text:
Last to Die in Afghanistan: US Marines Back to Helmand
By Ulson Gunnar
Theme: Terrorism, US NATO War Agenda
In-depth Report: AFGHANISTAN
Some 300 US Marines are once again being deployed to Helmand province, Afghanistan after upward to 20,000 US Marines had spent between 2009-2014 attempting, but clearly failing to secure the province for the US-installed client regime in the nation's capital of Kabul.
The latest deployment of US forces in Afghanistan after allegedly "ending" combat operations and the "Afghanistan War" in 2014, exposes several realities surrounding US foreign policy that directly conflict with the political narratives emanating from Washington.
The United States and members of its coalition involved in the invasion and now 16 plus year occupation of Afghanistan have not in fact ended the war, let alone won it. The fact that entire districts, and even provinces remain beyond the control of America's client regime, and even those that are under Kabul's control remain contested, reveals an ongoing conflict with little prospect of ending.
Fighters resisting the US occupation and the US-backed client regime have established networks that extend beyond Afghanistan's borders far from where US forces can reach. Afghanistan's neighbors have attempted to broker practical peace deals between groups like the Taliban and other factions within Afghanistan's patchwork of tribes for the sake of long-term stability, undermining entirely the artificially imposed political order the US has attempted to create and maintain.
Attempts at "nation building" have failed, with foreign contractors and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) seeking to profit from their activities within Afghanistan with little to no genuine interest in a collaborative and fundamentally constructive effort to develop the nation.
Attempts to build up local Afghan governance and military forces have also failed because of a fundamental disconnect with American objectives and the actual aspirations of the people the US is attempting to impose its version of governance upon.
The New York Times in an article titled, "Marines Return to Helmand Province for a Job They Thought Was Done," explains the current situation in Helmand province:
The Marines' new mission is a difficult one: to assist and train Afghan soldiers and police to defend the provincial capital. The Taliban control seven of the province's 14 districts and are encroaching on five others. The government fully controls just two, local officials say.
The process of US Marines taking and holding towns, cities and districts only to have them fall immediately back into the armed opposition's hands after withdrawing is a familiar one for US foreign policy. It is the same process that played out repeatedly in Southeast Asia as the United States struggled to impose its political will upon the people of Vietnam.
Ultimately the US conceded defeat in Vietnam with the nation then able to determine its own future for itself. Fear-mongering over the consequences of a communist Vietnam creating a cascading effect across all of Asia and placing entire nations under the control of the Soviet Union and communist China were revealed as unfounded. The people of Vietnam were just as adamantly opposed to being dictated to by their Asian neighbors as they were by French and American invaders.
Afghanistan is no different.
The War Has Nothing to do with "Terrorism"
The entire premise for the initial invasion of Afghanistan was fighting terrorism. Predicated on the attack on September 11, 2001 in New York, Washington D.C. and Pennsylvania which cost nearly 3,000 lives and blamed on Al Qaeda, the invasion of Afghanistan was meant to strike at the senior leadership of the terrorist organization, including Osama Bin Laden.
Instead, from the beginning, the US invasion focused almost exclusively on regime change, targeting the ruling Taliban, not Al Qaeda. The invasion and toppling of the Taliban government transformed into a protracted occupation and counterinsurgency as the United States struggled to assert its political order via a supremely corrupt and incompetent client regime residing in Kabul.
And while time to time news stories would circulate regarding alleged US military operations targeting Al Qaeda, it is clear, specifically with the most recent deployment of US Marines to Helmand, that asserting, reasserting and struggling to maintain control over the Central Asian state remains America's primary objective.
In fact, within the body of the New York Times' nearly 1,000 word article regarding the return of US Marines to Helmand province, Al Qaeda and "terrorism" weren't mentioned once.
Sadly, actual terrorists, including Al Qaeda itself, have been intentionally bolstered by the US and its allies, specifically in Syria where weapons, training, money and other forms of material support are being funneled into their hands to carry out regime change by proxy against Damascus.
The common denominator defining US foreign policy appears to be imposing Washington's political will upon nations and regions, with terrorism serving as the most tenuous of excuses, and at other times, being used explicitly as a tool to carry out US foreign policy.
America, Its Client Regime Unwanted
Toward the end of the article, the New York Times admits (emphasis added):
But the biggest challenge for the Marines will be to help Afghan forces regain territory and hold it. Abdul Jabar Qahraman, President Ashraf Ghani's former envoy in charge of operations in Helmand, said that for a long time the people of Helmand had sided with the Afghan forces, but that the government had repeatedly failed the civilian population and "left them handcuffed for the brutal enemy." He said he expected that the Afghan forces would struggle to regain the population's trust.
"There is no contact between the security forces and the local people," Mr. Qahraman said. "People do not believe the promises of security forces, and the security forces always remain inside their bases, they don't get out."
It is clear that the problem is not just the "Taliban," but rather the United States' entire agenda, not only in Helmand province, or even in Afghanistan, but overseas in general.
It is attempting to impose a self-serving political order that suits its sociopolitical and economic interests at the cost of peace, stability and security for entire regions of the planet. Its presence in Afghanistan and the proxies it has established to administer the nation to serve Washington's interests are admittedly unwanted by the very people being administered.
The 300 US Marines who have dutifully deployed to Helmand will once again risk life and limb for a nebulous objective serving a geopolitical agenda divorced from the best interests of both the American and Afghan people.
Far from enhancing the national security of the United States, the costly, protracted occupation of Afghanistan is demonstrating tactical and strategic weakness, geopolitical ineptitude and exposing the dangerous shortsighted greed that drives US foreign policy at the cost of long-term, rational planning and implementation.
What 300 US Marines are supposed to accomplish that 20,000 couldn't years before with a much larger NATO force supporting them is difficult to discern. Like during the late stages of the Vietnam War, it appears that US foreign policymakers are designating these US Marines as the "last to die" in Afghanistan for the sake of "saving face," though 16 years onward and with the state of Afghanistan as it is, there is little left to save.
Ulson Gunnar, a New York-based geopolitical analyst and writer especially for the online magazine "New Eastern Outlook".
The original source of this article is New Eastern Outlook
Copyright © Ulson Gunnar, New Eastern Outlook, 2017
Articles by: Ulson Gunnar
Disclaimer: The contents of this article are of sole responsibility of the author(s). The Centre for Research on Globalization will not be responsible for any inaccurate or incorrect statement in this article. The Centre of Research on Globalization grants permission to cross-post Global Research articles on community internet sites as long the source and copyright are acknowledged together with a hyperlink to the original Global Research article. For publication of Global Research articles in print or other forms including commercial internet sites, contact: [email protected]lresearch.ca


text:
require 'rails_helper'

