Uncategorized | R-Tools Technology inc.
Dell's Windows 8.1 Venue tablets were officially debuted last month, but yesterday those tablets were offered for the first time online. If you're one of the many people that plans to purchase a tablet during the holiday seasons, Dell has some good things to offer with the Venue lineup. Let's take a closer look at the Dell Venue 8 Pro.
A special project from Apple designers Jonathan Ive and Marc Newson: the Leica M (RED) Camera. This Leica camera will be offered at a Sotheby's auction in November, and the camera will be auctioned off for charity. Pictures of the new camera were just released on Tuesday, and they show us a bit of what the camera has to offer.
Thanks to FullScreenMario.com, developed by Josh Goldberg, a Computer Science major at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, gamers can relive Nintendo's Super Mario Bros. on their browsers. Users can play the original levels or DIY types can create their own maps using the program's "level editor." This HTML5 mushroom kingdom functions best in the latest version of Google Chrome.
MORE: Parks and Recreation Reimagined as Super Mario Bros.


This clinic features age appropriate, comprehensive instruction from high school, college and professional coaches and players. Hitting, fielding, pitching, and mental training are all covered.
Learn all the skills necessary to succeed at your current or next level of baseball. Additional bonus segment will include exposure to the bigger field basics like leading, stealing, pitching moves, etc. Video analysis and full evaluation/recommendation included. Age appropriate instruction.
All sessions are Monday ~ Thursday with Friday being a rain date.


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Q: Is there a similar framework to Mockito for testing shared code or iOS code in a Kotlin MPP? I'd like to use Mockito.verify() in common test code in a Kotlin multiplatform project. Is there a framework similar to Mockito for Kotlin MPP?

A: You can use UIKit in Kotlin
You can find the official Example Here
Kotlin-Native: UIKit Example
Interop XCTest
  language = Objective-C
  package = platform.XCTest
  headers = XCTest/XCTest.h

  headerFilter = XCTest/**

Then you can code like this using XCTest
  import platform.XCTest.XCTWaiter
  import platform.XCTest.XCTestExpectation
  .....
  .....
  XCTWaiter().waitForExpectations( ..... )

A: For a mocking library, the short answer is no. There's some discussion of adding JS support to Mockk, and I've seen some about Native, but I'm pretty sure neither is in progress.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Literature References: Mol wt 69,000-74,000. Coagulation proenzyme present in highest concentration in blood. Prothrombin is one of the vitamin-K dependent blood coagulation factors. It is converted to thrombin by the action of factor Xa, factor V and phospholipid in the presence of Ca2+ ions. Accounts for < 0.2% of total plasma protein. Prepn of human and bovine prothrombin: Goldstein et al., J. Biol. Chem. 234, 2857 (1959); Lanchantin et al., ibid. 238, 238 (1963). Chemistry of activation: Magnussen, Biochem. J. 115, 2P (1969). Synthesized normally by liver parenchymal cells in a cyclic asynchronous manner. Dicoumarol derivatives halt the synthesis, while vitamin K1 stimulates synchronized activity of all the liver parenchymal cells: Barnhart, Anderson, Biochem. Pharmacol. 9, 23 (1962). The glycoprotein structure probably consists of a single polypeptide chain containing between 8 and 10% carbohydrate: Magnussen, Thromb. Diath. Haemorrh. suppl. 54, 31 (1973). Reviews: W. H. Seegers, Prothrombin (Harvard Univ. Press, 1962) 728 pp; Magnussen "Prothrombin and Thrombin," in The Enzymes Vol. III, P. D. Boyer, Ed. (Academic Press, New York, 3rd ed., 1971) pp 277-321; K. G. Mann, Methods Enzymol. 45B, 123-156 (1976). Review on prothrombin activation: several authors in Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 370, 336-528 (1981).
Properties: Most stable within the range pH 4-9.5. Isoelec pt pH 4.2. Very sol in water but pptd at pH 4.2-4.5. Solns tend to activate spontaneously. There is little loss of activity when drying from the frozen state but the dry material alters in a few months. Drying with organic solvents destroys activity.


Our children received their passports yesterday. That is a concept that boggles the mind: children with passports. Especially, a 1 year old with a passport. They are good for 5 years. Do you think that my 1 year old will look the same at 6 or how about my 5 year old at 10.
We haven't recieved Gina's updated passport from her maiden name to Witcher yet. Then I got to thinking about some of the stamps and visas in her passport and realized that it might take a little longer than normal.
Survey says . . . I belong in Paris?


1.Soot removal costs- Indoor fire smoke emission not only leaves behind large amounts of soot stains all over the place including- attires, appliances and carpets but also a pungent odor. Hence, it must be quickly eliminated or else the soot stains will become permanent, which of course, you do not want.
2.Water damage costs- Getting rid of an indoor fire generally involves boatloads of water from fire fighters while using fire sprinkler systems. No matter what, the excess water must be removed and the valuable household items must be dried quickly so that mold does not occur and any items that suffered water damage should be repaired.
3.Deodorization costs- Using advanced methods, such as- ozone treatments and dry cleaning will help you to get rid of the foul smell in carpets, attires and furniture produced by the fire smoke. In most cases, the valuable items are removed from abodes and are treated in a special place.
We believe that fire damage restoration is incomplete without having properly cleaned up the property. With us, there is no to worry about the clean-up process. Our customer service policy dictates us to clear out the debris and leave only when you are satisfied with the work.


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California drought continues to shrink as flooding becomes the new crisis
Published Thu, Feb 23 201710:56 AM EST Updated Thu, Feb 23 20177:49 PM EST
Jeff Daniels@jeffdanielsca
A man boards a bus on a flooded street as a powerful storm moves across Southern California on February 17, 2017 near Sun Valley, California.
After years of extreme drought, Southern California is now completely free of the worst conditions following recent rains that brought flooding, according to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor.
Also, the state's Central Valley region where agriculture is dominant continued to show improvement from abnormally dry conditions.
"The precipitation that fell this week continued to reduce long-term drought in California," the monitor said Thursday. "Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties, which have been the epicenter of drought in California in recent weeks, received much-needed rainfall."
The monitor said more than 8 inches of rain was reported at two stations near Santa Barbara and almost 7 inches nearby at Ojai. Ventura County's community of Thousand Oaks also experienced well over 6 inches of rain.
"It's been raining a lot and gone a tremendous way towards eliminating surface drought conditions in California," said Richard Heim, a meteorologist with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 's National Centers for Environmental Information and the author of this week's monitor.
Added Heim, "We felt it was time that the extreme drought [category] went away." He said this week's monitor is the first time since Aug. 6, 2013, that California is free of "extreme" drought conditions.
Former California Governor criticizes Trump's threats to state
The worst drought condition in the state now is "severe" drought but only 4 percent of the state is classified in that category in this week's monitor. That's down from just over 7 percent of the state in severe drought last week and 60 percent three months ago.
Santa Barbara County, located along the state's coast, has been one of the last holdouts of the drought. Conditions have been so dire that the city of Santa Barbara has been making plans to reopen a mothballed desalination plant to turn seawater into drinking water.
The latest storm brought welcome water for the Santa Barbara region, particularly to its Lake Cachuma — historically a major source of water for the area.
"Streams were running full, which helped refill depleted reservoirs in the area," monitor said. "Lake Cachuma rose 24 feet in just one day, which is remarkable and most welcomed."
The L.A. area also was a major beneficiary of the rains, with some communities receiving upwards of 6 inches of rainfall in 24 hours on Friday. The heavy rain resulted in some flooding to streets and major freeways, forcing more than a dozen people to be rescued and several weather-related fatalities in Southern California.
Even so, the monitor said the reservoirs in parts of Southern California "still have a long way to go before we can classify this area as drought-free. As of February 22, Lake Cachuma was at 82,011 acre-feet, or 42.4 percent of capacity, Jameson Reservoir was at 52.5 percent capacity, Lake Casitas at 42.3 percent, and Lake Piru at 31.7 percent. These values still represent a significant hydrological drought."
Overall, this week's monitor showed "moderate" drought conditions remain in about 38 percent of the state, but that's down sharply from 56 percent last week. The moderate drought areas, shown in light orange on the monitor map, continue in small portions of the state's Central region as well as portions of Southern California.
The "severe" drought conditions, shown in bright orange on the monitor map, continue in Santa Barbara, Ventura and portions of Los Angeles counties, as well as some areas near the U.S.-Mexico border.
The latest monitor map for the state shows "extreme" drought (shown in red) is completely gone from portions of Southern California; last week's monitor showed there was still nearly 1 percent of the southern region in the second-worst drought condition.
Elsewhere, the Northern California region also experienced heavy rain and snow from the recent storms, with some areas getting more than a foot of precipitation. Northern California has been essentially drought free for several weeks, pulled out of the dire conditions by significant rains from January storms.
The deluge of rain produced major flooding in some large cities, including San Jose where about 14,000 residents in low-lying areas were forced to evacuate this week when Santa Clara County's Anderson Reservoir filled up and caused Coyote Creek to overflow.
This storm marked the first time since 2006 that Anderson Reservoir's spillway activated, producing heavy outflows that the San Francisco Chronicle likened to Niagara Falls.
The recent storms also have blanketed the Sierra Nevada mountain range with more snow.
As of Feb. 21, the monitor said the daily Sierra Nevada snowpack was 186 percent of average for the date and 151 percent of the April 1 climatological peak. That is significant since the snowpack supplies about 30 percent of California's water particularly in the spring and summer months.
A new storm was forecast to reach California over the weekend, according to the National Weather Service. Rain was forecast to continue into Monday, and the cold storm also was expected to bring more snow to the Sierra mountains.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


