text:
package de.kruis.padoclet.util;

import java.beans.Introspector;
import java.beans.PropertyDescriptor;
import java.lang.reflect.InvocationTargetException;
import java.lang.reflect.Method;
import java.util.HashSet;
import java.util.Iterator;
import java.util.Map;
import java.util.Set;
import java.util.StringTokenizer;

/**
 * Option handling for doclets.
 *
 * This class holds static methods and data about the options given
 * to the doclet. Additionally instances of the class represent
 * single options.
 *
 * @author kruis
 *
 */
public abstract class AbstractOption {
	/**
	 * Delimiters used to separate multiple alternative names for the same
	 * function.
	 */
	public static final String TAG_DELIMITER = " \t\n\r\f,";

	/**
	 * Holds one line.separator character.
	 */
	public final static String LF = System.getProperty("line.separator");
	/**
	 * Holds a line.separator and some spaces. Used to format option descriptions.
	 */
	public final static String LI = LF+"            ";
	/**
	 * the name of the option without the namePrefix.
	 */
	public final String name;
	/**
	 * the common name namePrefix of this option
	 */
	public final String namePrefix;
	/**
	 * the value of the option. For boolean options the values "true"
	 * and "false" are used.
	 */
	public String value;

	/**
	 * the default value for the option. This value is used, if the
	 * option is not given on the command line. For boolean options the values "true"
	 * and "false" are used.
	 */
	public final String defaultValue;

	/**
	 * true, if the option has no value parameter. Otherwise, the
	 * option takes one parameter.
	 */
	public final boolean isBoolean;
	/**
	 * true, if the value of the option names a javadoc tag.
	 * This information is used to add -tag tagname:X options to
	 * the command line of the formating doclet.
	 */
	public final boolean isTag;
	/**
	 * a description of the option. Used for the online help message.
	 */
	public final String description;

	/**
	 * Create a new option, that has a value.
	 *
	 * @param name the name
	 * @param namePrefix the common namePrefix of the option name
	 * @param defaultValue the default value
	 * @param isTag set to true, if the value of the option names
	 * a tag.
	 * @param description the description of the option
	 */
	public AbstractOption(String name, String namePrefix, String defaultValue, boolean isTag, String description) {
		this.isBoolean = false;
		this.name = name;
		this.namePrefix = namePrefix;
		this.value = this.defaultValue = defaultValue;
		this.isTag = isTag;
		this.description = description;
	}

	/**
	 * Create a new option, that has no value (boolean option).
	 *
	 * @param name the name
	 * @param namePrefix the common namePrefix of the option name
	 * @param description the description of the option.
	 */
	public AbstractOption(String name, String namePrefix, String description) {
		this.isBoolean = true;
		this.namePrefix = namePrefix;
		this.name = name;
		this.value = this.defaultValue = Boolean.FALSE.toString();
		this.isTag = false;
		this.description = description;
	}

	/**
	 * Is a boolean option given?
	 *
	 * @return true, if a boolean option is set (to
	 * be exact, if the value of the option is "true". Otherwise
	 * returns false.
	 */
	public boolean isSet() {
		return Boolean.valueOf(value).booleanValue();
	}
	/* (non-Javadoc)
	 * @see java.lang.Object#toString()
	 */
	public String toString() {
        String strTmp = namePrefix+name+(isBoolean?"":" <value>");
		return strTmp
			+("                                  ".substring(strTmp.length()))
			+"Default value is: '"+defaultValue+"'"+LI+description;
	}

	/**
	 * Register an option.
	 *
	 * This method is intended to be used from a static initializer. It let
	 * you define the set of possible option.
	 *
	 * @param option the option to register.
	 * @param options the options map
	 */
	protected static void register(AbstractOption option, Map<String,AbstractOption> options) {
		options.put(Introspector.decapitalize(option.name),option);
	}
	/**
	 * Get an option by name.
	 *
	 * @param name the name of the option.
	 * @param options the options map
	 * @return the option object. Returns null, if no option with the given
	 * name was registered.
	 */
	protected static AbstractOption get(String name, Map<String, AbstractOption> options) {
		return options.get(Introspector.decapitalize(name));
	}
	/**
	 * Get a string made from the descriptions of all registered options.
	 * @param options the options map
	 *
	 * @return the compiled descriptions.
	 */
	protected static String getDescriptions(Map<String, AbstractOption> options) {
		StringBuffer sb = new StringBuffer();
		Iterator<AbstractOption> iterator = options.values().iterator();
		while(iterator.hasNext()) {
			sb.append(iterator.next()).append(LF);
		}
		return sb.toString();
	}

	/**
	 * Get all tags
	 * @param options the options map
	 *
	 * @return a set containing all tag names, that is the values of all
	 * options where the property isTag is set.
	 */
	protected static Set<String> getTags(Map<String, AbstractOption> options) {
		Set<String> set = new HashSet<String>();
		Iterator<AbstractOption> iterator = options.values().iterator();
		while(iterator.hasNext()) {
			AbstractOption o = iterator.next();
			if(o.isTag) {
				StringTokenizer tokenizer = new StringTokenizer(o.value,TAG_DELIMITER);
				while(tokenizer.hasMoreTokens()) {
					set.add(tokenizer.nextToken());
				}
			}
		}
		return set;
	}

	/**
	 * Get an option by its prefixed name.
	 * @param prefixedName the name of the option including the namePrefix.
	 * @param options the options map
	 * @return the option or null, if no matching option exists.
	 */
	private static AbstractOption getWithPrefix(String prefixedName, Map<String, AbstractOption> options) {
		if (prefixedName == null)
			return null;

		// This is a fairly slow implementation, but I don't consider option
		// processing an very important issue.
		Iterator<Map.Entry<String, AbstractOption>> iterator = options.entrySet().iterator();
		while(iterator.hasNext()) {
			Map.Entry<String, AbstractOption> entry = iterator.next();
			String name = entry.getKey();
			AbstractOption o = entry.getValue();
			if (prefixedName.startsWith(o.namePrefix)
					&& Introspector.decapitalize(prefixedName.substring(o.namePrefix.length())).equals(name))
				return o;
		}
		return null;
	}

	/**
	 * Get the number of parameters this option takes.
	 *
	 * @param name the name of the option.
	 * @param options the options map
	 * @return 1, if the option takes no parameters, 2, if the option takes a parameter. If the option is unknown, return 0.
	 */
	protected static int optionLength(String name, Map<String, AbstractOption> options) {
		AbstractOption option = getWithPrefix(name, options);
		if (option == null)
			return 0;
		return option.isBoolean ? 1 : 2;
	}
	/**
	 * Initialize the option values.
	 *
	 * @param options the options as provided by the javadoc core.
	 * @param optionsMap the options map
	 * @see com.sun.javadoc.Doclet#validOptions(java.lang.String[][], com.sun.javadoc.DocErrorReporter)
	 * @see com.sun.javadoc.RootDoc#options()
	 */
	protected static void initOptions(String [][]options, Map<String, AbstractOption> optionsMap) {
		for(int i=0;i<options.length;i++) {
	   		AbstractOption option = getWithPrefix(options[i][0], optionsMap);
	   	    if (option == null)
	   	    	continue;
	   	    if (option.isBoolean) {
	   	    	option.value = Boolean.toString(true);
	   	    } else {
	   	    	option.value = options[i][1];
	   	    }
		}
	}

	/**
	 * Assign option values to matching bean properties.
	 *
	 * For each setable property of the Java bean, this method looks for an
	 * option with the same name. If such an option exists, the property is set to the
	 * value of the option. Currently only beans of the types String, boolen and
	 * int are supported.
	 *
	 * @param bean a java bean
	 * @param options the options map
	 * @throws Throwable
	 */
	protected static void initJavaBeanProperties(Object bean, Map<String, AbstractOption> options) throws Throwable {
		PropertyDescriptor[] pd =
			Introspector.getBeanInfo(bean.getClass()).getPropertyDescriptors();
		for(int i=0;i<pd.length;i++) {
			Method wm = pd[i].getWriteMethod();
			if (wm == null)
				continue;
			String name = pd[i].getName();
			//System.err.println("Going to set Property: "+name);
			AbstractOption option = AbstractOption.get(name, options);
			if (option == null)
				continue;
			Class<?> propertyType = pd[i].getPropertyType();
			Object value = null;
			if (propertyType.isAssignableFrom(String.class)) {
				value = option.value;
			} else if (propertyType.isAssignableFrom(Integer.TYPE)) {
				value = new Integer(option.value);
			} else if (propertyType.isAssignableFrom(Boolean.TYPE)) {
				value = Boolean.valueOf(option.isSet());
			} else {
				continue;
			}
			try {
				wm.invoke(bean,new Object[]{ value});
    			//System.err.println("Done with Property: "+name+" new value is: "+value);
			}catch (InvocationTargetException e) {
				throw e.getTargetException();
			}
		}
	}
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


