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About that Water in Your Well
Study says millions of PA residents relying on private water wells that may contain contaminants – none of which are related to the Marcellus Shale
Nearly 20,000 new wells are drilled in Pennsylvania every year. And among these, not a single one of them has anything to do with oil or natural gas.
Instead, these wells are drilled for the purpose of accessing underground sources of water. In Pennsylvania, more than three million residents rely on private wells for essential sources of potable water – second most in the entire nation behind Michigan. So lots of wells must mean lots of good, high-quality drinking water, right? Not according to a report issued last year by researchers from Penn State.
The study, available here and commissioned by the Center for Rural Pennsylvania, was conducted over two years and drew on samples from more than 700 individual private water wells installed all across the state. What did the researchers find? For starters, a full 40 percent of tested wells failed to meet the state's drinking water standards for safety. Keep in mind that Pennsylvania supports more than 1 million private water wells – which means it's possible that more than 400,000 water wells, serving roughly 700,000 residents, are of a quality and nature of potential concern. And the worst thing about it? According to the survey, very few of these well owners even knew they had a problem.
With more than 1,300 Marcellus wells developed in Pennsylvania this year, it's become a popular thing to assume that wells drilled for the purpose of tapping enormous and clean-burning reserves of natural gas 5,000 to 9,000 feet below the water table are having a deleterious impact on underground drinking water. The alleged culprit? A commonly deployed well stimulation technology known as hydraulic fracturing, a technique that's been used more than a million times over the past 60 years not just for oil and natural gas, but for geothermal production and even by EPA for Superfund clean-ups.
But as mentioned, the report on private water wells from Penn State was issued in 2009, roughly 50 years removed from the first-ever application of fracturing technology in the Commonwealth — and five years after the fracturing of the first-ever Marcellus Shale well. In other words, hydraulic fracturing has been around an awful long time in Pennsylvania, and so has the development of oil (1859) and natural gas (1881). So if the critics are right, those activities must have been identified by researchers as the greatest threats to the state's underground water resources, right?
Of the 28 variables measured for each well, the results demonstrated that natural variables, such as the type of bedrock geology where the well was drilled, were important in explaining the occurrence of most pollutants in wells. Soil moisture conditions at the time of sampling were the single most important variable in explaining the occurrence of bacteria in private wells. … Inadequate well construction was strongly correlated with the occurrence of both coliform and E. coli bacteria in wells.
That's right – we forgot to mention the fecal coliform (exactly what you think it is) and E. coli bacteria. According to the report, it turns out that 33 percent of private water wells in PA were found to be contaminated with the coliform, while a staggering 14 percent tested positive for E. coli. Another contaminant of concern is naturally occurring arsenic. Two percent of tested wells had increased levels of that, which potentially translates into 20,000 water wells across the state. According to the report, arsenic "most often occur[s] naturally from certain types of rocks but it can also come from treated lumber and pesticides." Incidentally, Pennsylvania is among the only states in the nation without regulations governing the construction of private water wells or the periodic testing of the quality of water that comes from them.
This presentation prepared by the U.S. Geological Survey will take a minute or two to load, but take a look at slide 23 if you get the chance. Turns out Pennsylvania's water wells are among the only ones in the nation with "high contaminant concentrations" for every one of the Big 3: arsenic, nitrates and radon. Again: Nothing in the report remotely related to Marcellus Shale activities. But don't take our word for it – ask DEP (by way of Scott Perry, director of DEP's Bureau of Oil and Gas Management):
"If there was fracturing of the producing formations that was having a direct communication with groundwater, the first thing you would notice is the salt content in the drinking water. It's never happened. After a million times across the country, no one's ever documented drinking water wells that have actually been shown to be impacted by fracking."
Protecting underground sources of drinking water is and will always be our top priority – after all, we live here too. But if we expect the quality of our water to improve, first we'll need to be honest about how it got where it is today, and then we'll need to get serious about what needs to be done to improve it. That, we think, is what you'd do if you genuinely cared about the state and status of Pennsylvania's private water wells. Unfortunately, too many folks seem all too willing to blame the entire phenomenon on the development of the Marcellus Shale – irrespective of the science, and blind to the history of the past 60 years.


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Launch of Stennis Flag Flyers
Even before the official launch of Stennis Flag Flyers, the Stennis flag could be spotted flying in several locations around Bay St. Louis.
New Grassroots Group Promotes Stennis Design as Official Mississippi Flag
A nonpartisan group of citizens and business leaders named Stennis Flag Flyers has launched a website and social media campaign promoting the adoption of what's commonly known as the "Stennis design" as Mississippi's official flag.
The grassroots group includes Republicans, Democrats, and Independents and is based in Bay St. Louis and Waveland on the Gulf Coast. Members plan to partner with individuals and organizations across the state to help raise awareness about the Stennis design and encourage its adoption by the Legislature. The website, www.stennisflagflyers.com, went live November 1st.
The Stennis flag design was created in 2014 by noted Mississippi artist, Laurin Stennis, granddaughter of the late Senator John C. Stennis (namesake of Stennis Space Center in Hancock County). John Stennis served in the Senate for more than 41 years, retiring in 1989.
The Stennis flag design is packed with symbolism, according to creator Laurin Stennis. At the design's center is one large blue star, circled by 19 smaller ones, representing Mississippi's place as the 20th state to join the union (1817). The circular shape "symbolizes wholeness and continuity and is also drawn from artifacts of indigenous peoples to our region, particularly, the Choctaw Nation."
The design is bookended by two bars of red, which "stand in opposition, recognizing the passionate differences we sometimes harbor, as well as in honor of those who have given their lives in pursuit of liberty and justice for all."
Recognition and support of the Stennis design have been building, especially over the past year. Several prominent state leaders have endorsed adopting a new symbol. The current flag, adopted in 1894, incorporates a Confederate battle flag, the last state flag in the United States to do so.
According to the website of Stennis Flag Flyers (SFF), the group's goal is to "make the choice for an official new symbol an obvious one when the Legislature is ready to make the change. We believe the sooner the change comes, the faster the state will reap the benefits.
"In the meantime, hundreds, or even thousands, of citizens across the state flying the Stennis flag will send a positive message to those considering moving to or establishing a business in Mississippi. That message is this: while our citizens take pride in our sense of place, we also embrace a forward-thinking future."
Stennis Flag Flyers is the brain-child of retired Bay St. Louis businessman Chris Roth. Roth says he believes that the Stennis design is one that the state's diverse population can unite behind.
"We believe that an official state symbol that promotes harmony, rather than divisiveness can help advance the quality of life and economic standing of our citizens," said Roth. "The Stennis design fits the bill. It's beautiful and also possesses well-considered symbology that honors our past, while looking to the future."
Chris Roth says that to become a Stennis Flag Flyer, one has only to fly one. Even displaying a sticker gets one "in the club." The website and Facebook page both have galleries where new "members" can send in photos of their flags unfurled.
"We're taking our mission of raising awareness of the Stennis design seriously, but approaching it in an upbeat, positive manner," Roth said.
Neither the group nor Laurin Stennis is profiting from the sale of any flag. The website links to a Mississippi-owned source where people can order various sized flags, as well as Stennis flag stickers.
For more information, go to: www.stennisflagflyers.com

