deal can be worked out with the Chicago Teachers Union to reopen schools.
Both sides said they're committed to being at the bargaining table all weekend. CPS said it will have more to say about the status of Monday's classes, but already many principals are telling students not to show up on Monday.
In a joint statement Friday evening, Lightfoot and Martinez said: "Bargaining sessions continued today and went into the evening. The sessions remain productive but must be concluded this weekend."
A spokesperson for CPS then released a statement that said: "CPS is committed to working toward an agreement with the Chicago Teachers Union throughout the weekend, and we are dedicated to working day and night so we can get our students back to school next week, hopefully on Monday. We know families need to plan ahead and we will be sending additional communication over the weekend with a status update regarding classes on Monday."
WATCH | CPS parents file lawsuit against teachers union
Teachers have been demanding all students and staff be tested as a condition to return to their buildings before the January 18 date agreed to in their vote earlier this week. The CTU has accused Mayor Lightfoot of refusing the state's help with saliva testing.
IDPH said it made the offer over the summer, but CPS says it instead awarded a testing contract to a private vendor.
The union also wants KN95 masks, or those of similar quality, for all students and staff, as well as a return to last year's agreed upon thresholds for a move to remote learning, including a 10% or higher test positivity rate.
RELATED | Teachers, parents raise concerns about COVID-19 spread as CPS outlines safety plan
Lightfoot sounded optimistic earlier Friday while speaking on MSNBC.
"Well, my hope is that we're going to get a deal struck here in the next day or so," Lightfoot said. "It gets our kids back in school in person learning in a deal that covers the duration of the school year and we don't have any additional disruptions."
Also on Friday, seven CPS families with students at 10 schools filed a lawsuit against CTU accusing them of an illegal work stoppage. Some of those parents are unable to work from home, and some have children with special needs. Their attorney is seeking an injunction to force the teachers back into the schools, calling their job action illegal.
"CTU can't unilaterally act when it comes to what they think is safe and not safe for our children for their well-being," said Jeffrey Schwab, plaintiffs' attorney. "That's a decision that does include their input, but it also includes the input of parents and other staff and principals."
One of those parents, Laurel Golden of Jefferson Park, has three sons in three CPS schools that are now making three different decisions about being open or closed.
"Extreme frustration," he said. "I mean, this is something they should have been figuring out a month ago already. Everybody is talking about what's best for them, but nobody is bothering to ask necessarily the parents or the kids. We want them in school."
Teachers also said they want to be in school. The union denied that anyone has stopped working, and characterized this as a lockout.
"We are just simply asking do what suburban schools, do what Catholic schools, do what private schools have done," CPS teacher Falin Johnson said. "They have tested. Charter schools. They have tested those babies."
"Our teachers, our parents, our students, we all want to be safe in school," CTU organizer Linda Perales said. "The mayor can make that happen by stepping up and meeting out demands and ensuring safety."
WATCH | Some CPS schools open despite standoff with teachers union
Meanwhile, parents and students have been hoping that the negotiators reach a deal soon to get kids safely back in school.
At Morgan Park High School, students were coming in, not for classes, but instead to pick up care packages with essentials, including Chromebooks in case students can't return to schools and have to resume e-learning.
"My hope is that we actually go back to school, so they're just giving us this little care package, just to say that they actually care about our health and that they care about our safety, too," Morgan Park student Markel Chaplain said.
When asked if she had any confidence kids would be back in school on Monday, Morgan Park parent Dee Stallion said, "I doubt it. If they're giving us a Chromebook it's no school on Monday. It's school at home."
While most schools remained closed, at Mt. Greenwood Elementary, the principal opened the school for parents who needed a safe haven for their children due to work or other schedule conflicts.
Katie Rondeau stopped by to get material for her second grader and was grateful she and her husband work opposite shifts and can manage the situation.
"I wish they would have figured this out before the kids went back to school," Rondeau said. "They had two weeks of a break to figure this out and they waited till we were back in school for two days and then waited until midnight so that parents didn't know what the deal was."
And she's not alone. An online petition with more than 3,000 signatures is pushing for CPS to return to in-person learning and not go remote.
A group of 25 state lawmakers also entered the fray, signing a letter calling for more robust testing and high-quality masks for a safe return to in-person learning and calling for a pause to remote learning until that can happen.
"We continue to advocate and press upon Chicago Public Schools to work with us as we are trying to figure out the differentiated approach to how we address this," said State Sen. Cristina Pacione-Zayas, D-Chicago.
Lane Tech allowed students to come to the building for a short time for activities.
The principal sent out a note to families preparing them for next week too, saying the high school will be open for in-person activities Monday, Wednesday and Friday for tutoring, gym opportunities and even board games.
RELATED: Why are so many vaccinated people getting COVID-19 lately? | What you need to know
CTU argues with COVID cases on the rise, keeping kids and staff inside school buildings is not safe.
"When we came to school this Monday, I saw five times the number of students in quarantine," said CPS teacher Jackson Potter. "We saw staff members getting ill, we saw lower attendance. This wave was already making a large impact, and we weren't ready for it."
As for parents, some said they understand the frustration felt by teachers, but they just want their kids back in class.
"It stinks to be at home," said CPS parent Doug Davis. "It stinks to be remote. I don't really want them to be remote, my son went thru that last year as a freshman. It was a hard experience. Luckily he had sports but I think for a lot of kids, it's really, really, tough and just going into school is great but I want them to really be learning things."
Source by abc7chicago.com
Tags: are cps schools open todaychicago newschicago public schoolschicago public schools ceochicago public schools closedchicago public schools closed todaychicago public schools strikechicago schools closedchicago teachers unioncpscps closed mondaycps covidcps mondaycps newscps schoolcps school mondayctuctu chicagodoes cps have school mondaymayor lori lightfootschool closings


Can't work out at a gym? You can still get in shape this summer with this bodyweight workout you can perform in an area as small as your bedroom.
No gym? No problem. This bodyweight circuit workout will challenge your muscle strength and increase your heart rate, both with exercises you can perform in an area as small as your bedroom. Do the following exercises in circuit fashion. Repeat each circuit three times, rest for 30 seconds between sets and 1 minute between circuits. Increase the reps as your strength improves.