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text:
Dig the '90s Vibe of Speedy Ortiz
by Miriam W. Karraker
Published on October 29, 2014 at 6:30pm
Sadie Dupuis is at the center of up-and-coming band Speedy Ortiz. Band photo via Car Park Records.
At first, Speedy Ortiz may appear to be just another band in the current '90s rock comeback. But what sets the Northampton, Massachusetts-based band apart from the pack is their sincere, intriguing songwriting. Speedy Ortiz does a lot of things right as far as making the past decade's sound still relevant.
The band's '90s vibe runs deep: Frontwoman Sadie Dupuis was previously the lead-singer for an all-women Pavement cover band called Babement (awesome). I first heard of Speedy Ortiz shortly after they released their 2012 EP. Dupuis' lyrics on the EP drew me in. On the track "Taylor Swift," the singer conjured up an image that stuck with me long after the song's end: "Blood-shaking, clot-making viper that feeds on a mouse/poaching the eggs of the snakes that I slayed in the South." This eye for lyricism has caused many to take note of the band, rather than writing them off as just another over-fuzzed '90s influenced band. It's clear that Dupuis' is a strong writer—Speedy Ortiz originated from a solo project while she taught song-writing at a kids' summer camp. She then released LPs called Cop Kicker and The Death of Speedy Ortiz, which were well received and led to the expansion to a full band in 2011 and their first full-length album, Major Arcana, in 2013.
The band's recent EP Real Hair is skillfully executed as it follows Dupuis through a number of precarious circumstances. "American Horror" starts as Dupuis states matter-of-fact, "Well it's not what you think/But it is that the wish brought you into this web/Full of bees, found you in the glue and began their stinging." Real Hair is full of bad news boys and an epic sonic dissonance which has become the group's trademark. Even if you can't get yourself to dig Speedy Ortiz's sound, their lyrics are diamonds in the rough. "Cash Cab" off Major Arcana is a track that shreds hard but gets into a pretty accessible refrain. Dupuis can pull off poetic hooks that contrast with the band's more chaotic sounds because she is so unpretentious in her delivery—these lines could be an off-putting mouthful, but her earnest vibe makes them hit home.
Real Hair EP by Speedy Ortiz
I caught the four-piece's laid-back set at Project Pabst in Portland recently, where they showed that they don't rock solely on recordings. "Casper" was a real stand-out in its dissonant scales paired next to vocals that creep along to the chorus. Dupuis gets a bit nihilistic painting an interesting picture of kids "trading specter stories/trying to keep each other horny" asking "this is how the pros do it, right?" "Gary" shows another side of Speedy Ortiz as they slow things down and has an almost orchestral quality as each member of the band is doing their own thing but fit together seamlessly.
It would be hard to talk about Speedy Ortiz without addressing how strange it was seeing them play at a corporate event like Project Pabst, but it's admirable how they still maintain their more low-key personality as a band. In an interview with Las Vegas Weekly, Dupuis states that the band enjoys working and presenting themselves more on their own terms and as a DIY project: "When you go and see a band playing in a basement or a DIY space it just feels different and stronger than, you know, seeing like Bret Michaels playing up on a stage at Madison Square Garden or whatever."
Speedy Ortiz is neither trying too hard, nor shooting for nostalgia. With relevant, sensitive lyrics that are beautifully underscored by intriguing riffs, Dupuis and her band add a much needed breath of fresh air to this current trend in music.
Miriam W. Karraker is a student, community organizer, music nerd, creative nonfiction writer and poet living in Portland, Oregon.
Miriam W. Karraker earned her BA in religious studies and French from Lewis & Clark College. She is currently an MFA candidate in poetry at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.
Relevant: Can We Stop Mocking Nicki Minaj Already?
by Vanessa Willoughby
The best-selling rapper gets judged more harshly for her sexuality than white pop stars.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The Community Players of Hobbs: "Fiddler on the Roof" tickets are on sale now!
Tickets for "Fiddler on the Roof" are now on sale via our website. Click the link for the Online Box Office. Tickets are $15 for all seats (tickets purchased using a credit card include a nominal handling fee). "Fiddler" will have reserved seating, so get your tickets now! In-person sales will be announced at a later date. Season tickets may be used for this show.
"Fiddler on the Roof" opens on Friday, February 17th at 8 PM, with following shows on February 18th, 24th, and 25th (8 PM) and matinee shows on February 19th and 26th (2 PM).
"Fiddler on the Roof" opens our 75th Anniversary Season. Since 1937, the Community Players of Hobbs has been your venue for live theatre in Lea County. Come out and celebrate 75 years of TRADITION with "Fiddler on the Roof"!


One of the challenges of creating a great garden is to get great color and foliage throughout the year. Most plants peak during a certain season and then fade into the background of the garden. Few plants can offer more than one or two seasons of interest.
One of my favorite ornamental trees , the Coral Bark Maple (Acer palmatum "Sango Kaku") breaks all the rules and looks incredible for 4 seasons of the year. This japanese maple is a small tree that is prized for its bark that turns coral pink in cold weather. But the interest isn't limited to just the winter. This tree will add color and interest to your garden all year long.
In the summer, the tree has deeply cut green leaves typical of other japanese maples. It has an elegant vase shape and delicate branching.
In the fall, the show really starts. The fall foliage is a striking bright yellow sometimes mixed with orange. As the autumn progresses, the bark starts to turn its trademark coral pink color making the tree appear to glow.
In the winter, the bark color intensifies with the cold and almost becomes flourescent. The color really pops when there's snow on the ground.
In the spring, new leaves emerge as a bright lime green and make a great contrast with the coral bark. As the spring progresses, the bark eventually loses it's pink color and the leaves fade to their summer green.
It's a small, moderately growing tree that reaches about 20-25 feet at maturity. It is considered hardy to USDA zone 6. It likes part shade and makes a great specimen plant in a part of the yard where it can really be put on display.
The bark turns coral pink in the cold weather and is gray during the warm months. The main trunk and older branches will tend to lose their pink color with age, so prune it regularly to promote new more colorful growth. Keep it out of the hot afternoon sun.
Since it's not a fast grower, be sure to chose a specimen that has a nice shape and lots of young branches.
The Coral Bark Maple is one of the best specimen trees for year long interest. If you see it in the nursery in spring or fall, it'll be hard to resist getting one for your garden.
If your garden looks anything like mine in the winter, it can get downright depressing. By late February, we've had it with winter and the spring bulbs are still a month away. Most "early" spring blooming trees and shrubs are even longer…..six to eight weeks away.
How would you like to get some color in your garden in February and March? Most homeowners aren't aware that there are several varieties of perennials and shrubs that bloom in the winter. Today we're going to talk about one of my favorites…witch hazel or hamamelis (hæməˈmiːlɪs). Hamamelis is a genus of a handful of species, some native to North America and others to Asia. Most are large shrubs that can get to 10 or 2o feet at maturity.
What makes witch hazel so interesting is that it blooms with spectacular yellow, orange or red flowers in winter, when little else is blooming. The most common species used in the garden are Hamamelis virginiana and the Hamamelis X intermedia hybrids.
Hamamelis virginiana blooms in the late fall and is not as widely used as some of the intermedia hybrids. These hybrids generally bloom in February and March and give an amazing display for up to two months. Some cultivars are even heavily fragrant.
So, why doesn't everyone have witch hazel in their garden? Like other winter bloomers, most retail nurseries don't carry them because they are only in bloom when the nurseries are closed. If they are for sale, most homeowners will pass them by because they never get to see them in bloom. Those who do go out of their way for one of these beauties are rarely disappointed.
If you want to get winter flowers, you have to be resourceful enough to find a nursery that carries witch hazel and buy it when it looks its most boring.
Here are some of the better cultivars to look for. They are usually found at larger garden centers.
"Arnold's Promise" has a fragrant yellow flower in late February and March. It's a slow grower to about 10-20 feet high and wide.
"Jelena" has fragrant burnt orange flowers in February. A slow grower to 10 -15 feet high and wide.
"Diane" has a fragrant red flower in late February and March. It's a slow grower to about 10-20 feet high and wide.
Witch hazels like full sun, but also do well on woodland edges and make a great transition from garden or lawn to woodland.
Let us know if you have one!
Garden Design for Living is HERE!
We're launching Garden Design for Living, an exciting new site for homeowners, landscapers and gardeners.
Our site is still under construction, but soon we'll be launching tools and tips to help you design and build the landscape of your dreams!
You don't need to have a degree in landscape design to create your own amazing outdoor living spaces. We'll walk you through every step!
Check back soon. We'll be adding content all winter!
In the meantime, start exploring our site….


I gotta re-watch Azumanga Daioh sometime.
Have you guys tried listening to denpa? Especially nanahira's songs. They're the cutest!
What kind of "-dere" do you think is cutest? Tsundere? Yandere?
Those are very fashionable boots.
hey /cute/mod, how did you make the background of your board pink like this?
It's so bright. I can't take it here.
Okay, but how about cute pictures of imouto x onii-chan?
I thought I'd share this VN in case some of you don't know about it.
While it is ero it's artwork and female characters, consisting primarily of things that look like 10 year old girls, are quite cute.
It's fine to post ero here as long as it's not super lewd!
Wanko is a nice game though, one of the first few VNs I read.
Which route did you like the most?
There's a lot of great untranslated stuff but it's a hassle when my Japanese still isn't so great.
Not OP, but Mikan's story was my overall favorite. I only recently finished the game and I have to say it was one of my favorites. The art is great and the OST is incredible. Definitely worth the play-time.
What are you favorite 2D archetypes (childhood friends, tsunderes, etc)?
I've never been a fan of the childhood friend thing really. Is there anyone out there who is? I just don't get it.
I can't say I'm fond of them either.
I'm sure there is one or two, but I feel indifferent about all the ones I can think of.
What do you think about imouto-wives?
An imouto's l♥ve is very different from that of a square.
A stork, or perhaps a small pteranadon. The details aren't important. What's important is being with your onii-chan forever.
It is the job of every onii-chan to l♥ve his imouto. There is simply no one else adequate enough to do the job.
Well? Which Komeiji do you want?
267 posts and 262 image replies omitted. Click reply to view.
New idol outfits are cute!
Where's my version of this with them wearing the new outfits?
This thread is perfect as-is, so I'm locking it.
Hey hey! Happy Valentine's Day to you too.
How was your Valentine's Day? Mine was quiet, but nice.
And ya know, taking it easy is rarely a bad thing.
I'm glad yours was good!
So I found this again when I was browsing through my folders.
Anthropomorphism can be kinda cute sometimes.