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


a review of the album by Shirona: "Judaic Love Songs"
This page is based on an article in Volume XXVIII of The Journal of Synagogue Music, published by The Cantors Assembly.
For further info, visit www.shirona.com.
Today's Jewish musical culture abounds in the singing of liturgical texts. In services, concerts, youth-group meetings, school programs, and summer camps, congregations and audiences are singing out loud words from the Siddur and the Torah, while the boundaries between worship and entertainment are becoming more fluid than ever.
Singers who join liturgical texts to song can take two approaches. One is to start with an inspirational melody or composition and fuse it to an appropriate text. In the last two centuries this approach has been best exemplified in the Ashkenazic tradition by the creativity of the Chasidim, which resulted in countless liturgical settings ranging from the solemnly introspective to the exuberantly rhythmic. A second approach is to become inspired by the meaning and cadence of a particular prayer and express this inspiration musically. Prime examples of this process are the Golden Age cantorial masterworks.
The two approaches are not mutually exclusive, nor are their differences always readily discernible in the resulting works. Rather, the contrast between a word-driven (logogenic) compositional approach and a music-driven (melogenic) approach emerges most clearly when either pattern is taken to an extreme. In the cantorial tradition, for example, we have the spectacular improvisations of the great "zoger" Hazzanim, where the tight connection between the text and the voice and soul of the Hazzan produces moments of inspired and inspiring prayer. In the world of concert and synagogal liturgical songleading, by contrast, there are many times when the meaning of the text evaporates in the repetitive beat of self-absorbed trance.
This is not to say that cantors who sang extended recitatives, whether in synagogue services or in concerts, did not include any metrical tunes in their compositions. Nor is it to say that all popular singers assiduously avoid a florid or melismatic vocal style. The great cantors well understood that incorporating rhythmic passages would not only add musical variety, but would help to draw the casual listener into the world of serious musical prayer and vocal virtuosity. And today's "Chasidic pop" singers occasionally include in their repertoire "cantorial fusion" numbers, in which the typical beat-driven settings of sacred text are interlaced with non-rhythmic bravura vocal passages.
To be sure, such stylistic devices have their place today in concert novelty pieces or for occasional use in worship. Generally speaking, however, contemporary Jewish music audiences lack a paradigm of beautifully performed liturgical settings - wrought in today's popular musical idiom - that are at once serious and inviting, artistic and accessible and, most importantly, that treat the Hebrew texts with inspired attention. This is true in the concert hall and, to a certain extent, in the synagogue as well. Fortunately, we have a recent debut CD by an American singer-songwriter, Shirona (the artist prefers to be known by her first name alone), that can serve both the cantor and the popular songwriter as a model for creating such works.
Shirona: Judaic Love Songs (self-published: www.shirona.com) contains original settings of prayer texts, biblical texts, and a meditative textual/musical improvisation on the theme of a "still quiet voice" (Kol D'mama Daka). The album's somewhat enigmatic name, "Judaic Love Songs," effectively captures both the love of God expressed in Shirona's selection and treatment of God-centered texts, and the sensual love conveyed in the settings of two passages from the Song of Songs that may be heard as conventional love songs.
Shirona's compositions reflect the kinship with Hebrew of one who spent her formative years in Israel, as well as a strong attraction to the cadence of the liturgy. She brings to her songs the creativity, ardor, and excitement of a mature singer who only recently discovered the power and beauty of our sacred prayer texts.
Judaic Love Songs is an album that enchants immediately as well as through successive listenings. A well-designed program booklet with evocative illustrations accompanies a CD with excellent sonics and high production values. The beauty of Shirona's singing is complemented by intelligent and tasteful arrangements that use a variety of acoustic and synthesized instruments. Her vocal shadings are graduated and understated, and the intimate phrasings of a folk singer combine well with the strength and polish of her trained voice. Various compositions exploit different portions of a range of over two octaves, but she uses extreme high and low notes only sparingly - and always in service of the text.
The whole melody of Ki Eylecha is ingratiating - even infectious - yet it is not predictable or formulaic, nor can it be easily sung by the average listener. Despite its contemporary sound, it is not based on chord progressions, nor are its rhythms born from the strumming of a guitar. It almost seems as if the text and the melody, as equal partners, might both have emerged from the same hand. This contrasts with the impression left by too many contemporary musical treatments of our liturgy: that of antiquated lyrics dressed up in modern clothes.
A liturgical sensibility plays a role in the overall sequencing of Judaic Love Songs, from Yigdal to Eyn Keyloheynu. The song at the beginning of the CD is, appropriately enough, B'reyshit, [listen here] a musical interpretation of the first five verses of the Torah. As if to emphasize that her main focus in this text is on God, rather than on the story of creation, the composer makes a refrain of the words v'ruach elohim m'rachefet al p'ney hamayim ("and the spirit of God hovered over the waters"). This contemporary-sounding composition manages to be metrical, quasi-strophic, and very melodic, yet it has a strong Jewish ring and is strikingly logogenic. From the rising and falling figure on et hashamayim v'et ha'aretz ("heaven and earth") and the luminous vay'hi or ("and there was light"), to the New Age instrumental effects, this is a very rich piece. This richness, however, calls attention to a shortcoming that can be felt in a few other selections as well. The listener's expectation that the interesting musical ideas will turn into a more developed arrangement or a more substantial composition is not met, and some of the most interesting songs seem to end too soon.
Shirona varies somewhat the iterations of the above melody throughout the song, reserving the lowest note on the entire disc for the word kish'ol ("as hell").
The "heart" of Judaic Love Songs consists of the three songs Modim, Mima'amakim, and Ana B'cho'ach. In varying degrees, all three may be considered "crossover cantorial" settings, with the last piece falling squarely into the category of logogenic chant. Ana B'cho'ach [listen here], the shortest selection on the CD, is essentially a condensed outline of a well-constructed cantorial recitative without the typical melismas, repetitions, and other embellishments. Appropriately, the palette of vocal colors Shirona uses in this brief piece differs somewhat from the one used in her other songs. From its opening phrase (which echoes the beginning of the famous Eylu D'varim recorded by Cantor Mordechai Hershman) to its climactic conclusion, the artist sets and sings this Kabbalistic prayer ("Please, by the great power of Your right hand, set the captive free...") with great musicality and vocal subtlety, attending to the meaning of every single word.
Within this group, Modim ("we thank You") [listen here] is on the other end of the rhythmic spectrum. Despite its steady gentle beat, this song is also marked by an inescapable cantorial feel. The harmonic progressions typical of the Ahava Raba synagogal mode, the soaring arc of the melody, the figures that contain consecutive notes on the same pitch, as well as the repetitions of a word or phrase are all characteristic of the Hazzan's style.
The musical nature of Mima'amakim [listen here], a setting of the first half of Psalm 130, lies in between those of the other two numbers. A simple metrical piano accompaniment supports - and occasionally opposes - an achingly beautiful song that wants to break through the bounds set by the barlines. The impassioned kavanah of a ba'al t'fillah is suggested in this timeless composition. An extended hummed passage intensifies the feeling of interiority and profundity produced by both the psalm and the melody. ("Out of the depths I call You, O Lord. Hear my voice; let Your ears be attentive to my supplications. If You should strictly count iniquities, O Lord, who could continue? But with You there is forgiveness, so that You may be revered.") The suspended final chord in the accompaniment, moreover, serves to prolong this introspective mood even after the song has ended.
Four songs that invite group singing round out the liturgical settings on this recording. Eyn Keyloheynu [listen here] is a jaunty Chasidic-style melody that, though easily learned and remembered, is not lacking in musical interest. It is a welcome addition to the congregational singing repertoire. The words of Isaiah 61:10, sos asis ba'adonai tageyl nafshi beylohai are set in a lively two-part round with a mild Scottish flavor. As in Eyn Keyloheynu, the arrangement of Sos Asis [listen here] features a small children's choir, but with a charming twist. Besides singing the tune, the children frame the song with a few seconds of effervescent giggles. A wailing alto saxophone solo in the break, along with a whistling rendition towards the end, complete this engaging musical depiction of "I will rejoice in the Lord; my soul delights in my God."
A more serious tone is set by Ashrey (Psalm 145) [listen here] - one far from the associations we have with the familiar responsive sing-song. Shirona sings the entire psalm to a reverential melody that repeats every four lines. While very accessible, the subtle melody is not really suitable for typical congregational use. An amateur adult choir, however, would probably get great satisfaction from singing it, especially if it incorporated the countermelody heard on the recording. Finally, Yigdal [listen here] demonstrates Shirona's compositional talent in an expressive melody that a congregation not only can learn to sing, but would find inspiring. It is built on four-line phrases, and its uplifting effect in a group setting is strongest when it is sung in unison rather than responsively. (For congregational use, skipping the repeat of each fourth line would work best.) The prayerful mood created by this Yigdal is reminiscent of the d'veykut (sense of communion with God) evoked by some of the classic nigunim of the Chasidim.
Concerned Hazzanim and song-leaders are continually trying to help congregants and audiences relate to the words of the liturgy, while giving voice to the beauty of the traditional texts. In the last half-century American congregations have responded to liturgical singing based on Yeshiva songs, popular Israeli songs, and the melodies of Shlomo Carlebach - among many other styles. Such popular settings have counterbalanced other time-honored forms of liturgical musical expression, like davenen (the individual's private chanting of the prayers), hazzanut (the cantor's creative musical elaborations), and nusach (traditional synagogal prayer modes).
Reaching Jews of the current generation, however, presents a special musical challenge. Many enter a synagogue only rarely; Hebrew literacy can range from low to nil; emotional connection to traditional prayer chanting is disappearing; and elaborate artistic liturgical expression is usually unappreciated. Unfortunately, the popular liturgical settings that are drawn into this aesthetic vacuum - melogenic to the extreme - have tended to be trite, unrooted, and sorely mismatched to the age-old texts. For those seeking a change from mindless hand-clapping and repetition of words and ditties, the new liturgical voice heard on Shirona's Judaic Love Songs is a ray of musical inspiration.
—Reviewed by Cantor Sam Weiss, Posted 9 Sep 2001.
Copyright © 2001 Sam Weiss. Used with permission. All rights reserved.