3 Dudes take on 4 Levels of Gaming Talk.
What's up everybody! In this week's episode we discuss the games we've been playing, tons of good news, and in this episode's Boss Fight.. I don't wanna spoil it. Go check it out! Thanks for listening.


I have always loved landscape. I live in the Don Valley and my present work is centred on its variety, the Dark Peak moorland and the patterns of land use over the centuries, from its settlements to the patchwork burning of heather. I try to capture the often spectacular light and weather effects. I especially love this land in autumn and winter.


""I told them how much money we had, how much money we could expect, and how I planned to spend it. I put on a brave show, but inside I was terrified."
Paul Downs wrote those words to describe what it was like the day after laying-off 13 of his 23 employees. He was in agony worrying about the people he'd just let go, the people that still counted on him for their jobs, and his own family. If you've never owned a business, it's difficult to appreciate just how much of your identify is wrapped up in the business you're trying to build. In Paul's case, if he couldn't turn things around, that was it. Twenty-two years of his life wasted. He'd be a failure.
"As for the rest of us left behind, I hope this is the beginning of a time of healing and learning to be a family again. There will be no service, no prayers and no closure for the family she spent a lifetime tearing apart. We cannot come together in the end to see to it that her grandchildren and great grandchildren can say their goodbyes. So I say here for all of us, GOOD BYE, MOM."
This was the last paragraph of the obituary of Dolores Aguillar, published in the Vallejo Times Herald on August 17th - 18th, 2008.
Many of you may have read something like this on Facebook recently. It was floating around in a story about a woman in Florida that had died early last year. That obituary itself was plagiarized from the one above...which is true. It shocked me because I had never read anything quite like like it (except for the story I'll share in a minute). Unlike others that we might read today, the traditional platitudes to kindness or love do not exist in this obituary. This daughter writes that her mother "made no contribution to society and rarely shared a kind word or deed in her life." Painful, isn't it? She's sharing too much. Yet when I ask myself why, I easily understand that Mrs. Aguillar was a poor human being and her daughter merely provides an honest description of her mother's life. What makes this unusual is its truthfulness. As we know, the truth of one's life is not often found in an obituary.
I sometimes wonder if that is good for us. At one's death, does our avoidance in recognizing some of the mistakes made in the lives of those now dead make it too easy for the living to be less than we can be? Less than we should be?
Think about it. If we knew that more of the truths of our lives would be written and spoken at our deaths, would the living work to be better? To be more?
Yes, I believe we would.


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← Let Maj-Genl Holmes Speak as the SL Army enters the Propaganda War Front
The Many Shadows from Black Hawk Down →
Scaling The Heights of Everest: Johann Peries becomes Second Lankan to do this
Editorial Item in Newsin Asia, 22 May 2018, … https://newsin.asia/johann-peries-becomes-second-lankan-to-climb-everest/
Sri Lanka's Johann Peries successfully climbed the 29,030 feet Mount Everest at 5.55 a.m in Nepal time on Tuesday, his support team in Colombo said.
Johann Peries and Jayanthi Kuru Uthumpala, the two Sri Lankans who have climbed the Everest
This was his second attempt. Peries now becomes the second Sri Lankan to summit Mt. Everest after Jayanthi Kuru Utumpala did it in 2016. He left the Camp at 4.00p.m last evening. His earlier attempt in 2016 was unsuccessful when his oxygen tank failed 400 meters from the summit.
NewsIn.Asia is a SouthAsian website, operating from Colombo and accessed by readers worldwide. It offers its readers timely, indepth and comprehensive coverage of South Asian news, views and analyses. The site is active on social media such as Facebook and Twitter where it has thousands of followers. Within months after its launch, in July 2016, NewsIn.Asia has become a popular web portal in Sri Lanka and many South Asian countries where it has gained a reputation of unbiased reporting amongst its readers. The areas covered by NewsIn.Asia include politics, business, sports, cinema, off beat, food and travel.
NewsIn.Asia
No. 10, Adamally Place,
Jamila Husain
jamila@newsin.asia
Shabbir Sajjadhussain
shabbir@newsin.asia
Naqiya Aliasgar
naqiya@newsin.asia
Filed under life stories, pilgrimages, self-reflexivity, the imaginary and the real, travelogue, unusual people


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Court Won't Require Test Scores to Be Used in Teacher Evaluations
By Casey C. Sullivan, Esq. on September 27, 2016 | Last updated on March 21, 2019
When grading teacher performance, school districts aren't required to incorporate students' standardized test scores, a judge in Northern California ruled last week. Contra County Superior Court Judge Barry Goode rejected arguments by the nonprofit group Students Matter that the school districts were required to make standardized test scores a central part of teacher evaluations.
School districts have broad discretion in how to evaluate their teachers' performance, Judge Goode ruled, and all of the 13 districts sued by Students Matter were complying with their legal obligations.
No Need to Use Standardized Test Scores
The lawsuit, Doe v. Antioch, alleged that the teacher contracts in 13 school districts violated the Stull Act, the state law which requires school districts to evaluate teacher performance. Those evaluations are to be based on four criteria, including, where applicable, student performance as "measured by state adopted criterion referenced assessments." The petitioners, Judge Goode explained, argue that this requirement is "focused on outcomes -- how well the students are learning, rather than inputs -- how well the teacher is teaching." Those outcomes, Students Matter argued, must be measured by state standardized tests.
The teacher contracts at issue prohibited the use of standardized test results in individual teacher evaluations.
But those contracts do not violate the law, Judge Goode ruled. "The Legislature endorses many uses of those tests, including evaluating pupils, entire schools and local educational agencies," the judge wrote. "But it does not say the results should be used to evaluate individual teachers."
The lawsuit sought to build off a 2012 settlement with the Los Angeles Unified School District in which the district agreed to use student test scores in teacher evaluations, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Impact Litigation Failing to Make an Impact
The ruling is the second recent defeat for Students Matter. The group was founded in 2011 by the Silicon Valley businessman David Welch, with the goal of using impact litigation to spur public education reform.
In August, the California Supreme Court rejected another lawsuit by Students Matter, this time directed at job protections for teachers, such as teacher tenure. The court refused to hear the group's argument that teacher protections deprived students of their right to a quality education.
While protections for teachers have been blame for poor educational performance, under the theory that students could be better served if bad teachers could be more easily fired, a recent report by the Learning Policy Institute identified teacher turnover, not teacher tenure, as one of the major obstacles facing schools and a major contributor to teacher shortages.
For the latest California legal news, subscribe to FindLaw's California Cases Newsletter.
Court Rejects California Teacher Evaluation Lawsuit (KPCC Pasadena)
Parent Can Demand Teacher's Personnel Record Under CPRA (FindLaw's California Case Law)
Cal. Supreme Court Rejects Teachers Union Arbitration Request (FindLaw's California Case Law)
Abstinence-Only Curriculum Broke California Ed. Law, Court Rules (FindLaw's California Case Law)


Today, I went to "Aoyama flower market" because I've heard that there is a caffe inside a flower shop. It's fascinating that you can eat a lunch sorrounded by greens. I ordered a floral salad today and I think all girls will like it! The flowers on the table will be changed each week so you also can enjoy those flowers' smell!