RSpec.describe EntriesController, type: :controller do
  context 'JSON' do
    context 'ROUTES' do
      describe 'index' do
        it 'is valid' do
          expect(:get => '/entries').to route_to(
                                             :controller => 'entries',
                                             :action => 'index'
                                         )
        end
      end

      describe 'create entries' do
        it 'is valid' do
          expect(:post => 'entries').to route_to(
                                             :controller => 'entries',
                                             :action => 'create',
                                         )
        end
      end
    end
  end

  context 'post' do
    describe 'requests' do
      let(:profile) { FactoryGirl.create(:profile) }
      let(:paragraph) { Faker::Lorem.paragraph }

      it 'should create a entry' do
        @request.headers['Content-Type'] = JSONAPI::MEDIA_TYPE
        json =
            { "data":
                  { "type": 'entries',
                    "relationships": {
                        "profile":
                            { "data":
                                  { "type": 'profiles', 'id': profile.id }
                            }
                    },
                    "attributes": {
                        "received": true,
                        "private": false,
                        "note": paragraph,
                        "rating": 3
                    }
                  }
            }
        post :create, json
        expect(response.status).to eq(201)
        expect(Entry.first.received).to be true
        expect(Entry.first.note).to match(paragraph)
      end

    end
  end
end

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
videolol.info Blog
Rescues Boa Constrictor Found on Highway 92
Hope Bidegainberry
The Peninsula Humane Society & SPCA (PHS/SPCA) rescued an injured boa constrictor that had been found on the westbound shoulder of Highway 92 near the Crystal Springs Reservoir. The snake had a broken jaw and was brought to PHS/SPCA's expert veterinary team for care.
"On October 22, 2017 a member of the public spotted the injured snake on the side of the highway and called us for help," said PHS/SPCA's Communications Manager Buffy Martin Tarbox. "The snake had a severely swollen and broken jaw, which without treatment, is a certain death sentence since she was unable to eat."
The snake was treated with a makeshift splint to keep her jaw closed and stable with the hope her broken jaw would mend itself. She was also provided pain medicine and antibiotics.
"It was touch and go for a week and we weren't sure she was going to make it," according to Tarbox. "She started to respond well to the treatment and after a few weeks the jaw had mended and she was able to eat on her own. Despite what she's been through, she's extremely friendly and outgoing. We have no prior knowledge of how the snake ended up on the side of the highway, but she was clearly someone's pet. Unfortunately no one came forward to claim her, so now she's looking for a new home."
PHS/SPCA staff named her Rocky Balboa as a nod to the fictional boxer who overcame the odds and as a play on the snake's boa constrictor species.
Rocky Balboa is available for adoption at PHS/SPCA's Center for Compassion at 1450 Rollins Road in Burlingame. Her adoption fee is $40. Like all boa constrictors, Rocky Balboa does need specialized care and feeding. PHS/SPCA strongly encourages the feeding of frozen, defrosted mice or rats which are available at most pet supply stores. Feeding live rodents is considered unnecessary and inhumane for the both the prey and the predator.
PHS/SPCA is an open door shelter that accepts all animals regardless of age, health or even species. Each year PHS/SPCA adopts out 6,300 animals.
Adopt The Peninsula Humane Society & SPCA
Hazzah! It's National Bittersweet Chocolate Day!
Meet The Monterey Snoring Seal

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Police say 'open mind' over murder of Sri Lanka executive
ECONOMYNEXT – Criminal investigators questioned a former cricket commentator and media personality in connection with the murder of top business executive Dinesh Schaffter, but were keeping an "open mind" as they pursued several lines of inquiry, a top police official said Friday.
Schaffter, 51, had driven to a yet unknown location where he may have been met by one or many individuals before ending up at the car park of the General Cemetery Kanatte on Thursday afternoon. He had been strangled with an antenna cable while he was in the driving seat of his Toyota.
"Dinesh had sent a text message to (name withheld) and asked him for a meeting yesterday," an investigator said. "He (name withheld) had responded by saying he cannot come to any place, but asked Dinesh to come to his house," the investigator said adding that they were yet to make an arrest.
"We are working with an open mind. We are following several possibilities, we can't disclose them, but we are checking multiple theories for the motive as well as who is responsible."
Schaffter and his wife were due to travel to Britain later on Thursday evening. He had informed that he was leaving to meet with a debtor and had shared his live location.
When he failed to answer his phone, his wife had informed the authorities that his phone location indicated he was inside the Borella Kanatte where police found him with his hands tied with tape and strangled at the driving seat.
"It is most likely that there was more than one person involved," the investigator said adding that they were also examining CCTV footage from the area.
Schaffter is an executive director of Janashakthi Insurance.
In 2019, Schaffter had complained that the former cricket commentator had defrauded him of over 140 million rupees and a case is pending. (COLOMBO, December 16, 2022)
Sri Lanka police broaden probe into executive's death
Sri Lanka bond yields mixed, bills down
General1 hour ago


Posted by Chris on Friday, December 30th, 2011, at 2:00 am, and filed under Linkity linkity link, Reading, Reviewettes.
Have you been on the cat-nip again Mayhem??
A recent post from Kate..Rolling my eyes…..
Hub and I just about died laughing at the relationship fail autocorrects.
Hmm, you weren't very keen on the seasonal shorts from MLRP then? I've really liked all the ones I've read, but I have to admit I've had enough of Christmas stories now.
Yay for Toronto! A g/f brewery!
Chris- Smartphone, Dumbphone- nothing will shift my son out of bed.
How about that marzipan pig? Scary stuff.
Happy New Year to you and the babies.
Yes again with the autocorrect.
I have Among the Living (bought it earlier this year). Having read it, how different is it from the one I picked up? Unfortunately, I cannot see without being at my home computer exactly when I got it.
I wish I could unsee that Marzipan pig.
Linkity! I has Among the Living – thank you!
OK – there are five novellas with the same cover (six if you count James Buchanan's Light Me Up)…and I don't even like the cover!
I'm excited about the Marie Sexton sci-fi regency. It sounds really good.
Thanks for the heads up about the revised Among the Living. LOVE Vic!
Interesting about the wool and vinegar. I've used it to help with color-fastness, but didn't know it helped soften the wool. I also occasionally use conditioner, if it's extra scratchy.
omg, I'm SO making the nutella sea salt fudge!
Autocorrect always makes me laugh out loud.
It's great to catch up with your linkity again, Chris! 🙂 Happy New Year!
Thanks for the awesome links, especially the recipes that sound so good! Thanks for the info on the free Psy-Cop book. I've been wanting to read it, so woo-hoo.
A recent post from Joder..A Visit With Author CJ Ellison….
Man-aisles??? The marketing dept at Target is clearly trying way too hard.
Happy New Year! Darn, if only I'd seen that dress, I could have worn it last night.
That human flamingo is kind of awesome! As the book sculptures even though that hurts me deep in my soul…….
A recent post from Carrie K..Happy New Year!
I love the kitties up the tree!! THankfully, we've not had that this year.
Lovely photo of May – she looks a little more floofy than usual.
Another year ends with linkity. Finally getting to it. And I love DYAC – I am dreaming of the fuhrer…..
Oh I like the idea of the winter wake-up app, even though we don't get that much snow.
The Marzipan pigs are so wrong.
It took me until today to make it through the Linkity! Sheesh!