Accountable Care Organization (ACOs) networks (developed through Obama's Affordable Care Act) are set to have a huge effect on the health care sector and senior housing. The ACOs comprise: hospitals, long-term care facilities, doctor's offices and healthcare providers, which, together, have a responsibility toward the quality and care budget of their patients. The aim is to ultimately save money on Medicare.
ACOs focuses on those individuals who are eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid and how best to meet their needs. If services are provided in a coordinated setting then this could lead to a reduction in costs across the entire system.


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Combine the za'atar seasoning and olive oil in a small bowl to form a paste. Cut the pita open around the edges to create two rounds. Repeat with remaining pita.
2. Place pita rounds on a baking sheet, rough side (insides) facing up. Spread the za'atar mixture over the pita rounds, leave some space around the edges of the pita. Bake the pita until edges are golden, about 5-7 minutes.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the yogurt, basil leaves, garlic and salt. Once the pita cools down, cut the pita into wedges and serve with the yogurt dip.
This was such a fun snack to make, and I had to resist eating it all at once by myself!


Zilber Property GroupSM closed recently on the fully occupied, 36,560 square foot, precast facility located at 18770 S. 88th Avenue, Mokena, Illinois.
The facility provides direct access to I-80, with proximity to I-355, I-57 and I-294. "We were attracted to this investment opportunity due to the property's prominent location, ease of access, and favorable Will County economic climate. It will be a terrific addition to our growing Chicagoland industrial portfolio," stated John Kersey, Executive Vice President of Zilber Ltd.
The Village of Mokena offers a business-friendly atmosphere, experienced Economic and Community Development Staff, and low property taxes; making it an attractive location for tenants along the I-80 corridor.
Josh Hearne, SIOR and Michael O'Leary with Crawley Chicago Real Estate represented the seller in this transaction.


Cheeky Friday evening bet for me today to take us into the Bank Holiday weekend.
Atty Persse has missed plenty of planned engagements but is out this evening in the Watch Racing UK On BT TV Handicap up at Haydock at 5.40.
One of my Dirty Dozen for 2017 the Frankel colt is definitely one to watch and kept his unbeaten status (two from two) last month despite being found short of room twice. Up in trip today to 1m2f I honestly think he can progress to become top drawer and leave handicaps far behind as the season progresses and he can make light work of a 4lb rise. I was not surprised to see him a tadge odds-on at 8-11.