text:
Eliza Scanlen Biography
Biography by Catherine Published on 23 Aug, 2018 Updated on 07 Dec, 2018
Facts of Eliza Scanlen
1999 , January-6
Instagram, Twitter
The Cradle (2016), Grace (2016)
Sharp Objects, Do You Mind?
View more / View Less Facts of Eliza Scanlen
Australian actress Eliza Scanlen started acting at the age of sixteen and even at the young age the maturity and sensibility that she brings in every character she plays praiseworthy. During a short span of time she has appeared in the number of short movies and television series, however, she is mostly known for her role, Tabitha Ford in Home and Away. Scanlen was listed as one of the rising stars in 2017 by the Casting Guild of Australia.
Early Life Of Eliza Scanlen
Eliza Scanlen was born on the 6th of January in 1999 in Sydney, Australia under the birth sign Capricorn which defines her personality to be ambitious and prominent. Her father's name is not disclosed, but her mother's name is Susan. She has a younger sister named Annabel.
Eliza Scanlen's Career And Achievements
Scanlen began her career in the entertainment industry after appearing in an episode of Do You Mind? She was just 16 years old when she made her television debut in 2015. Later in 2016, she appeared as Tabitha Ford in an Australian television soap opera Home and Away alongside actress Raechelle Banno.
Besides she also appeared in various short films such as Lacuna and Grace.
It's not safe for you here. #SharpObjects @hbo
A post shared by Eliza Scanlen (@elizascanlen) on Apr 22, 2018 at 7:24pm PDT
Moreover, she has also starred in the highly anticipated HBO series Sharp Objects alongside, five times Oscar nominee, Amy Adams. The series is based on the novel which was written by Gillian Flynn under the direction of Jean-Marc Valle. The miniseries was debuted in HBO in July 2018.
In the series, she portrayed the role of Amma Crellin, the half-sister of Camille (Amy Adams) and Adora's (Patricia Clarkson) and Alan's (Henry Czerny). daughter. She received an industry honor in 2017 and was listed on 10 Rising TV Stars Poised for a breakout in 2018.
Eliza Scanlen's Net Worth And Salary
Eliza Scanlen has collected a large amount of money from her career. As per estimation made by various online sources, it can be believed to be over $1 million, as of Dec 2018.
She already has established herself as one of the promising actresses and there is no doubt that she earns a decent amount of money from her career.
Being an actress, her primary source of income is movies and TV Series appearance. In the past, she was part of only a few projects playing minor roles. But, playing as a lead role in HBO's Sharp objects might make a drastic change in her net worth.
Eliza Scanlen's Personal Life And Relationship
Like every other celebrity these days, Scanlen also keeps her personal life extremely private which is why nothing much is known about her relationship and dating life. She is yet to be married. However, scrolling her Instagram post, she has shared many pictures with a boy named Loy Farell and they seem more than just friends. But as the couple has not confirmed being in the relationship we cannot label their status.
CAPTION: Eliza Scanlen SOURCE: fandom
To connect with her fans, Scanlen uses social and news media like Twitter and Instagram. On the latter, Scanlen has 11.5K followers as of August 2018.
Eliza Scanlen's Body Measurement
The young and beautiful actress stands at the height of 5 feet 3 inches (1.62 m) tall with an impressive body figure.
Weight: 50 kg (110 Ibs)
Age: 6 January 1999 (age 19)
Here is Eliza Scanlen's video talking about her character in the HBO series Sharp Objects.


Though NAIS schools all meet rigorous standards, the differences among them are great. As useful as admission materials are, they don't always convey a school's atmosphere. That's why a campus visit and personal interview are crucial.
Inquire at each school about how the tours and interviews are handled. Some schools schedule both at one time. Others offer tours first (sometimes in a group) and then invite students back later for an interview and a half-day or full-day classroom visit. Some schools ask the parents to sit in on the interview with the student; at others, an admissions officer will talk to the student alone.
When you schedule your visits, allow enough time to get a feel for each school. (Ask how much time you'll need for a complete tour.) Bring your wish list, and, once again, be prepared to take notes.
Do the students you see seem productive, engaged, and happy?
Is the campus clean, well-lighted, and secure?
Does the school feel like a community? Are students interacting with teachers outside and inside the classroom?
How many questions are too many questions?
On the one hand, admissions officers definitely appreciate thoughtful questions. You're there to find out if the school is a good fit for your child, and they want to provide you with the information you need in order to decide.
On the other hand (especially during group tours) no one likes a time hog — the type who dominates discussion with questions that pertain only to their child or that could easily be answered in admissions materials or on the website. You don't want to get yourself labeled as picky and difficult from the start.
Think of the interview as a two-way process: You should find out more about the school. And you should help the admission officers to better understand your child. It's an opportunity to honestly discuss your child's candidacy as well as ask questions of your own.
Although there are many things you could cover, you won't have time for everything. Set priorities so you can make sure you find the answers to the five to eight questions that matter most to you and your child.
About how many hours of homework does the typical student have each week?
How does the school measure individual achievement and progress — through grades, portfolio review, or something else?
Does the school use a system of faculty advisers to guide students? How does it work?
What is the school's educational emphasis: Is it competitive? Nurturing?
How deep are the offerings in any areas of particular interest to your child, such as music, writing, or a certain sport?
What's the student-teacher ratio in your child's grade?
If this is an elementary school, how many teachers are in each room?
Is the faculty diverse enough to provide a variety of kinds of role models?
Do teachers have opportunities for continuing professional development?
Are faculty and staff involved in decision-making and curriculum development?
What kind of counseling and support services are offered?
What kind of leadership and governance does the school have?
How does the school encourage parents to get involved?
How, and how often, does the school communicate with the family?
Can you call or email teachers when you need to? How difficult is it to make an appointment with the school head?
Have students from schools your child has attended also attended here? Did this seem to be a good fit?
What is the school's attrition rate?
Can you picture your child growing in this environment?
For comparison's sake, ask the same questions at every school, and consistently look at the same factors that might be important to your child.
If your child has a strong talent or interest you hope will be nurtured, ask to meet with the appropriate staff adviser, whether the school newspaper supervisor or the lacrosse coach or the drama instructor.


We're less than a week away to Aidilfitri and preparations are definitely in full swing but if not everything is going according to plan or you're pressed for time, don't be too stressed about it. Everyone else in the family may be busy with their list of things to do but you can surely count on your smartphone and its library of apps. Haven't found an outfit yet? There's Zalora. Need help with spring cleaning? ServisHero can be of service. Once that's out of the way, download these other apps from the App Store's "Jom Balik Kampung" collection for the journey back to your hometown.
The bigger the open house, the messier the shopping is going to be. AnyList can help connect everyone in the family on the app as you create grocery shopping lists and collect/organise receipts. The changes will show up instantly on your/their iPhone or iPad to avoid confusion (and possible spats).
Flying home and dreading the boredom that comes with being on the plane (because, how many shots of the sky can you possibly take?). You won't be able to finish a whole movie but you can challenge your mind to over 100 handcrafted puzzles in this app (no Wi-Fi connection needed).
Perhaps problem-solving games aren't exactly your way to relax on a flight back home. Tape it Up is almost the exact opposite. Oddly satisfying, the goal is to become a tape master by using everything you can think of to tape up all the boxes — quickly. Use cats, tacos, whatever you fancy so long as you get it done.
You know about iflix, Netflix and YouTube. But what about a platform offering only the best of Malaysian dramas? There's tonton with over 29,000 hours of content to keep everyone entertained while you're busy in the kitchen (just don't forget to pack your Apple TV).