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Investors lose over Rs 1 lakh crore on schizophrenic street today. Time to hedge!
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Markets are correcting as we predicted
1. 23/09/15 12:45 amInvestors lose over Rs 1 lakh crore on schizophrenic St. Page 1 of 2http://www.mydigitalfc.com/print/594054 Published on mydigitalfc.com (http://www.mydigitalfc.com) Investors lose over Rs 1 lakh crore on schizophrenic St. Sep 22 2015 Dalal Street came under sharp selling pressure yesterday after the European market opened weak, hit by Volkswagen's cheating on US emission norms. Sensex fell more than 2 per cent and finally closed 541.14 point down at 25,651, while Nifty also closed 2.07 per cent or 165.10 points down at 7,812. Future and options expiry scheduled for Thursday and the Reserve Bank of India's monetary policy review meeting scheduled for next week also impacted sentiments. The sharp sell-off wiped out over Rs 1 lakh crore from total investor wealth, with market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies falling by Rs 1.36 lakh crore to Rs 93.33 lakh crore. On Tuesday, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) lowered growth projections for India for the current fiscal to 7.4 per cent from the 7.8 per cent earlier, citing weak monsoon, poor external demand and the government's inability to push economic reforms in Parliament. Earlier in the day, all major Asian markets had closed with gains and things were looking fine for Dalal Street, though banking stocks witnessed minor selling pressure after a sharp upward movement. The trigger for the crash was pulled by selling in certain exchange traded funds soon after the European markets opened for trading. In a week when expiry of derivative contract is set to take place, any small selling leads to higher dent on stock prices and this seems to have been the case in yesterday's trading. While the Asian markets are likely to open weak in reaction to the sentiments in the European and US markets, Dalal Street is likely to open with marginal weakness and remain volatile through the day as rollover to the October series occupies centrestage on the penultimate day of the closing of the September series contract. Markets in the UK, France and Germany plunged between 2 per cent and 3 per cent, affecting sentiments here. Foreign funds sold heavily turning net sellers to the tune of Rs 1,052.24 crore, while domestic buying remained muted with net purchases worth Rs 378.26 crore, which was insufficient to absorb the FPI selling pressure. A weaker rupee added to the poor sentiment, closing 65.88 to the dollar compared with previous close at 65.72. "The fall in the market is in line with what's happening globally and has nothing to do with the domestic market. It's only the risk of emerging market contagion that is leading to liquidation of stocks here. Even as we talk, the emerging market currencies are depreciating, leading to lot of worries," said the head of equity research at a leading European Bank in India who did not want to be named. The broader market fared better, as BSE midcap index fell 1.57 per cent and BSE smallcap index fell 1.21 per cent outperforming both Sensex and Nifty. After a positive start to the day, Sensex and Nifty fell sharply as German automaker Volkswagen's shares crashed by almost 34 per cent on two previous days of trading and nearly by another 20 per cent after the European markets opened on Tuesday, impacting major European indices, as major auto company stocks fell across Europe. "Global factors have resulted in the weakness in India. A lot investors are taking out money,"
2. 23/09/15 12:45 amInvestors lose over Rs 1 lakh crore on schizophrenic St. Page 2 of 2http://www.mydigitalfc.com/print/594054 said Kapil Khandelwal director Equnev Capital, a UK-based hedge fund. Volkswagen has been accused of rigging 11 million diesel cars to pass the US emission norms and could face up to $18 billion in fines in the US. Motherson Sumi Systems, an auto component supplier to Volkswagen fell 7.72 per cent as a fall out of Volkswagen's suspending supplies of its diesel vehicles to USA. Rohan Korde, research analyst at Prabhudas Lilladher said, "Volkswagen's admission of not complying with emission standards for some of its diesel models in the US poses a potential threat to the prospects for Motherson Sumi, if the fallout extends beyond North America. If the issue is contained there, then the impact is likely to be very limited. Volkswagen constitutes 12 per cent of Moterson Sumi Systems's sales, most of which are to Europe. Mexico forms a small 1-1.2 per cent of the same." Dipen Shah, head of private client group research at Kotak Securities said, "Markets surprisingly fell in the latter half of the day, likely due to the weakness in European markets and caution ahead of the release of Chinese economic data tomorrow. There is also uncertainty over whether RBI would cut rates in the next bi-monthly policy review meeting on September 29." "Going ahead, after the RBI meeting the focus will shift to the quarterly results, which may remain lacklustre for the domestic-oriented sectors," Shah added. Investors went short ahead of the China's factory data due this morning, with metal stocks, particularly coming under selling pressure. The metals index on BSE was the top loser, falling 4.24 per cent. Interest rate sensitive stocks also witnessed profit booking ahead of RBI policy review, with BSE Bankex down 3.04 per cent, auto down 1.73 per cent and realty losing 2.54 per cent. The selling pressure was so fierce that not a single sectoral index on the BSE ended with gains. Other than interest rate sensitive, power was down 3.09 per cent, oil & gas (-1.27 per cent) were among the other major losers. Bank stocks too took a big hit as Amtek Auto's total debt is around Rs 16,500 crore. The top losers among the banks were Yes Bank (4.64 per cent), Punjab National Bank (3.89 per cent), Axis Bank (3.57 per cent), ICICI Bank (3.13 per cent), Kotak Bank (3.09 per cent), SBI (2.96 per cent), HDFC Bank (2.38 per cent), IDBI Bank (3.67 per cent), Andhra Bank (3.51 per cent). The market breadth was highly negative with 1,738 stocks on BSE closing in the red compared with 944 stocks advancing and 114 stocks closing unchanged. raviranjan@mydigitalfc.com © 2015 Financial Chronicle, All rights reserved Source URL: http://www.mydigitalfc.com/knowledge/investors-lose-over-rs-1-lakh-crore-schizophrenic-st-054
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It feels like an endgame: with an election three months away, how much more political gain can be wrung out of the fate of a thousand poor individuals stranded on Nauru and Manus Island? Crab walking back to the middle ground, the Morrison government wants to placate those motivated by compassion for those remaining asylum seekers, while preserving the ability to mount a scare campaign against Labor for undermining the offshore detention regime and restarting the boats.