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Fagundes sues Kings County, alleging interference in DA's office amid harassment suit
A pending harassment and retaliation suit against Kings County centering on the District Attorney's office has sparked a new legal spat between District Attorney Keith Fagundes and the County's Board of Supervisors.
Monday, Fagundes filed a petition for a writ of mandate with Kings County Superior Court alleging that the Kings County Board of Supervisors and County Counsel were withholding legal counsel in the harassment suit filed by former DA Investigations chief Robert Waggle and unlawfully interfering in his official duties.
Fagundes is not a named party in the suit leveled by Waggle, but the allegations exclusively center on Fagundes' alleged conduct turning Kings County's top law enforcement officer into a real party in interest in the controversy.
In a government claim for damages and the resulting lawsuit, Waggle alleged Fagundes made repeated sexual advances and engaged in sexual harassment toward the 10-year DA's office veteran following his divorce three years ago.
The government claim, filed with Kings County and California's Department of Fair Employment and Housing, Waggle alleged that a pattern of sexual advances and harassment began when Fagundes offered a rent-free apartment to Waggle near his home.
The suit included additional allegations of professional misconduct by Fagundes including evidence tampering, prosecutorial interference, and leveraging personal relationships with other law enforcement agencies to subvert investigatory protocols.
Fagundes' petition against Kings County Centers on Fagundes' request for independent legal counsel to respond to the claim and eventual lawsuit, first requested in mid-July.
Ten days later, the petition contends, Kings County Counsel and the County's Administrative Officer tendered a "defense and indemnification agreement."
A key provision of the County's indemnification agreement called for an investigation into Waggle's allegations. It also added a key condition: that Fagundes take a leave of absence.
"During the pendency of that investigation you shall physically vacate the premises of the District Attorney's Office. You will not contact or approach any employees of the District Attorney's Office about Mr. Waggle's allegations from the present, and through the course of the investigation and/or any subsequent litigation," the July 26 agreement, signed by Kings County CAO Larry Spikes, reads.
"You may, however, choose a designee from the District Attorney's Office whom you will communicate with for the purposes of the day to day management of the Office."
Through his lawyers, Fagundes refused to sign the agreement arguing that the leave of absence demand violated California law prohibiting Supervisors from interfering in the investigative or prosecutorial functions of Sheriff and District Attorney offices.
County officials rebuffed Fagundes' demand to drop the language.
By Sept. 7, Fagundes alleged that County officials transferred his secretary, with whom Waggle had a relationship following his divorce, to the County Human Resources Department.
"This was not a re-assignment, but rather, a physical transfer away from the District Attorney's office," the petition reads.
In his petition, Fagundes claimed that his secretary continued to be paid from District Attorney's Office budget funds but was working on unrelated matters for the county.
On Sept. 15, Kings County Counsel Diane Freeman sent Fagundes a memo stating that the secretary was transferred after she "alleged she was being subject to retaliation and harassment by [Fagundes] due to issues related to a pending investigation."
Freeman further admonished Fagundes not to either delegate tasks involving the HR department to his own staff or schedule an appointment to avoid exposure to – and potential liability involving – his reassigned secretary
Fagundes' petition argues that the reassignment of his secretary contravened an opinion of California's Attorney General that "a county board of supervisors is not authorized to govern the actions of a sheriff or district attorney concerning the manner in which their respective budget allotments are expended or the manner in which personnel are assigned."
Two days after sending the memo to Fagundes, Freeman followed up with another memo scolding the District Attorney for a run-in with the secretary at a local restaurant, where she was dining with Waggle on a lunch break.
The interaction was "perceived by [the secretary] as retaliation and an attempt to harass and intimidate her," Freeman's letter reads.
The petition demands Kings County officials cease interference into DA's office operations, bar them from obstructing the DA's functions as an independent officer, and from making personnel assignments of DA's officials without his consent, and to issue a declaration that the County Counsel's office has a conflict of interest in the matter and that the Fagundes should have independent counsel.
Kings County's Interim County Counsel Diane Freeman declined to comment when reached by The Sun on Wednesday, citing the fact that the county had yet to be served with the writ petition.
How is the Valley's economy bouncing back from pandemic? Here's what a new study says.
From starting up new businesses to new housing construction to production, here's a look at how the Valley is performing post-pandemic.
Hanford City Manager Pyle resigns
In announcing his resignation, Pyle and his wife said they are moving out of state to be closer to their two grown children.
Hanford opens door to adding another weed dispensary
It took Hanford two years to open two cannabis dispensaries, now the south Valley city could be home to a third in the near future.
Coronavirus hits two state prison employees in the Valley
Coronavirus has begun to spread among employees in California's prison system, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said.


Because some aspects of a Designate deployment are specific to the environment in which it is deployed, there is some additional configuration required beyond just including an environment file. The following instructions will explain this configuration.
First, make a copy of the designate-config.yaml environment.
For HA deployments, there is a separate designate-config-ha.yaml file that should be used instead.
This file contains a sample pool configuration which must be edited to match the intended environment. Each section has comments that explain how to configure it.
ns_records: There should be one of these for each node running designate, and they should point at the public IP of the node.
nameservers: There should be one of these for each node running BIND. The host value should be the public IP of the node.
masters: There should be one of these for each node running designate-mdns. The host value should be the public IP of the node.
options: This specifies where the target BIND instance will be listening. host should be the public IP of the node, and rndc_host should be the internal_api IP of the node.
Because this configuration requires the node IPs to be known ahead of time, it is necessary to use predictable IPs. Full details on configuring those can be found at Controlling Node Placement and IP Assignment.


Math teachers have often noticed that students who are good in math have studied, or are studying, music. In the past, it was assumed that the kind of discipline necessary to excel in playing a musical instrument would extend to other academic areas, leading to excellence in those areas as well. But some researchers looked at the math-music relationship and wondered if something other than discipline may be involved.
Since the time of the ancient Greeks, people have been fascinated with the relationship between music and mathematics. Pythagoras (died 500 B.C.) is considered by some to be the founder of both math and music – famous for his theorum on triangles in mathematics, but also for developing the concept of intervals in music (link from Physics of Music course, George Gibson, University of Connecticut).
The relationship between math and music has been written about by philosophers, poets, scientists, musicians, mathematicians, and others. Currently, there are dozens of books in print on the subject, ranging from historical perspectives to explorations of acoustical, theoretical, physical, or analytical relationships.
This entry was posted in Benefits of studying music and tagged cognition, Frances Rauscher, math and music, Mozart Effect, Pythagoras and music, spatial-temporal reasoning on April 12, 2017 by Lois Svard.