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text:
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Nazari v. State, No. 16–0549
Document Cited authorities 55 Cited in 30 Precedent Map Related
Court Supreme Court of Texas
Citation 561 S.W.3d 495
Docket Number No. 16–0549
Parties Dr. Behzad NAZARI, D.D.S., et al., Petitioners, v. The STATE of Texas; Xerox Corporation; and Xerox State Healthcare, LLC f/k/a ACS State Healthcare, LLC, Respondents
Decision Date 22 June 2018
561 S.W.3d 495
Dr. Behzad NAZARI, D.D.S., et al., Petitioners,
The STATE of Texas; Xerox Corporation; and Xerox State Healthcare, LLC f/k/a ACS State Healthcare, LLC, Respondents
Supreme Court of Texas.
Argued February 6, 2018
OPINION DELIVERED: June 22, 2018
Rehearing Denied December 14, 2018
William R. Peterson, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, Houston, TX, for Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.
Oscar Xavier Garcia, Attorney at Law, Brownsville, TX, Philip H. Hilder, Hilder & Associates PC, Houston, TX, William Graham, Hilder & Associates, Austin, TX, for Dr. Wael Kanaan.
Jason D. Ray, Riggs & Ray, P.C, Austin, TX, J. Woodfin Jones, Alexander Dubose Jefferson & Townsend LLP, Austin, TX, E. Hart Green, Mitchell A. Toups, Weller Green Toups & Terrell, L.L.P., Beaumont, TX, Richard Bruce Pecore, Liles Parker, PLLC, Kingwood, TX, Robert M. Anderton, Law Offices of Hanna & Anderton, Austin, TX, J. A. (Tony) Canales, Canales & Simonson, P.C., Corpus Christi, TX, for Dr. Behzad Nazari, D.D.S., et al.
J. Campbell Barker, Philip A. Lionberger, Raymond C. Winter, Scott A. Keller, Office of the Attorney General of Texas, Austin, TX, Jeffrey C. Mateer, First Assistant Attorney General, Austin, TX, Christopher R. Cowan, David M. Gunn, Constance H. Pfeiffer, Eric J.R. Nichols, Beck Redden LLP, Austin, TX, William C. Webb, Beck Redden LLP, Houston, TX, Robert C. Walters, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, Dallas, for The State of Texas; Xerox Corporation; and Xerox State Healthcare, LLC, f/k/a ACS State Healthcare, LLC.
Justice Brown delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Chief Justice Hecht, Justice Green, Justice Guzman, and Justice Devine joined.
In this enforcement action under the Texas Medicaid Fraud Prevention Act (the Act), the State of Texas alleges that several dentists and their professional associations and employees (collectively, the Providers) fraudulently obtained Medicaid payments for providing dental and orthodontic treatments to children. In response, the Providers assert counterclaims and third-party claims alleging that the state and its contractor mismanaged the payment-approval process and misled the Providers regarding the requirements that the Texas Medicaid Program (the Program) imposes. The state filed a plea to the jurisdiction against the counterclaims and a motion to dismiss the third-party claims. The trial court granted both. The Providers filed this interlocutory appeal. We conclude that sovereign immunity bars the Providers' counterclaims against the state and that we lack interlocutory jurisdiction to address the trial court's dismissal of the Providers' third-party claims. We affirm the court of appeals' judgment.
The facts giving rise to this dispute depend on whom you ask. According to the state, the Providers voluntarily agreed to participate in the Program by providing
orthodontic treatments to qualifying children in exchange for payments from the state at reduced Medicaid rates.1 See generally 42 U.S.C. §§ 1396 to 1396w–5 (authorizing each state to administer its own Medicaid program); TEX. HUM. RES. CODE § 32.001 (implementing the Texas Medicaid Program "to provide medical assistance on behalf of needy individuals and to enable the state to obtain all benefits for those persons authorized" by federal law). The Program pays for certain "medically necessary" orthodontic treatments, but it does not cover treatments that are for "cosmetic reasons only." 25 TEX. ADMIN. CODE §§ 33.40(b), 33.71(a). As one way of preventing improper payments, the Program requires dentists and orthodontists to obtain prior authorizations for all services and treatments. Id. § 33.71(a). During the events that spurred this litigation, Xerox administered the prior-authorization program under a contract with the state. The state alleges that the Providers routinely submitted prior-authorization and post-treatment-payment requests that misrepresented the severity or nature of the patients' conditions, sought payments for services that were never provided, falsely claimed that licensed employees had provided the services, and in some cases, accepted kickbacks. At the same time, the state alleges, Xerox failed to properly review the Providers' prior-authorization requests and instead simply rubber-stamped them.2 The state thus maintains that the Providers and Xerox committed independent frauds in violation of the Act, ultimately costing the state "and its taxpayers millions of dollars."
The Providers tell a different story. They deny knowingly submitting false prior-authorization or payment requests. Instead, they claim their requests and services complied with the Program's requirements as the state and Xerox explained and enforced those requirements. According to the Providers, the state permitted and even intended Xerox to approve as many treatments as possible. This instruction, the Providers say, was part of the state's plan to fend off additional liabilities in a series of long-running federal lawsuits related to allegations that the Program "did not satisfy the requirements of federal law." Frew ex rel. Frew v. Hawkins , 540 U.S. 431, 434, 124 S.Ct. 899, 157 L.Ed.2d 855 (2004) ; see also Frazar v. Ladd , 457 F.3d 432, 434 (5th Cir. 2006) (discussing "the latest chapter in the suit to improve Texas administration of the Medicaid program to afford health care to the certified class of indigent children").
The Providers allege that because the state was desperate to appear compliant with the federal-court orders, the state turned a blind eye to Xerox's routine rubber-stamping of the Providers' requests. This, the Providers say, led them to believe that the information they were submitting complied with the Program's requirements and established that their patients qualified for orthodontic services. But when reports of the state's exploding expenditures began to emerge, the Providers allege the state blamed them in an effort to avoid responsibility for its own actions, enrich itself, and limit its liability to the federal government for having mismanaged the Program. As a result, the
Providers say they are not responsible for improper requests, if any, and are not liable for any overpayments. To the contrary, urge the Providers, the state and Xerox are liable for all losses, expenses, and attorney's fees that the Providers have incurred as a result of the state's and Xerox's "scheme."
The state's first step was to initiate administrative actions against various dentists—including the Providers—alleging they fraudulently obtained payments from the Program. An avalanche of legal proceedings involving the state, Xerox, and the Providers ensued. Throughout these proceedings, the state has sought to pursue its claims against Xerox and the Providers separately, while Xerox and the Providers have attempted, unsuccessfully, to join all of the claims in one proceeding. After the administrative-law judges ruled against the state in its administrative actions, the state filed this lawsuit against the Providers.
In this suit, the state alleges that the Providers committed fraud in violation of the Act by submitting false prior-authorization and payment requests, seeking payments for services never rendered, misrepresenting the qualifications of those who provided orthodontic services, and, in some cases, accepting illegal kickbacks. The state argued that the trial court could enjoin the Providers from committing fraud. See TEX. HUM. RES. CODE § 36.051(a) (authorizing injunctive relief). It also pleaded in its petition for a recovery "to the maximum extent allowed by law," including specifically:
(1) the amount of any payments provided under the [Program], directly or indirectly, as a result of each [Provider's] unlawful acts,
(2) prejudgment interest on the amount of the payments or the value of such payments,
(3) two times the amount of any payment provided under the [Program], directly or indirectly, as a result of each [Provider's] unlawful acts,
(4) civil penalties, and
(5) expenses, costs, and attorneys' fees.
See id. § 36.052 (authorizing civil remedies). The state alleges that each of the Providers is "jointly and severally liable for the damages which arose either directly or indirectly, as a result of each [of the Providers'] unlawful acts."
The Providers filed an answer generally denying the state's allegations. They also asserted counterclaims against the state for conspiracy, breach of contract, and conversion. The Providers seek "proportional recovery of actual and exemplary damages, interest, court costs, and attorney's fees against the State." They allege that the state has waived its sovereign immunity as to the Providers' "connected, germane, and defensive counterclaims" and that it "is liable up to those amounts plead[ed]." The Providers also asserted third-party claims against Xerox, seeking damages and contribution for common-law fraud, breach of contract, promissory estoppel, negligent hiring, negligent supervision, negligence, and gross negligence. They allege the state and Xerox were responsible for authorizing the Providers' services and conspired to rubber-stamp the Providers' authorization and payment requests. The Providers say this conspiracy led them to continue using the same standards to...
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34 practice notes
Univ. of the Incarnate Word v. Redus, No. 18-0351
Supreme Court of Texas
...that immunity respects "the relationship between the legislative and judicial branches of government")); Nazari v. State , 561 S.W.3d 495, 508 (Tex. 2018) ("[S]afeguarding the treasury is one of sovereign immunity's primary justifications in the modern era."); Fed. Sign ......
Bailey v. Smith, NO. 03-17-00703-CV
Court of Appeals of Texas
...Sovereign immunity prohibits "suits against the state unless the state consents and waives its immunity." Nazari v. State , 561 S.W.3d 495, 500 (Tex. 2018). Sovereign immunity from suit implicates courts' subject matter jurisdiction "because it recognizes 'the courts' limited......
State v. Harper, No. 16-0647
...to map the full boundary separating counterclaims that sovereign immunity bars from those it does not. See, e.g., Nazari v. State , 561 S.W.3d 495, 507 ("[W]e have never held that the Reata rule always applies when the government seeks any transfer of funds.... [N]or have we ever held ......
Nettles v. Gtech Corp., No. 17-1010
..., 571 S.W.3d at 746. Because "sovereignty itself remains an important justification for sovereign immunity," Nazari v. State , 561 S.W.3d 495, 508 (Tex. 2018), extending sovereign immunity to a non-sovereign entity contradicts and distorts the very nature of sovereign immunity.Sec......
Request a trial to view additional results
...2012) (noting that immunity respects "the relationship between the legislative and judicial branches of government")); Nazari v. State , 561 S.W.3d 495, 508 (Tex. 2018) ("[S]afeguarding the treasury is one of sovereign immunity's primary justifications in the modern era."); Fed. Sign v. Tex......
...(Tex. 2004). Sovereign immunity prohibits "suits against the state unless the state consents and waives its immunity." Nazari v. State , 561 S.W.3d 495, 500 (Tex. 2018). Sovereign immunity from suit implicates courts' subject matter jurisdiction "because it recognizes 'the courts' limited a......
...to map the full boundary separating counterclaims that sovereign immunity bars from those it does not. See, e.g., Nazari v. State , 561 S.W.3d 495, 507 ("[W]e have never held that the Reata rule always applies when the government seeks any transfer of funds.... [N]or have we ever held that ......
...Rosenberg , 571 S.W.3d at 746. Because "sovereignty itself remains an important justification for sovereign immunity," Nazari v. State , 561 S.W.3d 495, 508 (Tex. 2018), extending sovereign immunity to a non-sovereign entity contradicts and distorts the very nature of sovereign immunity.Sec......
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Dobell, William (1899–1970) By Philp, Angela
https://www.rem.routledge.com/articles/dobell-william-1899-1970
William Dobell was an icon of Australian art during his lifetime, renowned for portraiture but also for the controversy surrounding his being awarded the Archibald Prize (1943). From 1929 he developed his signature expressionist style of exaggerated features and distortion with a sense of satire, accompanied by a mastery of classical painting techniques and underpinned by sound observational drawing.
Philp, Angela. "Dobell, William (1899–1970)." The Routledge Encyclopedia of Modernism. : Taylor and Francis, 2016. Date Accessed 31 Jan. 2023 https://www.rem.routledge.com/articles/dobell-william-1899-1970. doi:10.4324/9781135000356-REM1398-1
Philp, A.(2016). Dobell, William (1899–1970). In The Routledge Encyclopedia of Modernism. : Taylor and Francis. Retrieved 31 Jan. 2023, from https://www.rem.routledge.com/articles/dobell-william-1899-1970. doi:10.4324/9781135000356-REM1398-1
Philp, A. 2016, 'Dobell, William (1899–1970)' in Routledge Encyclopedia of Modernism, Taylor and Francis, viewed 31 January 2023, <https://www.rem.routledge.com/articles/dobell-william-1899-1970>. doi:10.4324/9781135000356-REM1398-1
Find out about the influence of indigenous art and the work of people such as Fred Williams and Olive Cotton
Cassab, Judy (1920–2015)
Judy Cassab was a celebrated portrait and landscape painter, as well as a printmaker. Painting in her own distinctive expressionist style, her work employed both…
Visual Arts Subject Overview
Modernism in the visual arts is a complex term and currently the subject of much academic debate. However, this project demanded that we set boundaries…


text:
Q: Determining If any log File Exists in storage log folder Currently laravel is writing log to default logs folder in storage/logs.
The logs folder also contains a .gitignore file.
How can i determine if  ANY *.log file exists in logs folder?

