text:
**See filterable/searchable rendered version at [stephenturner.github.io/biofiletypes](http://stephenturner.github.io/biofiletypes).**

_in development_

List of biological file types and their definitions.

## Contributing

1. Fork this repository, clone your fork, and edit [data/biofiletypes.csv](data/biofiletypes.csv).
2. If you're using Excel, make sure to remove the silly MS line endings (e.g., use something like `tr '\r' '\n'` or [this in-place solution](https://github.com/stephenturner/devnotes/blob/master/scripts/fixms)). Alternatively, run `make` in the top directory.
3. Special note about URLs: if you're including URLs, you can use markdown-style links and run `make` to convert them to HTML links. If writing raw HTML, be sure to single-quote URLs.
4. Test that the new file works locally by running this handy python command: `python -m SimpleHTTPServer` and navigating to <http://localhost:8000/>.
5. Commit and push those changes to your fork and submit a pull request.

## Dependencies

Rendered in a searchable, filterable HTML table [here](<http://stephenturner.github.io/biofiletypes>) using [derekeder/csv-to-html-table](https://github.com/derekeder/csv-to-html-table).

* [Bootstrap](http://getbootstrap.com/) - Responsive HTML, CSS and Javascript framework
* [jQuery](https://jquery.com/) - a fast, small, and feature-rich JavaScript library
* [jQuery CSV](https://code.google.com/p/jquery-csv/) - Parse CSV (Comma Separated Values) to Javascript arrays or dictionaries.
* [DataTables](http://datatables.net/) - add advanced interaction controls to any HTML table.


Catastrophic wrongful death accidents can and do happen in Federal Way and the surrounding area.
And when they do occur, a wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of another individual who has died as a result of negligence or wrongful actions of another is a normal course of action.
Defective vehicles and negligent driving behavior account for thousands of accidents and injuries annually. When someone dies as a result of another person's negligence, there may be grounds for a wrongful death lawsuit.
As a wrongful death attorney law firm, we have a successful history in litigating cases involving injuries that may lead to a wrongful death lawsuit in the Federal Way area and beyond.
Types of damages to be considered in a wrongful death lawsuit can seem complicated, especially during a time of grief. That is why we recommend seeking the services of an experienced wrongful death attorney.
The selection of a wrongful death attorney in pursuing a wrongful death lawsuit is one of the most important decisions you can make in recovering compensation and other damages for financial losses, loss of companionship and emotional distress.
Our law firm and the services of our wrongful death attorney serving Federal Way and the surrounding area can provide assistance and legal guidance by reviewing your case, explaining your rights and establishing a basis for your wrongful death lawsuit claim.
It is very comforting to know that there is someone you can contact, like our experienced wrongful death attorney firm in the Federal Way area and beyond who has a highly successful history of wrongful death lawsuit litigations representing families who have suffered the wrongful death of a loved one.


text:
<?php

namespace Acme\PortfolioBundle\Controller;

use Symfony\Bundle\FrameworkBundle\Controller\Controller;
use Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\JsonResponse;
use Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\Request;
use Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\Response;
use Sensio\Bundle\FrameworkExtraBundle\Configuration\Template;

/**
 * AboutController
 *
 * @author Ignacio Velázquez <ivelazquez85@gmail.com>
 */
class AboutController extends Controller
{
    /**
     *
     * @Template()
     * @param Request $request
     *
     * @return null|JsonResponse|Response
     */
    public function indexAction(Request $request)
    {
        $response = null;
        $githubUrl = "https://api.github.com/users/symfony/repos";
        $projects = $this->curl($githubUrl, $request);

        if ('html' === $request->getRequestFormat()) {
            $response = array(
                'section' => $this->get('translator')->trans('About'),
                'projects' => $projects
            );
        }

        if ('json' === $request->getRequestFormat()) {
            $response = new JsonResponse($projects);
        }

        return $response;
    }

    protected function curl($url, Request $request)
        {
            $ch = curl_init($url);
            $options = array(
                CURLOPT_URL => $url,
                CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => 1,
                CURLOPT_USERAGENT => $request->headers->get('User-Agent')
            );
            curl_setopt_array($ch, $options);
            $data = curl_exec($ch);

            $headers = curl_getinfo($ch);

            curl_close($ch);
            return json_decode($data);
        }

}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Appointed Boards & Commissions
Environmental Advisory Council (EAC)
The mission of Newtown Township's Environmental Advisory Council (EAC) is to advise on matters dealing with the protection, conservation, management, promotion and use of the finite natural resources located within the Township. Newtown Township EAC is part of a statewide network. The network was developed to address the needs of Pennsylvania's Environmental Amendment.
1st Monday of every month
Newtown Township Municipal Building
209 Bishop Hollow Road
Bruce Killen Chairman
Cindy Mehallow Vice Chair
Henry (Harry) Sill Bryans Secretary
Janet Krevenas Member
Shelia O'Sullivan Feeney Member
Jason DeCecco Member
Joe Pinto Member
2020 Meeting Schedule:
ALL MEETING START AT 5PM
2/3/2020 3/2/2020
8/3/2020 9/8/2020 (Tues)
10/5/2020 11/2/2020
Re-Organization 1/11/2021
Pennsylvania's Environmental Amendment
The People have the right to clean air, pure water, and to the preservation of the natural, scenic, historic and aesthetic values of the environment. Pennsylvania's public natural resources are the common property of all the people, including generations yet to come. As trustee of these resources, the Commonwealth shall conserve and maintain them for the benefit of all the people. Native plants play an important role in our environment.
(Article 1, Section 27 of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania)
Pennsylvania's Environmental Advisory Councils (EAC) are officially created, appointed arms of municipal government that focus on environmental conservation and improvement. The EAC acts as advisers to elected and appointed Township boards, Township administration, and residents giving the Township a resource to draw upon when decisions are made and activities that are undertaken that effect the environmental resources of the Township.
The Newtown Township EAC undertakes a wide variety of projects and information-gathering tasks that help the Township meet and exceed its environmental stewardship responsibilities. The EAC seeks grants to fund its advocacy activities.
Chester Watershed Association (CRC) 2020 List of Events
For more information on the EAC, consult the Newtown Township General Code.
If you have anything you would like to bring to the attention of the Parks Board, please submit our Township Contact Form. Your message will be forwarded to the appropriate person.
The Board of Supervisors passed Resolution 2020-11 promoting the use of Native Plants at their March 9, 2020 meeting. Native plants play an important role in our environment. Please click here to see visit the Township's Native Plant Informational page.
How to Create a Meadow (PDF)
Naturalizing Your Yard (PDF)
How to Recognize Hazardous Defects in Trees (PDF)
Arbor Day: Tree City USA Bulletins
Bartram Bridge Joint Commission
Leisure Services Commission
Municipal Authority (Sewer)
Sewer Bill Changes
Public Sewer Extension Project - 537 Plan
Sewer Connection Financing
Municipal Authority Resolutions
Aqua's proposed acquisition of DELCORA
Land Development Projects
Zoning Rewrite
How to Join a Virtual Meeting