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Search Result For: muse
102 Random Facts About Me
10 years ago Hans Haupt9082 views
Everyone who reads my blog knows of my affinity for numbers.
So it is of no surprise that when my fellow Twitter friends, @RubyLetters and @JessicaMcD, tweeted about their blog posts entitled '102 Random Facts About Me'; that I would instantly feel compelled to join in on this fun and revealing new Internet meme.
In celebration of what will no doubt be quite a momentous task (just think about how hard it is to think of 5 interesting things about yourself, never mind 102), I have created the '102 Random Facts About Me' blogger badge. This badge will be awarded to anyone who can successfully write 102 things about themself. If you can complete the task, chances are quite good that you will receive a badge.
Without further ado, I present to you, '102 Random Facts About Me'.
Music Monday: 'Broken Open'
Hey Milieunairs,
It is Music Monday and thus time for another Vivaciously Varietal Vibe!
Flavour: Pop
Artist: Adam Lambert
Album: For Your Entertainment
Song: Broken Open
Rationale: I have, on many an occasion, written about songs which I have labelled as 'hauntingly beautiful'. As it so happens, 'Broken Open' by Adam Lambert, is another song which fits into this category.
At first listen, one could be forgiven for thinking that 'Broken Open' is simply a mock rendition of 'Mad World' by Gary Jules; another of my favourite songs. Both songs share an eerily similar melodic pattern, one which is a pleasure to listen to. On a purely basic auditory level, Lambert's 'Broken Open' is quite different to 'Mad World', offering more of an upbeat pop synth loop with spacey techno buzzes and pings added for good measure. Even so, the song has a beautiful sound made even better with Lambert's sultry voice. Surprisingly, Adam co-wrote 'Broken Open' as well.
I must say, Adam Lambert has created a stellar debut album. He has managed to cater for almost every genre, proving his versatility as an artist. Even more impressive, is the amount of talent that was wired behind the scenes into helping him create his first album, from the likes of MUSE, Pink, Lady Gaga, Ryan Tedder (OneRepublic) and Sam Sparro, among others; all adding their own personal touches to each of Lambert's songs. 'For Your Entertainment' is a brilliant pop album and is definitely worth listening to.
As always, whenever I post about Vivaciously Varietal Vibes on Music Monday's, simply click on the name of the song to be taken to a web page that displays the songs lyrics.
Adama Lambert – Broken Open
Music Monday: 'Hearing Damage'
Flavour: Pop/Rock
Artist: Thom Yorke
Album: Twilight Saga: New Moon OST
Song: Hearing Damage
Rationale: For quite some time I have spoken about songs which I have labelled as 'hauntingly beautiful'. A majority of songs by MUSE, such as 'Sing for Absolution', fall into this category. 'Hearing Damage' by Thom Yorke, in my opinion, is another song which can be described as such.
I am not sure if it is Yorke's surreal voice or the constant electronic and hypnotic pop synth buzz, but this is one of those rare songs that I can listen to over and over again without fail. The song is simply addictive. As it stands, I think that Hearing Damage is by far one of the most listened to songs in my entire music collection. I am actually listening to the song, and have it on a loop, as I write this post.
'Hearing damage' was written and recorded by Radiohead front man Thom Yorke, who specifically wrote and recorded the song for the New Moon soundtrack. Fans of the Twilight Saga will recognise 'Hearing Damage' from the scene in New Moon when Victoria pursues Charlie before being chased by Jacob. As a matter of fact the New Moon soundtrack, in its entirety, is actually very good and, oddly enough, was even given the 'thumbs up' by my father – a good thing because it means that the old folks will enjoy listening to the music no matter how loud you play the album. Consequently, regardless of whether you like the Twilight Saga or not, listen to the album for New Moon because you may be pleasantly surprised by the experience.
Thom Yorke – Hearing Damage (New Moon Edit)
– Thom Yorke Lyrics
Until the next time "Milieunairs"!
Music Monday: 'Feeling Good'
Flavour: Rock
Artist: MUSE
Album: Origin of Symmetry
Song: Feeling Good
Rationale: MUSE are truly an amazing band. They have such a unique sound, one which I have dubbed as 'hauntingly beautiful'. They are, without a doubt, one of my favourite artists. A title which I do not bestow likely.
Although they have released a new album entitled 'The Resistance', I felt it would be good to dedicate a post to a song which has been 'covered' more times than one can count.
The song, 'I am Feeling Good', was originally written by Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse for the 1965 musical The Roar of the Greasepaint—the Smell of the Crowd. The MUSE rendition of 'Feeling Good' is one of the most unusual versions of the song that I am currently aware of, but one that is equally as beautiful as the rest.
With that said, I wish that you all 'Feel Good', no matter the day or the circumstance. Life is too short for regrets and grudges. So, 'cheers' to a new dawn, a new day, and one day soon, a new life!
MUSE: 'Feeling Good'
– Muse Lyrics
Music Monday: 'Running Up That Hill'
Flavour: Alternative Rock
Artist: Placebo
Album: Meds
Song: Running Up That Hill
Rationale: I am a great fan of MUSE, especially songs such as Ruled By Secrecy and Sing For Absolution, which I have dubbed as 'hauntingly beautiful'. Thus, when I heard this song during the screening of The Human Contract, I knew that it would become one of my favourite songs.
I absolutely adore the rhythmic beat of this song. I find it strangely hypnotic, akin to listening to your lovers heartbeat when your ear is pressed against their chest. As a result, I felt I needed to share it with you all. Perhaps this song may take you to another place, like it did with me.
'Running Up That Hill' by Placebo
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Hi, I'm Hans. A Ludologist by education; writer, marketer and ecommerce curator by trade; foodie by nature; and a tech, gadget and gamer geek in my spare time. This blog is where I share my personal thoughts on almost everything and anything.
"With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible"
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All my life, I've had the privilege to have pets. When the house burnt down, everything changed. We lost Daisy to… https://t.co/1zRvAb63iY
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The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB), the regulator and national professional accounting body, has elected Kamrul Abedin FCA as President and Adeeb Hossain Khan FCA, Md Shaifur Rahman Mazumder FCA and Mahmudul Hasan Khusru FCA as Vice Presidents for the year -2016. The new office bearers of ICAB have been elected by the members of the Council –ICAB shortly before holding 43rd Annual General Meeting chaired by outgoing ICAB President Masih Malik Chowdhury FCA at ICAB auditorium, CA Bhaban on Saturday, 26 December 2015.
Alhaj Akkas Uddin Mollah has been unanimously re-elected as Chairman of Executive Committee (EC) and Alhaj Md. Sanaullah Shahid was re-elected as Vice-Chairman of EC of Shahjalal Islami Bank Limited in the 217th Meeting of the Board of Directors held recently. Re-elected Chairman Alhaj Akkas Uddin Mollah is a renowned Industrialist and Businessman.


My philosophy is that the better educated patients are on their conditions, the better healthcare choices they are able to make.
As co-director of Duke Spine Center, the goal of my practice is to treat patients with an interdisciplinary, evidence-based model. This includes a shared-decision-making process, team based care and continuous clinical outcomes collection. Educating and giving my patients access to information is a central piece of my approach. My philosophy is that the better educated patients are on their conditions, the better healthcare choices they are able to make. In the event that a patient needs surgery, we focus on optimizing and preparing prior to surgery with the purpose of improving outcomes. Complex spinal problems are better treated in an interdisciplinary, or team based, care environment. These collaborations are built into the Duke Spine Center and allow us to provide the best care and outcomes to patients with spine problems.
I am interested in studying methods to improve the safety of complex spinal procedures, including the monitoring of the spinal cord function, and also the process of clotting of blood during the procedure. I am also studying the effects of a pre-habilitation protocol (rehab prior to surgery) on clinical outcomes and perioperative morbidity. I think that improving cardiovascular stance and endurance prior to surgery has a profound effect on the results of surgery - the stronger you are, the faster and better you recover. I am also studying the effect of spinal deformity in adults (scoliosis, kyphosis) on balance and equilibrium. The ability of a patient to stand and walk is mostly affected by the deformation of the main axis of the body, resulting in increased effort to stand and walk and increased risk of falls.


text:
Meet The Teenagers Who Were Shot With Malala by the Taliban and Kept Going To School
If you're like most of us, you've already heard the story of the Taliban's attempted assassination of then 15-year-old Malala Yousafzai.
The account is known by millions around the world – so much so that Malala is a near-household first name at this point.
But very few know about the other two other girls who were wounded in the attack back on October 9, 2012, with Malala.
Malala's friend Shazia Ramzan was shot twice in the arm and her friend Kainat Riaz was shot in the hand. Malala's injuries obvious required much more intensive medical attention and expertise – so much so that she was airlifted to Britain for treatment – but these other two teens faced daunting challenge on their own, without Western help, and in spite of it all, they continued their education in a country where girls are shot just for fighting for an education.
Riaz says she was so afraid that she "didn't go to hospital [right away] because I felt that the guy would come again and he will shoot me….[F]or one week I couldn't sleep at all. Because whenever I just closed my eyes [I pictured] what happened to us on the bus: lots of blood and Malala and my hand."
Both Ramzan and Riaz say that they were still determined to go to school after they recovered – and that's exactly what they continued doing.
People around them were scared to help out though.
"We [asked] other people for bus travel," Riaz recalls. "Openly they told us, 'No, we are scared. We are sorry we can't pick you up.' After three months we had a bomb blast behind my house. So my town told me, 'This happened because of you and you should leave the town.'"
But Malala never forgot them. In 2013 when UWC Atlantic College, boarding school in Wales, offered her a scholarship, she declined, and asked instead that her friends be given the opportunity to come study in safety there.
Labels: Malala Yusufzai, Pakistan, Smash the patriarchy, Taliban
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Taekwondo is a Korean martial art involving dynamic techniques of unarmed combat for self defence purposes, combining the skilled application of powerful punches, kicks, blocks, dodges and interceptions.
Beginners and experienced alike are invited to explore this intriguing martial art with us. Wing Chun kung fu brings self-defence skills, self-discipline, mental health, sports, and fitness to people of all ages and body types.


text:
package com.articles_hub.api.model;

import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.List;
import javax.xml.bind.annotation.XmlRootElement;