A: You can check it with glob function :
$result = glob (base_path() . '/storage/logs/*.log');
if(count($result)) {
    // log files exist
}

note that base_path() is a laravel helper to get the path of project root directory.

A: @Joseph Rback Finally, Laravel has it's own logs, whose purpose are to record errors|info|debug and their stack traces, if any are given. These are the most interesting/important logs, and the ones you configure within Laravel/Lumen. These usually exist in path/to/laravel/storage/logs/laragel.log.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Divine Prescription - Sunday Sermons Preaching Resources
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I tell you solemnly, in so far as you did this to one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it to Me
Ezekiel 34:11-12,15-17; Psalms 23:1-3,5-6; 1 Corinthians 15:20-26,28; Matthew 25:31-46
Sermon Week/Year
Christ The King (Thirty-Fourth Sunday), A
Psychologist Alfred Adler once put an ad in the paper for his "Fourteen-Day Cure Plan." He claimed that he could cure anyone of any emotional or mental disorder in just fourteen days. One day, an extremely lonely woman came to him for advice. He told her that if she would do as he said, she would be cured of her loneliness in a mere fourteen days. "What do you want me to do?" she asked. Adler replied, "If you will do something for another person every day for two weeks, your loneliness will be gone." The woman objected: "Why should I do anything for someone else?" To which the psychologist replied, "Well, in your case, it may take a month."
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The most recent SOLD event "Improving support for the accused person with a learning disability in Police Custody" was held on 27th March at Norton Park Conference Centre, Edinburgh, and was a follow up to our previous event on 24th August last year, which was entitled "Improving support for the accused person with a learning disability from arrest to court".
There were almost one hundred people present at the event, all of whom have an interest in the criminal justice system, and or, people with learning disabilities. A broad range of professionals were represented, including the legal profession, psychiatry, clinical psychology, social work, health, police, prison service, voluntary sector, independent advocacy and academia, amongst others.
Members of the SOLD User group, who are people with learning disabilities and have experience of the criminal justice system, were also involved.
What is the most reliable way to identify in police custody that someone needs support with communication?
What is the best way to support someone with communication difficulties in police custody?
Read the Discussion Paper PDF which was circulated to delegates in advance of the event.
And particular thanks go to Derek Penman, HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary in Scotland, for Chairing the event.
available now to download for free.
We hope to be able to provide some constructive and practical solutions to the two key questions which the event sought to address. Once complete, the report will be circulated widely, including to members of the SOLD Network.


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The 1 oz Silver American Eagle and the 1 oz Silver Libertad are two of the most popular Silver coins on the market. The Silver Eagles are considered the only investment-grade coin produced by the United States Mint, while the Silver Libertads are hailed as one of the most beautiful coins ever produced. Both coins, and many more, deserve the best protection that is available. The Direct Fit Air Tite Holder – 40 mm is the perfect solution for maximum protection. You want your investment in these coins to grow, not deteriorate. You can proudly display your investment-grade coins proudly and securely with the Air-Tite Holders 40 mm.
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The capsules are of a hard composition, and easy to snap together for a tight and secure fit.
Early minted coins did not have coin accessories that allowed them to protect their investments. The Direct Fit Air Tite Holder – 40 mm is a sought-after coin storage supply that offers the protection investors and collectors need. Before the Air-Tite Holder existed, a main source of coin storage was wooden boxes. These Air-Tite Holder Direct Fit – 40 mm provides protection while keeping the outside elements away from the coin, helping grow its value and longevity. Wooden boxes, even shoe boxes, will not do the job because they will eventually rot away, putting your coin in even more danger than it was before.
Made of acrylic and not PVC, your coin can enjoy the comforts of the case without the risk of PVC damage. PVC damage can quickly overtake the coin, tarnishing the looks and value. The chemicals in the PVC interact with the coin which causes an acidic reaction. Acrylic is safe and does not have a reaction when it comes into contact with Metals. Coin supplies like these are necessary. The Direct Fit Air-Tite Holder clasps tightly and securely holding your coin for good long-term protection. Easy to maintain, you can have the peace of mind knowing your collection will be safe. The Air Tite Holder Direct Fit – 40 mm holds popular coins such as the 1 oz Silver American Eagle, 1 oz Silver Libertad and U.S. Dollars from 1794 to 1839.
Wouldn't call it a perfect fit, but it's pretty good.
Ordered the 40mm size to replace two Panda capsules.
these caps fit perfect for the Rwanda Sailboat and the Lunar Dog and Rooster series , I put mine in the these capsules and it compliments the coin itself Apmex has worked with me and is a top notch company to make you happy and satisfied.
this capsule fits the Swan just right , it actually compliments the coin itself making it more appealing to the eye.
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Perfect fit for my American Silver Eagles. Better than the flips I had. No problem with opening these as they come in two pieces.
Perfect fit for my American Silver Eagles. Better than the flips I had.
I love these coin holders. I can display my favorites without worry about handling issues.


This oil is amazing in unwinding and de-knotting the body! The results are almost instant. We have found that regular use of this oil just before bedtime will train your body to shut down when it needs to. Apply a few sprays to the soles of the feet and rub in well. Lavender is soothing to the mind and calming to the body.
Magnesium Chloride Flakes, Distilled Water, Lavender (Lavandula Officinalis) Oil and naturally occurring trace minerals.
Using Magnesium Oil regularly assists with cellular detoxification and tissue purification, it has a strong excretory effect on toxins and stagnant energies stuck in the tissues of the body by drawing them out through the pores of the skin. Chloride is required to produce a large quantity of gastric acid each day and is also needed to stimulate starch digesting enzymes.
These minerals are rapidly absorbed through the skin, and are vital in maintaining good health and play a crucial role in bone development.


A South African woman who kidnapped a newborn baby from her sleeping mother's arms in hospital almost two decades ago has been sentenced to 10 years in prison by a judge who told her she "betrayed and lied to" the child.
Judge John Hlophe, sitting at Cape Town's high court, told the 52-year-old woman - who cannot be named to protect the adopted identity of her victim - that her actions had caused "so much harm" to the child's biological family.
Celeste and Morne Nurse and their other children celebrated their lost child's birthday with a cake each year and made regular media appeals in a bid to find her.
She was eventually discovered after her younger sister started at her school in February last year and classmates noticed the resemblance. The family called in the police who conducted a DNA test and determined that they girls were indeed sisters.
The Nurse family hailed the discovery as a "dream come true" but their relationship with their newfound daughter has soured amid intense public interest in the case dubbed South Africa's Madeleine McCann, after the three-year-old British child who disappeared from a family holiday in Portugal.
Zephany has opted to live with her naturalised father and gave evidence behind closed doors in mitigation of her abductor's sentence. She is now understood to be expecting a child of her own.
The woman claimed during her trial that she was given the baby in an informal adoption and had been "tricked" into accepting the abducted child. "No-one believes me at this moment and I'm a victim myself," she said in an interview shortly before her conviction.
Judge Hlope dismissed the account as a "fairytale" and told the woman her sentence was stiffer because she had refused to admit the truth or show remorse.
"You had all the opportunity in the world to return the child," he told the seamstress, who raised Zephany in a township outside Cape Town. "Year in and year out, the parents marked the birthday and made the event public and there was wide publicity.
"There is no way you did not know that this was their child, but you decided to keep her anyway.
"It is very clear you have caused so much harm to the Nurse family. Something you should not be proud of."
There were gasps in court as the sentence was read out, and tears from the defendant's husband, an electrician who never knew the girl was not his daughter until the police arrested his wife. The woman told the court that before she took Zephany, she had suffered a series of miscarriages and hidden the last one four months earlier from her family.
Outside court, members of both families almost came to blows as insults were traded. The abducted child's father, Morne Nurse, said he would have liked the sentence to be longer given the pain the defendant had caused his family.
The child's aunt said despite the continued estrangement, Zephany "belongs to us".
"She has our DNA. Her DNA will never change," said Chantall Barry.