Caroline Laguerre-Brown, the vice provost for diversity, equity and community engagement, said the survey is a critical tool for examining on-campus sexual assault using data.
The campus climate survey on unwanted sexual behavior is currently accessible to all students in an effort to identify the full scope of sexual misconduct on campus.
Student leaders and officials said they worked more closely this year to craft and promote the survey, which was released April 1, adding definitions for terms related to sexual assault and touting the survey as an opportunity for students to speak out about their experiences on campus. Amid a federal Title IX investigation, officials and students involved in the effort said the changes will help the Title IX office better assess its practices and resources.
The survey will remain open to all students until the end of the month and include questions about sexual harassment, sexual assault and domestic violence. Previous surveys were only sent to a sample of the student body, student leaders said.
Title IX Coordinator Rory Muhammad said this year was the first time since he arrived at GW in 2014 that there was a coordinated and sustained effort to partner with student leaders to develop the survey.
"I think that's been a great improvement for us because it gives us a different lens, more on the ground, people who we're actually targeting the survey for who live it on a day-to-day basis, talk to their peers, etc., to give us feedback to improve the instrument," Muhammad said.
The University announced that the Title IX office would undergo a review by an external law firm last summer. GW fell under federal Title IX investigation for its handling of a sexual violence and harassment complaint last August. The investigation is still ongoing.
Muhammad said students came together last summer through the Committee on Sexual Assault Prevention and Response, a group of faculty and student leaders formed in 2014, to present ideas – like opening the survey to all students and including language clarifiers – to the Title IX office on how to improve the survey.
Caroline Laguerre-Brown, the vice provost for diversity, equity and community engagement, said the survey is a critical tool for examining on-campus sexual assault using data. She said student feedback at the end of the survey could shape how future reviews are conducted.
In the past, Laguerre-Brown said the climate survey has prompted changes to policies and practices. She said officials added magnets describing sexual violence resources to all residence hall rooms last year after many students in a previous survey reported that they didn't know how to report an incident.
"We wanted to try to saturate areas that maybe we hadn't reached before with information about the office and trying to make the information accessible, easy to read and easy for folks to get the information that they need to be able to connect to us," she said.
Kalpana Vissa, the co-president of Students Against Sexual Assault, said previous surveys were not large enough to capture a broad view of the issues with sexual assault on campus because they were only sent to a sample of the student body.
She said this year's survey includes definitions for terms that might not be common knowledge or might be misunderstood, like "flashing" or "consent." The survey now also includes information about who to talk to if you've been affected by sexual violence and how to report an incident, she added.
Vissa said response numbers for the survey have historically been low, with about 700 students responding out of 2,000 to 3,000 students who received an invitation – a participation rate below many peer schools.
Officials first distributed the survey in 2014 to gauge the University's response to sexual harassment, stalking and dating violence. About 713 graduates and undergraduates responded to the survey and nearly 25 percent of undergraduates said they experienced sexual harassment, sexual violence, domestic violence or stalking while at GW.
The last survey in 2016 drew 715 student responses, but just 13 percent of students said they had experienced some kind of unwanted sexual behavior. After the 2016 survey, officials said they would conduct the survey less frequently.
Peak Sen Chua, the president of the Student Association, said it was important to take a fresh look at the survey because this year's graduating class is the last group of students that weren't required to go through in-person sexual assault training, a measure implemented at Colonial Inauguration in 2015.
"If we were able to compare the data that we receive this year with the data that we receive in subsequent years we'll be able to look at how our efforts to prevent sexual assault and sexual violence on campus have worked," he said.
Sydney Nelson, the SA's executive vice president, said the SA approached SASA last year to begin work on the survey and partnered with different student organizations, like the Panhellenic Association, on the effort. She said the project "fit nicely" into the University's overall evaluation of its Title IX policies and procedures.
Nelson said the student effort was in part motivated by the outrage last spring after a then-senior and sexual assault survivor accused the University of mishandling her sexual violence case and allowing her assailant to continue working a campus job.
"I think this campus climate survey in partnership with SASA serves as a really great opportunity to kind of reflect the focus of the student body on this topic in a tangible way, and something that hadn't been really touched before by students," she said.


text:
The Academy of Performing Arts studios are located at Chi Mukwa Community Recreation Center in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.
The Academy is directed by Luanna Luxton Armstrong, B.A.T.D.
Academy Brochure
Brochure: The Academy brochure for the current year (2019-2020)
Flyer: Introducing our Instructors
About Our Director
Luanna Luxton Armstrong
B.A.T.D., Director, Choreographer
A Dance student from the age of three, a lifetime member of the British Association of Teachers of Dance, and a seasoned dancer, actress, singer, choreographer, playwright and director in countless productions, Luanna brings a wealth of experience to the arts and our community.
Luanna was born and raised in Sault Sainte Marie, Ontario. She is a graduate of Loretto in Sault, Michigan, alumni of Lake Superior State University, Ryerson University and York University, Ontario. She opened her first school of dancing in Dundas, Ontario in 1969. For 20 years she owned and operated the Luanna Luxton School of Dance and Performing Arts in Bolton, Ontario where she also founded and directed a professional summer theater company. Her school boasted a Barn Theater where countless one of a kind productions, both amateur and professional took place.
In the fall of 2001, Luanna became the Director of Dance and Drama at Lake Superior State University. Original productions written by Luanna brought local children and adults a new appreciation of dance and theater. Productions include: Beauty & the Beast, Peter Pan, Aladdin, Little Mermaid, Send in the Clowns, Ferngully, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Puff the Magic Dragon, Jungle Book, Pinocchio, Snow Queen, Snow White, and A Tale By the Ancient One.
In September 2003, we welcomed Luanna as the owner, director, instructor, and choreographer of the Academy of Performing Arts, on the campus of Lake Superior State University. In September 2008, the Academy moved to its current location, the Chi Mukwa Community Recreation Center.
For over 40 years, Luanna has offered students of all ages a unique environment in which to develop and express their creative talents. Our students are encouraged to explore their boundaries and to take risks in a structured, nurturing environment. We then give them an opportunity to shine their light. Every year we come together in the most perfect way to create a masterpiece.
Our season is traditionally climaxed with a full-scale theatre production involving dancers and actors. This provides our students with the opportunity to participate in a live theatre production.
Our academy philosophy fosters the thrill and joy of performance without competition.
The two dance studios are located on the first floor of the Chi Mukwa Recreation Center. The studios are spacious with ballet bars and mirrors. Reception, waiting area, locker rooms, concession, and indoor walking track are available for students and their families.
Erika Laitinen-Odbert
Kayla Price
Ali Brand
Luanna Luxton-Armstrong
Erika Laitinen-Odbert, Instructor & Choreographer
Erika Laitinen-Odbert has been sharing her commitment to excellence in the dance arts for 15 years with the Academy of Performing Arts, where she teaches Ballet, Pointe, Lyrical, and Jazz. With over 25 years of experience, Erika danced competitively with Trixie Hardy Dance Studio and Studio Dance Arts, both of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.
She has traveled internationally and within the United States competing, performing, and attending numerous workshops. Erika has undergone extensive B.A.T.D. training, focusing primarily in the study of ballet.
Erika loves to share her passion for dance with her students, her family, and her community. Among her dance experiences, Erika has been able to volunteer for many community events, including Hospice of the EUP Madrigal Dinner for over ten years and is incredibly honored and proud to now be a coach for the Dancing with the Hospice Stars!
She looks forward to continuing her adventure in sharing the art of dance with all for many years to come.
Kayla Price, Instructor & Choreographer
As a sixth year instructor, Kayla comes to the Academy from a long history with performing. Her love of figure skating and gymnastics at a very early age inspired her to study ballet, where she began dancing at the Sherry Walsh Academy of Dance Arts at the age of 8. Kayla also participated in the Sault Gym Club Gymnastics programs in Sault Sainte Marie, Ontario.
She has studied dance at our Academy for many years and has taken part in several of our annual Children's Theatre Productions, both as a dancer and as an actress. Kayla has participated in several dance competitions during her time, performing with the Sault High Pom Pon squad.
She also brings skills learned from participating in those competitions, as well as, performing and dancing in New York City, Disney World in Orlando, Florida, and Puerto Rico. She performed with the LSSU Dance Company, and has taken summer residence near Traverse City, MI. as an employee of Interlochen Center of the Arts. During the summer of 2018, Kayla enjoyed instructing dance to students coming to LSSU from various cities for the EDventures summer camps.
Kayla will be returning in the fall to begin instructing classes again this year. We look forward to having more years with her.
Ali Brand, Instructor & Choreographer
We welcome Ali Brand as our new Tap Instructor.
A student of dance from the age of three, Ali brings to the Academy years of experience in Tap, Jazz, Ballet and Hip Hop.
She studied at Rapid City Dance Factory in Grand Rapids, MI and Rhythm Dance Center in Belmont, MI.
She has performed multiple times at the Grand Rapids Festival of the Arts with her Dance Company.
She was also part of the Dance Program at LSSU taking classes in Tap, Jazz and Theatre.
She has a love for all types of dance, but tap is by far her favorite. She is passionate about dance and is very excited to be teaching Tap at the Academy.
**The B.A.T.D. (British Association of Teachers of Dance) was founded in 1892 with just 24 members & has now grown to be recognized in the U.S. & Canada, Australia, South Africa, Spain, Germany, Korea, Italy & more. The first of its kind to encourage dancers to organize into a society with which to improve & develop the art of dance and its many forms.
Academy of Peforming Arts - Chi Mukwa Community Recreation Center - missluanna@gmail.com - (906) 253-2180
© Academy of Performing Arts
academyofperformingartssault.com