/**
 *
 * @author Neel Patel
 */
@XmlRootElement(name = "user")
public class AdminDetail extends PersonDetail{
    private String info;

    public String getInfo() {
        return info;
    }

    public void setInfo(String info) {
        this.info = info;
    }

}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
VW plans to build first EVs with China's Jianghuai Auto by next year
Jake Spring
BEIJING -- Volkswagen Group plans to make its first cars with China's Anhui Jianghuai Automobile by 2018 and hopes the joint venture will get government approval in the first half of this year, Jochem Heizmann, VW's China CEO said.
Heizmann made the comments at a media briefing in Beijing on Thursday. Volkswagen and JAC signed a preliminary deal in September to explore making electric vehicles.
Heizmann also said Volkswagen expected the Chinese auto market to grow at a slower pace of 5 percent in 2017, the same prediction made by China's automakers association this month, as tax incentives for small-engined cars are rolled back.
Volkswagen delivered 3.98 million vehicles in China last year, an increase of 12 percent on 2015, making it the biggest foreign automaker in the country. Heizmann said it planned to invest 4 billion euros ($4.3 billion) in China this year via joint ventures.
China's auto market, the world's largest, got a boost after the government cut taxes on cars with engines of 1.6 liters or less in late 2015, helping lift growth in vehicle sales to 14 percent last year.
Volkswagen is known for its particularly strong offerings in that part of the market, such as the Passat sedan.
The purchase tax on cars with engines of 1.6 liters or less in China rose to 7.5 percent this year from 5 percent in 2016. It will return to 10 percent in 2018.