The government's proposed Medical Transfer Clinical Assurance Panel is the product of a heartless, knife-edge political calculation, designed to do just enough to avoid defeat on the floor of the parliament when sittings resume next week, yet to leave scope for a bit of "soft on boats" rhetoric during the ensuing election. All eyes are on retiring independent member for Indi Cathy McGowan, who holds the balance of power on this issue, and who has today [$] left the door open to supporting the government's proposal. Combined with yesterday's headlines blaring "Kids off Nauru" (never mind the details), it may be the government has done just enough.
As a minority government, the Coalition cannot afford a defeat on a key piece of legislation such as independent member for Wentworth Dr Kerryn Phelps's bill to allow medical evacuation of refugees if approved by two doctors. Labor could use defeat as a vote of no confidence, a pretext to attempt to force a snap election. The numbers are finely balanced, and depend partly on whether the necessary procedural motions to bring on the Phelps bill require an absolute majority – 76 out of 150 seats in the lower house – or a simple majority. A Crikey analysis today [$] concludes that "even with the whole crossbench and Labor on board, Phelps needs the support of at least one government MP to get her legislation through the lower house". The suggestion is that moderates Craig Laundy or Russell Broadbent may cross the floor.
Under Shorten Labor the boats would restart "as surely as night follows day", Abbott warned. Labor's immigration spokesperson Shayne Neumann pointed out the panel was a backflip by the prime minister, who has previously claimed that compassionate medical transfers would be the end of offshore detention. Neumann, however, did not rule out supporting the panel. As a country, we are splitting hairs of cruelty ever more finely.
Greens Treasury spokesperson Peter Whish-Wilson, who first called for a banking royal commission in 2014, on RN Breakfast this morning ahead of the release of the banking royal commission report this afternoon.
Former Reserve Bank board member, Woolworths CEO and Fairfax Media chair Roger Corbett telling Nine newspapers he is worried about the impact of the royal commission on the banking industry.


Australia's biggest agricultural innovation trade fair, GFIA In Focus Australia is off to a flying start, with almost 2,000 registered visitors to attend the event.
A Precision Agriculture & Smart Farming conference looked at Precision Agriculture for livestock and farm asset management, which also debated whether a lack of visibility could be costing businesses. And in some of the most exciting highlights of the day, leading-edge agtech suppliers, entrepreneurs and scientists took to the stage to present their latest innovations ¬– including Ceres Tag's live demonstration of their Smart Ear Tags, which live-streamed the location, health and behavior of 100 cattle located some 1,000km away in northern QLD.


Faravahar	Zoroastrianism is one of the most ancient religions still practiced today. Founded by a religious leader named Zoroaster, it preceded Judaism and Christianity, has links with Hinduism and may date back to before 6000 B.C. Zoroastrianism is believed to have developed among tribal-pastoral people living in the mountain ranges of the Hindu Kush and Seristan, a territory shared by Iran and Afghanistan. From northeast Iran it spread through the Persian Achaemenid Empire beginning around the 6th century B.C.
Zoroastrianism is credited with helping to unify various tribes that lived in Persia in the 6th century B.C. into the Persians. At its height Zoroastrianism was the predominate religion of people in Persia and Asia Minor and parts of Central Asia and the Middle East. After the conquest of Alexander the Great, Greek and Semitic elements were added to the religion. In A.D. 226, it became the state religion of the Persian Sassanian Empire, which spread as far as east as India and as far west as Egypt. The most famous Zoroastrians are perhaps the Three Wise men who visited the infant Jesus.
Zoroastrianism remained a major religion until the Arab invasion in the 7th century when most Persians converted to Islam. Under Muslim rule, Zoroastrians were persecuted and subjected to forced conversion. During this period many emigrated to India, where they became known as the Parsis. Some also moved to China but that community was suppressed in the 11th century.
The Zoroastrians that remained in Iran endured severe poverty and discrimination. By the 13th century they had disappeared from the historical record. It wasn't until European began exploring Iran in the 17th century that the Zoroastrians were rediscovered.
Parsi wedding portrait	There are about 120,000 to 150,000 practitioners of Zoroastrianism (2009), with more than half in India and less than half in Iran. This is around half the number of a few decades ago. A third are over 60. Zoroastrians used to number in the millions but have suffered as a result of persecution, conversion to other religions and a low population growth rate. They have had a particularly hard time in Iran, where there could be as few as 30,000 left.
About 70,000 practitioners of Zoroastrianism live in India, where they are known as Parsis. About 70 percent of them live in Bombay. They have also settled in recent times in all the major cities and towns in India. They are lighter skinned than other Indians and they view themselves as a separate ethnic group as well as member of a religion. There may be some Parsis in Pakistan. The word Parsi is derived from "Pars" or Persian.
In the 1990s were around 135,000 practitioners of Zoroastrianism living in Iran. They made up less than 0.2 percent of the population. It is not clear how many remain today. They live in small communities in Yad, Kerman and Tehran. In Iran Zoroastrians are not known as Parsis. They are known as Gabar, Gabr, Guebre and Zardoshti. Many Muslim Iranians regard them as infidels.
Zoroastrian Tomb	Zoroastrianism is regarded as the first religion to teach monotheism, the belief in one supreme god, a cornerstone belief in Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Judaism is said to have been influenced by Zoroastrianism when the Jews were in exile in Babylon when it was under the rule of the Persians. These influences were passed on to Christianity and Islam.
Many of the personalities and concepts in Judaism and Christianity evolved from Zoroastrianism, The Three Wise Men that visited the new-born Christ in Bethlehem and many of the Persian kings mentioned in the Old Testament were Zoroastrians. The concepts of Satan, angels, monotheism, Messiahs, the final judgment, the Resurrection, the Apocalypse, Heaven and Hell were all introduced by Zoroastrianism.
Zoroastrianism is also regarded as the first universal religion, meaning that it wasn't a tribal faith like Judaism or the Egyptian religion, which were originally associated with one tribe, group of people or kingdom. From its inception Zoroastrianism aimed to convert people of all backgrounds and tribes. It welcomed outsiders and said that salvation was theirs if they embraced the religion. It was tolerant of other religions in that people were judged on the basis of their deeds not their faith.