I had the incredible opportunity to work with directors Fernando Serzadelo and JC Feyer, and co-DP with the brilliant Gustavo Hadba on Minotauro. It's the incredible story of the truly invincible Rodrigo Nogueira, the greatest MMA fighter ever. OSU!!! The film is a co-production from HungryMan Rio, Combate, and UFC. It debuted at the Rio2C Festival on April 8, 2018.
I shot in Japan and USA and Gustavo Hadba and Fernando Young shot within Brasil.


text:
Q: How to generate random password for new customer while creating account in magento? I dont want my customer to enter password while creating account in magento.When customer creates account password should be auto generated and mail should be sent to that customer .Can anybody help me out plz...

A: You can make the password input in the registration and checkout process as a hidden input and have an algorithm that generates random values for it.
For example at registration you have these fields for passwords
<input type="password" name="password" id="password" title="<?php echo $this->__('Password') ?>" class="input-text required-entry validate-password" />

and
<input type="password" name="confirmation" title="<?php echo $this->__('Confirm Password') ?>" id="confirmation" class="input-text required-entry validate-cpassword" />

Turn them into this:
<?php $password = Mage::helper('core')->getRandomString($length = 7)?>

<input type="hidden" name="password" id="password" title="<?php echo $this->__('Password') ?>" class="input-text required-entry validate-password" value="<?php echo $password?>"  />

and
<input type="hidden" name="confirmation" title="<?php echo $this->__('Confirm Password') ?>" id="confirmation" class="input-text required-entry validate-cpassword" value="<?php echo $password?>" />