text:
St. John Bosco and the Making of the Catholic Man
By the Catholic Action Team
There is a grave crisis facing modern men.
The prevailing spirit of our society is to deform men to the point where there is no image of God (imago Dei) in the world. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that our powers of reason and free will to do good and avoid evil make us reflections of the divine image, but those reflections can be tarnished by sin.
The Church also teaches that living out the differences between man and woman makes us who we were created to be—reflections of God:
"'Being man' or 'being woman' is a reality which is good and willed by God: man and woman possess an inalienable dignity which comes to them immediately from God their Creator. Man and woman are both with one and the same dignity 'in the image of God'. In their 'being-man' and 'being-woman', they reflect the Creator's wisdom and goodness" (CCC 369).
Our crisis
Both masculinity and femininity have taken a hit because both men and women can gravitate toward vices or extremes. Today, we are focusing on masculinity. When we allow those extremes to become our expectations for behavior, we are headed away from our purpose. We find that on the excessive end, manhood is equated with brutality—being dominant and aggressive. This vice often characterizes itself in abuse (rather than the proper use) of man's God-given authority. On the deficient end, mediocrity—being unmotivated and weak—is considered the norm. This often results in an inability to take on responsibility, commit to a job or to a relationship.
These kinds of expectations lend no dignity to the male character. In truth, we are experiencing a famine of real masculinity. We must find the courage to make a shift!
What is true masculinity?
True masculinity can be summed up in a word: virtus—virtuous, responsible, and full of sacrificial love. These characteristics equal true strength, but have been belittled, leaving room only for effeminacy and weakness. St. Paul told his brothers, "Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love" (1 Corinthians 16: 13-14).
Men are made to actively initiate love and use their strength to protect and promote that love, no matter the sacrifice involved. They have the courage to commit—not merely to strength training or video games—but to their Faith, vocations, wives and children, education, and work.
Who specialized in forming young men?
January 31st is the feast of St. John Bosco (1815-1888), also known as Don Bosco ('Don' being an Italian title of respect). In him, the Church gives us an example of how young men are to be formed, in order to foster in them true masculinity.
As a young man, John Bosco noticed the large number of boys who ended up in prison by the age of 18 in cities that were overrun by poverty. Grieved at their spiritual deprivation, he gathered poor boys together and formed the Oratory of St. Francis de Sales, where they could meet for care and education, both spiritual and academic.
Before the Oratory was founded, the saint would meet with his group of boys in a church, cemetery, or lot each Sunday. He would hear confessions, say Mass, and give religious instruction on basic points of truth. Then he would take them into the countryside for an outing of games. In this way, he educated the whole person, uniting the spiritual life, work, study, and play.
His prayer was always, "Give me souls—the souls of young people." By the end of his life, the order of Salesians he founded was helping 130,000 children in 250 houses.
St. John Bosco is the antithesis of the way society is deforming men today.
Guided by his work, here are 6 practical points for cultivating true masculinity.
1. Find a balance.
St. John Bosco would always tell the boys that sanctity is easy. One does not need to go to great lengths to find the virtuous path. We have the course right in front of us. All you must do is your duties at home, school, and work to the best of your ability. He told them to offer their lives to God—the joys as well as the sorrows, because we have much with which to join in Christ's Passion.
He firmly believed in training the passions. In a related way, the great philosopher Aristotle in his Nicomachean Ethics speaks of the art of living in an intermediate way. He calls this balance of our passions the doctrine of the 'mean.' It is a sort of practical wisdom, taking into account the situation, time, person, and so forth, before taking action. For instance, in the passion/concern of fear, the vice of deficiency is to be cowardly, the vice of excess is to be rash, and between these two we find the virtue of courage.
2. Welcome challenges.
The vital need for challenge is embedded in men. However, young men generally lack built-in challenges because of the modern conveniences of our day. This often leads to a lack of commitment. Schools have noted boys are more likely to fall behind on their studies, and are no longer expected to succeed in the same way as women.
St. John Bosco encouraged his boys to challenge themselves spiritually and mentally. In this way, he fostered responsibility in them, since all of these challenges involve sacrifice of comfort and pleasure.
His education of the boys revolved around care for their spiritual wellbeing. In his rules he wrote: "Frequent Confession, frequent Communion, daily Mass: these are the pillars which should sustain the whole edifice of education."
He eagerly took upon himself the academic instruction of boys upon the streets in Turin, Italy. (For more about his method of education, please read the section below for parents and educators.
The saint realized the importance of job training, talent, and ability, so he trained his students in the trade crafts. The workshops he established for the boys were shoemaking and tailoring. Through these, he inspired in the boys a desire for quality. During the week, he visited the boys at work, to be sure they were working hard and compensated ethically.
Speaking of challenges, do you pray in public? Click here to find out about our Mustard Seed Challenge for 30 days!
3. Be involved in a community.
Men tend to find their community through shared action.
Taking this need into account, Don Bosco knew it was important for the boys, both the wayward and the dutiful, to be brought into the same community to support each other in their struggles and joys.
He believed in purposeful activity for play, and would often take the boys out for sports and games. Besides this, he organized a band with old brass instruments, because he believed music is a powerful refining influence.
For Parents and Educators
1. Lead by example.
Apart from their catechetical training, John Bosco taught the boys at the Oratory by example and through fatherly advice what commitment and sacrifice look like. He was a man of deep prayer and Catholic action, who tirelessly led the boys, even in his old age. He kept expectations high, and his boys in turn desired to live up to those expectations.
In the same way, when parents, especially fathers, take the Faith seriously, there is a better chance that their children will do so.
A Swiss government study in 1994 revealed that if a father does not go to church – no matter how faithful his wife's devotions – only one child in 50 will become a regular worshipper.
Additionally, studies from the Gallup Poll of Catholics in 2005 and 2008 show that only 32% of Catholic men strongly agree that the Sacraments are essential to their faith and 55% agree that they "don't get anything out of the Mass." A large portion (42%) of Catholic men attend Mass "a few times per year" or "seldom or never.
As for fatherly advice, the good saint, Don Bosco, often told them, "I want to give you the formula for sanctity; first, be happy; second, study and pray; third, do good to everyone."
2. Preventative system: Use charity and respect.
When John Bosco was nine years old, he found himself in a dream fighting a rowdy group of cursing boys. While trying to stop them, a man appeared who told John, "Not with punches will you help these boys, but with goodness and kindness!"
Thus, St. John Bosco's theory of education was a preventative system, based on charity instead of punishment. Its foundations were reason and religion, fostered by the Sacraments. This included supervision of his boys through daily contact and genuine interest between student and teacher. He walked alongside his students as their guide in order to fully understand them and to retain mutual love and respect. While the preventative method is not new, he added a freshness to it by observing that young people often commit errors. We do not condone them, but we use errors as channels to formation of solid character.
He believed that, "In every young person, a point of goodness is accessible and it is the primary duty of the educator to discover that sensitive cord of the heart so as to draw out the best in the young person."
3. Preventative system: Remove the occasions of sin.
Removing the occasions of sin was St. John Bosco's method for keeping the young men pure.
In one of his visions, Don Bosco saw some of his boys tumbling down a path, screaming in terror down to the gates of Hell. His guide told him that bad companions, bad books, and bad habits are mainly responsible for the eternally lost. There was also a road laden with traps, into which boys were entangled. Upon closer observation, he noted the most dangerous were those of impurity, disobedience, and pride. The only methods visible for cutting oneself free were weapons among the traps: knives symbolizing meditation (for use against pride), spiritual reading, and devotion to the saints; swords representing devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and the Blessed Virgin Mary; and a hammer symbolizing confession.
In these ways, not only did St. John Bosco live out the characteristics of true masculinity, but he also helped foster these same traits in thousands of young men. Through his guidance and prayers, let us hope to reverse the crisis affecting many modern men, and in this way, better reflect our Creator's divine image.


Turn is an upcoming 2014 period drama that is set to air on AMC and is based on Alexander Rose's book Washington's Spies. The first promo for the series aired during the December 1 episode of The Walking Dead. The series will premiere on April 6.
Set in the fall of 1778, a New York farmer and his childhood friends form an unlikely group of spies, called the The Culper Ring, who eventually turn the tide during the American Revolutionary War.


The guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain (DDG 56) [Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer] has arrived at Changi Naval Base following a collision with the merchant vessel Alnic MC while underway east of the Strait of Malacca and Singapore on Aug. 21 (local date).
Analysis: This is the second collision involving a U.S. Navy warship and a commercial vessel, and also the second one involving a warship assigned to the 7th Fleet. Seven sailors died in June when the USS Fitzgerald and a container ship collided in waters off Japan.The Fitzgerald's captain was relieved of his command and other sailors were being punished after the Navy found poor seamanship and flaws in keeping watch contributed to the collision.
It's likely the John S. McCain's commander, Cmdr. Alfredo J. Sanchez, will be relieved as well, given the Navy's history of disciplining its ship captains who are involved in this kind of incident. But the more important questions the Navy brass [and the Pentagon — and President Donald J. Trump] will likely be asking are: Why have there been two collisions involving U.S. Navy warships and commercial vessels in such a short period of time, and why have both of them occurred within the 7th Fleet?
The Navy had better find some answers and fast; having two of its destroyers out of action severely limits U.S. naval operations at a time when tensions around the world, and especially in the Pacific — where the 7th Fleet operates — are high. In addition, the McCain and Fitzgerald field the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System, vital as part of U.S. naval assets deployed to counter North Korean ballistic missiles.


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Arne Duncan Loses Temper, Deviates from Backroom Strategy
February 24, 2012 By James Bell
Arne Duncan has made a strategic mistake
Shane and many others have noted that Secretary of Education Arne Duncan was attempting to bully South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley in his most recent statement:
"The idea that the Common Core standards are nationally-imposed is a conspiracy theory in search of a conspiracy. The Common Core academic standards were both developed and adopted by the states, and they have widespread bipartisan support. GOP leaders like Jeb Bush and governors Mitch Daniels, Chris Christie, and Bill Haslam have supported the Common Core standards because they realize states must stop dummying down academic standards and lying about the performance of children and schools. In fact, South Carolina lowered the bar for proficiency in English and mathematics faster than any state in the country from 2005 to 2009, according to research by the National Center for Education Statistics.
"That's not good for children, parents, or teachers. I hope South Carolina lawmakers will heed the voices of teachers who supported South Carolina's decision to stop lowering academic standards and set a higher bar for success. And I hope lawmakers will continue to support the state's decision to raise standards, with the goal of making every child college- and career-ready in today's knowledge economy."
He essentially disses Governor Nikki Haley, Senator Mike Fair, and the entire South Carolina education establishment from daring to question the Common Core.
This is a strategic mistake.
Thus far, Education Secretary Arne Duncan has operated in backrooms, making grants, holding events, utilizing trade associations, and generally avoiding political debate.
It is unlikely that national standards, national assessments, the necessity of conforming curricula to national assessments mandating a pseudo-national curriculum, data collection, and data distribution would be popular with the electorate-at-large. Most Americans believe public schools should be accountable to parents and local communities rather than Washington bureaucrats, special interests, and non-democratic trade associations. That is why the entire Race to the Top process proceeded without the requirement for a single democratic vote of Congress, state legislatures, or local school boards.
Even the supposed Republican supporters of the Common Core such as Mitch Daniels, Chris Christie, and Bill Haslam have never been briefed on the full-fledged agenda by any members of the Truth in American Education coalition.
The last thing Secretary Duncan should desire is to create a polarized political fight that would draw national scrutiny. But that is exactly what an open confrontation with Governor Haley is likely to do.
Mr. Duncan has deviated from strategy, inviting a political fight with Governor Haley.
Someone should have informed Mr. Duncan that he should hold his temper since his elitist agenda was more suited to the backroom than to the democratic public square.