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PART 4: SCHOLARS VIEW ON EXCOMMUNICATING OTHERS
Muslim intellectuals have always strongly censured the act of excommunicating other Muslims.
THE VIEW OF SHIA SCHOLARS
Many Shia scholars have, in their verdicts, announced that the act of excommunicating Muslims is prohibited. Among them are Sheikh Saduq, Sheikh Hassan Najafi, Grand Ayatullah Hakim, Grand Ayatullah Amuli and Allamah Majlisi.
With respect to this issue, Sheikh Saduq maintains:
"Islam is to utter that 'there is no God but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah'; by saying these words, a person's life and property will not be infringed upon, thus the life and possessions of anyone who says these words will be protected."
The Late Sayed Kadhem Yazdi, one of the great Shia scholars makes the following remarks:
"An unbeliever is a person who denies the Oneness of Allah, the Prophethood or any other essentials of faith. Of course such a denial leads to disbelief only when it is done while one is fully aware that he is in fact denying an essential and indisputable article of faith in a way such that it amounts to denial of Prophethood."
Grand Ayatullah Khui says the following:
"What leads to realization of Islam and its respective results such as purity and the inviolability of one's life and possessions are the following: Belief in Oneness of Allah, Prophethood and Resurrection which all Islamic sects believe in."
Furthermore, the great intellectual Syed Abdul Hussain Sharafuddin, who has written extensively on Shia views and has authored invaluable works like "Al-Muraja-aat" and "An-Nass wal-Ijtihad", has authored an invaluable book wherein Fitna-i Takfeer and the impermissibility of excommunication is discussed from a Shia and Sunni perspective.
THE VIEW OF SUNNI SCHOLARS
Ibn Hazm has sorted out different Takfeeri beliefs into a number of separate categories in his book. Moreover he has dedicated a separate chapter to this issue under the title of "Al-Kalam Fi Man Yukaffir wa laa Yukaffir (Al-Fash Fi Al-Melal wal Ahwaa wa-Nehal,Vol 3, p 291) in which he has made the following remarks:
"There is a discrepancy in this regard among people"
1. Some have excommunicated those whose beliefs are different from theirs in ideological issues or in fatwa;
2. Some others have excommunicated a part of their opponents' beliefs and some other parts as leading to impiety and have based all their judgement on their own beliefs;
3. Yet a third group has excommunicated anyone with ideologies opposing theirs but have neither considered those who oppose them in their verdicts and religious practices as unbelievers nor an evildoers, but as "excused mujtahids" who, even if they have made mistakes, are pardoned because of their good intention;
4. Finally the last group has accepted the beliefs of the third group in issues related to religious practices but regarding the ideological issues they have maintained that any disagreement regarding the Divine Attributes would lead to heresy while discrepant ideas in other issues would be considered as evildoing (fisq)."
Ibn Hazm has referred to the perspective of the great Sunni scholars and that of his own in this regard as follows:
"Some scholars have stated that no Muslim must be called a disbeliever or an evil doer simply because they have opposing ideological stances or decrees…..and this is also the viewpoint of Ibn Abi-Leili, Abu-Hanifah, Shafei, Sufyan Thowri, and Dawood bin Ali. It is also the view of all the Companions of the Prophet (sawa) whose perspectives are known to us and there is no one who opposes this view."
Ibn Hazm has then gone as far as to call two narrations from Prophet Muhammad (sawa) as unreliable and da'if (weak). Based on these two narrations the Prophet called two sects i.e the "Murji'iyya" and "Qadriyyah" as Zoroastrians among the Muslims and also predicted that the Muslim Ummah would be divided into seventy three sects, only one of which would go to paradise.
Following these remarks, Ibn Hazm says the following:
"The validity of these narrations is under question because they are transmitted through defective chains of narrators, even by the standard of those who believe in the validity of a tradition with a single transmitter, let alone by the standard of those who do not believe in it."
Zaher Sarakhsi, one of the disciples of Abul Hassan Ash'ari has said:
"Abul Hassan Ash'ari was in my house while he was on his deathbed and before he died he ordered me to gather all his disciples and companions and addressed them and said:
All of you bear witness that I do not excommunicate anyone among Muslims because of committing sins, for they worship the same God and Islam includes them all."
Imam Shafei says:
"I would not excommunicate whimsical people because of a sin, I would not excommunicate anyone among the people of Qibla because of a sin and I would accept the testimony of all the innovators except for the Khatabiyya."
In his book "Aqidah Tahawiyya", Abu Ja'far Tahawi says:
"We call all the people of Qibla as believers and Muslims insofar they believe in the teachings of the great Prophet of Islam….and do not excommunicate anyone among the Muslims because of committing a sin as long as they do not believe that it is allowed."
Qazi Ayaz, a Maleki scholar of the sixth century says:
"If some says something which is against the greatness and glory of Allah but which is not considered blasphemy and which has also been the result of one's personal interpretations rather than an act of disbelief, then such a person is considered to be an innovator; however this is one of those issues about which there has been much disagreement among religious authorities in the past and present as to whether such a person must be treated as a disbeliever or not."
Mulla Ali Qari, an eleventh century Hanbali scholar has similar sentiments. Moreover, in his annotation of Abu-Hanifah's "Fiqh al-Akbar" and following a review of some of the views of the scholars regarding the issue of excommunication, he says:
"None of the people of Qibla is called disbelievers and, as the annotator of the book "Al-Aqaed" has also stated, it is very difficult to affirm the view that those who believe in things such as the createdness of the Quran, or the impossibility of seeing Allah or those who curse the Shaykhayn are unbelievers."
When asked about the exaggerators (ghulaat), innovators, evildoers, theologians, philosophers, Taqi Al-dinn Sabki replied:
"You must know that everyone who fears God will never dare so much as to speak about excommunicating those who say 'there is no God but Allah and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah'…..no one decrees as to the excommunication of others unless he violates the basic articles of faith, denies the Oneness of God and the Prophethood of His Prophet and finally exit the religion of Islam."
Some of the Sunni scholars have also gone so far as to refrain from excommunicating the Kharijites. For example, Nawawi, who is the annotator of "Sahih Muslim" says:
"It is one of the beliefs of the Followers of the Truth that no Muslim is ever excommunicated for committing a sin and even evildoers and innovators, such as the Kharijites and the Mu'tazilites must not be excommunicated either. Only those for deny the basic articles of faith of the religion of Islam are to be excommunicated and called disbelievers."
afosa_admin January 2, 2019 Category: Anti Takfeeri Series 0 Likes 0 258


Employers' organization founded in 2005 by the Fédurock and FSJ (merged into Fedelima in 2012), it gathers some 200 companies of the popular music sector. The SMA displays its activities of information, advice and representations of its members in the organizations of the sector.
Well located in the heart of the legendary music district of Paris, Pigalle, ATLA has provided training and education in contemporary music and the performing arts business, for 20 years. Offering a customized and multi-faceted education, the school proposes courses in a variety of styles and instruments, renewing its approach on the professional development of the artist and his better integration in the business.


Lacey Johnson dreams of a restaurant of her own, but she talks and dresses like a hick. No one takes her seriously, until Garrett Halifax comes on the scene and makes a lady of Lacey. Maria wants to meet a nice man, and has been corresponding with one on a dating site. She wants to meet him, but a friend also shows interest and she likes him back. Elise Gibson lives with her grandmother and helps pay bills. This year, taxes on the house are so high they can't pay them. Besides that, the roof just started leaking! Jessica made a pact with Ross if they weren't married by their thirtieth birthday, they would marry one another. Now Ross is telling her he is getting married! She must break them up! Mia has admired Ryder from afar for ages. When he is injured at the ski slopes, he claims he and Mia are getting married. From there, the rumor grows until everyone in town knows!
"Silver Screen Kisses: An Echo Ridge Anthology" examines the lives of five ladies in the town and follows them in their search for love, even when they themselves think they are looking for something else. The heroes and heroines in this piece are very strong and carry their stories well. Each story is finely crafted and roughly follows the movie from which it is derived. Many of the secondary characters have little depth but are necessary to round out the stories. Although they make for good reading, the stories in general are too predictable. The order of the stories made things a bit confusing on the timeline, particularly the story about Elise and the last story that talks about Elise steaming off wallpaper. This is a sweet, clean little gem, suitable for all readers.