text:
A spiritual wonder down under (Reflections on my outreach tour to Melbourne)
by June 18, 2015
Some eight years ago my spiritual master His Holiness Radhanath Swami Maharaj told me to learn to write for a Western audience. He explained that since Indians were also getting westernized, material written for a Western audience would appeal to them too.
Since then, I have read various books written by devotee-authors for a Western audience. Then I corresponded by email with many of these devotee-authors, appreciating their works and offering to serve them as an editor for their future books. During the ensuing interactions, I got to know the story behind the story – how they came to write what they wrote. Based on the guidance of these devotees, I read many books written for a Western audience by other spiritual authors – Christians, yoga teachers, Buddhists, academic scholars of religion and post-modern thinkers – paying special attention to their choice of diction, style and content.
Finally after nearly a decade of distant preparation and at the prompting of several devotee-authors, I recognized that I needed to interact with my audience firsthand to understand them better. Accordingly, when Muralidhar Prabhu, who has long appreciated my talks and writings, and has even arranged the translation of three of my books into Chinese, invited me to come to Melbourne, I accepted the invitation.
After taking the blessings of senior devotees and offering my prayers to Their Lordships Sri Sri Radha Gopinath – "Let this trip deepen my conviction that you, O Lord, are the only ultimate substance and that everything else, no matter how attractive-looking, is eventually insubstantial" – I embarked on the tour to Melbourne from 27th May to 9th June, 2015.
A heartwarming blend of the natural and the devotional
The eighteen-hour flight with a five-hour jet lag was uneventfully pleasant. I landed at Melbourne in the early morning cold in what was the coldest part of the year on one of the southernmost parts of Australia. As we drove to the temple, I noticed that the architecture of Melbourne was a pleasing blend of the traditional and the modern. In the Melbourne ISKCON temple, the central building is the oldest building in the whole area and is a heritage building. It also contains a large devotional heritage room: The room in which Srila Prabhupada lived during his visit in 1975 has been preserved as it is.
With comforting greenery in the premises, the temple atmosphere is a heartwarming blend of the natural and the devotional. The Deities are the divinely beautiful Radha Vallabha, Jagannatha-Baldeva-Subhadra and Gaur-Nitai. By their sacred presence, they manifest in Melbourne simultaneously the three holiest abodes of Gaudiya Vaishnavism: Vrindavan, Jagannath Puri and Mayapur.
I had three illuminating meetings with the Temple President, His Grace Aniruddha Prabhu, who has been a rock of stability for the Melbourne community for the last twenty-five years. He explained the temple's outreach strategy centered on prasad distribution. When Srila Prabhupada had come there, he had said that anyone from around ten miles should be able to come to the temple and get free prasad. Accordingly, the temple has been providing free prasad – and opulent prasad with multiple items at that – three times a day to all visitors for several decades. Additionally, through its two restaurants, the temple reaches to a significant number of Australians and creates by this gustatory outreach the human connections foundational for philosophical outreach. An ongoing kitchen expansion project will expand the outreach substantially – with the expanded kitchen, the temple will be able to start several more restaurants. The center also has a vibrant educational ethos with several Bhakti-Shastri, Bhakti-Vaibhava and Bhakti-Vedanta courses being conducted.
Cricket Metaphors
My first talk was on 28th evening at Mantra Lounge, which is a youth center close to Melbourne University. Entitled "Love is in the SOUND", the talk attracted students from various countries. But I had to pay the price for spin-doctoring my topic. For me, SOUND was an acronym (Satisfying, Omnipotent, Universal, Non-material, Direct) that conveyed the qualities of the sound of the maha-mantra, which manifests the infinite's love for the finite. But for the students, the topic fuelled a set of romantic and sentimental expectations that my talk obviously couldn't fulfill. Though they heard me politely, they asked no questions and later conveyed their disappointment to the local youth coordinator who thereafter gave me candid feedback.
For most Indians – and I am no exception – the mention of Australia usually brings thoughts of cricket; India's cricket rivalry with Australia is intense, second only to its rivalry with Pakistan. So the thought of cricket was lurking at the back of my mind right from the start of my Australian visit. As I contemplated the feedback, a cricket metaphor sprang up, leaving me shaking my head ruefully. My "international debut" had been underwhelming – though I hadn't been dismissed for a duck, still I had run myself out before reaching double figures even. Thankfully, I had many more innings to redeem myself.
My next class was on the evening of Pandava Nirjala Ekadashi. Speaking on the Bhagavad-gita to a friendly audience of devotees was like playing on home turf. Based on the Gita 5.17, I spoke on "Overcoming obstacles at the levels of the mind, intelligence and faith" and answered several thoughtful questions.
The next class was the temple Bhagavatam class on 30th morning on a technical section of the third canto dealing with creation. I spoke on "Conceptual, conversational and chronological background of the Bhagavatam's creation narrative" and could see a few impressed and many dazed faces in the audience. After the class, as I contemplated the future classes which would be more technical than this one, another cricket metaphor popped up in my mind and had me laughing. If I went on into the technicalities of the Bhagavatam's division of species, I felt I would be like a batsman raising his bat to hit a sixer and finding that there was no ball, no baller, no umpire, no fielders, no spectators – just the batsman swinging the bat through the empty air on an empty ground. Few if any in the audience would be able to connect with the technicalities. I intended no disrespect to my audience's intelligence; just that a technical analysis would require charts and powerpoints – and couldn't be done in a Bhagavatam class. A special seminar for interested devotees doing a Bhakti Vaibhava course would be a more appropriate forum.
As I considered alternative strategies for dealing with the subject, I found myself pondering the universal human questions that the Bhagavatam's technical presentation sought to answer. And as I contemplated the answers for those questions provided by other, more contemporary knowledge-sources, I found a way to present the topic intelligibly. During my subsequent Bhagavatam classes, I compared the scientific, Christian and Bhagavatam conceptions of the nature and purpose of creation, the possibility of extra-terrestrial life, the difference between humans and animals and the nature of time. After the classes, many devotees asked intelligent, well-informed questions, thereby demonstrating that they could connect with the analysis. I felt that this topic could well become the theme for a book (another addition to the many book dreams that I don't know whether I will be able to actualize in this life).
A stirring spiritual experience
My second class to a Western audience was at the Urban Yoga Center on the topic of "The Anxiety Epidemic." I spoke how overemphasis on personality (how we appear) at the expense of the person (who we actually are) is a major cause of anxiety. It was after the class that I had the most moving experience of my entire Australian visit. While I was giving the class, I was too caught in doing things – trying to present the bhakti message in the most intelligible way. But when the soothing kirtan started, the wonder of it all struck me: seeing the Western faces all around me drove home the point that I was really in a far-away country, in Australia, to be precise. Seeing an African-Australian Mataji leading the kirtan, several Australian Matajis playing the instruments and seeing various Australian faces blissfully singing the holy names drove home the universality of bhakti. Geographically, culturally, intellectually, there may be much that separates us, but bhakti-yoga unites us all by enabling us to experience the common core of our being – the heart that longs to love and be loved, the heart that finds its ultimate fulfillment in loving God and singing his glories. I felt as if the whole scene was surreal, a flashback to the times when Srila Prabhupada began it all single-handedly in a small storefront inLower East Side, New York. Here, all I had to do was just give a talk while a whole team did everything else. But Srila Prabhupada had to do it all himself. How incredibly difficult it must have been for him! I had spoken and written on Srila Prabhupada's unbreakable, inconceivable determination, but contemplating it on the mission field of Australia took my appreciation and gratitude to a much higher level. The fact that many sincere people were taking to bhakti-yoga here down under was a spiritual wonder – a living miracle that had manifested as the fruition of the careful passing on of the bhakti legacy by generations of saintly teachers.
Sattvika Courtship
In between my many classes (I gave some 16 classes and 2 QA sessions), I met many devotees. On one of the days, the Temple Vice-President, Nanda Mandir Prabhu, told me that his spiritual master and one of the GBCs (Governing Body Commissioners) there, His Holiness Devamrita Maharaja, had a whole system for courting: If a devotee-couple desired to marry, they were asked to first go through a period of two-year courting with all meetings during the first year supervised by a chaperone. The system struck me as remarkably sattvika and just suited for curbing the rajas inherent in romance.
When I met Devamrita Maharaja later and appreciated the courtship system, he told me how it had been hugely successful in bringing stability and longevity to marriages among Western devotee couples. We had an absorbing discussion for one-and-half hours on various styles of writing and speaking for Western audiences. Maharaja also connected me with his team that is producing the captivatingly contemporary ENOUGH magazine to attract Westerners to Krishna.
Later, I contemplated further on the courtship system. I had written a few years ago that to resist our impulses, we all need to develop our own pause buttons – some customized set of actions that counter the pressure of our impulses and restore our capacity to think clearly. It struck me that this courtship system is an excellent example of a socially arranged pause button.
These thoughts were churning through my mind when I spoke one evening at a youth meeting on the topic, "Emotion Commotion Devotion: Nourishing our emotions in a culture of emotional exploitation" While addressing the question, "Which are better: love marriages or arranged marriages?" I pointed out that the nomenclature itself was biased – it implied that arranged marriages had no love in them, and that those who favored arranged marriages were against love. Someone biased the other way could well rephrase the question as: "Which are better: infatuation marriages or arranged marriages?" The point is that the foundation for a sustainable marriage cannot be the infatuation of "Love at first sight"; it has to be the commitment that enables one to continue loving after many sights. For millions of people for millennia, that commitment came from having their marriages arranged and blessed by elders.
In contrast, rajo-guna with its infatuation rivets our vision to our emotion, letting us see only those things that agree with the present emotion. Initially, rajo-guna makes one feel, "I can't live without you." But when inevitable differences and disagreements crop up, the same rajo-guna makes one feel, "I can't live with you." The pause button of the waiting period allows time for sattva-guna to return and broaden the uni-dimensional vision of rajo-guna. With this expanded vision, one can make a more mature decision about the relationship.
As the cultural values in India change and devotee-couples increasingly choose love marriages (I use this term for lack of a non-judgmental alternative), I feel that sociological improvisations such as a sattvika courting system will be needed in India – sooner rather than later.
Appreciation-without-infatuation
In our spiritual evolution, we all go through phases. Like most Indians, I had grown up with a deep-rooted Western infatuation. After I started practicing bhakti-yoga in my youth, I oscillated, like many other young Indian devotees, towards the opposite, indulging in blanket condemnation of the West. Whenever I look back at some of the articles about Western culture I wrote ten years ago, I periodically catch myself wincing at the sweeping generalizations.
Probably I needed nearly two decades of devotional purification and spiritual maturation to come to the balanced state of appreciation-without-infatuation and criticism-without-condemnation. During my visit to Australia, I could see much to appreciate. Meticulous organization of things was evident everywhere – from the arrangement for half-flush in washrooms to conserve water to the symmetrical positioning and systematic numbering of houses on both sides of the roads to the provision of ramps at all public places for people with special needs. I could only wish that if India could organize things even half as well, so many people – Indians included – could be saved from the negative first impression that prevents them from looking deeper for India's spiritual wisdom. Indeed, many have been the Western minds who though fascinated by reading Indian wisdom-literature were dismayed on actually coming to India, bemoaning, "How could people so organized in their philosophical thinking be so disorganized in their practical living?"
The impressive material organization in Australia notwithstanding, I could discern signs of a pervasive inner emptiness. As Australian psychological and sociological surveys testify, emotions are often in chaos and relationships are frequently in a mess. When in my talks I quoted sociologists who reported the paradoxical finding, "People in the developing world have far more to be worried about than people in the developed world, yet people in the developed world are more worried than people in the developing world," I could see many Western heads nodding. And when I quoted how immigrants from the developing world to the developed world tend to have higher stress levels after immigration, I could see many Indian heads nodding too.
Moving moments with devotees
By far the most encouraging aspect of the visit for me was getting to know the many devotees who were actively using the content from thespiritualscientist.com and gitadaily.com. Being able to replace the statistics of site visitors with the faces of intelligent devotees was enlivening and fulfilling – it made my online outreach more personal and reciprocal. Mehul Prabhu and his wife Bhavika Mataji who is a web-developer offered to make a subdomain answers.thespiritualscientist.com for newcomers. Amit Gupta Prabhu has made meticulous PowerPoint presentations on important points from many of my classes – powerpoints that could be used for making short audio-visual presentations. Gaurava Sharma had made an attractive video based on one of my answers and will be making videos for several of the best FAQs on the site. And coming at last to the best, Muralidhar P is a devotional dynamo. He envisioned the whole trip, organized the various programs and throughout kept me focused. With him by my side, I felt like a spendthrift player protected by a parsimonious manager.
Bhurijana Prabhu, who was in in Perth and who is the spiritual master of Aniruddha Prabhu, heard from him that I was in Melbourne and asked that I call him. We have met only twice, but both times he had shown such phenomenal empathy that within minutes our discussion had gone to great depths.
He generously shared his realizations about the challenges in being an introvert in a preaching movement and about balancing between writing and traveling-speaking. He reiterated his writing motto, an ancient Latin saying: Nulla Dies Sine Linea (Never a day without a line). That spirit has been the driving force for my writing daily at gitadaily.com. As all the issues we discussed spoke directly to my own challenges as a sadhaka, I felt myself blessed by our hour-long phone discussion.
For my relatives who I knew would be interested only in "Which places in Australia I had seen?" I had already prepared what I thought was a brilliant riposte: "I didn't go to Australia to see Australia. I went there to show Krishna to Australia." But thankfully, humility and honesty won the day in my heart: "After all, I am far from having seen Krishna myself, so who am I to show him to anyone? If others are able to get a glimpse of Krishna's attractiveness through my talks, then that is Krishna's mercy in reciprocation to their sincerity." So I abandoned my self-righteous plan of not going to see any scenic places. On the last day of my visit, after I had completed all my classes and had some breathing room, I went along with the devotees' suggestion to go for a walk to a nearby lake. And I found the walk relaxing – the beauty of the lake reminded me of the lake that I find most beautiful in Vrindavan, Kusum Sarovar.
My last interaction was with a select group of Western devotees from whom I wanted to learn more about the Western mind. As I heard from them about how they came to bhakti, I could better appreciate the massive conceptual and cultural barriers they had to scale. One Mataji told how the mantra lounge program was the only way she could have come to bhakti – if during her first days she had met anyone with "clay on the face," she would never have even considered joining such a weird group. A Prabhu mentioned that his friends' idea of spirituality had largely been aromatherapy. That people from such backgrounds had come to bhakti is testimony to the expertise of the devotees in presenting bhakti's universality. That these devotees were striving to help others scale the same barriers spoke volumes to their dedication.
Rounding it up
The days passed in a blissful blur and when on the midnight of 8th July I returned to the Melbourne airport for my return flight to India, I couldn't but share the sentiments of the devotees with me: it felt as if I had arrived at the place just a few days ago.
During my flight back, I wondered: So did I learn how to write for a Western audience? Yes, I certainly did – I learnt that I still have a lot to learn. As I contemplated further, I felt that the mind would be an excellent topic through which to present the wisdom of the bhakti tradition. Among all my talks, perhaps the most well-received were the two on the mind: "The mind is the TV and the thief" and "Catch the ventriloquist with intellectual and emotional energy." Though the audience for these talks was mostly Indian and devotees at that, still I could sense that the same points could be presented with some adaptation for a Western audience. In fact, when I had spoken some of those points in my classes to Westerners, they had connected well with those points. In one of my talks I made the point that even those who consider the bhakti tradition's depiction of the mind a conceptual model, not an ontological realty, can still reap benefits. People may or may not believe in the existence of God or the soul, but they all have to face with undeniable force and frequency the reality of something within that impels them towards self-defeating behavior. If they can get a coherent model of what that thing is and how they can deal with it – and the bhakti tradition offers both – then they would feel empowered and become more open to the other gifts of the tradition.
I hope and pray that I can mind my mind enough to write on the mind soon.
Anirudh Iyer
Wonderful post prabhu! I'm glad it was an enriching experience for you. Your personal articles, though rare are always a source of inspiration! Hare Krishna.
Bhuvanapujita Radhika dd
Harekrishna Prabhuji, Dandavats !! Wonderful article , thank you for sharing your experience .
Looking forward to read more of such personal experiences.
Rajat Srivastava
Thank you Prji for sharing your heart. Very enlivening experiences.
Dinabandhu Caitanya Das
Dear Caitanya Caran pr,PAMHO, It was so wonderful reading about your preaching experiences down under. I liked the point you mention about balanced state of appreciation-without-infatuation and criticism-without-condemnation with respect to western world . Very true indeed.
Ram Bhakti das
Dandavat Pranam Prabhuji,As usual your articles are so touching & practical.
jayant Mahtani
Very wonderful service prabhuji you are doing for Guru and Gauranga. I am very much enthused by your articles. I do send these to my relatives, especially from the Gita.
Roshan Kumar Hota
Loved to read about your experiences prabhu. Very inspiring.