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
You are here: Home / Featured / One smart cat: Morning File, Thursday, December 8, 2016
One smart cat: Morning File, Thursday, December 8, 2016
December 8, 2016 By Tim Bousquet 21 Comments
1. The S-word
Taxpayers spent $2.4 million to design this 25,000-seat stadium at Shannon Park, and a half a million dollars more to study building a 10-14,000 seat stadium at Shannon Park, and then another million dollars to study building a 20,000-seat stadium at Shannon Park. Now the city is being asked to look at another stadium proposal.
No, not soccer, but we'll start with that. Reports Chris Cochrane for Local Xpress:
The top official with a new Canadian pro soccer league, planned for a 2018 start in several major Canadian cities, was in Halifax Wednesday for talks with those behind a proposed local franchise.
Halifax-based sports promotion firm Sports & Entertainment Atlantic president Derek Martin met with veteran international pro soccer executive Paul Beirne, who is handling early duties for the fledgling Canadian Premier League.
So far so good. And the proposed league has a conservative, restrained business case:
"This gives us an opportunity to play on that stage as national players but in a much more right-sized, reasonable format," he said. "The plans for this league would be budgets around 6,000 to 8,000 fans per game. I'd always said that's the right size for Halifax. We've proven it for the Mooseheads and with the University Cup. When you start planning for events over 10,000 the numbers don't work. Our population can't sustain that."
This seems reasonable. Some private businesspeople want to start a company based around soccer, and they appear to have the expertise to pull it off, so good luck! …. Oh, wait, there's that other S-word:
The team would require a new stadium or huge refurbishing of an existing structure. Martin said he hopes a small stadium can be built in the downtown area, where it could serve a role similar to [$48 NSF Fee] Centre as a sports entertainment focal point in the entire community.
His group is already eyeing a familiar downtown sporting landmark.
"We've talked to the city about the opportunity to do it at the Wanderers Grounds. We have to make a good case to the city why this is a good idea. We've already got plans for an 8,000-seat stadium on that site with the ability to expand.
Martin said he's reluctant to talk cost, until more details of the proposed league become known. But the intention is to build a very modest temporary stadium "in the few million dollar range" that can be expanded if needed.
"It would be about 15 home games a year," he said of the Canadian Premier League use from late April to November. He said once there was a proper facility other sports, such as rugby and outdoor lacrosse, could be played there and other sporting events brought to the city.
It's not clear if Martin is suggesting that his group will pay for the stadium or if he's asking the city to build it. If the former, I say let them have at it. If they want to build a facility on public land on their dime, so long as it can be used for other functions, that's OK with me.
And even if they want the city to pay for the thing, I'm not automatically opposed. It isn't crazy that a modestly sized and modestly priced stadium for uses such as these can be part of the city's recreation program. But I know how these things go: people will demand that it be big enough for headliner concerts and say it must seat 20,000 people in order to attract a CFL team (which will never happen, for reasons Martin articulated above), and next thing you know we've got a $120 million white elephant.
2. Automated stop announcements
"New automated stop announcements will launch Monday on a select number of public buses in hopes of making the commute easier for passengers who are hearing or visually impaired and tourists unfamiliar with the city," reports Cassie Williams for the CBC.
I'm all for these stop announcements. When I'm using the bus in Toronto, I find the announcements extremely helpful, allowing me to orient myself in a mostly strange city. And in Halifax, especially in winter, riders often can't see out the bus for the snow and muck covering the windows, so the announcements will decrease the stress of making sure to get off at the right stop.
Tiffany Chase, a spokeswoman for the municipality, said Wednesday the voice behind the announcements doesn't belong to a real person but is computer-generated. She described it as a "calm" and "soothing" female voice.
The stops should be a recorded real person's voice, and a real person with a proper Maritime accent. My choice would be a North Dartmouth accent and word phrasing:
Next stop: Scotia Square and that.
Next stop: Montebello Drive, but buddy don't get off here, it's just one more stop to the MicMac Tavern donchaknow.
And you just know that the computer voice will screw up the pronunciations. I can't wait for the rider complaints about "Gottingen Street."
Seriously, tho, what's wrong with hiring an actual person to record the stops?
3. Exempt this
"The people of the municipality got a chance to have their say about 18 proposed developments in Halifax and Dartmouth at two unprecedented public meetings on Wednesday," reports Zane Woodford for Metro.
Sounds a bit like a circus.
The 18 properties are being considered for exemptions to be written into the Centre Plan.
4. Ferry
You can buy the Dartmouth III ferry for $150,000, but be warned: "Batteries need to be replaced."
5. Erratum
Yesterday, I boneheadedly confused the Eastern Front Theatre with the Neptune Theatre, and scores of people let me know. Mea culpa.
The striking Chronicle Herald reporters are asking people to boycott the Neptune, not Eastern Front. (Eastern Front rents the Neptune for its performance of A Christmas Carol.)
My apologies to Eastern Front.
1. Province House
This is "an editorial cartoon from the 80s that never grows old," Stephen Archibald reminds us. "[I] don't remember what it was originally about, but this week it works yet again."
2. Economic impact
Mary Campbell writes:
Most of all, I think filtering public money through public servants like teachers and nurses into the economy makes a lot more sense than filtering it through a pulp and paper mill or a second cruise ship berth or John Risley. Not only do you get your children educated and your injuries tended to, you get people who support local businesses and sports teams and arts venues and craftspeople. People who pay for plumbing and electrical work and kitchen renos and landscaping and small engine repair. People who also pay taxes.
If you expect me to get excited about a cruise ship tourist who comes here once and spends $66 because of the "direct and indirect economic impact" of such spending, then you have to expect me to be more excited about the direct and indirect economic impact of having well-paid public servants living in our community.
Bill Black, in fact, is okay with teachers' salaries — his problem is with their pensions and benefits that are "far richer than the private sector."
Because if public sector benefits are richer than private sector benefits the answer, of course, is to lower public sector benefits. (Only don't tell that to the businesspeople who manage teachers' pension funds, they won't agree, a fact which I find really, really funny.)
Like the Halifax Examiner, Campbell's Cape Breton Spectator is subscription-supported, so the above article is behind a paywall. I'm a proud subscriber, and you can be too.
3. Karen Casey
"I do not see any path forward [with the teachers' contract issue] without the resignation of Education Minister Karen Casey," writes Graham Steele:
I do not say that lightly. Nobody knows better than me the weight of a ministerial resignation.
The key is that a ministerial resignation can be a public symbol. It is possible to resign with honour. That is a notion fading from our democratic memory, and which we need to revive.
4. Cranky letter of the day
To the New Glasgow News:
Dr. Al Nassar was recently portrayed as proven guilty and is being condemned.
Section 11(d) in our Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom gives the benefit of the doubt to the accused, and treats us as "innocent until proven guilty," and not the other way around.
Dr. Al Nassar is loved and well respected among his colleagues, who are in disbelief of the accusation. He is currently receiving a lot of support from his colleagues, co-workers and people who know him, including many of his patients.
Therefore, it is fair to give the man who served our community for several years some grace and decorum, and give him the benefit of the doubt, and let the court and the justice system takes its course.
"For he that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone" — Jesus
Dr. Ehab Soliman, Pictou County
Appeals Standing Committee (10am, City Hall) — Shahab Madadi wants to talk to the committee about the city's refusal to grant him a taxi licence.
Integrated Mobility Plan Workshop (12pm and 6pm, Captain William Spry Community Centre)
Transportation (1pm, City Hall) — the committee will consider letting transit riders have input on how transit works. Sounds dangerously radical.
Harbour East-Marine Drive Community Council (6pm, Alderney Gate) — heres's the agenda.
No public meetings.
Thesis Defence (11:30am, Room 430, Goldberg Computer Science Building) — PhD candidate Renata Dividino will give a "test talk" on her thesis, "Managing and Using Data Provenance in the Semantic Web," which she will defend at the University of Koblenz, Germany, in December.
Stars (7:15pm, Room 120, Dunn Building) — The Halifax Planetarium's show, "Old Stories of the New Season's Stars." Five bucks at the door, no kids, screaming or otherwise.
The university is closed for a religious feast of some sort. Right about now they prop those wooden magi up in the front yard of the university as well.
6am: Oceanex Sanderling, ro-ro container, arrives at Pier 41 from St. John's
7:15am: Nolhanava, ro-ro cargo, arrives at Pier 36 from Saint-Pierre
11am: Atlantic Huron, bulker, moves from anchorage to National Gypsum
11:30am: CSL Tacoma, bulker, sails from National Gypsum for sea
6am: ZIM Constanza, container ship, arrives at Pier 41 from Valencia, Spain
Piper the cat has a subscription to the Halifax Examiner.
You too can buy your pet, or your mother, or your friend, or your enemy, or a total stranger a gift subscription to the Halifax Examiner. And just in time for the holidays, anyone who buys a $100 gift subscription will receive a free T-shirt — give it as a stocking stuffer or be the stylish one yourself:
This is Hilary Beaumont. Send me a photo of yourself in an Examiner T-shirt and I'll post it as well.
I just ordered a bunch more T-shirts, so they should all arrive in a week or so. If you'd like to buy a gift subscription, contact admin person extraordinaire Iris at iris "at" halifaxexaminer.ca.
Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: automated stop announcements, Canadian Premier League, Cassie Williams, Centre Plan exemptions, Chris Cochrane, Derek Martin, Ehab Soliman, Graham Steele, John Risley, Joseph Howe cartoon, Karen Casey, Mary Campbell, Piper the cat, Shannon Park, Sports & Entertainment Atlantic, stadium, Stephen Archibald, Tiffany Chase
Robert McGrath says
Karen Casey is 69 years old and able to draw 3 pensions. Time for new blood.
Tim Covell says
There are good reasons for her to resign, but her age is not one of them.
Just because…?
I think the people that want to build a soccer stadium are trying to sneak it through while HRM staff is consumed with testing the automated bus stop announcement system.
Colin May says
Mary Campbell believes in 'trickle down economics', who knew.
If only the well off were even better off we would all be well off.
Next up : " Hedge funds are saintly "
Mary Campbell says
LOL No, I promise you, no "hedge funds are saintly" articles from this quarter.
I think I was mocking the idea of "trickle down" economics, which is based on putting money into the private sector and hoping it somehow ends up doing good for the broader community.
I'm arguing that by paying teachers well, you get the immediate benefits of education and the spin-off economic benefits.
Next up is probably going to be: "Why we need a guaranteed annual income."
Give money to John Risley and most of it goes to a bank in the Cayman Islands. Give money to a school teacher and most of it is spent right here in Nova Scotia.
I think Risley and teachers have enough.
If we want to ensure more money remains in Nova Scotia the obvious policy is to increase the income of the poor and leave the foreign vacations to the better off. Making sure kids go to school with a breakfast in them would be a good start.
Public sector pension plans use hedge funds to earn higher returns, but we don't know what the hedge funds invest in.
The HRM pension plan as of December 31 2015 had just 8.1% of its $1.6 billion in assets invested in Canadian equities and almost 39% in private investments.
http://www.hrmpensionplan.ca/files/HRM_Val_12_31_2015-final_for_website.pdf
More details of the plan can be found by reading the minutes here
http://www.hrmpensionplan.ca/index.php/about/plan-information/minutes/
John Cascadden says
It is time for pro-sports teams to start funding the building of these stadiums… they are the ones who really want to reap the financial benefits. The municipality can give them a tax break or a lower cost lease for the use of the land, but the pro-sport leagues should be the ones paying to have the stadiums built, operated and maintained. Taxpayer's dollars should not be used to fund such financially risky ventures.
John Wesley Chisholm says
"The stadium has to be downtown because then it's an economic driver for the city. " says Martin the soccer stadium proponent.
That's not a statement about passions, wishes, or dreams. That's clearly in the form of a logical argument and is intended to support the larger argument for the stadium.
But is it true?
At very best it lends to degrees. It sits on a line that measures 'economic driverness' and then, as Mary Campbell suggests about paying teachers, it can be compared to other possible economic impacts of other possible course of action. along the way we could quantify other things we care about beside economic drivers no just to one interested group but to all groups of the long run.
This is the fundamental problem with behavioral economics in Nova Scotia. Every case, every discussion begins with a presupposed conclusion and then the money is spent solely to find support for the presupposed conclusion.
Imagine going to the doctor and before you even said hello the doctor randomly said "could be cancer" because she was just talking to a pharma rep with a new cancer drug, and then wanted you to spend all your available time, money, taxes, and emotional effort on that conclusion. Would that not seem like a strange doctor's visit?
It's a strange way to do economics. And it's a strange way to decide the shape of things to come.
Allan Robertson says
In the 'Exempt this' article, Tim refers to 18 proposed new real estate developments as being considered for exemption from the forthcoming Centre Plan. Not so, apparently. I spoke to Jacob Ritchie who leads the Centre Plan effort, and he assured me that the typical lead time for any of the proposed developments is in the 18 month range, and the Centre Plan is expected to be completed well before that – in roughly six months.
I confirmed this with Waye Mason, who agreed, qualifying it a bit, by saying 'unless Council decides to move any particular proposal forward quickly'.
How about a petition to Council to keep that from happening?
The public meeting regarding the developments was ridiculous in the extreme.
Talking was like shouting over a lawnmower. The optics were horrible for our fair planning department. My eyes saw developers and municipal staff working to present predetermined outcomes to the public.
Myself and another concerned citizen were pointing out issues of affordable housing, gentrification, exemptions to the centre plan and all the staff person did was hand us a piece of paper. Ideas go right down the shit hole, developers get what they want and neighbours are reduced to the cheap seats shouting at the referee that the fix is in.
How about each development garners a meeting with a developer presenting to those immediately affected by a development and HRM staff at the same time. Have those concerns addressed then then move to a larger forum.
That would be meaningful public consultation. Yesterday was a chaotic shambles and a real test to our new councillors who saw firsthand the undue influence the development community has apparently grown accustomed to in this city.
Did I mention the online comment section is limited to 500 characters? Yup tapping into the unlimited potential of the internet the city is….
Michael Colborne says
Here is a nice story about using a real person's voice for announcements on the London Underground.
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-21719848
That's sweet, thanks. I saw a similar article about the woman who voiced the stops in Toronto.
swac says
Wasn't something like that Peter Mansbridge's original gig?
Anhaga says
That is sweet. So glad they could give her a CD of the recording. The public library uses a real voice, at least I think they do, I do all my transactions on line not by phone now. They recorded an employee's clear voice after considerable months or years of inadvertent hilarity and confusion caused by the original robot.
PhilMoscovitch says
I met a woman who lives in Toronto and whose voice has been used for announcements in transit systems in various cities (I believe Seoul was one of them). She had a gorgeous voice.
Bill Turpin says
Regina, population 238,000, has just completed a $278m stadium. Here are some details, including financing: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosaic_Stadium
mchugh-russell says
I, quite seriously love the idea of adding the local flavour you described (Buddy, don;t get off here, micmac tavern is next!!") to the Stops. Seems to me that people would come just for the transit experience" and kind of reminded me of this, which I thought was put there by tourism but this article says was a conference — nevermind it is social media viral. . . : http://www.cntraveler.com/story/helsinki-airport-sign-applauds-badass-travelers-for-visiting-in-winter
Aaron Hartling says
*uses automated bus stop voice* no soccer stadiums please
Donna Morris says
Re 2. Automated stop announcements
Literally hooted with laughter at your suggested examples of local character! You've such unexpected comedy talent, Tim. Thanks for the best laugh in a very long time!
Love cat reading the Examiner, too.