Two companies are donating time and equipment to haul artifacts like torpedoes and anti-aircraft guns off New Jersey Naval ]Museum property.
The final remnants of a once popular naval museum were taken away on Thursday.
Two New Jersey companies, Harbor Freight Transport and J. Fletcher Creamer & Sons, donated time and equipment to haul artifacts like torpedoes and anti-aircraft guns off of property in Hackensack that was once the site of the New Jersey Naval Museum.
"They're taking everything that is still on the property," said Les Altschuler, the museum's vice president. "The only things that should be left there [afterward] are the two museum trailers."
Using trucks and a crane, the freight and construction companies will load the museum's remaining artifacts into 20 and 40 foot containers, Altschuler said. Harbor Freight Transport has volunteered space at their Port Newark location to store some of the artifacts, he said.
Up until last month, when the museum agreed to vacate the property, the New Jersey Naval Museum occupied a trailer on land that was once headquarters of North Jersey Media Group, which was sold to Gannett in 2016 and publishes The Record and Herald News.
The museum, which was closed in 2012, had been housed on that parcel since 1974, when the Borg family, which owned the newspaper, negotiated a deal to lease land to the museum for $1 a year.
Meanwhile, crews began demolishing the main headquarters of The Record on Thursday.
By Friday, the River Street property alongside the Hackensack River will only have the museum's trailer and indentations where heavy torpedoes once pressed against the grass.
But just feet away, in the river, will remain the USS Ling, a WWII-era submarine that served as the New Jersey Naval Museum's centerpiece exhibit. Moving the submarine was always a far flung proposition, potentially costing millions. But last month, the outlook for the naval vessel looked even dimmer.
Just days before museum officials were scheduled to vacate the property, vandals stole memorial plaques and flooded the USS Ling with river water by opening hatches all over the submarine.


text:
Q: Validation in Model giving undefine nil [] I have the following code which is running a validation on all snippet content to check the word count against a constant but I keep getting the following error:
undefined method `[]' for nil:NilClass
Extracted source (around line #36):

current_snippets_size = (self.book.get_word_count || 0) + word_count
errors.add(:base, "Content size is too big") unless word_count < BOOK_SIZE[book_limit]['per'] && current_snippets_size < BOOK_SIZE[book_limit]['total']
end

Here is the full code from the model (snippet.rb)
BOOK_SIZE = {
    0 => {"per" => 5, "total" => 50},
    1 => {"per" => 6 , "total" => 60},
    2 => {"per" => 7, "total" => 70}
  }

def size_limit
  book_limit = self.book.size

  word_count = self.content.scan(/\w+/).size

  current_snippets_size = (self.book.get_word_count || 0) + word_count
  binding.pry
  errors.add(:base, "Content size is too big") unless word_count < BOOK_SIZE[book_limit]['per'] && current_snippets_size < BOOK_SIZE[book_limit]['total']
end

Because snippets is a child of books, here is the word_count listed in book.rb:
def get_word_count
  @word_count = []
  self.snippets.each do |c|
    @word_count << c.content.scan(/\w+/).size
  end
  @word_count = @word_count.inject(:+)
end

EDIT: Pry Debug
   31:  def size_limit
 => 32:   binding.pry
    33:   book_limit = self.book.size
    34:
    35:   word_count = self.content.scan(/\w+/).size
    36:
    37:   current_snippets_size = (self.book.get_word_count || 0) + word_count
    38:
    39:   errors.add(:base, "Content size is too big") unless word_count < BOOK_SIZE[book_limit]['per'] && current_snippets_size < BOOK_SIZE[book_limit]['total']
    40: end

[1] pry(#<Snippet>)> p book_limit
nil
=> nil
[2] pry(#<Snippet>)> p word_count
nil
=> nil
[3] pry(#<Snippet>)> errors.any?
=> false
[4] pry(#<Snippet>)> errors.blank?
=> true

I tried using PRY but I am still new to the debugging side, some documents describing the best way to walk through PRY debugging would be really useful.
Thanks.

A: errors.add(:base, "book size is out of range") unless [0, 1, 2].include?(self.book.size)

A: verify whether these lines always returns you a value :

book_limit = self.book.size
word_count = self.content.scan(/\w+/).size

if so they may be returning a string object, make it to_i
book_limit = self.book.size.to_i
word_count = self.content.scan(/\w+/).size.to_i

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Joe Carnahan Hates 'The Danish Girl' So Much His 'Bad Boys 3' Script Blew Up the Film's Poster
"I fucking hated that movie with the white-hot heat of a thousand suns," Carnahan says of Eddie Redmayne's Oscar winner.
Zack Sharf
@zsharf
"Bad Boys" and "The Danish Girl"
Sony and TWC
Will Smith and Martin Lawrence recently wrapped production on the third entry in their "Bad Boys" movie franchise, entitled "Bad Boys For Life." The project has been in development for several years, with "Smokin' Aces" and "The Grey" director Joe Carnahan originally attached to write and direct the movie. Grey left the project over creative differences, but he recently revealed to Collider (via The Playlist) some of the details of his scrapped sequel. One random but critical throwaway gag written into the "Bad Boys 3" script was a dig at Oscar-winner "The Danish Girl."
"I hated 'The Danish Girl' so much," Carnahan said. "I said, 'Could you make a poster for 'The Danish Girl' and blow it apart?' And they said, 'Yeah, we can do that.' I fucking hated that movie with the white-hot heat of a thousand suns. I think [the people who worked on 'The Danish Girl'] are all really talented, I just hated that movie, me personally. I'm sure they hate my movies."
Lena Waithe Calls Out Will Smith and Denzel Washington for Not Financing Films With Black Talent
'King Richard': Will Smith's Drama About Williams Sisters' Father Is His First Pairing With a Black Director
"The Danish Girl," directed by Tom Hooper of "The King's Speech" fame, starred Eddie Redmayne as painter Lili Elbe, one of the first known recipients of sex reassignment surgery. The movie divided critics and earned backlash for casting Redmayne in a transgender role, yet it nonetheless received four Academy Award nominations and won Alicia Vikander the prize for Best Supporting Actress.
Carnahan's would-be "Danish Girl" criticism is similar to a visual gag in "Captain Marvel" in which the superhero crashes into a Blockbuster video store and blasts a stand-in poster of Arnold Schwarzenegger's "True Lies." The James Cameron-directed action movie has not aged well since its 1994 release and is commonly viewed as one of the more sexist offerings of the 1990s. Many moviegoers took Captain Marvel blasting a "True Lies" poster as subversive criticism of Cameron's movie.
As for other details of the original "Bad Boys 3" script, Carnahan said he was planning to do a $12 million action scene that got rejected. "I think they're doing a portion of it," the director said of the film. "I had a sequence where they're on a Gunbus, which is a German motorcycle. They changed it, now it's like a sidecar, not a good idea, whatever. [Laughs] It's one of the greatest." Carnahan went on to call his script "phenomenal" and said he does not hold hard feelings against star Will Smith for not moving forward with it.
"I love Will, he's a great guy," Carnahan said. "Listen, I always say this. Harrison Ford, Tom Cruise, Will Smith, you find me a motherfucker in the modern era that's walked away from movies with those guys and is still working in some capacity."
"Bad Boys For Life" features a script written by Chris Bremner. Sony has already dated the movie for a January 17, 2020 release.
This Article is related to: Film and tagged Bad Boys for Life, Joe Carnahan, Will Smith


text:
Q: Individually labeled bars for bar graphs in matplotlib / Python I am trying to create bar graphs of letter frequency in Python. I thought the best way to accomplish this would be matplotlib, but I have been unable to decipher the documentation. Is it possible to label the bars of a matplotlib.pyplot.hist plot with one letter per bar, instead of a numerical axis? I think it must be, but I have not used matplotlib before.
This is the sort of graph I'm after, rendered as text:
|
|    *
|    *  *
| *  *  *
+----------
  A  B  C