Little is known about the real Zoroaster other than that he probably lived in northeast Iran sometime between the 15th century and the 6th century B.C. It is believed that he was a priest who was given messages from God in a series of visions sort of like Mohammed was. What are believed to be his words are included in the Gathas, the oldest writings in Zoroastrianism. Zoroaster is believed to have come from a region between the Hindu Kush and Seistan. Some historians believe that he may have lived in Margiana in present-day Turkmenistan.
According to religious texts, the Prophet Zoroaster (known as Zarathustra in Iran) was born to a 15-year-old virgin around the 7th century B.C., when it was believed that all saviors born after him would be born to 15-year-old virgins. When he was fifteen he dedicated his life to religion.
When Zoroastrian was 30 he had a series of revelations and was given instruction by Ahura Mazda (the Zoroastrian God) to found the Zoroastrian religion. He began preaching his faith and converted many people. The religion took off after King Vishtaspa was converted when Zoroaster was around 40.
Like Jesus, Zoroaster resisted temptations, performed miracles and converted new followers with his charismatic sermons. He married the daughter of King Vishtaspa and used the king's resources to spread the word of religion. He had two sons and a daughter and was supposedly murdered when he was in his seventies.
Zoroaster taught that there was one supreme god, Ahura Mazda ("Creator of Order and Light"), the god of light and good. He created the universe in six creations. Zoroastrianism teaches that all of the souls of the living and dead today were present at the beginning of the universe and it through them that world is kept in motion. There are beliefs in the power of magic.
Zoroaster taught it was the duty of each individual to help Ahura Mazda by living morally and following the words "good thoughts, good words, good deeds." Zoroastrians value the Asha (the law of God), the concept of spiritual love, and practice loving one's fellow man. They believe in individual human responsibility and hold in high regard the virtues of truth, purity, simplicity, good thoughts, good words and good deeds. They also believe that the soul and the flesh are united and a messiah-like figure Essiag will save the world.
Zoroastrianism is regarded as a very social religion. It stresses hard work and enjoying oneself. Men have a religious duty to bear children and raise cattle. Asceticism and being a bore are viewed as sins and followers are encouraged to have a "healthy body." During religious holidays Zoroastrians are encouraged to party it up and have a good time. Even so Zoroastrians condemned the use of haoma , a potion made with opium, cannabis and ephedra plants.
Contrary to its initial concept of universality, modern Zoroastrianism does not welcome new members and is passed on from generation to generation. This accounts for it shrinking numbers and status as a dying religion.
Zoroastrians regard the existence of evil as necessary and that men achieve goodness through battling it. They also view life as struggle between the Ahura Mazada and the devil Ahriman (Prince of Chaos and Darkness) and believe that man has a free will to choose between God and the devil and that Ahura Mazada has given man intelligence to carry out the fight which provides man with the insight that the good life is sometimes hard but the consequences of evil are worse. Ahriman's power is almost equal to that of Ahura Mazda.
The history the world is seen in terms of conflicts between good and evil that take place over four 3000-year periods. In the first two God and the devil prepare their forces. In the third they fight it out, In the forth the devil is defeated and the existence of evil is completely eliminated and truth and happiness prevail.
There are beliefs in other spiritual beings. Among the most important of these are the seven beneficent immortals, which are beings as well as representations of Ahura Mazda's virtues such as "best truth" and "immortality." Zoroastrianism also absorbed some earlier Indo-Iranian gods such as Yazatas. These god generally have responsibilities over the material world. There is also reverence of Fravashis, or spirits of the soul, associated with deceased people that lived particularly virtuous lives.
Zoroastrians believe that individuals are responsible for their own souls and their fate in the afterlife is determined by the good and evil deeds they perform while they are alive. After a person dies the soul remains bound to the earth for three days. On the forth day the soul rise with the sun to the Chinvat Bridge, the Zoroastrian equivalent of a Judgement Day.
For people who have performed mostly bad deeds the bridge narrows to a razor's edge and they fall into the House of Lies, a place ruled by Ahriman. The Zoroastrian concept of hell was adapted in part from views about places of afterlife punishment for sinners that had been around for a long time in religions in Egypt, Persia, India and other places.
People who have performed mostly good deeds cross the bridge, escorted by an attractive member of the opposite ex, to one of the seven garden-like, heaven-like paradises near the sun. The Persian word pairi-daeza , or enclose, is the source of the word paradise. Zoroastrians regard judgement, heaven and hell as metaphorical places that can bring great bliss or pain but are largely incomprehensible to the living.
Fire in Yazd Zoroastrian temple	In addition to heaven (Behesht) and hell (Dozakh) Zoroastrians have a place in the middle (Hamestegan), a realm with no joy but only mild suffering. Here they wait in a kind of twilight until resurrection at the end of time. It was not like purgatory in that one could not work one's way to heaven.
Zoroastrians also have an end of the world scenario ushered in by arrival of a final Messiah. When this occurs all souls are resurrected and the mountains turn to river of molten metal. During a final judgment everyone is immersed in the molten rivers. For the pure it feels like a warm bath. For wicked they endure horrific suffering as their skin and flesh melts off their bones. In early Zoroastrian text the souls of the wicked were destroyed forever. In later texts, the wicked were thus purified and allowed to dwell in paradise.
Zoroastrians believe in the immortality of the soul. After death they believe that the soul stays near the body for three days, during which time ceremonies for the dead are performed.
Zoroastrians believed that a soul has nine parts: three physical ones (1, bodily matter and sensation, 2, the physical frame and nervous system, 3, skeleton and muscles); three subtly material ones (4, life energy, 5, the astral body, 6, ethereal substance), and three spiritual ones (7, the link between sensation and soul, 8, inner soul, 9, divine spark).
During life the nine elements work together on three "planes" to keep a human being going. After death the elements go their separate ways, the first six ultimately dissolve, leaving behind the last three, which unite and become immortal.
Zoroastrians have been called fire worshipers but that is not really the case. They don't worship fire but they revere it as a symbol of purity, truth, divine grace and law and as a representation of their God, Ahura Mazda., and his splendor. Zoroaster saw divinity in flames and called it Atar. Prayer is often performed in front of fires. There is always a sacred fire attended by priests burning somewhere and keeping this fire alive is very important. Before some rituals the fire is crowned. The tradition may date back to Aryans---the source of the Indo-European Persian language---who used fires in a number of their rituals.