text:
Q: trouble in receiveing byte [] from wcf ksoap2 to android I am trying to send images from wcf ksoap2 to android. At wcf side I have converted all images into byte array and stored them in an ArrayList. At android side I trying fill the ArrayList<Byte> arrays;  but its not filling, it remains empty.
Here is my code
wcf:
        List<byte[]> list;
        public List<byte[]> loadImages()
        {
            DirectoryInfo directoryInfo = new DirectoryInfo(@"C:\Users\User\Desktop\abc");
            arr1 = new ArrayList();
            foreach (FileInfo fi in directoryInfo.GetFiles())
                arr1.Add(fi.FullName);

            list = new List<byte[]>();
            for (int i = 0; i < arr1.Count; i++)
            {
                img = Image.FromFile(arr1[i].ToString());
                ms = new MemoryStream();
                img.Save(ms, System.Drawing.Imaging.ImageFormat.Jpeg);
                list.Add(ms.ToArray());
                //                objbyte = (byte[])ms.ToArray();
            }

            return list;
        }

android:
            SoapObject Request = new SoapObject(NAMESPACE, METHOD_NAME);
            SoapSerializationEnvelope soapEnvelop;
            soapEnvelop = new SoapSerializationEnvelope(SoapEnvelope.VER11);
            soapEnvelop.dotNet = true;
            soapEnvelop.setOutputSoapObject(Request);
            HttpTransportSE htps = new HttpTransportSE(URL);

            htps.call(SOAP_ACTION, soapEnvelop);
            response = (SoapObject) soapEnvelop.getResponse();
            ar = new String[response.getPropertyCount()];

            arrays = new ArrayList<Byte>();

            if (response != null) {

                if (response.getPropertyCount() > 0) {

                    for (int i = 0; i < response.getPropertyCount(); i++) {

                        arrays.add( (Byte) response.getProperty(i));
                    }
                }
            }

for loop executes properly but arrays remains empty
I want to send 10-15 images at a time.
Thanks in advance

A: Here's the code:
SoapObject Request = new SoapObject(NAMESPACE, METHOD_NAME);
            SoapSerializationEnvelope soapEnvelop;
            soapEnvelop = new SoapSerializationEnvelope(SoapEnvelope.VER11);
            soapEnvelop.dotNet = true;
            soapEnvelop.setOutputSoapObject(Request);
            HttpTransportSE htps = new HttpTransportSE(URL);

            htps.call(SOAP_ACTION, soapEnvelop);
            response = (SoapObject) soapEnvelop.getResponse();
            ar = new String[response.getPropertyCount()];

            arrays = new ArrayList<Byte>();

            if (response != null) {

                if (response.getPropertyCount() > 0) {

                    for (int i = 0; i < response.getPropertyCount(); i++) {

                        arrays.add( (Byte) response.getProperty(i));
                    }
                }
            }