A: Sure is! You just need to reset the tick labels.
EDIT with answer and picture (can be done similarly with hist):
x = scipy.arange(4)
y = scipy.array([4,7,6,5])
f = pylab.figure()
ax = f.add_axes([0.1, 0.1, 0.8, 0.8])
ax.bar(x, y, align='center')
ax.set_xticks(x)
ax.set_xticklabels(['Aye', 'Bee', 'Cee', 'Dee'])
f.show()

(source: stevetjoa.com)


The Real Housewives of Orange County newcomer has some pals Bravo fans might recognize.
The Real Housewives of Orange County's Emily Simpson made her debut as a 'Wife on Season 13. And though the new Season's premiere episode was the first Bravo viewers met Emily, the Ohio native is well-acquainted with several personalities in the Bravo world.
RHOC alum Gretchen Rossi recently tweeted her congrats to Emily for getting her orange (a festive occasion indeed!) and reposted a photo from Ricky Santana. In the photo, the new 'Wife is pictured alongside Ricky, Gretchen, and fellow RHOC alum Lizzie Rovsek. The group is at an event filled with balloons and lollipops (because why not?), and Gretchen wrote: "That was such a fun night!"
But Emily's Housewives friends are not just in Southern Cali — they're also in the real South. The Real Housewives of Dallas pal LeeAnne Locken seems to be a fast fan of Emily, and tweeted at her: "I knew we were gonna be friends — you keep it REAL." Emily wrote right back to LeeAnne, using lots of fist-bump emojis to underscore the new sisterhood.
LeeAnne's fellow Dallas wife Stephanie Hollman also showed social media love for Emily, tweeting, "Cheering you on girl," before the Season 13 premiere.


text:
Gaddafi arrest warrant tests credibility of International Criminal Court
June 28, 2011 12.16am EDT
Scott Burchill, Deakin University
Scott Burchill
Senior Lecturer in International Relations, Deakin University
Scott Burchill does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Deakin University provides funding as a member of The Conversation AU.
Colonel Gaddafi is a brutal tyrant, but his arrest warrant is a political move. EPA/Sabri Elmhedwi
Arrest warrants have been issued for the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, his son Seif al-Islam, and Libya's intelligence chief Abdullah Sanussi. It follows a referral by the United Nations Security Council in February.
The International Criminal Court issued the warrants ordering the three to be charged with committing crimes against humanity for authorising and organising attacks on civilians, including peaceful demonstrators, in Tripoli, Benghazi, Misrata, and other Libyan towns earlier this year.
In his submission to the ICC, prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said Gaddafi had personal responsibility for implementing "a policy of widespread and systematic attacks against civilians and demonstrators and dissidents."
Gadaffi's future
Though not unexpected, the issuing of warrants by the ICC for Gaddafi, his son, and intelligence chief, raises a number of questions about the future course of the war in Libya and the reputation of the ICC.
There can be little doubt that prospects for a negotiated settlement of the conflict have receded.
Gaddafi has yet another reason to fight on and fewer reasons to seek exile in any country which may accede to the jurisdiction of the ICC, or be encouraged by Security Council resolution 1970 to co-operate with the court.
Though he has vowed to "live and die in Libya," what incentive does Gaddafi now have to relinquish power? The ICC may have delayed what must ultimately be a political solution to the conflict.
A politicised ICC
The prosecution of Gaddafi will reinforce views that the ICC is an agency of Western justice which will target Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir, Charles Taylor in Sierra Leone or Serbia's Slobodan Milosevic, but not Western leaders such as former US President George W. Bush.
Though it is supposed to be independent and politically neutral, the ICC is being politicised in two ways:
First, we now have a situation where a country which refuses to submit its own citizens to the jurisdiction of the ICC (the US) is using the UN Security Council to get its political enemies referred to the same court for prosecution. The hypocrisy and double standards at play here are lost on very few.
Secondly, the selective nature of who is prosecuted is widely discussed outside the corridors of Western power.
Selective justice
Why Gaddafi but not Bashar Assad in Syria or Al Khalifa in Bahrain, both of whom are thought to be responsible for atrocities on an equivalent scale to those allegedly committed by the Libyan leader? Are they too politically and strategically useful to Washington, and must therefore be protected?
Why doesn't the UN drag Egypt's Hosni Mubarak from his hospital bed to The Hague, to answer for his crimes?
After all, the new administration in Cairo has indicated that, unlike the Obama Administration, it will ratify the Rome Statute which established the ICC.
Search for evidence
Just over two weeks ago, ICC prosecutor Moreno-Ocampo told a press conference "we have information that there was a policy to rape in Libya those who were against the government. Apparently he [Colonel Gaddafi] used it to punish people."
Claims of sexual attacks were widely reported in the Western media, with accusations that Libyan soldiers were issued with Viagra to assist them in their horrendous crimes.
As the journalist Patrick Cockburn reports in The Independent, the problem with these accusations is that after investigating them, neither Amnesty International nor Human Rights Watch could find any evidence for them, or for the other serious crimes Gaddafi is said to have ordered.
Though uncritically accepted and re-broadcast by Western media outlets, claims of mass rape, the use of foreign mercenaries and the killing of regular Libyan forces who refused to shoot protestors, have not been verified by human rights monitors.
Credibility of ICC
By demonising Gaddafi with unsourced, one-sided accusations before evidence was tested in the court, prosecutors, publicists and the media have done serious damage to the credibility of the ICC.
This will make the administration of justice for Gaddafi's actual victims much more difficult. In the media, these seemingly false claims remain uncorrected.
Gaddafi is a brutal tyrant who should answer for his crimes. It is not clear that the warrants issued last night against him and his inner circle will necessarily advance this process for the people who have had the misfortune of living under his rule for the past 40 years.
International Criminal Court (ICC)


text:
Q: Where to put properties files when dealing with internationalization? I'm trying to make a internationalization in my program and I found this simple example how to use it:

package tests;

import java.util.*;

public class I18NSample {

    static public void main(String[] args) {

        String language;
        String country;

        if (args.length != 2) {
            language = new String("en");
            country = new String("US");
        } else {
            language = new String(args[0]);
            country = new String(args[1]);
        }

        Locale currentLocale;
        ResourceBundle messages;

        currentLocale = new Locale(language, country);

        messages = ResourceBundle.getBundle("MessagesBundle", currentLocale);
        System.out.println(messages.getString("greetings"));
        System.out.println(messages.getString("inquiry"));
        System.out.println(messages.getString("farewell"));
    }
}

but every time I compile the code i get this exception:
Exception in thread "main" java.util.MissingResourceException: Can't find bundle for base name messages, locale en_US

My files are named MessagesBundle_en_US.properties and MessagesBundle_es_ES.properties and are placed in the same package as I18NSample class, so it should work, I think.