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
An Olympic champion without a medal
Ronald Brown beat cancer to become an Olympian with the Springbok Sevens team. Any battle he faced on the pitch in Japan was nothing compared to what he had to overcome to get there.
By: Brenden Nel
28 July 2021: Ronald Brown is tackled by Martin Iosefo during the men's Rugby Sevens play-off match between South Africa and the United States at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan. (Photograph by Ramsey Cardy/ Sportsfile via Getty Images)
Springbok Sevens player Ronald Brown broke down when he heard the news while in a small Boland town in the Western Cape with his parents, Ronald and Anita. Filled with disbelief, the tears began to flow. "We were in Robertson when I got the news. We got it before the media. My parents waited for me outside in the car, and when I got the news I couldn't drive. I was shaking. I had to sit for a few minutes," he says, smiling.
"I told them I was in the 14-man squad and I'm going to the Olympics! My dad burst out in tears and started shouting. He was so happy. My mom sat still and said nothing. I don't think she believed me when I said it. My dad, though, couldn't stop [patting me on my shoulder]. He was so proud of me at that moment.
"At the end of the day it was such an amazing moment, because through the sickness it was them with me the whole time. So to see him like that was such an amazing moment. It was amazing."
Pierre Blignaut's Olympic dream fulfilled at last
After a journey that brought him to the lowest point in his life as he battled to overcome cancer, the 25-year-old was rewarded with his greatest achievement thus far: he became the only non-capped player chosen to represent the Blitzboks at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Earning his first cap against Kenya on 26 July, Brown followed up by scoring two tries against Australia. It was the culmination of a journey that became a triumph of hope over adversity.
The talented winger was spotted while playing for the University of Johannesburg in the Varsity Cup. The national team selectors saw a player who could take the Blitzboks into the World Series. But then came the hardest hammer blow for any athlete, for any person.
The bubble bursts
"I really thought my dreams were being realised. I had just received my first Springbok Sevens contract. I was on top of the world. I had just joined the side and started training with them. But then I got the pain in my chest," he says.
"I spoke to the team doctor and he looked worried. We did further tests and he told me there was something showing up in my chest that shouldn't have been there. They sent me for a biopsy in my neck and the results were not what I wanted. I heard I was diagnosed with stage two Hodgkin's lymphoma. It came at the worst time. I was fit and healthy and I was in a good place with my rugby.
"It came a day after I received my visa to travel with the team to England for my first tournament. It hit me hard. Getting the visa meant I was in with a chance of travelling with the team and it hit me very hard. It stopped everything."
Long Read | Solomzi Nqweni learns to walk again
Fortunately, the cancer hadn't spread extensively yet and there was a good chance of overcoming it. "That kept me positive," says Brown. "I still knew that I was walking around with a ticking time bomb in my head. It was difficult. My mom took it especially bad. She stressed a lot and when she heard the diagnosis, she thought my rugby career was over. My dad helped a lot in keeping me positive. With my sisters Ronita and Menechia, they kept me positive. Thank goodness I have a great support system, otherwise it would have been easy to fade away into a dark corner."
Five months of chemotherapy were followed by 18 days of radiation treatment. Initially it went well, but he had a setback in the middle of chemo and things got dark for him.
"My body didn't want to fight anymore. All the negative, ugly side effects began to take its toll. I had all these questions swirling in my head. Why me? Why now? What did I do wrong? Am I going to get through this? I started losing my hair, I began to be very self-conscious. I'd wear a hat and didn't want to look at myself in the mirror. If I didn't hear myself talk, I didn't recognise the face in the mirror. I couldn't train and I was irritated."
The lowest point
One day, near breaking point, Brown felt he couldn't go on. But his parents, who played a pivotal role when he was at his lowest, brought him back from the brink. "The hospital staff did everything they could for me, but nothing was working," he remembers that day.
He limped to the bathroom and lay on the floor, not wanting to go on. But his parents spoke softly to him, reminding him of their love and giving him hope. "My father has probably never had a negative thought in his head and if it wasn't for him that day and the support my mother gave, I wouldn't be here. He reminded me I can play rugby again. He reminded me of what I have to live for."
Brown says it took almost an hour to get himself up off the floor. It was touch-and-go whether he would give up the fight. He soldiered on and finally the treatment passed. The biggest test was yet to come for him, though, as the first scans after his long treatment would be decisive for the future of his career.
Mhlengi Gwala looks to Tokyo with a smile
He was stressed. His family accompanied him to the doctor. When the results came, it was good news. "I immediately had tears in my eyes. There was a load off my shoulders. I was very emotional, I couldn't help it. I had hope again."
Slowly the long road back began, and Brown found a Springbok Sevens team waiting with open arms for him to arrive. He worked harder than ever, needing something to focus on. "It was a dream for me to make a Springbok team, but I never could have dreamt the Olympics would have been the place to do that. I never thought it would be now.
"To be honest, with the pandemic that happened, it left me a lot more mature in terms of my play. If it was last year, as the Olympics were planned, I don't think I would have made it into the team. It is a dream that is a reality now, and I'm really excited about it."
What does the future hold for the Lions Tour?
What began as a dream became a personal crusade for Brown. And while he was the most inexperienced player and one of the youngest in the squad, he certainly had the drive and motivation to work towards getting selected for the Olympics.
"I've always been someone who has a lot of fight in him and wants to learn and get better. It was tough to make the team, but the hard work was rewarded. I have gone through tough times, and when it came close to the Olympics I thought it won't happen because I still haven't got a cap," he says.
"I spoke to the coaches and they were happy with the way I played. When we had the preparation tournaments, the coach Neil [Powell] inspired me with the message to the team that he doesn't choose me [to be] in the team, but we choose ourselves through our play.
"How we train and play would determine who would play. It motivated me and I knew if I did everything I could, then I couldn't go wrong. I started to focus and concentrate on doing the basic things well, and that helped my game. And when the Olympics were postponed, it was good for me. It made sure my game matured and it made me more hungry. Our system is very competitive and very honest, and we bring the best out in each other."
Savouring the moment
After that moment in the car with his parents, Brown returned to his teammates and the tears flowed. "When we got together again, everyone was emotional. We're a very close-knit side and we know that it can change in an instant and you can be replaced in the side. We are very sensitive and emotional about selection. Everyone was happy but also sad for those who didn't make it.
"We know it is a privilege to be there. For me it wasn't such a big shock. Obviously I was hoping and in the practices I knew I had a chance. But they were happy for me and we cried together. It was a really emotional time."
When he went to Japan, Brown's aim was to make an impression and build on it from there, knowing that every day is a blessing. Every day is a chance. "My health is being watched closely and I know my health is more important than anything else right now, even rugby. I'm 100% clean at the moment. My last check-up was very good and I'm a lot more at peace with everything.
Ashleigh Moolman Pasio has it figured out
"My doctor normally says if he is concerned with anything. And so far he has been very happy. I wasn't that concerned about Covid-19, to be honest. We are monitored and tested the whole time at the Sevens, but I was more worried about my parents and their health.
"I think what I went through really helps me when it comes to my rugby. I have to go back and remind myself I am blessed to even be here and how far I come, and that motivates me more."
Brown's biggest goal when he arrived in Japan was to make his parents proud. And when he took to the field at Tokyo Stadium he did just that, showing the most fight of any Sevens player. For that alone he is a champion, even if the Blitzboks finished fifth in the tournament and returned home without the Olympic medal they were expected to get.
Precious Mashele, the reluctant Olympian
What lies behind Africa's elusive World Cup glory?
Lighting a candle for love, victory and country


The Movie Poster »Nebula« for the Movie »Guardians of the Galaxy« from Director James Gunn on CAFMP – Central Archive for Movie Posters.
Poster »Nebula« from movie »Guardians of the Galaxy« on CAFMP - Central Archive for Movie Posters with the star Karen Gillan on it.
If you found a mistake in our data for the Poster (Nebula) just send us corrections or further information with this form. This is NOT a comment form. For release comments to the posters scroll down.


text:
Digital Power Corporation (DPW) Explodes to One-Year High
Digital Power Corporation (DPW) exploded to a one-year high of $2.07 on Thursday on higher-than-average volume. The stock had amassed a volume of more than 4 million by 2:05 p.m., which was more than 285 times its average volume of 13,993. Interestingly, the company has made no announcements in the last month. The stock skyrocketed more than 65% during the trading day.
Andrew Meola
Mar 6, 2014 2:14 PM EST
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Digital Power Corporation (DPW) - Get Report exploded to a one-year high of $2.07 on Thursday on higher-than-average volume.
The stock had amassed a volume of more than 4 million by 2:05 p.m., which was more than 285 times its average volume of 13,993. Interestingly, the company has made no announcements in the last month. The stock skyrocketed more than 65% during the trading day.
Must Read: Warren Buffett's 10 Favorite Dividend Stocks
STOCKS TO BUY: TheStreet Quant Ratings has identified a handful of stocks that can potentially TRIPLE in the next 12 months. Learn more.
TheStreet Ratings team rates DIGITAL POWER CORP as a "sell" with a ratings score of D. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation:
"We rate DIGITAL POWER CORP (DPW) a SELL. This is driven by some concerns, which we believe should have a greater impact than any strengths, and could make it more difficult for investors to achieve positive results compared to most of the stocks we cover. The company's weaknesses can be seen in multiple areas, such as its disappointing return on equity and generally disappointing historical performance in the stock itself.
DPW data by YCharts
MarketsAnalyst Actions


28 Dominican contemplative nuns from 8 monasteries in the U.S. and Canada (Corpus Christi, Bronx, NY; Mary of the Queen, Elmira, NY; Queen of Peace, Squamish, Canada; Blessed Sacrament, Farmington Hills, MI; Corpus Christi, Menlo Park, CA; Infant Jesus, Lufkin, TX; Our Lady of the Rosary, Summit, NJ; and Caterina Benincasa, Newcastle, DE) gathered at Sacred Heart Convent in Springfield, Illinois for a retreat from July 1-9, 2013. The retreat theme was "If you make my word your home, you will indeed be my disciples…" (Jn 8:31) and included preaching at Morning Prayer, Eucharist and Evening Prayer each day, led by Brian Pierce, OP (St. Martin de Porres), Donald Goergen, OP (St. Albert the Great), Ann Willits, OP (Sinsinawa) and Breda Carroll, OP (St. Catherine of Siena, Ireland). The nuns retreat included time for some community-building: they joined the Springfield Dominican sisters for a festive celebration of the 4th of July.


text:
Leair
Leair is a powerhouse Singer, Songwriter, and Producer who is frequently called, "talented", "relatable", and 'authentic' by his listeners.
His music style is a powerful mixture of R&B, Soul, Acoustic Soul, Neo Soul, and Hip-Hop.
Based in Oakland, CA, Leair grew up in many different cities across the bay area, and also living outside of the state. Every city helped construct his identity and creativity by exposing him to many different cultures and lifestyles.
Leair is considered a late bloomer, after casually taking a music class in high school.Within a span of a year, he learned how to play the piano, the guitar, read and write sheet music, and also how to write poetry. In addition, he learned how to sing from a singing lesson kit he purchased online for a school project.
Leair has literally hundreds of influential artist and draws inspiration from every genre. His foundational influences are 2pac, John Legend, Musiq Soulchild, Tony Toni Tone, Outkast, Alicia Keys, Lyfe Jennings, Anthony Hamilton, and last but not least Stevie Wonder.
His goal is to be known as a prominent musician whose lyrics, melodies, composition, and productions, touches the hearts and minds of his listeners. Leair wants to connect his audience to a greater frequency of music. He wants people to "Feel" again.