Fire is the main symbol of Zoroastrianism and is treasured for its warmth and use in cooking meat. Priests make offerings and individuals recite prayers around sacred fires. Every ritual and ceremony requires the presence of a sacred fire. Offerings of frankincense and sandalwood are made to the fire at least five times a day by ordained priests who wear a veil that covers their lower face to keep his breath frm polluting the fire. Non-Zoroastrians are not allowed to set eyes on the sacred fires.
Parsi jashan ceremony Zoroastrian fire temples (Atashkadeh) are central to the Zoroastrian faith. A sacred fire is ritually consecrated and installed and is kept going in a brazier in the fire temple. Keeping the fire alive is very important. One fire in a desert shrine near Yazd has been kept going for 1,500 years, and has been moved at least four times. A smaller ritual fire is kept in every Zoroastrian home.
The "pure place" where high rituals are performed consists of a small rectangular-shaped piece of ground surrounded by prayers intended to ward of evil. It is purified with water and prayers. Those that attend are expected to be spiritually and physically clean. Non-Zoroastrians are often not allowed to enter a temple because they do not carry out the prescribed cleaning and purification.
There are about 50 fire temples in Bombay, which only Parsis are allowed to attend. The sites of visions of saints and angels are made into shrines The sacred fire of Azar Gushnasp is said to sit beside a bottomless lake.
The sacred Zoroastrian texts are fragmentary. These include the Avesta , dating back to the 4th and 6th centuries B.C. and attributed to Zoroaster himself. It is written in the Zoroastrian liturgical language of Avestan. This is supplemented by later Pahlavi texts written in Middle Persian and dated to around the A.D. 9th century and modern texts from the last 200 years in India and written in Gujarati and English. Avestan is a member of the Indo-European family of languages and is closely related to Sanskrit. It was developed in the A.D. 5th century with the explicit purpose of recording religious material because existing languages were regarded as inadequate for recording sacred words.
The words and teaching of Zoroaster are contained within the 17 hymns of the Gathas , which are part of the Yasna , Zoroastrian sacred book which has 72 chapters. The texts has connections with the Hindu Rig. Interpretations of Zoroaster's teachings vary greatly.
The Zoroastrian community has traditionally been divided into two groups: hereditary priests and the laity. In the old days, magi were priests and scholarly men who kept themselves pure, carried out daily religious duties and nurtured the sacred fire. Zoroaster set down strict rules about how the were supposed live their lives simply and ascetically. Over time they became the object of jokes by non-Zoroastrians. The word "magic" is derived from magi. The three wise when who followed the star to the baby Jesus were magis.
Parsi navjote sitting Today there is hereditary clergy is divided into Dasturs (high priests) and Mobeds. A male descendant of priests up to the 5th generation may take up the profession. There are no monastic orders, nor are their women functionaries. Priests can marry.
Zoroastrian priests have traditionally worn white caps and white robes. Many have long white beards. The process of becoming a priest is long and difficult, involving several purification rituals and memorization of texts. There currently is a shortage of priests. The sons of priests prefer other professions.
For Parsis, there are major life cycle ceremonies to celebrate birth, initiation, puberty, marriage, pregnancy and death. Before each of the ceremonies participants purify themselves by confessing their sins and during it they mark their foreheads with ashes from the sacred fire. At birth a child is given haoma ,the juice of an intoxicating plant. At age seven a child is initiated into the Zoroastrian religion with a nine-day ceremony that required the recitation of certain prayers in Avestan and the presentation of a ritual cotton shirt and sacred belt of lambs wool and 72 threads.
One of the most important rituals is the Naojot ceremony, a Coming of Age ritual in which young Zoroastrians are initiated into their faith and symbolically take on the responsibility of the religion. Naojot is held for both girls and boys when they are around seven. Initiates are ritually given a sadre (a sacred vest) and kasti (sacred thread with 72 strands) which is tied with three knots and wrapped around the waist three times to symbolize universal fellowship, the chapters of the Yasna and the three rules of Zoroastrianism "good thoughts, good words, good deeds." Once a child finishes naojot, he or she accepts responsibility for his or her own salivation, religious observations and morality.
The sadre is made of white muslin. It has two halves---a back and front'symbolizing past and future. Near the neckline is a small pocket-like fold. Children are taught from an early age to keep it filled with goodness and righteousness. The kasti made of undyed wool. It is a hollow tube made up of 72 strands ending in several tassels.
Sadeh is a Zoroastrian mid-winter festival honoring the discovery of fire and celebrating its ability to banish the cold and dark. It is celebrated in the depth of winter on a snowy mountain near Cham, a small village in central Iran, by the lighting of giant bonfires fires. Sadeh was the national festival of Persia before the conquest of Islam in the 7th century. In addition to the fires, white-robed priests recite hymns in ancient Persian and children dance to lively music. The celebration climaxes when men and women in white traditional clothes, and carrying torches, light the massive bonfire.
Parsi chuna closeup Zoroastrianism is a secretive religion. It is full of ancient rituals, customs and symbols that are thought to be more than 2,500 years old. Some of them have been absorbed into wider Iranian culture.
Zoroastrians pray five times day like Muslims. The prayers involve reciting of a basic credo while untying and retying the kasti. A Zoroastrians must always wear the sadre and kasti. The kastri is tied and untied many times during the day as a prelude to prayers, eating and toilet duties.
Water and purification rituals are important to Zoroastrians. Water makes life possible. People deemed impure are segregated from others. Bodily substances such as saliva, urine, and menstrual blood are regarded as impure. Menstruating women used to be segregated but this customs is falling into disuse in urban areas where there are few places where women can be sent.
Parsis welcome guests with rose water and candy made from crystallized sugar and pistachios. The considered the use of toothpicks a religious rite.
The chief ritual is Yasna, a kind of sacrifice which includes the offering of haoma (the juice of an intoxicating plant), water and milk before the sacred fire to honor Ahura Mazda. The ritual strengthens both god and evil. In the old days the sacrifice of animals was part of the ritual.
Zoroastrians regard death as separation of the immortal soul from the body and view corpses as extremely polluted dwelling places for demons. The dead cannot be cremated, buried or thrown in the sea because those practices would defile the sacred elements of fire, earth and water. According to sacred Zoarastrian texts: "No impure thing can, therefore be thrown upon any one of these elements, because it would spoil the good creation by increasing the power and influence of demons, who take possession of the body as soon as a man dies.