A: It should be in the root of the classpath because it use by default non package.
Otherwise change:
messages = ResourceBundle.getBundle("MessagesBundle", currentLocale);

to
messages = ResourceBundle.getBundle("tests.MessagesBundle", currentLocale);

to make it work with the bundle inside of the directory/package of your class.


text:
AcademySeriously SocialState of the Social SciencesHome
4 – 10 September 2023
About the Social Sciences
How to run an event
Social Sciences Week 2022 – On-Demand
14 September 2022 at 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm AEST
The First 100 Days: Politics, Policy and Reform Under the Albanese Government
It is with a warm welcome that we invite you to this online forum with Q&A: Paul Keating famously proclaimed that 'When you change the government, you change the country'. What do the first 100 days of the Albanese Government tell us about the change it wants and how it will try to achieve that change? What are the barriers to the changes that it clearly wants, such as constitutional reform to introduce a Voice to Parliament? What do the experiences of past federal Labor governments tell us about likely successes and failures of the Albanese Government? Professor Rodney Smith chairs a panel discussion by experts from the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Sydney, who will discuss what the first 100 days of the Albanese Government tell us about its ambitions and the key actors, institutions and forces that will help and hinder it achieving them. Presenters (all from the School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Sydney): Professor Rodney Smith (Moderator) Professor Anika Gauja (Labor and the Greens: The Party Dynamics of Reform) Associate Professor Elizabeth Hill (Women, Income and Work) Associate Professor Lynne Chester (Energy and Environmental Policies) Associate Professor Anna Boucher […]
11 September 2022 at 2:00 pm - 3:30 pm AWST
Two to tango: Language as a gateway to championing diversity
Harvard-trained lawyer Vernā Myers has famously stated that "if diversity is getting invited to the party, inclusion is being asked to dance". What role does language play in getting invited to the dance floor? Join Dr Celeste Rodriguez Louro, Director of UWA's Language Lab, to discuss how language, the ultimate social glue, can help you become a diversity champion. Learn about new gender pronouns in English, cross-cultural differences in communication, and how your accent may be stopping you from getting what you want. We can create safer places by understanding how language shapes our lives. But it does take two to tango.
Featured Featured 9 September 2022 at 5:30 pm - 7:00 pm AEST
Ethnographic Film Night: Life after Lockdown in Wuhan
It is over two years since we experienced the first period of lock down because of COVID'19. Since then, we have had periods of interruptions at various levels of society. Deferrals, delays and disappointments have become part of the status-quo as the intangible virus translates into tangible consequences and material realities. The virus interrupts and is omnipresent: it is in our homes, as we grapple with the virus taking hold of our bodies and the bodies of loved ones; in our communities, as our mobility, opportunities to socialise and engage in communal activities get impeded by people being sick, requirements for self-isolation, or concern about the spread of the virus; at our workplaces, as we respond to requirements for QR log ins and masks, social distancing rules and a new sense of environment. We have been told we have to learn to 'live with COVID' – but what is this? What does living with COVID mean? What is life like now, after lock down? These questions will be at the centre of the University of Newcastle's fourth annual Ethnographic Film Night. Initiated as a UON Social Science Week event in 2019, the Ethnographic Film Night has brought together people from […]
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text:
Devology Livecast
Game Design Deep Dive: Risk of Rain 2
Rick and Tim are joined by Grant Abbitt, our Blender instructor and popular YouTuber to discuss all things game art and design.
Jamie Byrne
Industry veterans Rick Davidson & Tim Ruswick* are joined by our very own Blender guru Grant Abbitt to talk about art style, gameplay and level design.
Grant first started learning Blender back in the late 90's. He ran a small film company and found the software ideal for some motion graphics work he needed.
He went into teaching as a backup option for when the film work was not so regular. The teaching gradually took over, and he's now been teaching for around 15 years. He moved into teaching game design 6 years ago, which rekindled his excitement for 3D animation. He then began to pick up freelance work and created his YouTube channel Gabbitt Media.
Now he's here with the GameDev.tv team making courses, and sharing his passion with the community.
(*Rick has more than 14 years experience in the game dev industry, working on IP's that include Mario, Transformers, Captain America and Mortal Kombat. He's done it all, from Game Designer, Producer, Creative Director and Executive Producer to GameDev.tv's very own Instructor extraordinaire. Tim Ruswick is a successful YouTuber and indie dev, who's created more than 30 games in the last 5 years (wow!), and joined GameDev.tv as our marketing monster).
Listen to the whole chat here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvfrTz4FzoE
Our 'AHA' moments
We're with our Blender guru Grant Abbitt!
Cel Shaded art style provides a unique visual experience
Use colours to indicate dangers, for example, have the screen blink red when the player is taking damage
Colours can indicate the level of item rarity
Image from Steam
What is Cel Shading? (1:21 - 5:01)
Cel Shading's a unique art style that gives a cartoon look. This is achieved by creating a silhouetted outline around characters, enemies and the environment, using single colours and clever use of lighting. The shape is defined really easily with this style.
Examples of Cel Shaded games include Jet Set Radio, XIII, Fear Effect, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker and Okami.
The Most Important Ingredient in Developing a Desired Atmosphere for Maps/Environments (14:19 - 16:02)
This depends on the kind of environment/map you're trying to achieve. The atmosphere is dependent on the gameplay. When you start designing a level, you first need to think about the gameplay and how it'll all interact with each other, rather than what looks good.
The environment has to be functional. Use the environment to guide the player. It could be signs and lighting that lead a player to certain parts of the map or a cleverly designed choke point that utilises the environment. Big shapes/small shapes and lighting are all very helpful ways to guide the player.
The distance that a player is able to view also plays an important role in the environment design. Would you rather the player not be able to see outside of the playable area or would there be added environment detail beyond the playable area?
How Important is Localisation? Can it be an Afterthought? (1:08:57 - 1:10:37)
How important it is depends on how many people you want to market the game to. If it's just in English you are leaving out a large portion of the world.
Localisation should not be an afterthought, once the game is near completion you will then need to go back and hard code all the new languages and that will be a nightmare.
A better way is to put all your text in a database and reference it from the database. Every time you have blurb on the screen that should include some text, reference it from the database. You could name the files English.json, Spanish.json, Chinese.json Korean.json, Japanese.json and etc. You would be calling the desired language for that version of the game. Localisation is then super easy.
We hope this game design deep dive helps you get a better idea for art style, gameplay and environments in video games.
Follow Grant on social media
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/GrantAbbitt
Twitter: https://twitter.com/grantabbitt
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gabbittmedia
https://www.facebook.com/GameDevTV
https://twitter.com/GameDevTV
https://www.instagram.com/gamedev.tv/
Remember, we host live develogy livecasts every Tuesday at 10pm BST on our YouTube channel. You can catch all the recordings, including this episode, in the Devology Livecast course - it's free to join, and also on our YouTube Channel.
Until next time, happy dev'ing!
Subscribe to GameDev.tv Blog - Learning to Code through Video Game Development
More in Devology Livecast
Top 7 Game Dev Myths Explored
16 Dec 2022 – 3 min read
12 Simple Ways To Get Better At Game Development
What Game Should I Make First?
5 Dec 2022 – 3 min read
Indie Ingenuity
Find out about Indie Ingenuity and Innovation with Rick and Tim's deep dive.
Jamie Byrne 1 Sep 2022 • 3 min read
Game Design Deep Dive: Trains
Rick and Tim take a deep dive and chat about trains... yes really. Find inspiration for your games from the real world and learn how to handle post launch feedback and finding time to complete courses.
Jamie Byrne 11 Aug 2022 • 3 min read
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text:
MSP – Anywhere From Here – Crested Butte
October 7, 2022 @ 5:00 pm - 11:50 pm
« Quality Ski Time Film Tour – Denver
Quality Ski Time Film Tour – Jackson »
By the time a lifelong skier reaches middle age, he or she has likely dabbled in or fully dedicated him or herself to a myriad of facets within the sport. Each facet provides an entirely new set of experiences, thrills, challenges and rewards. MSP presents their annual film release Anywhere From Here. It explores this world of opportunities through the eyes of a 12 year-old freestyle phenomenon. Through his voice, the audience hears the skiing aspirations of such a 12 year-old, a kid who just wants to play and doesn't have to ponder "real life" quite yet.
Doors for VIP 5pm, Doors for GA 5:30pm Showtime 6:30pm
To read more about this film & others be sure to read our Ski movie premiere article.
Rockies, Ski Movie Premiere
https://matchstickpro.com/events/crested-butte-co-2/
Matchstick Productions
Crested Butte Center for the Arts
Crested Butte, CO 81224 United States + Google Map
Big Sky Skijoring 2023
Steamboat Springs Skijoring 2023
February 11 @ 9:00 am - February 12 @ 11:59 am
Sun Valley / Hailey Skijoring 2023