text:
Q: Python can't find modules with PYTHONPATH set I'm totally confused with new python 2.7.10.
I've installed python 2.7.10 from tar.xz, which was downloaded from official site. Then I've linked /usr/local/bin/python2.7 with /usr/bin/python2.7 and /usr/bin/python, but when I try to import module, I get ImportError: No module named "module_name". For example:
python -c "import gtk"
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<string>", line 1, in <module>
ImportError: No module named gtk

But if:
cd /usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/gtk-2.0/
python -c "import gtk"

We get:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<string>", line 1, in <module>
  File "gtk/__init__.py", line 30, in <module>
    import gobject as _gobject
ImportError: No module named gobject

So, gtk module has been imported successfully.
Let's "cd ~" and look at sys.path:
python -c "import sys, pprint; pprint.pprint(sys.path)"
['',
 '/usr/local/lib/python2.7/site-packages/setuptools-17.1.1-py2.7.egg',
 '/usr/local/lib/python2.7/site-packages/pip-7.1.0.dev0-py2.7.egg',
 '/usr/local/lib/python27.zip',
 '/usr/local/lib/python2.7',
 '/usr/local/lib/python2.7/plat-linux2',
 '/usr/local/lib/python2.7/lib-tk',
 '/usr/local/lib/python2.7/lib-old',
 '/usr/local/lib/python2.7/lib-dynload',
 '/usr/local/lib/python2.7/site-packages']

Ok, there is no /usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages, let's add it:
export PYTHONPATH=$PYTHONPATH:/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages:/usr/lib/python2.7
Now:
python -c "import sys, pprint; pprint.pprint(sys.path)"
['',
 '/usr/local/lib/python2.7/site-packages/setuptools-17.1.1-py2.7.egg',
 '/usr/local/lib/python2.7/site-packages/pip-7.1.0.dev0-py2.7.egg',
 '/home/s-quark',
 '/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages',
 '/usr/lib/python2.7',
 '/usr/local/lib/python27.zip',
 '/usr/local/lib/python2.7',
 '/usr/local/lib/python2.7/plat-linux2',
 '/usr/local/lib/python2.7/lib-tk',
 '/usr/local/lib/python2.7/lib-old',
 '/usr/local/lib/python2.7/lib-dynload',
 '/usr/local/lib/python2.7/site-packages']

But it's still could not find module:
python -c "import gtk"
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<string>", line 1, in <module>
ImportError: No module named gtk

What I have to do?

A: It seems that you have two python versions.
The default version generally is linked to:
/usr/bin/python

As you can see from which -a python, your local version lives inside:
/usr/local/bin/python

this is linked to your local binary with
/usr/bin/python

pip install installs packages using the default python. This is the reason you can't import the packages from your local installation even if the package is visible in your $PYTHONPATH.
In case python -m pip install doesn't install the desired packages on your local version try creating a virtual environment (Do not use sudo)
In case everything fails or you are desperate, install a clean Anaconda and stay out of trouble.
I hope that works

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Sensaris helps you to stay active and healthy. Our service alerts you of current pollutants, ozone levels, heat, pollen and much more.
Use the forecast feature to plan your outdoor activities such as running, garden work, exercise or daily walk. Hi pollutant count and pollen can be unhealthy or slow you down. Not so with Sensaris.
Set levels for PM, OZ, PL and more and get alerts to stay safe, to stay healthy. You can use this feature to remind yourself to turn on/off the air purifier, plan work outs at the best time and more. It's that awesome.
Forecast upcoming conditions to better manage respiratory related issues like asthma or COPD.
Use the forecast feature to plan outdoor activity. We all know that exercising, yard work, and heavy outdoor activity is not recommended under certain conditions. Don't be afraid, manage it.
Sensaris is building environmental monitoring solutions for consumers and industries. We solve problems surrounding personal health, work environment safety and health, as well as tools to manage climate change. To learn more contact us today.
Sensaris, working to create a better (healthier) world!


text:
Freeplay Closes Out the Season in Style
by Stephanie Artis | Sep 25, 2016 | News
The season may be winding down, but Freeplay athletes aren't done yet.
To kick off the fall, Mary Tanner came back from a nasty (really nasty) bout of poison oak to finish both Coeur d'Alene 70.3 and Ironman CDA. We're expecting her to be fully recovered for her last big race, Ironman Arizona in November!
Pam Goodley wrapped up her season — thankfully before she broke her arm — with a 4th place finish in her age group at Santa Cruz 70.3. She toughed out the popular, competitive and cold race with her signature smile. Go get 'em!
Heading out to try and catch up!
While we have four athletes headed to Kona for the Ironman World Championships, those aren't the only world championships on the Freeplay schedule. First up, Elise went down to Cozumel (with the whole family in tow) for the ITU World Championships. She marched in the parade of nations, proudly showed off her American colors — and, of course, the Freeplay spade — and then took 9th her age group on a hot day. That makes her one of the ten best Olympic distance athletes in her age group in the world. We think she deserves that beach-side vacation she's taking now.
Elise representing for America.
Now, all eyes are turning to Hawaii. Kimberly is prepping for the Xterra World Championships in Maui at the end of October. As our resident dirt girl and expert mountain biker, she should be dominant at that other big race in our 50th state.
Before Xterra, though, the triathlon world will first turn its eyes to the Big Island, where Kelly, Sara, Jaimee and Freeplay ambassador Christine will all be racing in the Ironman World Championships. Both Christine and Jaimee qualified with a late race at Ironman Canada, where Pam also took fourth in her age group. Jaimee, our youngin', won her young age group in her first Ironman ever. When she started doing triathlon just two years ago, completing an Ironman and qualifying for Kona was a long-term goal. Well, she's already knocked that off the list. And Christine followed up a performance at Ironman Wisconsin in the fall, where she missed qualifying for Kona by 55 seconds (!!), with a second place in the age group and fourth overall woman.
Jaimee in front of the ugly Ironman Canada course.
After resting up, Jaimee and Christine will join Kelly and Sara in Hawaii. They've all been busy training this summer and are ready to wrap up the season with the best in the world. After third place in her age group at Vineman 70.3 this summer, Sara's actually finishing up her season with the double-header — racing in both the 70.3 and Ironman world championships. Kelly didn't race the 70.3 championships in Australia, but she did cheer on her teammates. And, after a second overall at Whistler 70.3 and finishing as the third amateur at Vineman 70.3, she mostly has just been training, training, training.
Now it's time to finish this season in true Freeplay fashion!