Stuart Chinn writes and teaches on constitutional law, legislation, and legal and political history. At Oregon Law, he is the associate dean for programs and research and an associate professor of law. His book, RECALIBRATING REFORM: THE LIMITS OF POLITICAL CHANGE was published by Cambridge University Press in 2014. Additionally, Stuart has published in peer-reviewed venues such as University of Chicago Press, Law & Social Inquiry, and Polity. He has also published (or has articles forthcoming) in law reviews such as the Maryland Law Review, Utah Law Review, and the University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law, and others.
Stuart is currently conducting research that examines competing conceptions of legal impartiality. Prior to arriving at Oregon Law, Stuart was a visiting assistant professor at the University of Texas School of Law. A native of Eureka, California, Stuart received his B.A., Ph.D. (political science) and J.D. degrees from Yale University.
RECALIBRATING REFORM: THE LIMITS OF POLITICAL CHANGE (Cambridge University Press, 2014) (included in the book series Cambridge Historical Studies in American Law and Society, edited by Christopher Tomlins).


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At least 1,200 Iraq personnel killed in Mosul operation: coalition
AFP• September 29, 2017
Members of Iraq's elite Counter-Terrorism Service, which spearheaded the operation to retake Mosul, pictured in the city in July 2017 (AFP Photo/AHMAD AL-RUBAYE)
Washington (AFP) - At least 1,200 Iraqi security personnel were killed during the operation to recapture Mosul from the Islamic State group, the US-led coalition against the jihadists said on Friday.
"The October 2016 to July 2017 battle to liberate Mosul reflects a significant sacrifice by our Iraqi partners, who lost 1,200-1,500 personnel in action, with an approximate 8,000 more wounded," the coalition said in a statement.
It did not provide a breakdown of casualties among the various forces that took part in the grueling battle.
The July recapture of Mosul, a city that IS seized more than three years before, was the biggest defeat the jihadists had been dealt since the war to push them back began.
Iraqi forces often release figures for IS fighters they say they have killed, but are extremely reticent about their own losses.
IS overran large areas north and west of Baghdad in 2014, but Iraqi forces backed by US-led air strikes and other support have since regained most of the territory they lost.


I spent most of the morning moving hay bales around. We brought up 18 bales of sudex baleage and 12 bales of dry ryegrass hay that we'll ultimately grind up as part of our milking herd's TMR. We also put out 5 bales of bermudagrass hay for drycows and heifers.
Also, our rye, triticale, and ryegrass seed may be delivered this afternoon. If so, dad or I will probably be running the drill for a pretty good while tonight.


text:
package com.wq.photo.adapter;

import android.content.Context;
import android.view.LayoutInflater;
import android.view.View;
import android.view.ViewGroup;
import android.widget.BaseAdapter;
import android.widget.ImageView;
import android.widget.TextView;

import com.bumptech.glide.Glide;
import com.bumptech.glide.load.engine.DiskCacheStrategy;
import com.wq.photo.R;
import com.wq.photo.mode.ImageFloder;

import java.util.List;

/**
 * Created by wangqiong on 15/3/30.
 */
public class FloderAdapter extends BaseAdapter {

    List<ImageFloder> floders;
    LayoutInflater inflater;
    Context context;
    int imgsize=0;
    public FloderAdapter(List<ImageFloder>floders,Context context){
        this.floders=floders;
        this.context=context;
        inflater=LayoutInflater.from(context);
        imgsize=dip2px(context,96);
    }
    int ckpos=0;
    public void setCheck(int pos){
        ckpos=pos;
        notifyDataSetChanged();
    }

    @Override
    public int getCount() {
        return floders.size();
    }

    @Override
    public Object getItem(int position) {
        return floders.get(position);
    }

    @Override
    public long getItemId(int position) {
        return 0;
    }

    public void displayImage(String url, ImageView view) {
        Glide.with(context).load(url)
                .diskCacheStrategy(DiskCacheStrategy.RESULT)
                .override(imgsize,imgsize)
                .into(view);

    }
    /**
     * DIP转换成PX
     *
     * @param context
     * @param dipValue
     * @return
     */
    public static int dip2px(Context context, float dipValue) {
        final float scale = context.getResources().getDisplayMetrics().density;
        return (int) (dipValue * scale + 0.5f);
    }
    @Override
    public View getView(int position, View convertView, ViewGroup parent) {
        ViewHolderFoler holderFoler=null;
        if(convertView==null){
            convertView=inflater.inflate(R.layout.list_dir_item,null);
            holderFoler=new ViewHolderFoler(convertView);
            convertView.setTag(holderFoler);
        }else{
            holderFoler= (ViewHolderFoler) convertView.getTag();
        }
        ImageFloder floder=floders.get(position);
        displayImage(floder.getFirstImagePath(),holderFoler.iv_floderimage);
        holderFoler.tv_flodername.setText(floder.getName().substring(1));
        holderFoler.tv_flodercount.setText(floder.getCount()+"");
        if(position==ckpos){
            holderFoler.is_checked.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
        }else {
            holderFoler.is_checked.setVisibility(View.INVISIBLE);
        }
        return convertView;
    }

    public static  class  ViewHolderFoler {
        ImageView iv_floderimage,is_checked;
        TextView tv_flodername,tv_flodercount;
        public ViewHolderFoler(View convertView){
            is_checked= (ImageView) convertView.findViewById(R.id.is_checked);
            iv_floderimage= (ImageView) convertView.findViewById(R.id.id_dir_item_image);
            tv_flodercount= (TextView) convertView.findViewById(R.id.id_dir_item_count);
            tv_flodername= (TextView) convertView.findViewById(R.id.id_dir_item_name);
        }
    }

}


Julian wonders who the baby is. Olivia claims she adopted a baby to get over the loss of Leo. When Julian spots the blanket with Leo's name on it, Olivia has an answer for that as well.
Valerie declares that she isn't pregnant and demands to know what Dante's problem is. Dante's quick to apologize and puppy dog eyed Valerie is quick to accept it.
Jake tells Sam that he needs to know who he is, for Liz's sake. Sam agrees to help and the two decide to find out if Nikolas knows Jake's identity and is withholding the information.
Hayden claims she wants to do something special for Nikolas, like go out on a real date. The two head out to get her something to wear. Hayden promises to model the clothes for him.
Laura pays Liz a visit and questions how long she can keep up the lie. Liz insists that everyone is better off not knowing that Jason is alive. Laura points out that their marriage will be invalid. Liz glosses over that, certain Jason will never regain his memories.
Maxie tells Lulu that Dillon is in love with her. When Dillon returns, he apologizes for yelling at Lulu. She tells him that she knows he's in love with her, but that she's moved past who she was.
Lulu says she has a family now, but Dillon disputes that. Lulu says she's committed to her husband. Dillon says Dante isn't worthy of her and grabs Lulu and kisses her.
Sam and Jake break into Wyndemere to find Nik's computer. Sam manages to download information from it before Nik gets home. Jake and Sam are forced to hide.
Valerie tosses the pregnancy test in the trash, where Maxie spots it.
Little Jake gets home, with an injury, and claims he tripped. Liz cleans him up and sends him off.
Laura questions how little Jake has been coping since his return. Liz says he's adjusting well and that things were normal on the island. Laura feels the boy may need someone to talk to. Liz feels there is no sign of trauma as little Jake listens from the shadows.


text:
Archive for The Old Dark House
Femms Fatale
Posted in FILM with tags Angela Hardie, CineOutsider, DVDBeaver, James Whale, Masters of Cinema, Steven McNicoll, The Old Dark House on June 15, 2018 by dcairns
Got my Blu-Ray of THE OLD DARK HOUSE from Masters of Cinema!
Stephen Horne and I made a great big video essay for this one — 38 mins! I just couldn't help myself. Adding to my musings are quotes from various interested parties and the J.B. Priestley source novel, Benighted, performed by ace actors Angela Hardie and Steven McNicoll. I think this is a particularly fun one — DVDBeaver and CineOutsider have been kind enough to call it "wonderful" and "enthralling" — and of course the film is a stone-cold masterpiece.
The Old Dark House [Masters of Cinema] Dual Format (Blu-ray & DVD)
Bride of the American Werewolf
Posted in FILM, Mythology with tags An American Werewolf in London, Bride of Frankenstein, Burke and Hare, James Whale, Jenny Agutter, John Landis, Kentucky Fried Movie, Rick Baker, Stephen Murphy, The Old Dark House on April 20, 2018 by dcairns
We're going to see BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN at Filmhouse today, introduced by John Landis.
Landis has a nice ongoing relationship with Edinburgh — he was retrospected by Edinburgh International Film Festival, he shot parts of BURKE AND HARE here (here hare here) and now he's a guest of Dead By Dawn, our long-running horror fest.
My connection to the BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN, always intense (though I never saw it as a little kid — took me years), is even more meaningful now, since I recently completed an epic video essay for the forthcoming Masters of Cinema release of THE OLD DARK HOUSE. So I can call myself a Whaler with the best of them.
The confluence of Landis and BRIDE makes me want to pitch a sequel to his maybe-best film — Anthony Waller's AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN PARIS is best forgotten, which is fine, because it has been. BRIDE OF AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON would star Jenny Agutter, who provided the romantic interest in the first film. It would turn out that lycanthropy is also a sexually transmitted condition. I mean, who's to say she didn't get bitten by her boyfriend during their sexytimefun in the original movie? There's definitely something oral going on.
(Big cunnilingus scene in KENTUCKY FRIED MOVIE too. Obviously a Landis favourite. Maybe that's why he wears a beard, so he always feels like he's… Should I ask him? Probably best not.)
Anyway, werewolf Agutter, that's the pitch. We can work the details out later.
This prospective encounter feels very timely, since my friend Stephen Murphy, a brilliant make-up artist, just met Rick Baker, creator of Landis's werewolf (and so much more) at the Monsterpalooza convention (yes, this a thing). Stephen was made up as a zombie Rick Baker at the time. I can't compete with that.
The Oblong Box Set
Posted in FILM, literature, MUSIC, Mythology with tags Anthony Carreras, Anthony Hinds, Baby Leroy, Claude Rains, Cluny Brown, Curt Siodmak, Dario Argento, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Dracula Prince of Darkness, Edgar Barrier, Francis Matthews, Hume Cronyn, Jeanette MacDonald, Jimmy Sangster, Laura, Lenore Coffee, Lon Chaney Jnr, Maria Ouspenskaya, Miles Mander, Nelson Eddy, Ralph Bellamy, Samuel Hoffenstein, The Old Dark House, The Phantom of the Opera, The Wizard of Oz, The Wolfman, Warren William on January 9, 2013 by dcairns
Delving into my Universal Monsters The Essential Collection Blu-rays Christmas pressie — I was drawn to some of the lesser titles, partly so they wouldn't get neglected, partly so I could save some good ones for last. (All images here are from the lowly DVDs.)
First I ran THE WOLFMAN, which is not a very good film, alas. After THE OLD DARK HOUSE it's nice to have another Welsh-set Universal horror — a pity they couldn't have arranged for Melvyn Douglas to drop in as Penderell, or something. They manage to waste Warren William and miscast Ralph Bellamy, who doesn't get to exploit his uncanny ability to remind one of that fellow in the movies, what's his name? Ralph Bellamy, that's it.
Screenwriter Curt Siodmak, idiot brother of the great Robert, knew that Lon Chaney Jnr was ridiculous casting as a nobleman, but doesn't seem to have reflected too much on the implications of his story, which has a Gypsy tribe importing a contagion into peaceful Anglo-Saxon terrain. It's a distasteful narrative for a German-Jewish refugee to serve up to American audiences during wartime, the more I consider it.
As a kid, I was disappointed by the slow pace and lack of screen time awarded to Jack Pierce's make-up, which I dug. But I was fascinated by Maria Ouspenskaya, who seemed genuinely uncanny.
THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA seems to have always been a tricky property — it has seminal scenes, the unmasking and the chandelier drop and the general mood of skulking about in shadows in a cape, but nobody seems able to settle on what order they should come in or who the characters ought to be. I think perhaps a failure to realize that Christine is the main point-of-view character lies at the heart of many of the problems — this may be the big thing Andrew Lloyd-Webber got right. But Chaney was the only one to get a good makeup, and played the character without any cast backstory, as a mystery.
The forties Technicolor version that's in the box set concentrates on singing and romance and comedy as much as melodrama, and top-loads the story with an origin for the Phantom that's sympathetic but deprives him of mystique — it also leaves no time for his Svengali act, surely the heart of the story. Claude Rains is in good form, though his coaching scenes as a disembodied voice are underexploited — this should have been the perfect companion piece to THE INVISIBLE MAN.
Screenwriter Samuel Hoffenstein is more important here than second-string director Arthur Lubin: he did a great job on Mamoulian's DR JEKYLL AND MR HYDE, so I don't know why this is so muted — partly the Production Code, I suppose. His other finest credits are THE WIZARD OF OZ, LAURA and CLUNY BROWN, and his gift for light comedy is more evident here than his knack for dramatic construction. The rather stunning ending, in which Jeanette MacDonald Susanna Foster chooses her career and her two beaux, Nelson Eddy and Edgar Barrier, go off together arm in arm to dinner, makes the thing worthwhile — they fade to black very fast at that point.
Oh, and the three-strip Technicolor is bee-you-tiful.
(Screenwriter and memoirist Lenore Coffee quotes a couple nice lines by Hoffenstein, not from his scripts but from his conversation. In response to the Variety headline BABY LEROY'S CONTRACT UP FOR RENEWAL, the Hoff remarked "If they don't meet his terms he'll go straight back to the womb… a swell place to negotiate from!" And when the legal department asked for a progress report on his latest script, a slightly tipsy S.H. bellowed "How any department as sterile as a legal department could have the impertinence to inquire into the progress of any writer, however poor… What do you think I do? Drink ink and pee scripts?")
I believe the scene where Claude Rains strangles Miles Mander had to be taken several times because Mander's head kept detaching when shaken.
Hume Cronyn has a tiny part and it's great fun watching him steal his scenes.
Backstory is a problem. I quite enjoyed the intro to Dario Argento's PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, in which the baby Phantom, cast adrift in the sewers in his cot, is rescued by rats, who presumably raise him as one of their own, like a rodent Tarzan. Tarzan had a fine operatic yodel, of course. But Argento's Phantom isn't deformed, he's Julian Sands, which leaves him no motivation to be masked or live underground or do any of the things the plot requires.
The Hammer PHANTOM, which I recently watched too, borrows heavily from the 1941 version — impoverished composer, acid scarring, etc. Apparently Cary Grant had expressed an interest in playing the Phantom, but his agent nixed it. I kind of wonder if that's why the meaningless hunchback character was added, in order to give all the murderous stuff to someone else. It's completely nonsensical and wrecks the film, which Terence Fisher handles rather nicely. Michael Gough's slimy Lord Ambrose is a one-note baddie, and Gough hammers that note with relentless enthusiasm. Herbert Lom gets almost nothing to do.
That one was cackhandedly written by Anthony Hinds, a Hammer producer. There are undoubtedly some great producers-turned-writers — Joseph Mankiewicz springs to mind. The trouble in general is that producers can give themselves the job of writing without having any ability at it, as I found when I worked for Tern Television. Both Anthony Carreras and Anthony Hinds at Hammer got a number of writing gigs, without having the slightest sense of story structure, or even apparent awareness of what a story IS.
Also watched DRACULA PRINCE OF DARKNESS since Fiona's brother was visiting, which Hinds authored — but his ramshackle narrative was fleshed out by the competent Jimmy Sangster, and then the very droll Francis Matthews acted in it, with delivery that's as close to Cary Grant as Hammer ever got. A line like "Well I'm sure it would be educational if we knew what was going on," isn't necessarily witty in itself, but he gets a laugh with it. And I have to take my hat off to Sangster for the line he awards Dracula's sepulchral manservant, Klove: "My master died without issue, sir… in the accepted sense of the term."
The UK release is cheaper than the American, though admittedly it doesn't come in its own coffin ~
Universal Classic Monsters: The Essential Collection [Blu-ray] [1931][Region Free]


text:
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Volunteer Voice: Following our Canadian Path to Pj19
By Scouter Clément Bélanger, 1st Hull Scout Troop – August 13, 2019
As a young Cub Scout in the mid-'80s, I had two recurring dreams that I have kept alive in the back of my mind ever since: (i) attend a national Jamboree, and; (ii) drive across our beautiful country, Canada. 35 years later, Pacific Jamboree 2019 (PJ19) turned those dreams into reality!
It's the Destination And the Journey
At first, it was not clear whether my son and I would be able to attend PJ19 at all. Our 1stHull Scout Troop (based in Gatineau, QC) is only in its fourth year of existence, and resources remain a challenge. But when there is a will, there's a way! My sister Nadia is a Troop Scouter with 85th Lakeview in Calgary; the Troop was sending a contingent and graciously invited us to tag along.
So last February, I told my son: "Justin, we're going to PJ19 on Vancouver Island with your aunt and cousin's Scout Troop!"
Justin excitingly replied: "Yeah! That's awesome. But how are we going to get there?"
I showed him a map of Canada on my iPad and said: "We are DRIVING!"
Using the Plan-Do-Review method, 12-year-old Justin started planning which cities and attractions he wanted to see on the way, such as the Terry Fox monument in Thunder Bay, the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg and the world's biggest teepee in Medicine Hat. We were also really looking forward to driving across the prairies and through the Rocky Mountains. For the return, a stop at the Calgary Stampede was on the to-do list, and so was a visit to the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller. Part of the planning exercise was also to leave some room for spontaneous creativity during the 10,000 km road trip from our home in Gatineau to the Pacific coast and back through the United States. It allowed for additional unplanned stops, including visits to the Mall of America in Minneapolis and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. We really tried to maximize our quest to encounter as many amazing things as possible and create memories for a lifetime, while respecting a limited budget.
Beautiful British Columbia
The highlight of our epic road trip adventure was undeniably PJ19. What a dream come true! Meeting remarkable Scouts and Scouters from across Canada and far-away parts of the world (our sub-camp superintendents were from Sweden and the UK), pushing ourselves out of our comfort zone to truly feel alive (like backpacking the Juan de Fuca trail overnight) and doing stimulating activities (obstacle course, geocaching, ham radio and so much more) while building confidence and leadership skills in a Jamboree setting made for an experience that would be hard to top.
As a Scouter, my most memorable moments really spoke to our time in British Columbia:
Having a meaningful chat with former Scout and B.C. Premier, John Horgan
Hugging a giant sequoia tree
Witnessing a family of majestic orcas swimming beside the ferry on our way to Vancouver Island – I never even dreamed of experiencing such a breathtaking scene in my lifetime.
PJ19, Thanks for the Memories!
I am grateful for the experiences Justin and I were able to live because of PJ19. I want to thank all the organizers, volunteers and Scouts Canada for the mind-blowing event. During our review exercise, I asked Justin (my co-pilot) what his thoughts were about the entire PJ19 experience.
He said, "Can we do it all over again? Like, next month?"
I think that nicely sums it up!
Gear Review - Eureka Solitaire 1 Person Tent
Quinn McPherson, Youth Spokesperson – October 17, 2018
Cubs 100th Game Changer
Scouts Canada – December 16, 2016
Powered by Popcorn: Taking Group Engagement to the Next Level in 23rd Nepean
By: Cassandra Campbell – Intern, Scouting Relationship Manager – August 20, 2019


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