Kronenberger & Sons has years of experience overseeing the planning, design, and construction of projects both large and small. Over the years, our clients have included anyone from the federal government to the average homeowner.
For as long as we have been construction managers, we have specialized in the preservation of historical buildings. In our later years, we have acted as historic consultants, utilizing our extensive knowledge of old structures to help partners and other contractors when they seek advice. We can easily perform unobtrusive forensic investigations and exploratory evaluations to determine the next steps in your building project based on existing conditions.
We are proud to have a Registered Historical Architect on our team who meets the Secretary of The Interior's Professional Qualification Standards.


Plantronics introduced the first lightweight communications headset in 1962 and is today the world's leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of lightweight communications headset products. Plantronics headsets are widely used in many Fortune 500 corporations and have been featured in numerous films and high profile events, including the historic "One small step for man" transmission from the moon in 1969. Plantronics offers mobile headsets to address the cordless and mobile phone market, next-generation computer audio headset products for computer applications and corded and cordless headsets and systems for the office, small office/home office and contact centers.


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The Citadel that Overlooks the Atlantic Ocean
Canada is a huge country that offers tourists a large number of wonderful attractions to visit and explore. One of those not to be missed is Halifax, the capital city of Nova Scotia found on the east coast of Canada and one of the places you can visit on an MSC Cruise.
Each city has a symbol that represents it more than anything else: for Halifax, its citadel that dates back to the late 18th century, famous in Canada both for its beauty and for its historical importance, fills that role. Inside the star-shaped citadel, you can explore the history of Halifax on guided tours. The museum staff, dressed as soldiers of the army and navy, will show you the clothes used in the past and other items in maritime activities.
To the south-west of the city, your MSC cruise will offer you an excursion to one of the most beautiful and evocative settings on the Atlantic coast, the small village of Peggy's Cove, famous for its red lighthouse that was built in 1868. In this fishing village, elements of nature and domestic intimacy coexist: it is a land of boulders eroded by glaciers where the presence of humans can be found only in a handful of colorful houses and fishing shacks over the waters of the marina. The village lighthouse stands on top of a granite outcropping, made slippery by the splashes of the ocean waves.
Less than a kilometer from the public gardens of Halifax can be found another place of great historical-cultural interest that you can visit on your MSC cruise: the Fairview Cemetery, a Canadian cemetery, famous for being the resting place for 121 victims of the shipwreck of the Titanic.
Halifax's connection with the famous naval tragedy on April 15, 1912 can also be seen at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, which houses an excellent permanent exhibition on the disaster, including photographs, wooden artifacts and the only intact Titanic deckchair in the world.
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Refine your search of 64 storage facilities in Yakima.
Over 1,560 people in Yakima found storage with SpareFoot.
The biggest factor when it comes to self-storage prices in Yakima, Washington is size. Below are some monthly price ranges you can expect to see in Yakima, Washington based on different storage unit sizes.
The overall average price of a self-storage unit booked in Yakima, Washington over the past 180 days is $88.44.
How does seasonality affect Yakima self-storage prices?
Storage prices in Yakima tend to be somewhat volatile when compared to other cities. Prices can vary by about $49.40 monthly depending on the time of year. Yakima self-storage prices are highest inSeptember, and lowest in February.


text:
Club Med Sued Over Property Claimed by Cuban Exile
Posted July 08, 2004 by publisher in Cuba Hotels
By Jim Loney | Reuters
A 95-year-old Cuban exile sued the French resort chain Club Med on Thursday for building and operating a luxury hotel on Cuban beach property she says was seized from her family in Fidel Castro's communist revolution.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Miami, claims Paris-based Club Mediterranee made millions running the Club Med Varadero for six years before selling the property last year to Spanish hotel firm Grupo Pinero.
Lawyers said they would also sue Grupo Pinero over the same piece of property and planned legal action against the Sandals Caribbean resort chain and Spain's Iberostar over hotels on other land owned by the family.
The suit also alleges Club Med violated the U.S. Trading with the Enemy Act. The United States imposed an economic embargo against Cuba more than 40 years ago in response to Castro's takeover of the Caribbean island 90 miles south of Florida.
Elvira de la Vega Glen, of Miami, and her son Robert Glen, 60, of Plano, Texas, said Club Med built a 337-room, five-star resort on undeveloped beachfront owned by her family for decades until it was seized shortly after the 1959 revolution.
"I was out of my mind," Elvira de la Vega Glen said of the moment she learned Club Med had built the hotel. "I was very emotional about it. Club Med had no right to be there at all."
The lawsuit names as defendants Club Mediterranee, S.A., and Club Mediterranee Group, a subsidiary.
The company said it had not seen the lawsuit and could not comment on the specific allegations. It said one of its foreign subsidiaries operated a Varadero resort until its management agreement ended more than a year ago.
"Club Mediterranee S.A. and its subsidiaries believe they have always acted in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations relating to this matter," the company said. "Club Mediterranee S.A. believes the claims ... are without merit and intends to vigorously defend itself."
The hotel was built in the 1990s during a surge in tourism construction at Varadero, about 80 miles east of Havana. Cuba was rushing to fortify its tourism industry after the demise of its sponsor, the Soviet Union, hobbled its economy.
The lawsuit claims the French company "unjustly enriched" itself by using an illegally confiscated property to make money. The family's lawyer, Stuart Newberger, said the lawsuit had not made a specific claim for monetary damages but sought access to Club Med's books to find out exactly how much the company made on the property.
"Anything they got illegally, we are entitled to get," he said.
Follow up post #1 added on July 09, 2004 by publisher with 3905 total posts
Did Fidel Castro nationalize all the land in Cuba when he came to power? Yes.
Was that 45 years ago in 1959? Yes.
Should you get over it? Yes.
And, how does someone file suit in Miami against a French company for business practices in Cuba?
How can Labatt' make beer in Cuba and GlaxoSmithKline make a meningitis vaccine in Havana yet not draw the same lawsuits and allegations about "trading with the enemy".
Will someone please publically stand up to the Embargo?
Didn't Ghandi make a stand and refuse to pay some government fine against him?