text:
The Observer profile
He is a brilliant philosopher whose views both inflame and delight: animals have the same rights as people; not all human lives are worth saving. Now, with his new book, he has a practical plan to help wipe out world poverty
Ed Vulliamy
Peter Singer. Photograph: Sarah Lee/Guardian
Of all the demonstrations I have reported, and the several more in which I have partaken, none was more surreal and impressive than that against Peter Singer, the then new professor of bioethics at Princeton University when he arrived to take his chair in 1999. Most of the demonstrators were disabled, some of them severely, chanting and holding placards reading: "Not Dead Yet!". The outrage was caused by Singer's belief that there is a case for euthanasia applicable to physically deformed babies, with all its echoes of Nazi eugenics.
Singer, rarely out of the news and credited with being the philosopher of animal liberation, will be in the limelight again when his new book is published, only this time he hits a different raw nerve and - a first for him - will do so with the resounding approval of most people.
The book, The Life You Can Save, is a practical plan to eradicate world poverty and the deaths of millions by asking all of us to give a little, and the rich to give a lot, to the very poor and the starving.
Singer is listed among the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine. He is also a highly controversial philosopher whose heresies often become, with time, accepted orthodoxies. He was the man who first assailed "the fallacy of cheap food" and introduced "the ethics of eating".
Peter David Albert Singer was born in Melbourne on 6 July 1946, the same day as George W Bush, on whom Singer wrote a book. In it, he quoted Bush as saying: "Some people think it's inappropriate to make moral judgements any more - not me." To which Singer added: "Well, not me either. So that is one view about morality on which the president and I agree." The list ended pretty much there.
Singer's heritage is compelling and not irrelevant to some of the charges that have been levelled against him. His parents, Jews from Vienna, escaped Austria in 1938 and three of his grandparents were exterminated during the Holocaust. The fourth, grandmother Amalie, survived Theresenstadt to arrive in Melbourne in 1946 and meet her six-week-old grandson.
Singer's father Ernst became a tea merchant, his mother Cora a doctor, and the boy progressed from his home-town university to Oxford in 1969, where he studied under the guru of the "universalist" moral philosophy school associated with Oxford, RM Hare, many of whose views have propelled Singer's.
By the time he had returned to Melbourne in 1977, via lectureships at Oxford and New York, Singer had already published, in 1975, the book that would catapult him to international renown and set him on the course to fame or infamy, depending on how one regards his beliefs.
Animal Liberation is regarded as having launched the animal rights movement and its many offshoots. Now that vegetarianism, concern over the conditions of farm animals, the benefits of organic and free-range food are commonplace, one can see Animal Liberation as the start of a process whereby Singer says something at the time apparently outrageous, but towards which the zeitgeist, or aspects of it, then move.
Not that there is anything mainstream about what Singer argued: that animals have rights just as humans do, related fundamentally to their ability to suffer pain as humans do. He also addressed the matters of animals' ability to communicate with each other and argued that, in some cases, animals show greater intelligence than many "retarded" humans.
It is right to see Singer within the traditions of ethical universalism and Utilitarianism, the doctrine founded by Jeremy Bentham which argues on secular, humanist grounds in the interests of the greatest happiness for the greatest number - a calculation which may need off-setting by sacrifices from others.
It is the school that grapples with the kind of question posed by Singer in a recent article in the New York Sun: "You are standing by a railroad track when you notice that a trolley, with no one aboard, is rolling down the track, heading for a group of five people. If the trolley continues on its present track, they will all be killed. The only thing you can do to prevent this tragedy is throw a switch that will divert the trolley onto a sidetrack. But there is one person on this sidetrack, and he will be killed. Should you throw the switch?"
Nature is a pretty vicious arena and Gaia is the green goddess not so much of natural beauty as of the survival of the fittest. Some people in the "Deep Green" movement inspired by Singer regard Aids as Mother Earth's self-corrective response to over-population. Singer's own Darwinism has led him to question, as in the title of a book of 1985, Should The Baby Live? The Problem of Handicapped Infants. Co-written with Helga Kuhse, it was suggested that the answer might well be, no, the baby should not live, and that if parents of a handicapped child were to kill it, or authorised a doctor to do so, this would not be murder.
Many saw Singer's green utilitarianism moving in a dangerous direction, echoing the doctrines which had killed his grandparents. Advocates for the handicapped protested at a lecture in Saarbrücken, and another in Zurich was halted by demonstrators chanting "Singer raus [out]!".
When, in 1999, Singer was given the chair at Princeton, not only did he face the demonstration of disabled people, but Princeton faced the removal of an endowment from businessman and publisher Steve Forbes, who said: "The elevation of Peter Singer to a place of honour in an endowed chair of bioethics troubles me just as it would if such an honour were bestowed upon an anti-Semite or a racist."
Marca Bristo, chairperson of the US National Council for Disability, said: "Singer's core vision that the life of a person with disability is worth less than the life of a person without a disability, amounts to a defence of genocide." Singer retorts: "It is always frustrating to be misunderstood, but I've had to put up with that for a long time."
Singer is a contrarian, but not comparable to those who devise deliberate provocations. He is doing something different and, whether one agrees with him or not, he is an intellectual heavyweight. His less well-known work zig-zags around all kinds of nooks and crannies.
Although a favourite in some libertarian circles, he supports the idea of compulsory voting, as exists in his native Australia. He gives consideration to the legalisation of doping in sport, saying: "The problem is not with the athletes, but with us. We cheer them on."
In his most famous essay, "Famine, Affluence and Morality" (1972), Singer argued that for some to live affluently while others die of hunger is morally indefensible. One might think that this is like arguing that beating up old ladies is wrong, and who needs a philosopher to say that? But, as we see more clearly with every news bulletin nowadays, globalised capitalism, epitomised by banks and their friends in politics, believes that beating up old ladies is morally just fine. And this is what Singer wants to challenge.
With this latest book, Singer is once again being contrarian, only this time most people agree with him. His proposal is characteristically clear and practical: most people in the developed world should give 5% of their income to eradicate poverty, while the very rich should give much more, and still remain very rich.
What is conservative, rather than radical, about Singer is that he seems to be arguing for humanitarian, utilitarian capitalism that ends poverty and feels better about itself for having done so - including the majority of us able to find our spare 5% (Singer, by the way, gives 25% of his earnings to Oxfam).
Singer's statistics on just how much the richest 0.01 per cent of US taxpayers earn are breathtaking and outrageous (one wishes his book contained more Brits, and their home addresses), and just the kind of thing people need to know as the crisis that their greed precipitated cripples the rest of us. And then Singer says: "Should we think there's something wrong with this if we live in a world where there are some 27,000 children dying every day?"
Well, of course, and no doubt Sir Fred Goodwin and his political friends like Tony Blair of JP Morgan and the Faith Foundation would say: "Yes, Professor Singer, there is!"
Though if Singer had his way, there would still be plenty of children dying. As he prepares for a blaze of publicity around his new book, an article he published only last week on the website of the Council for Secular Humanism is entitled "Treating (or not) the Tiniest Babies". It charts which premature babies went on to suffer various forms of "functional disability" after different timings of birth, and laments that "in the United States ... it can be difficult to challenge the prevailing rhetoric that every possible effort must be made to save every human life".
So the old Peter Singer is still with us, very much "Not Dead Yet".
The Peter Singer lowdown
Born: 6 July 1946 in Melbourne, Australia. Singer studied law, history and philosophy at Melbourne University, graduating with an MA in 1969. He went on to complete a B.Phil at Oxford University.
Best of times: Though his 1975 book Animal Liberation made his name, it was his appointment to the position of DeCamp professor of bioethics at Princeton University in 1999 that cemented his academic position.
Worst of times: The publication of Animal Liberation and the fame it gained him also brought an equal share of infamy that has hounded Singer ever since. His views have been compared to those of the Nazis, and his lectures are frequently interrupted by protesters from both pro-life and disabled rights groups. Singer's mother died after suffering from Alzheimer's, leading to accusations of hypocrisy as he had given money to support her while she had the disease.
They say: "Anybody who has had to choose between saving a child or a cat from drowning, between feeding his small surplus to his starving neighbour or his starving rabbits, between nursing a dying friend or leaving him out for the vultures, will know that Singer's view is nonsense."
Philosopher Roger Scruton
He says: "All the arguments to prove man's superiority cannot shatter this hard fact: in suffering, the animals are our equals."
• This article was amended on Sunday 1 March 2009. We described utilitarianism as "the doctrine founded by John Stuart Mill" but it was Jeremy Bentham who advocated utilitarianism in collaboration with John Stuart's father, James. This has been corrected.


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Home Defend Israel Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Gaza, Lebanese Hizballah escape scot free from IDF...
Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Gaza, Lebanese Hizballah escape scot free from IDF retaliation.
Palestinians inspect positions of Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades that was hit by Israeli fighter jets last night, in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, on October 2, 2019. Photo by Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90
Source: Debka File, November 2, 2019
Israeli fighter jets struck Hamas compounds in Gaza early Friday night, Nov. 1, in reprisal for the Palestinian 10-rocket barrage against Sderot and Shear Hanegev. However, a day earlier, the IDF ignored Hizballah fire on its spy drone. Both responses were misjudged.
Of the 10 Palestinian rockets fired from the Gaza Strip on Friday night, one struck a home in Sderot – the occupants were luckily safe in their security room – while seven were downed by Iron Dome batteries. A few hours later, Israeli Air Force jets bombed Hamas infrastructure in the Gaza Strip. Their targets included Hamas' naval base, its air defense compound, training facilities and a munitions production factory.
That operation targeted the wrong address, DEBKAfile's sources report. The rockets were not fired by Hamas but by a rogue element of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Northern Brigade, which has run out of control of Hamas, Egypt and its own senior Gaza command. Its leader, Baher Abu Atta, feels he can confidently defy them all because he works directly with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Al Qods chief, Gen. Qassem Soleimani. He also commands his own arsenal of hundreds of rockets. It may be surmised therefore that the rocket barrage of Friday night was directed by Al Atta's real master.
In the past year, Israeli warplanes were twice on the point of attacking his forces and arsenal, yet drew back at the last moment, whether to avoid sparking a general conflagration around Gaza or to meet an urgent request from Egypt. On Friday night, Israeli paid the consequences for that restraint.
Equally misplaced was Israel's restraint from responding to Hizballah's failed attempt to shoot down an IDF spy drone over southern Lebanon on Thursday, Oct. 31.
The weapon Hizballah used has not been identified – whether a low-tech shoulder-borne rocket, or a mobile anti-air Russian SA-8 which has a range of 30km. The force of the explosion indicates the latter, which would make it the first time Hizballah has used an SA-8 against an Israeli aircraft.
The fact that it missed, did not deter Hizballah's leader Hassan Nasrallah from exploiting the incident for a taunting comment:
"What happened yesterday in the South when the resistance fighters confronted an Israeli drone was a normal thing, and not a separate incident. Since the day of the aggression against Beirut's southern suburbs, we embarked on a course with the goal of cleansing Lebanese airspace of Israeli violations."
The drone incident presented Nasrallah with a handy opportunity to draw attention to "security" and away from the tight spot in which Hizballah finds itself domestically against a wave of anti-government protest. He may be counted on to manufacture "security" incidents or border clashes with Israel in response to the mounting danger to the Hizballah-dominated regime in Beirut. The IDF should have hit back at the rocket team hiding in the dense foliage of Nabatea – if only to offset a fresh spiral of violence on Israel's northern border.
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The Growing Threat to Israel and the Region