A: You are casting the data as a Byte, however you have a Byte[]


Tackling the question of what modern-day heroism looks like, writer and editor Tod Lindberg presented at Charbonnel Lounge on March 18, courtesy of the University of St. Michael's College (USMC) and the Department of Political Science.
Lindberg, a Fellow of the Hudson Institute, co-chair of the American Bar Association's Atrocity Prevention and Response Project, and a Member of the Committee on Conscience of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, was introduced by Political Science Professor Clifford Orwin. Orwin gave an overview of Lindberg's recent accomplishments, including his two books The Political Teachings of Jesus (2007) and The Heroic Heart: Greatness Ancient and Modern (2015), in which he argues that Achilles is the ancient model of ancient courage, while Christ is the model of courage in modern times.
Notably, Orwin highlighted the fact that Lindberg's accomplishments may suggest an extensive post-secondary background, whereas in reality Lindberg has a single degree, a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Chicago. Orwin attributed Lindberg's success to "the school of hard knocks," and half-jokingly said that this should give hope to any undergraduate student.
Lindberg began with an invitation to consider the modern, Western world.
In order to explore this notion, Lindberg expressed what the modern political hero is not, namely, a hero in the classical mode. An Achilles, one with the propensity for death, disruption, and destruction, does not fit the modern democratic definition of heroism. However, he does identify a hero that emerges from democratic societies, one that he chose to personify in the actions of the firefighters of 9/11.
Lindberg describes this changing role of the hero as a way of observing the "phenomenology of politics" over the course of history. But beyond historical observation, he sees potential to see other things in this way of thinking — a way to answer a common accusation against modernity.
Lindberg mentioned other models of ancient heroic courage, including Julius Caesar, Lucretia, and Odysseus. While for Lindberg none exemplify the model of heroism as well as Achilles, they exhibit heroic traits regardless. Caesar for instance, with his willingness to disrupt political order for his own ends, nonetheless under-estimated the danger such actions would prove to his own person.
The event was organized by Professor Clifford Orwin of the Department of Political Science and Randy Boyagoda, Principal of USMC, and made possible by support from the Donner Canadian Foundation.


text:
Character Profile: Hal Malloret
Character profile sheet for unreleased solo project. Character is an non-playable character, who initiates the call to action for the player character and assists them throughout the game. The character design template was provided by the Pixelles Writing Portfolio Program.
Third-person perspective
Ally NPC
Name: Harold 'Hal' Malloret
Age: 14 at death
Sex & Gender: Male, he/him pronouns
Race/Origin: Skeleton
Important Visuals:
Bones are dirt-stained and yellowed with age.
Right hand is missing several phalanges.
Acquires a beat-up paperboy cap early in the adventure
Archetype/Inspiration Character[s]:
The "herald", who launches the player character on their journey for the rest of the game.
A lost child.
Character inspirations: Sokka (Avatar: The Last Airbender), Bobby Hill with self-esteem (King of the Hill), Young Ian (Outlander)
3-4 keywords (personality traits):
Mischievous
Wants/Needs/Motivation:
When the player first meets Hal, he is trapped in a moment from before his death, lost and disoriented, and seeking only to return to his family. When he realizes that he is a magically animated skeleton, he wants to find out the circumstances of both his death and resurrection.
Other character relationships:
Hal quickly latches on to the player character, calling her "auntie", first as a sign of respect toward an elder, but soon with affection. It's clear from his interactions with her that he misses his family. He is fascinated by her work as town undertaker, as people were buried by their families in his time, according to tradition. Hal is torn between sadness that townsfolk have abandoned the PC, but impressed at what the PC can accomplish by herself. He believes that she is not responsible for the walking dead roaming the town, but hopes her connection to the dead can help them find out what has happened.
Hal is very fond of the PC's dog. When the PC brings Hal to her home, the dog stays close to Hal's side from then on. Hal wryly notes that she must be waiting for an opportune time to have a little snack, but he takes comfort from her presence, talking softly to the dog while the PC is working.
Hal is afraid of the townsfolk, who consider him a demonic presence, despite the PC's insistence that he is an ordinary boy (appearance notwithstanding). He doesn't like the way they treat the player character with contempt because of the work she does burying the town dead.
Hal is both wary of and drawn to the other risen dead in the town. He wants to see if any of the dead know what might have happened to him to cause his death, but he's also nervous being around them, knowing how the appearances of a mob of risen dead might drive the townsfolk to do something rash.
4-word Summary: Cheerfully tragic lost soul.
Voice Notes: Cheerful and optimistic in tone, with a wry streak of self-awareness at his personal failings. A usually self-assured soul shaken by the discovery that someone may have visited a violent death on him.
Audio Voice Quality: Male voice on the edge between childhood and manhood; sarcastic without being bitter; slight hollow reverb.
Quote: "I don't remember how I died, auntie. Mayhap I was the sort of lad to drive a man to violence. Once, at least."
Biography/Background: Harold Malloret, known to friends and family as Hal, is a cheerful young man, who lived with his mother and three sisters on his uncle's farm about 150 years before the game begins. His father died before he was born in a vicious series of skirmishes between the working and ruling classes, but Hal's extended family of aunts, uncles and cousins were all closely involved in Hal's life, so he never lacked for role models and playmates. Hal is clever and responsible, but his curiosity often leads him astray when he should be focused on a task or chore. His curiosity became an inadvertently fatal flaw when, while tracking a fox he suspected of attacking the family hens, he stumbled across a band of smugglers, who murdered him and buried him in the woods. After Hal's death, his mother decided to leave, bringing the Malloret family book with her to her husband's ancestral land.
A century and a half later, an unknown necromancer raises skeletal dead all across the land, Hal among them. The veil of death obscures the time around a person's passing, so for ones like Hal who died sudden or traumatic deaths, they are risen without knowledge of their passing.
Hal has a strong sense of justice, which causes him a lot of pain after he is raised from the dead. He can't understand what could have happened to him to be killed and buried without ceremony and familial blessings, and part of him is worried that he might have somehow deserved it. Though he wants to find out what happened to cause his death, he is worried about what it might tell him about himself. Unfortunately for Hal, he falls afoul of the villagers before learning the circumstances of his death, leaving the player to discover it in his memory.
Unique Look and Important Items:
Hal's skeleton is yellowed with age, with dirt ground into the crooks and crevices. Where the bones are joined together, they glow with a faint, otherworldly light.
Compared to the other NPCs, who are adults, Hal is slightly smaller, on account of his age and because he's all bone, with no flesh or clothing to enhance his height.
Malloret Family Tome: Hal is seeking this, hoping it will include details of his death. If the player seeks it out in the town records hall, they discover nothing, indicating someone has moved or removed it.
After years of playing cards against his aunts and uncles and due to his natural intellect, Hal is a borderline card sharp. His mother refused to let him play for money, despite his skill, lest he fall in with the kind of outlaws and bad actors that killed his father.
When Hal was growing up, he grew up around a lot of animals, on account of living on a farm. He was special pals with a barn cat he called Miss Kitty, despite Miss Kitty's penchant for leaving mice in his shoes.
Hal is afraid of the player character's bees, on account of seeing a young cousin die to a bee sting, but when her hives are destroyed by the townsfolk, he is immediately outraged on her behalf.
As the youngest child and the only boy, Hal was at risk of being spoiled as the baby of the family. However, he grew up fairly level-headed and responsible for his age, in part because of the strong influences of his extended family and community and in part because of his natural personality.
Because Hal died 150 years ago, his method of speech when he first meets the player feels stilted and overly formal; it relaxes as he stays with the player.
When he was eight, Hal was bit on the arse by a garden snake while taking a bathroom break in the woods. He would've gone to his grave before admitting it to anyone, but his big sister caught him washing the blood out of his britches in the creek, and convinced him to let Ma treat it.
Hal was only allowed to have coffee once or twice before his death. The player character can fix him a cup, but she serves it to him with a towel, knowing what will likely happen.