Bombay Temple Of Silence Engraving The Tower of Silence ( dokma ) is usually built on a hilltop and made from stones or bricks. Typically they about five meters high and maybe 30 meters across., with an internal platform on which sit three ranks of stone slabs, on which the bodies of men , women and children are placed. They slope downwards towards a central dry well. The Tower of Silence is closed to everyone but special corpse handlers.
There is a Parsi "Tower of Silence" in Mumbai. In Iran Tower of Silences are no longer used. There the body is first placed on a metal stretcher with legs that keeps the body separated from the ground and then is placed in a cement grave.
India has lost more than 95 percent of its vultures. No one is sure why although pesticide-contaminated carrion is a prime suspect. Among those affected are the Parsis who have traditionally had vultures consume their dead in hilltop Towers of Silence. In response to the problem Parsis have enlisted the National Birds of Prey Center in England to help design a breeding program. In the meantime Parsis must rely on nature to dispose of bodies---about three a day---and are looking at other methods that fit their religion beliefs. In Mumbai there is discussion of building a huge aviary outside of the Towers of Silence to keep the vultures from flying away and eating carrion contaminated with pesticides.
Zoroastrian death ceremony As a person dies he is expected to utter a prayer praising the righteous and a prayer for penance. If he dies suddenly his close relatives are expected to say these prayers quietly in the ear of the deceased.
Ideally, the body is prepared on the same day that death occurs. Rich and poor are treated exactly the same. After death the corpse is shrouded in a white cotton cloth and bathed in cow's urine and water. A sacred thread is wrapped around the body while a special prayer is said. After this the corpse is wrapped in old clothing (wasting new clothes on the dead is considered sinful) and relatives embrace the dead a final time. After this the body is regarded as in a state of decomposition and too polluted for ordinary people to come in contact with. All procedure from then on are taken care of by special corpse handlers.
The corpse handlers ritually wash themselves and put on clean but old clothes which are disposed of after the funeral is over. They then place the corpse in a special white robe, set up the body in a special way, and place it in a funerary room on a stone slab, so it doesn't come in contact with the earth, with the head pointing north. Three concentric circle are drawn around the slab and a fire with sandalwood and incense and a lamp burning coconut oil are lit.
After that a special "four eyed" dog---with spots on its forehead---is brought in to make sure the person is truly dead (if the dog shows an interest in the body it means it is dead, if it looks away the body is checked to see if it is alive. The gaze of the four-eyed is thought to confuse evil spirits.
Tower of Silence An hour before the corpse is carried to the Tower of Silence, priests enter the funerary room and perform a special ritual that involves saying blessings and chanting hymns. Then while people turn their backs to the corpse, which is believed to throw out polluting germs when it is moved, the corpse is lifted and placed on a bier and taken to the Tower of Silence in a precession attended only by male mourners and corpse handlers.
Tomb in Sulaymaniyah province Relatives often used to camp out by the remains for two or three days while and after the vultures did their work. Zoroastrians believe that the soul remains earthbound for three days so during that time they say prayers and make offerings to the dead.
Even after the dead have left the earth, Zoroastrians believe they have the power to affect the living and bring fertility, prosperity, luck, hardships and sickness to the land and people. For these reasons offerings are made every day for 30 days; monthly for a year; and yearly for 30 years---when it is believed that the dead is finally absorbed completely into its place in the afterlife. Offerings of wine, milk, pomegranates and quince are made. Sometimes special animal sacrifices are made.
During the last ten days of the year, a special festival is held that honors all the dead. During this time people carefully clean their houses, fill them with juniper incense and display the best possible behavior. A special prayer is said for the dead who are believed to visit their former homes on this day.
During Farvardegan, a holiday in which the dead are remembered, seven different kinds of greens are sewn to welcome the spirits with freshness. Many Zoroastrians believe that the world of the dead coexist with the world of the living and dreaming is a form of communication between the two worlds and the soul wanders from the body during dreams.
ruined fire temple Ani There are believed to be less than 30,000 Zoroastrians left in Iran. They are mostly in Tehran, Yazd and Kerman. Many of those that lived in Iran at the time of the Shah left after the Islamic revolution in 1979. Many emigrated to the West. Those that remained were discriminated against and practiced their religion quietly at home. Their festivals were strongly and anything to do with fire worship was discouraged.
In the 1950s about 40 percent of Zoroastrians lived in villages. By the 1980s only 15 percent did. Today, most live in Tehran to take advantage of the economic opportunities there. A number of former Zoroastrians villages are now abandoned. In the 1970s there were only 15 Zoroastrian priests in Iran.
Yazd and villages around it have traditionally been home to many Zoroastrians. Desert shrines here attract Zoroastrian pilgrims from all over the world. Many of the Zoroastrian villages are now derelict. Their residents have moved to Tehran, India or the West. The number of Zoroastrians living in Yazd has been declining steadily. Early in the 19th century there were around 8,000 living there. By the 1980s there were less than 5,000.
Zoroastrians endured a great deal of persecution and discrimination over the centuries. Until the 19th century, they were forbidden from engaging on any trade or craft that would bring them in close contact with Muslim. Until the 1890s they could not use umbrellas, wear glasses and were forced to twist turbans instead of folding them. Because they feared attacks from Muslim extremists they often hid the locations of their fire temples. Many were farmers. Other sought education and became teachers, doctors, engineers and businessmen. Some became quite wealthy. To maintain good relations they donated money to build schools. hospitals and cultural centers.
Zoroastrians in Iran speak their own special dialect in addition to of Farsi. Some scholars have classified it as a dialect of Dari. In many ways their lifestyle today is indistinguishable from other Iranians but that wasn't always so. In the old days they lived in houses that conformed to restrictions imposed on them but also had features that were needed for their religion and protection from Muslim extremists. The houses in Yazd had a great hall and small hall, rooms used for religious practices, and an open hearth in the kitchen where a sacred fire was kept burning. They lacked wind towers and instead had a number of vents on holes in the roof to help circulate the air.