When talking about growing stocks and companies, we usually mention only growing stocks. This is, however, rather tricky: quotes growth may be speculative. The growth of profit is a much more reliable indicator of a company's development. Today we start a series of articles devoted to the most actively growing (in terms of profits) companies for the last five years, since April 2011.
Our today's overview is devoted to the US companies, whose profit growth was most significant among others during the last five years. whose capitaization exceeds $300M, and the P/E coefficient is lower than 30. The latter means that the quotes are not overestimated.
One of the many buildings owned by Independence Realty.
A real estate investor. The company specializes on luxurious buildings, like houses in prestigious areas of the US. It owns a lot of real estate objects and participates in investment projects.
The prices on the company's stocks were especially high in 2014. Now they are as much as two times lower. The company pays dividends 12 times a year. The size of the dividends depends on the quotes, but in fact they are rather big.
Independence Realty Trust is likely to be the most attractive for investors among the companies in this ranking. The dividends are truly high, the P/E coefficient is low (which means, the dividends are backed by the profits), the stock prices are quite low, and they are unlikely to fall dramatically. The growth of turnover is even more significant than the profit growth. All these things considered, we can derive that Independence Realty's success is not just driven by the fortune.
A bags and suitcases producer founded in 1975. It has opened 120 shops and 200 boutiques all around the world so far. TUMI also makes other accessories like belts, pens, and even solar accus for mobile devices.
TUMI's quotes are quite volatile. They have been changing between $16 to $27 recently, and the most dramatic growth took place at the beginning of 2016.
If compared with other companies in this overview, TUMI is not interesting as an investment opportunity. It does not pay dividends, its P/E is rather high, and the stock price is likely to go back down.
A biotechnological company that develops low-molecular treatments for hepatitis and HIV. Its most well-known product is paritaprevir used in hepatitis C treatment. In the development of new products Enanta cooperates with another quickly-developing company, AbbVie.
Just like Independence Realty Trust, Enanta Pharmaceuticals enjoyed the highest stock prices 2014. Later on, they decreased significantly. They are, however, higher now than in 2013, and, judging by the P/E, they are unlikely to fall further.
Enanta Pharmaceuticals is quite attractive for investors, but it does not pay dividends. The stock prices are, however, low enogh to admit that they may start growing soon.
A retail company that deals with mattresses and other sleeping gear. It was founded in 1986. The company owns over 1,600 shops in the US. Its main brands are Tempur-Pedic, Stearns & Foster, Sealy, Serta, Simmons Beautyrest, Lux Living, Hampton & Rhodes. The variety of shop logos includes Mattress Firm, Sleep Train, Sleep country.
The same situation again: the price peak in 2014 and a drastic fall afterwards.
Mattress Firm has quite a low attractivity from the point of view of an investor. It pays no dividends, while the P/E is high: the prices may fall even further.
An intermational provider of convention and event marketing services. It operates in the North America, Europe and the UAE. The company also offers touristic services in the US and Canada, in particular, it organizes tours to different national parks and exotic areas of Alaska.
VIAD's quotes halved during the crisis of 2007-2008. Since then, they have never reached the maximum; however, they are growing steadily. The company pays dividends four times a year. The dividends are, however, low, and the P/E is high, so its stocks are not a very attractive investment opportunity.
Overview of Madrid Stock Exchange, including the companies listed on this market and added recently for trading in EXANTE terminal.
Convenient choice of the expiration date, indicator of GTC emulation and placing Stop Loss/Take Profit orders by a single right-click.


This qualification reflects the role of retail sales personnel involved in a defined range of tasks to sell and demonstrate beauty or cosmetic products. They follow known routines and procedures and work under direct supervision. This qualification provides a pathway to work as a retail sales consultant in any business that sells beauty or cosmetic products and services. This can include beauty and hairdressing salons, retail outlets and department stores.
This qualification reflects the role of individuals employed as beauticians to provide a range of beauty services including nail, waxing, lash and brow, and basic make-up services. These individuals possess a range of well-developed technical and customer service skills where discretion and judgement is required and are responsible for their own outputs. This includes client consultation on beauty products and services.


The Weston is slightly oversized, definitely statement-making and majorly beneficial to the future you.
The following features are included in all of our lenses.
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Anti-reflective or AR coatings help to reduce annoying glare and halos around lights as well as reflections caused by lights and computers.
Water repellent hydrophobic coatings help to keep your lenses clean by repelling water droplets and dirt from causing smudges on your lenses.
UV Protective coatings to deflect harmful UV rays from the sun to help prevent eye damage.
We offer a 14 Day return policy with a one year warranty in case of any damages or scratches. Our warranty does not cover damage caused by accidents, negligence, or improper care. If the glasses are made incorrectly by our lab, we will remake them for no charge. If you are unhappy with the style of your glasses, we will gladly give you store credit upon return of your prescription glasses.
Prescription lenses are created by our lab within 2 business days of receiving your order. You can expect to receive your new glasses within 10 - 14 days of placing your order.
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text:
BREAKING: GOP Restores Adoption Tax Credit After Major Backlash
Photo Credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images
By Meg Storm
Many were taken aback when the latest GOP tax plan didn't keep the adoption tax credit, and several prominent voices spoke out against the move. Their words appear to have been taken to heart, as the GOP has reversed course and added the adoption tax credit back into both the House and Senate GOP tax bills.
According to The Hill:
A tax credit for adoptive families has been retained in both the House and Senate GOP tax bills, following pushback from socially conservative lawmakers and anti-abortion groups.
The credit was initially removed in the House version of the legislation, but an amendment released Thursday from Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas) retained it.
Preserving the credit "will ensure that parents can continue to receive additional tax relief as they open their hearts and their homes to an adopted child," Brady said Thursday during the fourth day of the committee markup.
The Senate legislation also preserves the credit, Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) said. The bill is set to be unveiled Thursday.
Religious groups, as well as House and Senate conservatives, pushed for the credit to be retained. They argued that by eliminating the credit, the bill went against the GOP's anti-abortion platform.
The credit provides up to $13,570 in tax savings per adopted child. Keeping the credit will cost $3.8 billion over ten years, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation.
Reaction to the move seems to be favorable in general, while some wonder how it was allowed to be revoked in the first place.
Here's the background on the whole story:
Last week, House Republicans unveiled a 429-page new tax plan called the "Tax Cuts and Jobs Act" that pro-life and adoption advocates were dismayed to find did not include the adoption tax credit that has been on the books for some two decades. The abolishment of the credit has united members of the left and right, with many arguing the cut would be detrimental to the future of American adoptions. The omission comes on the heels of President Donald Trump declaring November National Adoption Month.
READ: President Trump's Powerful Statement Declaring November National Adoption Month
As the Washington Times reported, the the tax break, which started in 1997 with a $5,000 maximum value was set to adjust for inflation and phase out once households hit about $200,000 in adjusted gross income. The maximum credit amount for 2017 has risen to $13,570. While lawmakers have argued the credit primarily benefits wealthier families, who itemize their deductions on their tax returns, adoption advocates believe the opposite—saying the credit makes adoption possible for those who otherwise may not be able to afford it.
Representative Kevin Brady (R-TX), the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee and architect of the Republican tax plan, is himself the father of two adopted children. A spokeswoman for the committee confirmed to CNN that the congressman never took advantage of the adoption tax credit, and he does not believe its elimination will have any significant impact.
CNN reported:
Brady, a Republican from Texas, argues that the tax credit leaves families behind, especially those that don't itemize or face big tax bills. Instead, he and other bill proponents point to how the reform would nearly double the standard deduction individuals and families can take. It also creates the Family Credit, which includes a new $300 credit for each for parent and non-child dependents, and expands the child tax credit from the current $1,000 to $1,600.
"I'm convinced that if we give tax relief to families every year — they can use their paychecks for what matters most to them — including adopting children," he said in a written statement to CNN. "We are working to give families not only help when they're adopting but every year when that child is growing up, by making sure they have more in their paychecks to raise kids."
But others, including members of Brady's own party, are not so sure. Congressman Mike Kelly (R-PA) supports restoring the credit and says it should not be a partisan issue.
"This is so critical to who we are as a people," he told the Washington Times.
According to CNN, the average cost of a domestic newborn adoption was $37,000 in 2015 and 2016 compared to $42,000 for an international adoption, making the process a significant expense regardless of income.
"Financial incentives do make a difference in people's decisions on whether to adopt," Adam Pertman, president and founder of the National Center on Adoption and Permanency, told CNN. "Not that they do it for the money, but it's expensive and it makes a difference and helps people get to yes."
On Monday, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a statement calling the credit "life-affirming assistance" and "vital as a pro-life concern," a sentiment that was echoed by the Southern Baptist Convention's Russell Moore on Twitter:
It is shameful that the House tax reform plan still includes the removal of the adoption tax credit.
Funding Planned Parenthood, but taxing adopting families.
This is not pro-life, by any definition of the word.
Let's fix this.
— Russell Moore (@drmoore) November 8, 2017
During his radio show on Wednesday, Jim Daly, president of Focus on the Family, asked listeners to call their elected officials and ask them to preserve the credit.
"Tax relief for families is a worthy goal, and we support that, but not at the expense of orphans and adoptive families," he said. "Families don't adopt children in order to get a tax credit, but it's a great way to help them do it."