BEIJING, July 10 (Yonhap) -- China committed 89.34 billion yuan (US$14.4 billion) to international aid and development projects between 2010 and 2012 with more than half of the financial commitments given to Africa, China's cabinet said Thursday in a rare disclosure of its aid program.
The report, released by the Information Office of China's State Council, revealed how China was trying to increase its political and economic influence on the resource-rich African continent with aid and development activities.
Of the total three-year financial commitments, 51.8 percent was given to Africa, 30.5 percent went to Asia and 8.4 percent was earmarked for Latin America and Caribbean nations, according to the 31-page report.
During the three years, China offered 49.76 billion yuan, or 55.7 percent of the total assistant volume, in concessional loans, while 32.32 billion yuan was provided in grants, it showed. The remaining 7.26 billion yuan was offered in the form of interest-free loans.
"China will continue to increase the input in foreign assistance, further optimize assistance structure, highlight key aspects, innovate assistance means, raise the efficiency of capital utilization, effectively help recipient countries improve their people's well-being and enhance their capability of independent development," the report said.
"China is endeavoring to build a moderately prosperous society in an all-round way and stays committed to realizing the Chinese dream of national prosperity and renewal, and happiness of the people," it said.
The report detailed China's aid and development activities in Africa.
"For example, China helped build the third section of the Sika Highway that connects Kenya's capital Nairobi to its economic hub Sika, thus making a contribution to the road network that links up Kenya, Ethiopia and Tanzania," it said.
"During the three years, China carried out technical cooperation with countries like Ethiopia, Burundi and Sudan, and helped these countries improve their utilization and management of solar power, hydro power and other clean energy," it said.
It's unusual for China to release such a report. An official at the Information Office of the State Council declined to comment, when asked why the Chinese Cabinet released the report.


text:
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  def change
    create_table :order_items do |t|
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    end
  end
end


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Swarved is science of prana, pranayam is part of that, and yoga is complete science in itself: UP CM Yogi Adityanath
in Bharat, Uttar Pradesh
Swarved is the science of prana or breath, pranayam is a part of that and yoga is a complete science in itself, said Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday.
Addressing the event to celebrate the 98th-anniversary of Sadguru Sadafaldeo Vihangam Yog Sansthan in Varanasi today, Adityanath said, "We are taking our Indian culture to heights under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. We also celebrate the International Yoga Day on June 21 every year which has been started by PM Modi."
"Swarved is the science of prana or breath, pranayam is a part of that and yoga is a complete science in itself," Adityanath said.
The Chief Minister further lauded the presence of PM Modi on the occasion and welcomed him to address the 98th-anniversary celebrations of Sadguru Sadafaldeo Vihangam Yog Sansthan in Varanasi.
PM Modi on Tuesday arrived at the Swarved Mahamandir in Varanasi to attend the occasion of Yog Sansthan.
Earlier today, Prime Minister Modi also chaired a meeting with the Chief Ministers of BJP-ruled states here.
This comes a day after PM Modi had chaired a meeting with the BJP Chief Ministers and Deputy chief ministers here yesterday.
PM Modi is currently on a two-day visit to his parliamentary constituency Varanasi where he inaugurated phase 1 of the newly-constructed Kashi Vishwanath Dham at a cost of around Rs 339 crores on Monday. (ANI)
Banaras giving a new direction to the nation: PM Modi
India's victory against Pakistan in 1971 most important victory in world history: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh


Darlings! I will be a featured speaker & performer in this event!
A panel and performance designed to create a safe space and foster honest dialogue about the often stigmatized topic of mental illness, particularly in connection to the creative experience.
Tickets are $5 and in very high demand, so please secure your spot before time runs out!!! REGISTER HERE.


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Books by Parents for Parents and Professionals
Link to Books by the Experts
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Some call it Parental Alienation, others Pathogenic Parenting. Whichever you choose it is cruel child abuse and it destroys lives. It is a little understood epidemic that victimizes thousands of children and their parent whose only crime was to escape a manipulative, disordered narcissist, devoid of empathy. The weapons of destruction are the innocent children of the narcissist and their lives are destroyed along with the targeted parent, mere casualties of war. Sadly, Family Courts and social service agencies too often enable the abuse, ignorantly rewarding the attacking narcissist and punishing the victim.
"Tears In The Rain" is a novel inspired by several true family crises. Julia Webster is the victim of a narcissistic relationship with her disordered father whose single-minded, vengeful goal is to completely destroy his ex-wife by eradicating the relationship between her and Julia. Unfortunately, it is Julia who is nearly destroyed and finds herself confined to a locked psychiatric ward after a nearly successful suicide attempt. Dr. Elizabeth Malone is a forensic psychologist who recognizes the pathology and is committed to Julia's physical and emotional recovery as well as a criminal indictment against her father after years of abusive manipulation. But, time and the law are very real enemies. She leads a team of two police detectives, a social worker, an ex-Navy SEAL, and a shadowy group called "Echo" as they skirt the law attempting to protect Julia from reuniting with her abuser and re-sinking under his destructive, coercive control. "Tears In The Rain" is a story of the silent, merciless, and little understood epidemic of Parental Alienation resulting from pathological narcissism interacting with toxic divorce, devastating victims, both innocent children and targeted parents.
The author of "Tears In The Rain" was an unfortunate but intimate observer to the nightmare destruction of his adopted family He helplessly witnessed the insidious, relentless abuse of two children by a man consumed by revenge. "Peter Webster" executed a strategy attempting to destroy his ex-wife by relentlessly teaching his children to hate and completely terminate their relationship with a mother whose pleas were totally ignored by the legal and psychiatric communities. The novel is well researched and exposes the failure of the legal and mental health communities to effectively identify and intervene with this complex and little understood but extremely destructive personality disorder.
A short passage from Chapter One:
"Her father will show up soon, probably tonight. He will charm the medical staff and convince them he is a loving father totally confused by the situation. He may even suggest the injury was caused by Julia's sister, Margaret. And, he will be sure to be at her bedside when she wakes up. They will chat for a while and, if it was a suicide attempt she will decide she was totally confused and made a stupid mistake. Then, after about three sessions with a psychologist she will convince the therapist she is fine and will be released to the care of her father who will vouch for her safety and promise to continue the therapy. She will then return to the hellhole that caused her to attempt suicide in the first place. After one or two sessions with a therapist her father will renege on his promise claiming that everything is now fine. So, everything will be as if this little event never happened."
For more information and sample passages, visit us on Facebook.
ISBN: 10: 978-1530177554
Amazon Print: 1530177553
Amazon Kindle: B01CV0MHVQ
HardBook
Where Have All Our Daughter's Gone
Mitchell Bellison always had an agenda. As a college student at the University of Florida, he didn't let the fact he lived in a trailer deter him from getting what he wanted. Now, with intelligence and looks, he cunningly charms his way into the life–and arms–of unsuspecting Southern belle Kate Canterfield. Mitchell plays his part to perfection, but it isn't long after their marriage that Kate begins to see his facade crumble and the abuse begins. Still, due to her upbringing, Kate feels obliged to do her best and fix what's wrong, no questions asked. With money and power as an attorney, Mitchell eventually decides he no longer needs Kate in his life, and embarks upon a journey of self-satisfaction. Kate thinks it is enough she escaped an abusive marriage, but she can never totally break free of his control now that they share three daughters.
Where Have All Our Daughters Gone is a story of contrasts from love and compassion to narcissistic revenge and resilience, set against a backdrop of the wealth and privilege of Naples, Florida to the quiet charm of the Southern Low Country of South Carolina. Kate's is a story of compassion, resilience, and survival against the odds.
Rod McCall
Rod's Case is not just the epitome of alienation but one of the worst cases. His book exposes not only his story and the problems that transpired but what he learned to help parents recognize the signs ahead of time.
Christina Mask
As a battered mother and her three abused children were chewed up and spit out through a legendary fiasco in custody court, USA, corrupt judges and family lawyers (including her own counsel), incompetent mental health professionals, and lying police officers in the old boys club in her town aided and abetted vicious abuse and battering of her children as she fought through hundreds of thousands of dollars, tears, prayers, sorrow, terror, and savage abuse inflicted upon her children by batterer-father when they cried for her; yet no one listened to her pleas for rescuing them from vicious battering, domestic violence, brainwashing, severe parental alienation, and narcissistic abuse.
No one interceded nor rescued them. No one stopped the battering.
They were silenced by the tyranny and colluding cloak of corruption, malpractice, and abuse ongoing for seven years since she cancelled the corrupt custody trial and thirteen years since her youngest son was left with "false memories of hatred created in Leonard for his mother."
Jade, Zak, and Leonard were left in the sole custody of their batterer-father through the utter failure of all systems designed to protect them and the incompetence of mental health and family law professionals who were supposed to protect them and enforce court orders, allowing them freedom, safety, and healing with their mother and a life without abusiveness and evil
By clicking and making a purchase, PAS Intervention will receive a donation to the nonprofit.
This book is written from a realistic perspective and addresses the legal issues most likely to affect you at some point. Learn how to fight a speeding ticket, handle small claims, resolve landlord-tenant issues, and more, despite our wildly corrupt courts.
Now the #1-rated legal guide for Americans on Amazon.com.
Foreword by Dr. Ron Paul.
Will you be prepared, not if, but when the legal system strikes?
Books for Working with Children
How To Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish. Recommended by a School Principal. To purchase directly from the authors click the link below.
http://fabermazlish.3dcartstores.com/How-to-Talk-So-Kids-Will-Listen-Listen-So-Kids-Will-Talk_p_11.html