Persian Autumn Festival Kin relationships are strong. Relatives are expected to be financially supportive of one another. Marriages are viewed as unions of families rather than individuals and marriages between cousins and next of kin have traditionally been preferred to keep wealth within the family. These customs have led to a problem of inbreeding and resulting high rates of mental retardation, diabetes and heart diseases. Because many young Zoroastrians are moving to the United States and Europe and marrying non-Zoroastrians there is a worry that the group may become extinct. This has led to acceptance of conversion to Zoroastrianism, a sometimes complex process usually associated with marriage that demands the non-Zoroastrians to learn Zoroastrian rituals and prayers and requires the approval of seven Zoroastrians that the new convert is a worthy individual of good character.
There is no supreme Zoroastrian leader on Iran. In each major community there is an association with an affiliated youth group. These days few participate in temple centered activities.
Zoroastrians and Iranians celebrate Iranian New Year (Nowruz, or Noroz), which is celebrated in March and has Zoroastrian influences. People light bonfires, set of firecrackers and dance in the streets to leave their failures behind them and start the new year with prosperity.
Zoroastrians hold major festivals in the spring and the fall; and honor the dead at the end of the year. These are often celebrated at temples.Ceremonies for marriage, initiation, death and the seasons are usually conducted at home. Full and new moons are marked with offerings of dried leaves of herbs and animal fat.
Many Iranians still celebrate Chahar Shanbeh Suri (The Feast of Wednesday), or Feast of Fire. Held around Iranian New Year in the spring. It is marked by public bonfires and leaping over fires of boteh , or desert thorn, and chanting in Farsi: "My troubles and my age I cast into your flames: give me your warmth and brightness in return." The ritual is believed to be rooted in Zoroastrianism.
Yazd Zoroastrian temple On the Winter solstice, the longest night of the year, Iranians buy fruit, nuts and other goodies to mark the feast of Chellah, also known as Yalda, an ancient tradition when families get together and stay up late, swapping stories and munching snacks.
In February, 2010 for the first time in a long time thousands of Iranians gathered in a snowy mountain in Cham to light giant fires to celebrate Sadeh, the ancient Zoroastrian mid-winter festival with Iran's dwindling community of Zoroastrians. There was even a police band on hand that played the Iranian national anthem and other patriotic songs.
In March 2001, 1,200 people were arrested a Feast of the Fire celebration in Tehran for "selling firecrackers" and "disrupting public calm".


Moving the thread over from the V6ii forum since all I have are Sony units.
I'm having trouble with my light meter (Sekonic) not triggering the flashes when plugged into the TX unit I have using a PC Sync cable.
It was found in the other thread that there is a bug with the current 1.1000 firmware and that it might be fixed in an upcoming firmware.
I neglected to mention that I was using the Sony V6ii units so hopefully they write it into that firmware patch as well!
Hey Oz, I moved your original thread over.


In USA Today, Al Sharpton wrote an opinion piece complaining that Democrats and progressives are ignoring Black people and their issues.
It's true: but wtf a) are we going to do about it? and b) who are we supposed to vote for? We have a two party system in which the other side is determined to undo the hard-won gains like voting rights we fought for. Given that, what real leverage to blacks even have against the Democrats?
I believe he's absolutely correct. Democrats take the black vote for granted. They assume that they automatically have support from black voters. Also, we are under represented in Congress & the Senate which is a major problem.


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So this is my first post... I took the circle logo from the early 2000s and changed some colors, added some borders, and put the current crown on there also. Not much, but still something I thought was pretty cool. I would think that it's probably too complex to go anywhere except the arm of the uniform. If you think it would look cooler a different way just let me know. I might just make it that way!
Hey Guys! This was a fun idea we had for the Kansas City Royals. Hope you like this one! C&C Welcome!


"Italian photographer Francesca Cesari brings us into the intimate space of a mother lulling her child to sleep with breastmilk.
Despite this gentle act being everyday and universal, it still is often considered to be private, taking place only behind closed doors.
Cesari photographs the mother and child alone in their rooms, lit only by the warm glow of daylight, delivering the scenes with an intense tenderness.
Cesari's in situ portraits bear the patience and quiet of a mother's soothing presence.
She says that she focuses on women's dual roles as powerful and protective figures who are also sensitive and sometimes fragile.
Through her images, we see the passage of life and love from mother to child – a relationship that each of us has experienced in at least one form.
A secluded and silent place where a mother puts to sleep her child through breast-feeding.
The transition between waking and sleeping as the fulfillment takes over every resistance and distraction.
renewing the ritual everlasting gestures of former generations.
A suspended moment of devotion and tenderness coexisting with the alienating repetitiveness of a routine.
The atmosphere and the characters of a fundamental and exclusive experience of maternity.
addormenta il bambino attraverso l'allattamento al seno.
e l'abbandono di ogni resistenza, gioco e ostinazione.
verso l'incoscienza e che rinnova i gesti rituali ed intuitivi delle generazioni che l'hanno preceduta.
di una routine che si ripete innumerevoli volte.
di un momento fondamentale ed esclusivo dell'esperienza della maternità.


text:
COVID-19 creativity: Ottawa Black artists reflect on their work in the pandemic
Posted February 5, 2021 by Webmaster
Fineus (left) said she used her public art piece "Microcosm" to bring a sense of warmth to these cold and lonely times. Photo courtesy of Fineus.
Community, COVID-19, Culture
Solitude has become familiar for people all over the world during the pandemic and for artists in Ottawa, COVID-19 restrictions and lockdowns have often brought creative slumps.
Ottawa digital painter, Lorgio Nim, said the pandemic did not bring many changes to his own creative process, but he definitely sensed a change in his peers.
"I've seen my peers who are very extroverted in their approach to expressing their art form, who do performative arts or paint live, they have been very affected because we can't gather in crowds," Nim said.
Nim, who says he takes an introverted approach to his art, still ran into difficulties during COVID-19 lockdowns and isolation.
"If I want to take a break, I can't really do much outside," Nim said. "The biggest hinderance for me has been a matter of pacing. I've been paced by what's going on outside."
Photographer Daniel Effah and artist Laurena Fineus also ran into creative slumps.
"With everything being online I feel like there's more work than there used to be," Effah said. "It gives the illusion that people have more time but with that illusion means work is becoming more demanding."