This stylish portfolio extension is an ideal solution to showcase site content in to attractive image boxes which can then be linked to further articles within your site.
To install the GridGallery extension simply upload the install package (mod_j51gridgallery.zip) via your Extensions Manager (Extensions -> Extensions Manager). Your GridGallery install package can be found in the same folder of your download as your template.
Once installed you can create a new instance of the module by navigating to Extensions -> Module Manager -> New -> J51_GridGallery. Multiple instances of your GridGallery module, or indeed any module can be achieved by simply repeating this process.
When creating/editing your GridGallery module will find your 'General Settings' tab. This tab contains the main settings for your entire gallery.
Number of images to display - The number of images that will be displayed in your gallery.
Randomize images - Randomize the images been displayed. This will randomize the order and also which images if the 'Number of images' field is less than the images sset up in your gallery.
Image Width - This is the default image width as displayed on a desktop screen size.
Image Width (Tab Landsape) - This is the width of your gallery images on a tablet mobile device in landscape.
Image Width (Tab Portrait) - This is the width of your gallery images on a tablet mobile device in portrait.
Image Width (Mob Landscape) - This is the width of your gallery images on a mobile phone device in landscape.
Image Width (Mob Portrait) - This is the width of your gallery images on a mobile phone device in portrait.
Horizontal Margin - This is the horizontal margin in pixels of each image within your gallery.
Vertical Margin - This is the vertical margin in pixels of each image within your gallery.
Caption Title Color - The color your image caption title.
Caption Text Color - The color your image caption text.
Note: As the styling of the GridGallery module may vary from one template release to the next, further settings maybe be available (Eg. Overlay color, border color etc.).
Along with your 'General Settings' tab, you will find a tab for each image within your gallery. There is a total of 15 tabs allowing your gallery to contain a maximum of 15 images. Set the following settings for each image you wish to be displayed in your gallery.
Image Alt Tag - Mainly for SEO purpose, this field allows you to set an 'alt' tag for the image.
Image Caption Title - Set caption title to display.
Image Caption Text - Set the caption text to display.
Disable Caption - Disable/hide the caption and title.
Linked menu Item - * Select the Joomla menu item to link to.
On scroll animation - Add an animate class name to animate the image on scroll.
Fill in an 'Image #' tab for each image you wish to display in your gallery. If you wish to display all the images you have set up it is important to edit the 'Number of Images' field in your 'General Settings' tab to match the number of images you have set up.
*If linking your gallery to articles I would suggest creating a menu specifically for your gallery (Menus -> Menu manager -> Add new menu). Within this menu you can create a menu item for each image within your gallery (Menus -> [YourNewMenu] -> New -> Single Article). This allows you to create menu items for articles that may not be linked to anywhere else in the site.


The submission deadline has passed. CORPUS CHRISTI WRITERS 2019 will be available in the fall. More information will be forthcoming soon. Please direct any inquiries to williammays21@gmail.com.
The submission deadline was April 15, 2019. The submission deadline has passed.
This anthology will be available in print and e-book formats. Any resident or native of Corpus Christi, Texas or the surrounding areas may submit. Shorter submissions, up to 3000 words, are preferred. Any style or genre is acceptable. Poetry, fiction, memoirs, essays, and creative non-fiction are acceptable. Excerpts from longer works are acceptable. Diverse viewpoints are acceptable. Experimental work is acceptable. Interesting social media posts are acceptable. Submissions that appear to be social media posts are acceptable. Submit to williammays21@gmail.com.
Those selected for the anthology receive a free copy of the anthology. They also receive the opportunity to buy additional copies at a discounted rate, approximately 30% lower than the Amazon price. They receive promotion of them and their work. This includes space on MaysPublishing.com and periodic rotation through social media promotions. It also includes invitations to participate in readings and book fares.
See last year's anthology to see who was included, and the nature of the submissions.


A Valentine's Day Gift. Enjoy the video, taken today. The culmination of immense work. We are so proud. Many, many more steps to come for our girl.
Way to go Andrea – keep up the great work! We continue to watch in amazement at your progress! It is so inspiring to see this. Thanks for sharing.


text:
Savings Debate Intensifies Ahead of City Budget Modification
November 03, 2016 | by Ben Max
Mayor de Blasio in a budget presentation (photo: NYC Mayor's Office)
Reading the tea leaves and heeding calls to be more prepared for an inevitable recession, the de Blasio administration has formed a new unit in its budget office tasked with coordinating additional agency savings, a move expected to be more formally announced in conjunction with the coming November budget modification.
City tax revenue growth has slowed, but a recession is not yet here, and may not be imminent. Though alarm bells have been ringing of late, city tax revenue shows modest growth of about 3.8 percent for the first quarter of fiscal 2017 compared to the same period in fiscal 2016 (July-September), which is in line with forecasts. Still, as the budget update session for the current fiscal year arrives, the de Blasio administration, the City Council, and outside budget watchdogs see warning signs.
The key questions are what exactly the City is doing to fortify finances and whether it will be enough when the city's financial picture is indeed more bleak. Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat, and this City Council have been exceedingly fortunate over their three years in power, as the city has been "flush with cash," as one City Council Member memorably said at City Hall.
While the mayor has taken significant steps to build reserves, de Blasio has also overseen a drastic increase in city spending, with an operational budget now over $82 billion in the current fiscal year. And while he is taking additional steps -- like the formation of the new Citywide Savings Unit at the Office of Management and Budget -- it is not yet clear to what extent de Blasio will follow the advice of budget watchdogs like the Citizens Budget Commission and city Comptroller Scott Stringer.
"It's the first quarter, so it's hard to see to the end of the fiscal year," said Maria Doulis, vice president at Citizens Budget Commission, an independent watchdog. Doulis said she is eager to see the November budget modification from the City, but that previous forecasts appear apt and it is not time to panic.
"We're not yet in a recession, but there's reason to be cautious, because non-property tax revenues are not growing strongly," Doulis said. Indeed, property taxes are buoying several other flagging avenues of tax intake (see chart below). The city is in a solid place despite the increased budget spending, Doulis said, because of good reserves. Still, "Looking at [Q1 tax revenues], this argues very strongly for an increased PEG program, or savings program," Doulis said. "The revenue figures argue for caution and restraint in spending."
In brief, watchdogs want to see de Blasio identify additional savings and limit new spending. The big question for the November modification to the fiscal 2017 budget, Doulis said, is, "Will there even be a savings program?"
A PEG, or program to eliminate the gap, calls on city agency heads to identify a certain percentage or amount of agency spending for potential cuts, then leaves up to the Mayor and his budget office which recommendations to accept. Despite calls for such a program, de Blasio has resisted, instead encouraging his commissioners to find savings. The Citywide Savings Program that de Blasio has touted has been bolstered by re-estimates of hefty expenditure projections, not enough by real agency savings, watchdogs say.
There is still time to build up the city's fiscal cushion to have resources necessary if revenues don't meet projections, Doulis said. "It's hard to call these things, but the last time around, Mayor Bloomberg started to issue calls for a very strong PEG before the recession had officially hit New York City," Doulis said. "That's the way you want to do this. That's the way you want to approach this. You don't want to hack away when you're in freefall."
City Comptroller Scott Stringer has said the city should have a "budget cushion" of 12-18% of its operational budget in reserves -- the current number is about 10%.
The de Blasio administration has steadfastly defended its approach to budgeting. At the announcement of the adopted fiscal 2017 budget in June, de Blasio told Gotham Gazette he was quite comfortable with the budget cushion in place, but that the City would continue looking for additional savings.
"At this year's FY17 Adoption, the Mayor promised to find areas of savings and we are making good on that promise," de Blasio spokesperson Freddi Goldstein said in a statement. "We found savings in the preliminary, executive and adopted budgets and there will be additional savings in our upcoming November Plan. As always, we remain cautious with our forecasts and confident that NYC is in strong fiscal standing."
De Blasio and his representatives regularly say that reserves are at "historically" high levels, which is true, but the city budget is also higher than it has ever been, city personnel hiring has been expanded significantly over the past three years, and city pension obligations are greater than ever before.
The city general reserve is at $1 billion, far higher than past levels, and there are other savings set aside for the city's capital plan ($500 million) and retiree health benefits ($4 billion).
The de Blasio administration is eyeing additional savings to be able to show the City Council and others at the November budget modification, the new Citywide Savings Unit, with a headcount of four, began its work in September.
"There's nothing that suggests the overall forecast is at risk," said Ana Champeny, Citizens Budget Commission director of city studies. OMB was fairly conservative with projections, she said. A de Blasio administration source noted that OMB's forecast was more cautious than the City Council's.
The Council recently raised its eyebrows in public fashion, a seeming warning shot ahead of the upcoming release and reaction to the November budget modification. A Wall Street Journal article published October 26 cited City Council data showing slumping tax revenue and citing a 1% drop in those revenues for April through August 2016 compared to the same period the year before.
This report prompted warnings about the city's finances from the New York Daily News editorial board and New York Post columnist Nicole Gelinas, a budget expert. On the other hand, Greg David of Crain's New York Business, another columnist and budget expert, wrote in response to a string of Journal stories on the city economy that no, a recession is not in fact setting in. David pointed out that after such robust growth over the past several years even a slight drop in revenue could be expected and is not cause for alarm.
According to a representative from the City Council's finance division, it used April-August data because that was what was available at the time; the Q1 data -- which shows a better picture of 3.8% revenue growth year over year -- was not yet in.
At Gotham Gazette's request, the de Blasio administration provided Q1 data (see below) on October 28.
Regardless of which tax revenue data is used (though experts agree a Q1 comparison is preferable), the story is generally the same, especially in conjunction with recent unemployment numbers, which show a slight rise: economic growth is slowing. While property tax revenues are strong and increasing, other streams, like personal income and sales taxes, are virtually flat, and transaction taxes have decreased (all Q1 FY17 over Q1 FY16). But, the difference between 'tax revenues are down 1%' and 'tax revenues are up 3.8%' is not insignificant, both in real economic meaning and political narrative.
The Council finance representative said that the office is currently performing its typical November forecast for the rest of the current fiscal year and beyond. This year's forecast has been about the same as last year's, the representative said, for about 3-3.5% growth in tax revenue. A Council spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment about the Q1 numbers or the new OMB savings unit.
A key risk factor identified by voices like The Daily News editorial board, Gelinas, CBC, and others, is de Blasio's expansion of the city payroll by thousands of employees. "Instead of being on notice to demonstrate efficiency, agencies have been encouraged to spend," the News wrote on Monday.
Gelinas has been warning about growing personnel costs over the course of de Blasio's tenure, especially with regard to healthcare and pension bills. There is less risk for the City in the short-term on this issue, but big obligations will be due in the future. As mentioned, the city has retiree health benefit reserves, but in the case of a recession, Doulis of Citizens Budget Commission warns that that money should not be touched to fill operational budget gaps.
That's part of why Doulis wants to see a PEG from de Blasio to boost general reserves, which can be tapped during recession. CBC also wants to see other cost-savings measures taken. "There is so much to do on procurement in terms of savings," Doulis said.
"The City is really behind on procurement practices -- they're not following general best practices in the ways the City buys things in general," she said. The purchase of goods and services is "decentralized at agencies" instead of being under the watch of the Department of Citywide Administrative Services, or DCAS, where it should be, Doulis said. The City could be much more efficient, saving time and "$100 million right off the bat," she said.
Goldstein, the de Blasio spokesperson on budget matters, did not respond to a request for comment on Doulis' call for procurement reform.
FY17 Q1
%Y/Y
Transaction taxes
All other*
TOTAL >>>>
*All other includes CRT, Utility, Cigarette, Hotel, Other, STAR, Audits
Numbers are in the millions.
Tags: Bill de Blasio • Citizens Budget Commission • City Budget • Office of Management and Budget • Maria Doulis • tax revenue