text:
Wachswolle ist ein Ölbindemittel der Firma Deurex aus Zeitz, das unter dem Handelsnamen Deurex Pure angeboten wird. In der Presse wird sie teilweise auch als Zauberwatte oder Wunderwatte bezeichnet.

Allgemeines
Bei diesem Ölbindemittel handelt es sich um ein spezielles Wachs, das Öl aufsaugt, Wasser aber nicht.

Geschichte
Die Erfindung der Wachswolle war eher ein Zufall als gezielte Forschung. Bei der Einstellung einer Maschine vertauschte ein Mitarbeiter Werte und die Maschine lief so unbeobachtet über Nacht. Erst am nächsten Morgen stellte man die Fehleinstellungen fest, zudem war die Maschine mit feinen Wachsfasern überzogen. Man untersuchte diese Wachsfasern und entwickelte daraus das Deurex Pure.

Einsatzmöglichkeit
Weil Wachswolle nur Öl bindet, Wasser aber nicht, eignet sie sich gut für die Bindung von Ölen aus leckgeschlagenen Schiffen. Sie lässt sich auch zum Binden des austretenden Öls von Windkraftanlagen verwenden.

Europäischer Erfinderpreis 2017
Im Juni 2017 gewann Günter Hufschmid den Europäischen Erfinderpreis für die Erfindung des Ölbindemittels Wachswolle. Der Preis wird jährlich vom Europäischen Patentamt vergeben.

Weblinks
 Die Wunderwatte in der 3sat.Mediathek

Einzelnachweise

Ölbekämpfung

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Daniel Leonard Blackett
Place: Blissford Lodge, Thorpe Green, Virginia Water, Surrey
Source: www.surrey.police.uk
Daniel Blackett was shot outside his home as he was getting in to his silver four-wheel-drive Porsche car just before 8.20pm on 18 September 2004.
He had been shot three or five times with a converted replica handgun, with one of the shots going through his heart. Two and a half bullets were recovered from his body.
His killer was thought to have been alone but the police said that they had not ruled out the idea that he had had help.
He was found lying on the ground near his garage by his wife. He was taken to St Peter's Hospital in Chertsey where he was pronounced dead.
He had been described locally as an entrepreneur and a millionaire building tycoon but the police revealed that he had convictions for armed robbery, burglary and theft.
He made regular visits to Spain where he had associates.
Neighbours said that they had wondered how he had been able to afford to live in the area which was known for being expensive.
He was thought to have been involved with car sales and property and building developments although it was thought that his income was shady. In 2008 the Assets Recovery Agency, which was established under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 to reduce crime by confiscating the proceeds of any crime, completed a financial investigation into his background and found several offshore companies, trusts and bank accounts under false names which had been used to buy the bungalow in Thorpe Green. The agency said that the financial structures were set up to disguise the true ownership of the property and that the money was from the profits of crime. The investigation resulted in the Assets Recovery Agency settling for a minimum of £660k over his estate. The Assets Recovery Agency was at about the same time merged with the Serious Organised Crime Agency.
He had moved to Blissford Lodge, which was a bungalow set in five-acre grounds, two years earlier and had been planning to knock it down and build a four-bedroom house with landscaped gardens.
However, six-weeks before his murder he became worried and had a 10 foot tall fence quickly built around his property along with signs for CCTV monitoring.
It was thought that he had links to the criminal underworld and that he had been targeted by a hitman. The police also said that his murder could have been linked to his business dealings either in the UK or overseas. However, they said that they had not ruled out other options such as his murder having been a burglary gone wrong.
see Independent
see Evening Standard
see Surrey Mirror
see News Shopper
see Police Oracle
see Your Local Guardian
see This Is Local London
see BBC Settlement over dead man's assets
see BBC Murdered man's businesses probed


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Small scale (1000 à 6500 tons per year) dry digestion system for any organic substrates with over 25% TS.
Easy installation and startup: EUCOlino is prefabricated, tested for safety, and ready to operate upon delivery; Small footprint (65 à 115 m2 – slightly larger than a shipping container); Flexible choice of feedstock; Well-proven EUCO technology, continuously improved since 1995; High profitability thanks to low investment costs, low costs for input materials, energy recovery.
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EUCOlino's pre-fabricated system is simple, flexible and easily integrated into already-established operations. System components are pre-manufactured units shipped as complete systems from the supplier. Modular components can be combined according to specific needs and many combinations of input materials are possible.
Depending on availability of organic waste, engine sizes typically range from 50 kW up to 100 kW.


text:
Southern Denton County Local News
Fairway Drive (Dam Road) now to be closed to public indefinitely
Posted by Mark Smith
Repairs to the downstream embankment slope on Fairway Drive are ongoing (photo courtesy of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers)
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials announced Wednesday that the road across the Grapevine Lake Dam will remain closed to the public indefinitely.
Fairway Drive across Grapevine Dam, also known as the Dam Road, has been closed to the public since August 2018 due to potentially hazardous conditions on the road observed during a routine inspection after heavy rainfall, according to a news release from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Fort Worth District. Ongoing investigations of the road condition are being conducted to determine the level of repair needed for safe vehicular traffic use.
In August, the road was expected to be repaired and re-opened to the public by the end of 2018. In November, that expected completion time was pushed back to the spring. And now, there's been another delay.
"Currently, there is no estimated timeframe for reopening of Fairway Drive to the public," the USACE news release said.
One part of the repairs is the downstream embankment slope, which has directly impacted a segment of guardrail and road, according to the USACE. Unforeseen site conditions and weather have caused delays, and that part of the work is currently projected to be completed this summer.
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Mark Smith is the Digital Editor of The Cross Timbers Gazette.
DCTA completes 19-mile Rail Trail
How about a southbound only toll road with a bike lane and protected pedestrian lane? Toll could float higher to manage demand. I don't think it can be opened right now with SB 2499 messed up in the morning without a $10+ toll.
Easily make enough money for maintenance, and the SB car lane could be built away from the downstream embankment.
I'd love to have that road back for convenience. But if it is not possible to have vehicles on it again, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE turn it into a bike/running trail. Connecting Flower Mound and Grapevine in this way would be huge!
That is a fantastic idea! I loved walking the dam in Cedar Hill across Joe Pool Lake.
My exact thoughts.