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Investing in education worldwide
Adcote School for Girls
Home »Myddelton College
Myddelton College in Denbigh, North Wales is located on the site of a former girls school which was founded in 1859 but closed in 2013. It was reopened with investment from IQ Schools Group in 2016 as an independent co-educational day and boarding school.
Myddelton College opened in September 2016 with 87 students, expanded to 164 in 2017 and had 230 students enrolled for September 2018, with a third of these students coming from our International Student Recruitment team. This makes Myddelton College the newest and fastest growing independent school in Wales.
On February 2018 in Shanghai's Harbour City business and cultural district, IQ Schools Group entered into a formal investment deal in the presence of Mr Liam Fox Secretary of State for International Trade securing significant investment. We are very committed to high quality innovative education and the investment will be used to improve student experience, facilities and expand our international links.
Myddelton College is internationally recognised as an innovator in education. We are proud to have been awarded the global accolade of being a 'Microsoft Associate Showcase School' in recognition of our innovative approach to integrating technology into education. We do things very differently. From our use of 21st Century technology and skills in every lesson to our ground-breaking Learning Through The Outdoors programme, we have stripped away some of the shackles that prevent so many schools from delivering a curriculum that is truly suited to the modern age.
A co-educational day and boarding school for 9 – 18 year-olds, with local and international students, we aim to create a diverse student body which provides authentic exposure to a variety of cultures, with a view to preparing our students for life in the modern world.
Visit Myddelton College
6th Floor, Spaces Building, 156 Great Charles Street
Queensway, Birmingham, West Midlands, B3 3HN
Theme: Higher Education
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4A Games Limited è uno studio ucraino di sviluppo di videogiochi con sede a Sliema, Malta. La compagnia è stata fondata a Kiev nel 2005, per poi trasferire la sede a Malta nel 2014. 4A Games è meglio conosciuta per lo sviluppo della serie Metro.

Giochi

Altri progetti

Collegamenti esterni

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


When Randy Hammer received a phone call letting her know about an important public hearing to show support for offshore wind, she went.
It was a direct connection--something that I could do physically--to add my body to a population of people who are supporting wind energy.
She noted that making it out to add your support in person is not always easy when you work all day and have other things on your agenda, but on this day, she was able to make standing up for offshore wind her priority.
Offshore wind is a critical source of clean energy, and the National Wildlife Federation is working to ensure it is developed in a wildlife-friendly manner.
The event was a public hearing on offshore wind with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. It was critical to fill the room to show decision-makers and the media that local people care about developing clean energy in the Atlantic to help reduce the global warming pollution that threatens the future of wildlife.
I have never been to this kind of event and it was really fun to see live people who spoke from different organizations.
Randy said that she would be happy to speak at the next hearing that she goes to, and would just need help with the wording--which is not a problem since we are happy to help people prepare to speak up in support of wildlife at important public hearings and events!
Like many of our supporters, Randy is motivated by protecting wildlife. Polar bears are of particular concern to her, as are birds--more and more of which she notices going on the endangered species list. After getting into birding over the last three years, she has come to understand that the health of our bird populations is a barometer for what is going on with the world, and believes that if we can keep their populations healthy, it is good for the rest of the world.
Add your voice for offshore wind--speak up on behalf of sea turtles in the Atlantic Ocean that are suffering from climate change.
Take a look at our Advocacy Toolkit for more ways to make a difference for wildlife.


Trend has many installations worldwide, however this information is under controlled release.
Please contact us directly via the 'Contact us' section on this site.
Energy efficiency is a high priority for the organisation and it uses Building Energy Management Systems (BEMS) from Trend Control Systems to achieve this.
As part of the Ministry of Defence's (MOD) strategic objective of lowering energy usage and carbon emissions across its estate, it recently installed a new Building Energy Management System (BEMS) from Trend Control Systems.


It's no secret that politics is having a moment right now and that getting involved is more important than ever. But after you've exhausted the online petitions, volunteer opportunities for local politicians and monthly donations to NGOs, what's the next way to get involved?
How about running for office?
WomenElect, a four-month leadership development program, helps qualified women do just that. The program was founded in 2010 in Buffalo, New York and is currently working to expand to additional cities, states and countries.
Cihak is well aware that, despite being 52 percent of the population, women are stuck at having 20 percent political representation. Fortunately, Cihak has a clear reason as to why that is and what needs to be done to change that statistic.
"Women say no to running," Cihak said. "They want to know that they will be able to maintain their reputation in their community, not strain their family and their finances too much and have a reasonable chance at success when they do run. All of that takes preparation long before a campaign begins.
Regardless of what side of the aisle you're on, everyone benefits when more women are in office. Cihak believes that women leaders tend to be more collaborative than male ones. During critical moments in U.S. politics, they're the ones who keep the country running.
Compromising and maintaining professional relationships aren't skills that are isolated to politics, they're applicable to the workplace as well. Political work can assist in honing skills that can help you in your 9 to 5, like developing the fortitude to strive towards your goal no matter what.
To Cihak's credit, one of the courses in the WomenElect curriculum is titled "Grit and Guts" and the need for the course makes sense. Like many of the processes within the corporate world, political systems were designed for men. When running for office, women have a larger of number of hurdles to face — but that doesn't mean they have to face it alone.


Wax Selection are currently recruiting for an exciting new position on behalf of our clients, a mid-size, privately-owned international pharmaceutical company.
In the UK, our client has been enjoying vigorous growth, which is set to continue with a number of new product launches.
As the National Medical Science Liaison (MSL) you will provide scientific and medical leadership and support across the specialist care portfolio. As the National MSL for Speciality Care you will serve as a key field-based scientific expert.
This vacancy is being advertised on behalf of Wax Selection who are operating as an employment agency.
Due to the high volume of applications we receive, unfortunately we are unable to provide individual feedback at this stage. If you have not heard from us within 7 days, please assume your application has been unsuccessful on this occasion.