Wellness for the World: What About Microwaves?
So the question is, what about microwaves?
I will be honest, we have a microwave in our home but you may be surprised by its main use. We use it as our clock, a timer and we use it to kill bacteria on the sponge we use in our kitchen. That's it! Hopefully you are not using this for cooking.
Sure, the microwave is convenient; what other device allows you to heat your food up in a matter of seconds? And they're so widely used that you'd be hard-pressed to find a gas station or office building without one.
When working with my clients or in workshops, I do make it a point to discuss the dangers of microwave cooking. The Harvard School of Nutrition did some research years ago to understand the best way to cook your vegetables. Now mind you, they had no agenda in regard to what was best, they simply wanted to understand that if you cooked via steaming, boiling or microwaving; what held the highest nutritional value?
What they did was measure the nutritional level of vegetables, cooked the vegetables in these three ways mentioned above and then measured the nutritional levels after cooking. Well, the results showed that the best way to maintain nutrition was in order of best to worst; steaming, boiling and lastly microwaving. The most shocking aspect of this research was showing that when you cooked your food in the microwave, you lost up to 95% of the nutritional value. So basically, you can be very confident that what ever you put in the microwave, it will come out with very little nutritional value.
The challenge then is that this creates a void. You see, to break down and digest your food, your body utilizes energy. When you use energy to break down something that does not put any energy back in, this creates the void I have mentioned. By the way, this is whether you cook the entire meal or simply reheat a high quality meal from the night before. Either way, it is a void.
• Carcinogenic toxins could be leached from plastic or paper plates or covers and mix with your food.
• The food temperature may become extremely hot, at temperatures high enough to cause burns or steam buildup that could explode--this is especially problematic for baby bottles, and is one of the reasons why baby bottles should never be heated in the microwave (microwaving can also break down the disease-fighting ability of breast milk).
• The chemical structure of foods changes when microwaved, with potentionally severe consequences.
Besides the loss of nutrients, microwaving forms new compounds (radiolytic compounds) that are unknown to humans and nature. It's not yet known exactly what these compounds do in the human body but I would not suggest that this will be positive.
You may notice that taking more time to prepare your food will transcend to other aspects of your life as well, and you'll enjoy a slower, more relaxed lifestyle than the majority of those around you.
I do understand that convenience is difficult to give up but you do not have to give this up. In our home we use an appliance called a Turbo Oven. The Turbo Oven gives us the availability to reheat foods quickly without the damaging effects. We also use the Turbo Oven to create healthy low temperature cooked meals which contain an even higher level of nutritional integrity and taste great. To learn more about the Turbo Oven as used in our kitchen, feel free to click on the link provided.
Even if you are not going to introduce the Turbo Oven into your household, please stop the use of microwave cooking. Use your oven, toaster oven, or a frying pan on the stove top…anything but the microwave. Of course unless you want to kill the bacteria on your sponge.
I use the Turbo Over as well...love it! Oh, and our microwave is in the garage where it belongs.
Question: is the Harvard Study about the 95% loss in nutrition published anywhere that we can read it?
I had a hard drive crash about 18 months ago and I did not have some of my files backed up, so I do not have the exact reference available. I will search for this though and find it in time.
I will add that as I started my search, I noticed that there are some Harvard backed studies that are saying that they have "updated" research that says the microwave may be the best way to cook your food. This is simply appalling to me. How do you go from true measurements on nutrient levels showing extreme depletion to saying it may be best.
It would be interesting to see who actually funded this study; one of the major appliance companies perhaps?
I will post the link to the research when once I find it.
I'd be interested in reading the research study too.


As writing prompts, objects can be great sources of inspiration. They can be everyday and extraordinary all at the same time. We just need a willingness to explore. Here are three writing activities I particularly enjoy that use objects at their core.
This is a lovely, feel-good exercise from writer and scholar Dr Amanda Morris. It's quick to do, needing very little preparation. I was delighted by its simplicity, and also its power. I've come away with a new affection for my chosen object, which was totally unexpected. As Amanda says, being sincere and heartfelt is key.
Try this letter writing prompt for yourself and enjoy the results.
Sherri, from Sally's Trove, gives an enticing account of her experiences with this writing activity. It starts with going for a walk to find a collection of five objects – any objects that catch your eye. You then go through a process of examining and responding to the objects, gathering inspiration for your short story. The ideas and characters that emerge may surprise you. They certainly surprised me!
Give this brown paper bag writing exercise a go and see where your objects take you.
This writing activity from writer, editor and teacher Esther Morgan is both thorough and inspiring. I particularly enjoyed the variety of approaches, from exploring an object using your senses through to writing from an object's point of view. It's a wonderful chance to take something ordinary and gain a whole new perspective.
Have a go at this object poetry exercise and see what you discover.
Do let me know how you get on with these writing prompts. I'd love to hear from you. If you've enjoyed them and want to try out more writing activities, then check out the writing ideas category on this blog.