"I just really went into a slump at first," Fineus said. "Also, everything that was going on with the social movement, with Black Lives Matter. That felt very heavy on me as a Black woman artist. Seeing this Black pain was not encouraging to keep making work."
Nim also said he found himself feeling inundated by work.
"I found myself often getting drained because I didn't have a valid reason to stop myself," Nim said.
Effah, Nim and Fineus are all members of the Ottawa Black Art Kollective (OBAK), which is a group dedicated to supporting Black artists in the region. After Black Lives Matter began getting heightened attention, Nim and Fineus began working the themes of racial justice into their art.
"The most prevalent situation where my art was affected by what was going in the world was probably at the start of the pandemic," Nim said. "When the Black Lives Matter movement skyrocketed and became fueled by everyone being stuck at home, that was when I felt most affected by what was going on outside."
Nim was inspired to put two pieces out in quick succession. One piece was called "Suffocated" and the other was called "WE can't breathe." Nim said on his Instagram that the recent events had inspired him to work most of the day and well into the night.
"That was more of a moral obligation," Nim said. "COVID-19 hasn't really affected my vision because before that my vision was pretty independent of exterior factors."
Fineus also explored themes of race in her art. She worked with the City of Ottawa to put up a temporary mural in Orléans. Fineus said she was inspired to share messages of love, hope and community in her piece due to the pandemic.
"I used multiple photos of my own family and people I love," Fineus said.
Fineus' piece "Microcosm" provided Black representation in the public art space. She is now starting a new piece where she uses her photography skills to explore Black and Haitian femininity.
Having experienced isolation fueled creative slumps and coming out the other side, Fineus, Effah and Nim are all happy to be working again.
Effah said he feels he has no choice but to make art. He said that if the choice was between producing something or doing nothing, work was the obvious better option.
"For me what was important was to just make again," Fineus said.
Nim also found a sense of normalcy in making art. When he began making again, he said he was reminded of why he loves the things he does.
"The feeling of taking an idea, realizing it and putting it on screen or on canvas does not change at all. Whether pre-COVID-19 or post-COVID-19, that feeling is the most fulfilling for an artist," Nim said. "That feeling is what keeps me going."


Den Haag Centraal (The Hague Central Station) seems to be one of the least loved of The Hague's modern buildings.
Designed by Koen van der Gaast (1923 – 1993) – responsible for many post-WWII railway stations – and built in 1970-1976 to replace an older station and as part of the re-planning and modernisation of the city centre, it seems to have lost its once modernist appeal.
It was brutally stripped of its shelter roof over its main entrance under its concrete façade and moreover, some new postmodern high rise buildings will be placed in the square in front of its mighty gable.
Breaking it down was probably not possible, so other measures were taken to punish it for its radical brutalist appearance.
It is already crowned with rubbish as if it is just a huge outlet store.
Whatever the qualities of the new buildings in the square (and i have my doubts about that), its present and future position can only be explained to a foreigner while blushing with shame.
Not particularly having been a fan of the building, but making pictures of it last March, i came to value its crude modern shape.
Den Haag Centraal is a terminus and it really looks like a buffer stop.
Its eleven horizontal stories look out over the square and the greens of Koekamp (a deer camp) and Malieveld (a historic field, traditionally used for fairs and demonstrations) and its more or less identical back façade looks out over the railways.
Its monumental sculptural qualities, brutalist and functional though they are, are quite impressive.
It has lost its function as a symbolic buffer stop as with recent renovations it has got more main entrances on other sides.
Last decades the façade has become a brooding brownish building, a muttering old lady, ignored by everyone.
The station hall has recently been revamped as a roofed market square by Benthem and Crouwel architects, as railway stations have to earn money these days, don't ask me why.
They didn't do a bad job at all but it makes the 1970s building all the more obsolete.
Its height and monumentality have no symbolic function anymore.
The new hall is a kind of big glass box which gives more light and elegance to the concrete environment.
However the environment itself doesn't really co-operate.
The south Rijnstraat side of the building is a kind of windy and grey public space full of transport, constantly under construction and completely lost for humanity.
The bus platform on the east side will be restored soon, which is the least they can do.
The whole area looks like a failed exquisite corpse, a limbo before your journey.
Anything additional will make it worse.
This entry was posted in Façades of The Hague and tagged Benthem & Crouwel, Façades of The Hague, Koen van der Gaast. Bookmark the permalink.


Soon available: Follow-Me TraXYZ. With Follow-Me TraXYZ, the Follow-Me system is transformed to an automated tracking solution, with the advantage of not needing operators to manually follow the performers.
The performers wear small trackers and multiple fixtures can be assigned to follow the performers through automated tracking. By adding a TraXYZ server to a Follow-Me system, you have the advantage of a clear screenview as a visual reference of the performers at all times and the possibility to manually take over control if needed.
With Follow-Me TraXYZ, high quality tracking sensors are used to communicate the location of a person to the Follow-Me software. The coordinates that person are then sent to the anchors hanging around the stage, and the information is then used to calculate the moving head angles and zoom as to keep the person in the spotlight.
The sensors have a clip on the back, so they can be easily attached to a person's pocket or belt. Two sensors attached per person should be perfect to keep a person in the spotlight. These sensors have a long battery life and can be charged using Micro-USB.
Anchors are used around the stage that retrieve continuous information of the position of a person at all times. The amount of anchors that are needed for a specific show depends on the size of the stage.
Please get in touch with us with specific information on your stage and show so we can propose a custom solution for your project.
We believe that autotracking is only possible with a back-up in place, this due to the fact that the show must always go on. Since this is an extension to Follow-Me, you are able to take back manual control of the lights at all times.
If the artist to be followed would forget to put on his sensors, he will still remain in the spotlight as long as the operator follows him simply with one of our Follow-Me mouse consoles.


C 5.9 is concerned with existing technology and design requirements for enclosed transportation facilities. Enclosed vehicular facilities encompass the subway portion of rapid transit systems, vehicular tunnels, rail tunnels, enclosed bus ways, bus terminals and parking garages.
Welcome to the Homepage for ASHRAE Technical Committee 5.9. If you would like to become involved with the committee, please attend one of our meetings that take place during the ASHRAE Annual and Winter meetings, or contact the Chair of the Committee. New members are always welcome!