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Autistic student's appeal in novel Maine disability rights case to begin in Boston
The parents of Ben Pollack, who is nonverbal, want his school to let him wear a device that records his day, but the district says that would violate the privacy of other students.
By ALANNA DURKIN RICHERAssociated Press
BOSTON — A Maine teenager with autism and a rare neurological syndrome that affects his speaking ability cannot talk to his parents about his school day the same way other students can. So his family is fighting for the right for him to carry an audio-recording device to ensure he's being treated properly when they aren't watching.
A novel case heading Monday to the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston, which hears most New England cases, pits the student's parents against his southern Maine school district, which says the recording device would infringe on other students' privacy rights. His parents say they need a glimpse into his day so they can better advocate for him at a school they don't trust is always telling the whole story.
Ben Pollack tends to chickens in a yard in Sidney in 2013. His parents say they want Ben, who is autistic and nonverbal, to be able to wear an always-on recording device at school so they can get a glimpse into his day to help them ensure he's being treated properly and getting the most out of his education. Photo courtesy of Matthew Pollack
"Most kids can come home and tell their parents what happened at school or what the teacher had done or not done. He can't do that," said Matthew Pollack, the father of Ben Pollack, who is now 18.
The teen, who is nonverbal, uses a device at school and at home that allows him to answer some questions or request things, but he cannot discuss events from his day, his father said.
The parents argue that laws prohibiting discrimination against people with disabilities require the district to allow him to record his school day. Because their son largely cannot communicate with them, they say he cannot benefit from his education the same way non-disabled students can.
The parents, who are both lawyers, first pushed for the recording device in 2012, after the boy was unusually upset one day. They suspected something had happened at Mt. Ararat Middle School in Topsham but got no explanation from administrators, the parents say. The student's mother told the district they would start recording his days to "have some semblance of peace that he is safe at school."
The school told the couple that the recorder would violate a ban on students using privately owned electronic devices. Since then, two administrative hearing officers, a lower court judge and a jury have all rejected the family's request.
"The plaintiffs have tried a number of legal theories under which to attach a recording device to the child and they have lost at every round and on every theory," said Daniel Nuzzi, an attorney for Regional School Unit 75, which includes Mt. Ararat Middle School.
Attorneys for the district say teachers and administrators have gone above and beyond to provide the parents with information about the student, who they say loves school. A hearing officer concluded last year there is "simply no demonstrable benefit" to allowing the parents to record his day and that it would actually be "disruptive and detrimental" to his education.
In other states, parents of special education students have secretly placed audio recorders on their children to expose abuse, which have led to firings or settlements. And Texas recently began requiring school districts to install cameras in certain special education classrooms.
But opponents say such actions raise serious privacy concerns.
If parents can assert a right to "send an always-on listening device to school with their children, what would this mean for students who wished to report abuse or neglect at home to a school counselor, or for students with disabilities who are LGBT?" asked Samantha Crane of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network.
Arlene Kanter, director of the Syracuse University College of Law's Disability Law and Policy Program, said she believes the family has a strong case.
The Americans with Disabilities Act requires schools to make accommodations unless doing so would pose an undue burden or fundamentally alter their program. The family here is not asking, for example, that the school spend extra money or move Ben Pollack to another class, Kanter said.
"From what I've seen, there wasn't any showing that it was an undue burden," Kanter said.
A decision in favor of the parents could affect other children in his situation, which Matthew Pollack said is part of the reason why he and his wife have been fighting this case for so long.
"It has bothered us that the district's position has been that we don't necessarily have a right to know what happens to our son in school unless they decide it's important for us to know," he said. "That's very disturbing."


text:
Education:
Harvard Law School
Awarded Juris Doctor in 1994
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Awarded Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in 1991
Daphne Tippens Chisolm
Ms. Chisolm has practiced securities law for 25+ years.
In-House Experience: She most recently served as General Counsel for a boutique asset management ETF company. She worked with the company from its inception in 2008 up until its sale to a South Korean financial services firm. She was instrumental in building the legal and compliance infrastructure and in supporting the growth of all business lines, including Product Development, Sales, Marketing, Operations, and Portfolio Management.
Law Firm Experience: Ms. Chisolm has worked as an attorney with law firms (Dechert and K&L Gates, LP) that have been nationally recognized for their expertise in investment management and adviser law.
SEC Experience: From 1999-2007, Ms. Chisolm worked for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). She served as senior counsel for the Office of Chief Counsel in the Division of Investment Management. In that position, she reviewed and analyzed requests for no-action and no-enforcement relief under the Investment Company Act of 1940 and the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. She also was responsible for drafting opinions, memoranda and letters concerning matters arising under the federal securities law. Ms. Chisolm also served as an aide to SEC Commissioner Harvey J. Goldschmid from 2002 to 2005. It was in that position that she gained the insight needed to effectively represent companies in front of the SEC.
©2019 - Law Offices of DT Chisolm, P.C.


text:
Things Change
by David Mamet
This screenplay is a humorous burlesque of the American Dream tinged with bitter irony. It is the second film to be directed from his own original script by playwright David Mamet.
Publication Date November 01, 1988
US List Price $7.95
David Mamet is the author of the plays Oleanna, Glengarry Glen Ross (1984 Pulitzer Prize and New York Drama Critics Circle Award), American Buffalo, A Life in the Theater, Speed-the-Plow, Edmond, Lakeboat, The Water Engine, The Woods, Sexual Perversity in Chicago, Reunion, The Cryptogram (1995 Obie Award), and The Old Neighborhood.
Read More About David Mamet
Things Change is the second major film (the first was the very successful House of Games) to be directed from his own original script by playwright David Mamet—in this instance with best-selling writer and illustrator Shel Silverstein as coauthor. It is a heartwarming burlesque of the American Dream served with a twist of bitter irony. Gino (played by Don Ameche), a gentle old shoeshine man who dreams of owning a fishing boat back in his Sicilian birthplace, gets an offer he can't refuse—to take the rap for a Mafia murder committed by a man he resembles. In return he'll get more than enough money to buy his boat—when he gets out of jail. Jerry (Joe Mantegna), a down-and-almost-out member of the gang, is assigned the task of turning Gino in. But Gino's old-world innocence captures Jerry's heart, and with nothing to lose, he takes Gino on a last fling to Lake Tahoe's casinos. Mamet and Silverstein give this morality tale of tangled identities for sale another surprising spin when Gino's na'vet" is mistaken for the lordly ways of a powerful Mafia don.
Things Change keeps the audience spellbound to the end with the dizzying twists and turns of a story about friendship that is as poignant as it is profound.
Tags Film & Video/General
Reunion & Dark Pony
We're No Angels
Five Television Plays


text:
Victor Adetunji Haffner (1 September 1919 – 5 November 2015) was a Nigerian communications engineer. He was trained as an engineer in England during the colonial era, then returned to Nigeria in 1956 where he held increasingly senior positions in the state-owned Nigerian PTT (Post, Telegraph and Telephone) or its NET subsidiary. He represented Nigeria in various international telecom forums. In 1975 he was dismissed by the military regime, and became a consultant to a large Japanese company for many years.

Early years

Victor Adetunji Haffner was of creole descent, born at Haffner Street in Central Lagos on 1 September 1919.
His family originated in Freetown, Sierra Leone, and migrated to Nigeria after slavery was abolished.
His mother, Victoria Adepeju, was a niece of the lawyer John Augustus Otunba Payne (1839–1906), first African registrar of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.
His father, Frederick Mathew Haffner, was a civil servant in the Lagos City Council.
His mother was born in Lagos into a family that originated in Ibadan, and his father was from Abeokuta.

Haffner attended Christ Church School at Faji in Lagos for his primary education and then went on to CMS Grammar School, Lagos.
He was a classmate of Akintola Williams at the CMS Grammar School, and they remained friends for life.
Haffner passed the senior Cambridge Examination in 1938 with high marks, and was exempted from the London Matriculation Examination.
He moved to England where he attended Northampton Polytechnic, now City University, London and the Regent Street Polytechnic, London.
He graduated from the Institution of Electrical Engineers in 1954 and joined the Nigerian Department of Posts and Telegraphs, who sponsored his further training with the British Post Office, and Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company in Chelmsford, England.

Career

In 1956 Haffner returned to Nigeria where he was assigned by the Posts and Telegraphs Department to Kano, in charge of the Aeronautical, Meteorological and Police Communications Network.
He returned to Lagos in 1957 and was appointed Wireless Engineer, Colony.
He married Grace Olubunmi Majekodunmi from Abeokuta that year.
He next moved to the Transmission and Radio Division of the PTT with responsibility for planning and installing radio systems across Nigeria.
In 1962 he became Assistant Engineer-in-Chief.
On 1 January 1963 Haffner was seconded to Nigerian External Telecommunications Limited (NET), a newly founded company, as Managing Director responsible for development projects.
The company had acquired the assets of Cable & Wireless, which now held 49% while the government held 51%.

Haffner became President of the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) and Fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers.
He represented Nigeria in many international telecom forums.
From 1969 to 1972 he represented Nigeria at the International Communications Satellite Systems Conferences in Washington DC.
In 1974 he became President of the Administrative Council of the International Telecommunication Union.
In 1975 the military regime merged NET with the Nigerian PT&T to form NITEL.
Haffner was dismissed and started a private telecom consultancy, advising Marubeni of Japan.

Haffner's wife died in 2007 aged 81. In September 2014 he celebrated his 95th birthday. He died in 2015 at age of 96.

References

Sources

1919 births
2015 deaths
Alumni of City, University of London
Alumni of the Regent Street Polytechnic
CMS Grammar School, Lagos alumni
Nigerian engineers
Nigerian people of Sierra Leonean descent
People from Lagos
Yoruba engineers
Nigerian expatriates in the United Kingdom
Residents of Lagos

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia