Tehran (ISNA) – In a reaction to the news about Qatar's withdrawal from OPEC, Iranian ambassador to UK, Hamid Baeidinejad said, "Qatar's surprise decision made as a result of prolonged economic and travel blockade imposed against Qatar by Saudi Arabia and its neighbors".
"Qatar will withdraw from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries in January, as the Persian Gulf state faces a prolonged regional clash with rival Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia's attempt to impose its policies against OPEC and increase of the role of non-OPEC members including Russia have undermined the effectiveness of the organization," Baeidinejad wrote on his official Twitter account, referring to remarks made by Qatari Energy Minister Saad Sherida al-Kaabi.
Qatar framed the surprise decision, which ended nearly six decades of membership in OPEC, as a move to focus the country's resources on exports of liquefied natural gas. The decision also comes amid a more than year-long feud between Qatar and its neighbors. Led by Saudi Arabia, a coalition of Arab Gulf states broke off relations with Qatar and imposed an economic and travel blockade in June 2017 after accusing Qatar's government of sponsoring terrorism.
Qatari Energy Minister Saad Sherida al-Kaabi said in a news conference Monday that the decision was not related to the political clash and that Qatar was leaving the oil cartel to work on plans to boost its natural gas production by more than 40 percent in the coming years.
It said the surprise decision to exit OPEC, which has 15 members including Qatar, in January was not driven by politics and it did not name Saudi Arabia, but Minister of State for Energy Affairs Saad al-Kaabi said: "We are not saying we are going to get out of the oil business but it is controlled by an organisation managed by a country," al-Kaabi said.
Qatar would attend an OPEC meeting scheduled for Thursday and Friday in Vienna and would abide by its commitments, he said, adding that Doha would focus on its gas potential.
Qatar joined OPEC in 1961, one year after its founding members—Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela. There are now 15 members. A few countries have left in the past, though some have rejoined. The most recent to leave was Indonesia in 2016, after it become a net importer of oil.
The Qatari decision is another reminder of one of OPEC's biggest problems: an inability to show unity.


The hassle of changing the battery for your mouse or docking it for charging is over. Logitech has unveiled the world's first wireless gaming mouse charging system called the Logitech POWERPLAY.
What this means is that while you are gaming, the POWERPLAY automatically charges your Logitech gaming mouse that is compatible with its wireless charging system.
Logitech embedded the electromagnetic resonance technology into the POWERPLAY where it creates an energy field that is strong enough to charge your gaming mouse. This energy field is then converted into charging current by the POWERCORE module that is attached magnetically with the POWERPLAY to give you the juice you need to game all night long.
One of the key things that Logitech wants all gamers to know is its LIGHTSPEED Wireless Technology that is built into the wireless charging system.
According to Logitech, the LIGHTSPEED Wireless Technology "delivers competition-level responsiveness at speeds faster than many competitive wired gaming mice." The high response rate can make a huge difference between winning and losing. The wireless signal strength of the LIGHTSPEED can reach up to 16x (12db). There is also a unique Frequency Agility Mechanism that auto-detects and avoid signal interference.
The Logitech POWERPLAY wireless charging system is priced at S$199 and it comes with both cloth and hard surfaces for you to enjoy different gaming experiences.


text:
package com.dyz.myBatis.services;

import org.apache.ibatis.session.SqlSessionFactory;

import com.dyz.myBatis.dao.GameRecordMapper;
import com.dyz.myBatis.daoImp.GameRecordDaoImp;

public class GameRecordService {

	 private GameRecordMapper gameRecordMap;

	 private static GameRecordService gameService = new GameRecordService();
	 public static GameRecordService getInstance(){
	        return gameService;
	    }

	    public void initSetSession(SqlSessionFactory sqlSessionFactory){
	    	gameRecordMap = new GameRecordDaoImp(sqlSessionFactory);
	    }

}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


There comes a time when a decision has to be made as to which programming language I am going to learn – a follow on from a previous post. Using the infographic that I have produced below, the obvious compromise is C++ using Visual Studios as the development environment. It offers the opportunity to deploy projects across different platforms.
Will update here regularly on how I am getting on with tasking my brain.


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text:
<?php
declare(strict_types=1);

namespace Test\App;

use Phalcon\Http\Request;
use Phalcon\Http\RequestInterface;
use Phalcon\Http\ResponseInterface;
use Phalcon\Mvc\Micro;
use Phalcon\Test\UnitTestCase;

abstract class AppTestCase extends UnitTestCase
{
    public function createApplication(): Micro
    {
        return require dirname(__DIR__, 2) .'/src/App/bootstrap.php';
    }

    abstract protected function getUri(): string;

    protected function call(string $method, string $uri, array $query = [], string $body = ''): ResponseInterface
    {
        $request = $this->prepareRequest($method, $uri, $query, $body);
        $app = $this->createApplication();
        $app->getDI()->set('request', $request);
        return $app->handle($uri);
    }

    protected function get(string $id = '', array $query = []): ResponseInterface
    {
        return $this->call('GET', $this->getUri() . $id . $this->addQueryString($query));
    }

    protected function post(array $data = [], array $query = []): ResponseInterface
    {
        return $this->call('POST', $this->getUri() . $this->addQueryString($query), $data);
    }

    protected function put(string $id, array $data = [], array $query = []): ResponseInterface
    {
        return $this->call('PUT', $this->getUri() . $id . $this->addQueryString($query), $data);
    }

    protected function patch(string $id, array $data = [], array $query = []): ResponseInterface
    {
        return $this->call('PATCH', $this->getUri() . $id . $this->addQueryString($query), $data);
    }

    protected function delete(string $id = '', array $query = []): ResponseInterface
    {
        return $this->call('DELETE', $this->getUri() . $id . $this->addQueryString($query));
    }

    /**
     * @param ResponseInterface|null $jsonResponse
     * @return mixed
     */
    protected function getJsonResponse(ResponseInterface $jsonResponse)
    {
        $response = json_decode($jsonResponse->getContent(), true);
        self::assertSame(JSON_ERROR_NONE, json_last_error(), json_last_error_msg());
        return $response;
    }

    private function addQueryString(array $query): string
    {
        return empty($query) ? '' : '?' . http_build_query($query);
    }

    protected function prepareRequest(string $method, string $uri, array $query = [], string $body = ''): RequestInterface
    {
        $request = new Request();
        // @todo What? you can't build a Phalcon Request?
        return $request;
    }
}


Here's a quick list of restaurants within Wigan Town Centre (or within a few mins walk). There's plenty of variety to choose from food and budget wise – and with full contact and address details for each – there's no reason not to have a nice meal out in town. Enjoy!
A traditional Italian menu situated in the heart of Wigan for an amazing dining experience. We offer a wide variety of exquisite, traditional, modern and regional Italian menus. The warm and welcoming atmosphere will make you feel like a part of the family.
Serving modern British Food, using classic flavours, with a twist. If you would like a quick bite to eat at lunch, or to celebrate a special occasion at dinner; why not let our friendly staff take care of your dining experience. Our bistro is your bistro and we endeavour to show you the meaning of great hospitality and food!
Here at Casa Carlos we only serve you with the best in authentic spanish tapas. We are a local mediterranean & international restaurant situated at the Whitesmiths Arms in Wigan. Come along and enjoy our specialist tapas.
We offer an authentic Cuban dining experience right in the heart of Wigan. Enjoy one of our fabulous Cuban cocktails while you soak up the surroundings, friendly atmosphere, and live Cuban music, all of which will set the scene for an unbeatable night out. Once you're feeling the Cuban vibe sit down and sample our mouth-watering tapas dishes and unique dessert cocktails. If you're still keen for more then why not move upstairs to enjoy more live music, dancing, drinks and more!
The ultimate in Chinese cuisine served in the most luxurious surroundings. Smart, slick, contemporary and relevant – yet at a price that is affordable to all. We challenge the expectations of an 'all-you-can' eat buffet style menu by delivering a dining experience that is unparalleled in its excellence.
Not just any Buffet, THE Chinese Buffet.
With so many of our customers now becoming friends our 'Hidden Gem' (as one reviewer called us) has become a real meeting place where people can come along, relax and enjoy freshly made authentic vegetarian and vegan food. In a new, bigger venue for 2018 – find us in The Old Courts!
With menus styled with a International theme with an added and traditional Lancashire twist you can be sure that there will be a dish to suit everyone's taste from either the A La Carte menu or weekly changing specials.
The restaurant boasts great modern decor and a friendly ambience offering a full wine list with draft and bottled beers available.
A warm and friendly atmosphere awaits you at Franco's.
Set in a grade 2 listed building dating back to 1896 and located in the centre of Wigan Franco's is the perfect place to enjoy the finest Italian cuisine complemented with a world wide choice of fine wines.
Gallimores is one of Wigan Town Centre's premier restaurants for contemporary dining. Situated on the historic Wiend – adjacent to the new Wigan Life Centre and Piazza, we offer a fusion of international dishes in a relaxed atmosphere.
Gallimores is a popular dining experience and has built a reputation on providing high quality – value for money lunch time and dinner menus.
We offer to you an exciting and delicious range of Mexican and Texas style food, from generous portions of Tacos and Chimichangas to mouth watering Steaks, Burgers and sides, all created with only the freshest ingredients.
Our aim is to provide you with an authentic dinning experience this will stimulate your senses with modern, eye-catching, comfortable surroundings.
Papa Luigis Wigan offers its customers a warm welcome, somewhere to relax and unwind or to celebrate that special occasion. We offer spacious seating with elegant surroundings and a family atmosphere.
So whilst you're tantalising your taste buds with our delicious authentic Italian cuisine you can soak up the atmosphere as we bring that little bit of Italy to you.
Boasting an extensive menu, the Raj has dishes to suit everyone's taste. Whether it's traditional dishes like the Tikka Mossala and Madras, or one of our more exotic dishes from our special award winning signature dishes selection like the 'Tiger Prawn Paheli' – we are confident that we can truly tantalise your taste buds!
Located within the DW Stadium, Rigalettos Italian Restaurant offers quality food at sensible prices.
Our chefs have mastered the oldest food concept in Italy so you can experience original 'stone fired' cooking from the wood-burning oven imported especially for Rigalettos from Naples.
Simply Thai is situated in Wigan's town centre, on Hallgate next to Jaxons Court. It is the perfect place to experience the finest authentic Thai cuisines at day or night.
Bringing you Burgers, BBQ and more booze than a Nun's secret stash. The second venture for The Sinners Club, has just opened in Wigan Town Centre!
We are famous for using a special blend of spices from the finest states of India and Bangladesh, selected for their character to produce a fantastic high quality curry.


text:
O Municipio do
São Salvador da Bahia de Todos os Santos
The Municipality of
Saint Savior of the Bay of all Saints
Capital da Alegria (Capital of happiness), Roma Negra (Black Rome) and Bahia Judia (Jewish Bay).
Sic illa ad arcam reversa est (And thus the dove returned to the ark)
Location of Salvador in the State of Bahia
Location in Brazil
Coordinates: 12°58′29″S 38°28′36″W / 12.97472°S 38.47667°W / -12.97472; -38.47667Coordinates: 12°58′29″S 38°28′36″W / 12.97472°S 38.47667°W / -12.97472; -38.47667
João Henrique Carneiro (PMDB)
706 km2 (273 sq mi)
2,676,606 (3rd)
10,176.6/km2 (26,357/sq mi)
3,574,804 (7th)[1]
Salvador is a Brazilian city, capital of the state of Bahia. It has about 2.7 million inhabitants and an area of 709 square kilometres (274 sq mi).
In 2010, the city of Salvador had the 3rd most people in Brazil, after São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.[2]
Salvador is the second most popular tourism destination in Brazil, after Rio de Janeiro.[3] Among the points of interest are its famous Pelourinho (named after the colonial pillories that once stood there) district, its historic churches,[4] and its beaches.
In 1985 the Historic Centre of Salvador was made a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
According to the Guinness Book of Records, the carnival or Carnaval of Salvador da Bahia is the biggest party on the planet. For an entire week, almost 4 million people celebrate throughout 25 kilometers (16 mi) of streets, avenues and squares. It takes about 100 thousand people to organize the event.[5] Salvador has about 800 thousand visitors for this event.
The first books that arrived in Salvador were brought by the Jesuits.[6] The first libraries or bookstores that appeared were under the control of the religious missionaries. They mostly had books on religion.
Sports[change | change source]
Salvador has many sport activities. The Fonte Nova Stadium, also known as Estádio Octávio Mangabeira is a football stadium started on January 28, 1951. It can hold 66,080 people. The stadium is owned by the Bahia government, and is the home ground of Esporte Clube Bahia. Its formal name honors Octávio Cavalcanti Mangabeira, a civil engineer, journalist, and former Bahia state governor from 1947 to 1954. The stadium is nicknamed Fonte Nova, because it is at Ladeira das Fontes das Pedras. The stadium was closed in 2007 due to an accident. The E.C. Bahia home matches now happen in another stadium, in Pituaçu.
Esporte Clube Bahia and Esporte Clube Vitória are Salvador's main football teams. Bahia has won 2 national titles, Brazil Trophy in 1959 and the Brazilian League in 1988. Vitória was a runner up in the Brazilian league in 1993 and Brazil Cup in 2010.
Salvador has two large green areas for the practice of golf. Cajazeiras Golf and Country Club has a 18-hole course. Itapuã Golf Club has a 9-hole course. Tennis is very popular among Salvador's elites. Brasil Open, the country's most important tournament, happens every year in Bahia.
During the last decades, volleyball has grown steadily in Salvador. It became popular after the gold medal won by Brazil in the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. The most important tournaments in Bahia are the State Championship, the State League tournament and the Primavera Games. There are also beach volleyball events. Salvador has had many international tournaments. Bowling is practiced both by teenagers and adults in Salvador.
Bahia's basketball league has competed since 1993. They have 57 teams. The sport is very popular in the city of Salvador, especially among students.[7]
Todos os Santos Bay and Salvador's climatic conditions are ideal for competition and recreational sailing. Salvador has a national racing schedule with dozens of events, also receiving the Mini Transat 6.50 and Les Illes du Soleil races.
Rowing boat races started in the city more than a hundred years ago. It was first practiced by young men from traditional families, who spent their summer vacations there. With the recent fixing of the Dique do Tororó area, Salvador received new lanes for the practice of the sport.
↑ "IBGE | Portal do IBGE | IBGE".
↑ The largest Brazilian cities - 2010 IBGE Census (in Portuguese)
↑ "Salvador, Praias e Noite". Archived from the original on 2014-02-01. Retrieved 2012-08-06.
↑ "Historic Churches in Pelourinho". Retrieved 2010-04-17.
↑ "Carnaval of Salvador". Home.centraldocarnaval.com.br. Archived from the original on 2010-04-30. Retrieved 2010-04-17.
↑ "Tomé de Souza in Salvador". Muse.jhu.edu. Retrieved 2010-04-17.
↑ "Basketball in Salvador". Asbacsalvador.com.br. Retrieved 2010-04-17.
An old map of Salvador from 1671
This short article about a place or feature can be made longer. You can help Wikipedia by adding to it.
Retrieved from "https://simple.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Salvador,_Bahia&oldid=8338511"
Capital of Brazil
Former national capitals
World Heritage Sites in South America
Capitals of Brazilian states
1540s establishments in South America
16th-century establishments in Brazil
1549 establishments
Articles with Portuguese-language sources (pt)
Geography stubs

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The skies are always brighter and bluer in the US, as what we always notice on photos whenever we have weddings there. A great day for Rachel and Philipp to wed on a sunny and breezy weather in California. Sharing with you some of their wedding photos.
Here's another Alice in Wonderland pre debut photoshoot styled by Picturesque.
After a few years, we are back in the USA to shoot for another wedding and engagement. This time Philipp and Rachel wanted to shoot some photos in the very busy SFO airport. It was a challenge at first since there are a lot of people in the airport, though we manage to get some photos without a lot of crowd.
Seattle was also a great place to shoot. Though we didn't manage to get some sunlight, photos turned out really well. Not to mention that we have a great couple who never complains though we had a tiring whole day photoshoot. Sharing with you some of their engagement photos.


Pacman Garden Rider is a pretty interesting pacman game, where you can play the producent levels, or make your own boards. Pacman Garden Rider is also quite unusual pacman game, because we haven't got here the classic pacman but the common man, who didn't run away from ghosts but the garden creatures.
In each of the boards in Pacman Garden Rider you have to collect all the flowers that are in the garden. It isn't so easy, because in this garden nasty creatures intefere you in this mission. In this pacman game we haven't a "large dot", so you can't eat creatures – here all the time they are your enemies. The only safe place in the game Pacman Garden Rider is the location from which you start the game – there will never come creatures.
In the game Pacman Garden Rider , we have no limit to live. In a particular mission, you play as long as you manage to pass it. Every time you catch a creature you don't even need to start collecting flowers from scratch, but with each collision with the creatures – flowers arrives back on the board.
All information about the game Pacman Garden Rider can be found at the bottom of the screen. In the lower left corner of this pacman game you have given number of steps we have done during the game. Next to the steps is given numbers of flowers which you collect, and how much is still to be collected. Next you have specified level, in which you play and its name. In the lower right corner you have options such as: GUIDE – how to play on Pacman Garden Rider , MENU – exit to the main screen of this pacman game and EDIT that allows you to change the board's sole discretion.
In the game Pacman Garden Rider you can also create your own board entirely clicking on the main screen EDITORIAL LEVEL, instead of the PLAY button. You will be see a panel. On the left side you have provided accessible elements and their symbols, at the right you have the field where you can use the signs. When the board will be create, you can click PLAY on the lower right corner to start the fun.
Pacman Garden Rider is a really great pacman game, with which you definitely will not be bored. Why? So that here you can create charts in its sole discretion, and the opportunities they create are thousands. Pacman Garden Rider will give you entertained for a very long time. Want to try? You are cordially invited.


text:
Published on September 2nd, 2011 | by Derek Strickland, Contributor
First Look at Xbox Indie RPG EvilQuest
ChaosSoft Games has been working on the Xbox Live Indie title EvilQuest for a while now, and I've been quite interested in it ever since I laid my eyes on it. I've had a few words with the developer, and it appears that the upcoming action RPG will be in the vein of the old school NES titles Crystalis.
The game is still in development, and a trailer has been released that gives gamers a good look into the mystical fantasy world of EvilQuest.
EvilQuest is slated for release in fall 2011, and there has been no announcement of the price but most likely it'll be in the 80-240 MSP range. Check below for the trailer and a gallery of screenshots.
For more information on EvilQuest please visit the official website.
[jwplayer file=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhOtREJBsgM]
Tags: ChaosSoft Games, EvilQuest, News, Trailer, xbox live indie games
Derek Strickland, Contributor I'm an aspiring games journalist who writes articles focused on everything from Indie Games to next-gen titles. [Twitter] @Mr_Deeke [E-Mail] derek.s(at)gamingtruth(dot)com
Samurai Shodown is Making it's Return to Nintendo Console ?
Mobile Edge Introduces the CORE Gaming Backpack ?
Hyperkin to release NES Classic Edition Accessories ?
Hyperkin's Official Press Release for Portable TurboGrafx-16 ?


text:
Robert Lühr (* 20. September 1949) ist ein ehemaliger deutscher Fußballspieler.

Der Mittelfeldspieler spielte ab 1956 in der Jugend des TSV Schlutup. 1965 wechselte er zum VfB Lübeck, bei dem er zwei Jahre später von der Jugendabteilung in den Kader der ersten Mannschaft befördert wurde. In der Regionalliga Nord qualifizierte sich Robert Lühr mit Lübeck in der Saison 1968/69 für die Aufstiegsrunde zur Bundesliga, in der Lühr mit seiner Mannschaft scheiterte. 1971 wechselte Robert Lühr zum SSV Reutlingen 05. Nachdem er am Ende der Regionalligaspielzeit 1972/73 nach insgesamt 66 Regionalligaeinsätzen und 12 Toren für die Reutlinger mit dem SSV abstieg, schloss sich Lühr dem SV Arminia Hannover an. Nach einem Jahr in Hannover ging Lühr zu Wormatia Worms, wo er in der Saison 1974/75 in der 2. Bundesliga Süd zu 24 Saisoneinsätzen und einem Treffer kam. Zur Zweitligasaison 1975/76 kehrte Robert Lühr zum SSV Reutlingen zurück, mit dem er trotz seiner 3 Saisontreffer in 36 Spielen für die Reutlinger in der 2. Bundesliga am Saisonende zum zweiten Mal in die 1. Amateurliga Schwarzwald-Bodensee abstieg. 1978 wechselte Lühr zum TSV Pliezhausen. Drei Jahre später schloss er sich der SpVgg 07 Ludwigsburg an. Im März 1983 kehrte Robert Lühr für ein Jahr zum TSV Pliezhausen zurück, ehe er seine Spielerkarriere im Sommer 1984 beendete. Danach spielte er bis 1993 in der Altherren-Mannschaft der TSG Reutlingen.

Weblinks
 Robert Lühr in der Spielerdatenbank auf wormatia.de

Fußballspieler (VfB Lübeck)
Fußballspieler (SSV Reutlingen 05)
Fußballspieler (Wormatia Worms)
Fußballspieler (SpVgg 07 Ludwigsburg)
Fußballspieler (SV Arminia Hannover)
Deutscher
Geboren 1949
Mann

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
White House Says 'No Link' Between Huawei Case and Freed Canadians
Jennifer Epstein &
Josh Wingrove
12:05 AM IST, 27 Sep 2021 2:44 PM IST, 28 Sep 2021 12:05 AM IST, 27 Sep 2021 2:44 PM IST, 28 Sep 2021
(Bloomberg) -- White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki insisted Monday that there's "no link" between the U.S. settling criminal charges against a Huawei Technologies Co. executive last week and China's release, hours later, of two Canadians accused of spying.
Huawei's chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, received a hero's welcome from the Chinese government upon her return to Shenzhen on Saturday after reaching a deferred prosecution agreement with U.S. prosecutors.
The two Canadians, Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, returned to Calgary on Saturday after China granted them bail for unexplained medical reasons. The men were greeted personally by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and are referred to as the "two Michaels" by U.S. and Canadian officials.
Meng had been on house arrest in Vancouver for nearly three years while fighting a U.S. extradition request on charges of violating financial sanctions. China's government jailed the Canadians and charged them with spying shortly after her detention.
Psaki said Monday "there is no link" between the cases. "We have an independent Justice Department, we can't determine how the Chinese or others manage their business over there, it's a little bit different," Psaki said.
She said the U.S. would not refer to the episode as a prisoner swap and dismissed questions about whether China would be encouraged to seize foreign hostages in any future legal disputes. President Joe Biden had raised Spavor and Kovrig's cases directly with President Xi Jinping in their most recent call, and Xi had raised Meng's case, she said.
"We're going to continue to hold the PRC to account for its unfair economic practices, its coercive actions around the world and its human rights abuses," she said. "So there is absolutely zero impact, no one should read it as an impact on our substantive policy. This is a legal matter and a legal decision."
©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
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text:
Pa. school district sued for allowing transgender student to use locker room
Avi Wolfman-Arent
(Luengo/Bigstock)
An 11th-grader is suing his Pennsylvania school district after it allowed a transgender student to change in the boys' locker room.
It is the first case in Pennsylvania where the student filing the complaint is not himself transgender, but rather is responding to the presence of a transgender student in a sex-segregated space, according to the plaintiff's attorneys.
The plaintiff, who chose to remain anonymous, is alleging that the school district violated his constitutional right to privacy and broke sexual harassment law enshrined in Title IX when it permitted a transgender male to use the boys' locker room.
"Students from all walks of life find it deeply humiliating and offensive to be forced to share these facilities with members of the opposite sex," said Kellie Fiedorik, an attorney with the conservative group Alliance Defending Freedom and co-counsel for the plaintiff. "These voices must be heard. And today we stand for them."
The dispute arose late last year at Boyertown Area Senior High School near Pottstown, Pennsylvania.
In the fall, the plaintiff discovered a student who was born female but identifies as male using the boys' locker room before and after gym class, according to attorneys. The plaintiff complained to school administrators who told the 11th-grader that there "was nothing they could do about the situation," according to Randall Wenger chief counsel with the Independence Law Center in Harrisburg and another attorney representing the plaintiff.
"To tell someone that they need to share the locker room with somebody of the opposite sex and make it natural amounts to sexual harassment," Wenger said.
Officials from Boyertown Area School District — which straddles Montgomery and Berks counties — sent out a brief statement saying the district was "reviewing this matter with our legal counsel and has no further comment at this time."
Attorneys for the plaintiff said they filed a federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Tuesday morning.
The case joins a growing mountain of litigation related to the rights of transgender students in public schools, an area of acute legal uncertainty.
The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) itself is involved in two lawsuits — one out of Illinois and another out of Minnesota — with similar claims. Co-founded by conservative Christian activist James Dobson, ADF has a long history of supporting legal causes favored by the religious right.
On the other side of the legal ledger, a number of transgender students have sued schools districts that actively prevented them from using facilities that match their gender identity. In those cases, plaintiffs claimed they had a right to use the bathroom consistent with their gender identity because any policy to the contrary would constitute sex discrimination.
In Western Pennsylvania, a transgender student sued the Pine Richland School District after it passed a policy requiring students to use the bathroom that corresponds with their biological sex.
A student in Virginia named Gavin Grimm filed a similar lawsuit. Initially the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Grimm. The case was slated to then go before the U.S. Supreme Court for a final ruling, but the high court later reversed course and sent the case back down the ladder for further review
Last year, the Obama administration sent out regulatory guidance saying school districts should allow students to use the bathroom that corresponds to their gender identity. The Trump administration later rescinded that guidance.
After that change in executive policy, the U.S. Supreme Court said the lower courts needed to take another look at the issue before it could potentially weigh in.
It's possible, however, the Boyertown case will be resolved before the high court issues a final verdict. Attorneys for the plaintiff said they would withdraw their lawsuit if the school district reverses its position and limits locker-room access on the basis of biological sex.
The fifth annual MLK Voice 4 Youth contest shifted to an online competition this year, but that didn't stifle the passion contestants brought to their speeches.
Chalkbeat Philadelphia
Despite challenges, Martin Luther King's legacy lives on at namesake school in Philadelphia
Five decades later after Martin Luther King's assassination, the neighborhood school is fighting to provide a high-quality education.
About Avi Wolfman-Arent
@Avi_WA awolfmanarent@whyy.org


Even big companies are going to the wall these days.
So far this year, 104 banks have failed.
If one firm goes under it could provoke a cascade of bankruptcies.
Hundreds of restaurants went bust last year.


text:
Woody Allen's disgusting, tone-deaf, ridiculous memoir
"Woody Allen has produced one of the most tone-deaf, disgusting, bitter, self-pitying, horrifically un-put-downable memoirs since Mein Kampf."
Maureen Callahan
New York PostMarch 25, 20207:56am
Director Woody Allen is facing new allegations that he engaged in an affair with a teenager in the 1970s. Babi Christina Engelhardt, who was 16 at the time, claims she was in ...
Director Woody Allen is facing new allegations that he engaged in an affair with a teenager in the 1970s. Babi Christina Engelhardt, who was 16 at the time, claims she was in a relationship with the famous director for eight years. Mr Allen has not commented on this story.
(FILES) In this file photo taken on July 02, 2019 US director Woody Allen attends a press conference for the presentation of his stage production of Giacomo Puccini's one-act opera "Gianni Schicchi", at the Scala Opera House in Milan. - A leading publisher said March 6, 2020 it had decided not to release an autobiography of Woody Allen, who has long been accused of molesting his daughter, following an outcry and a staff walkout. "The decision to cancel Mr. Allen's book was a difficult one," Hachette said in a statement emailed to AFP, adding it would return all of the rights to the author. (Photo by Miguel MEDINA / AFP)Source:AFP
No better time for Woody Allen's black-listed memoir to drop.
#MeToo? Who cares? We're all about to die any minute now, and death is the only thing Allen has ever really cared about. It's a leitmotif through his work, and this memoir is the disgraced 84-year-old director's attempt to salvage his legacy.
Alas: Allen, unwittingly, has come to bury it.
RELATED: Woody Allen reveals details of relationship with Soon-Yi in new book
RELATED: Publisher drops Woody Allen memoir after fierce backlash
This aptly self-described "Roach in Winter" has produced one of the most tone-deaf, disgusting, bitter, self-pitying, horrifically un-put-downable memoirs since Mein Kampf.
Where to begin? He all but accuses ex Mia Farrow of having an incestuous relationship with their son Ronan. He takes note of Mia's "unnatural closeness with her son Fletcher," but never thinks to alert anyone, let alone call child services. Does he later hear stories of Mia violently abusing her children? Yes, and it's a real shame. Can you believe Mia had Ronan undergo painful surgery, which included breaking his legs, just to give him a little more height, "while I'm the one the judge sticks with a monitor"?
Woody Allen - and his controversial new memoir. Picture: APSource:AP
The injustice!
When Soon-Yi confides how much abuse she's suffering, Allen replies, "When Mia tries to hit you, duck."
Both Farrow and Allen are problematic people and probably terrible parents. But of the two, it's Allen who moves through life with the detachment of a psychopath.
Did he try to take a 16-year-old Mariel Hemingway to Paris, when he was directing her in Manhattan and in a position of power? Sure, but he "merely invited her." And yes, he also dated a very young actress named Stacey, who still lived with her parents and was the basis for Hemingway's character — romantically involved with Allen's 42-year-old character — but that was a "May-December" thing.
Before Mia, Allen famously dated Diane Keaton — then, not so famously, Keaton's sister Robin, then Keaton's other sister Dory.
Nothing to see here.
He had a perfect childhood, he says, which accounts for his inability to spot warning signs in relationships — like when Farrow purchased a summer home in Connecticut, which he calls Red Flag Number One. (All those years in therapy did nothing to hone his E.Q., apparently).
"A very convenient and pleasant arrangement," is how he describes his 13-years-long relationship with Farrow, one of the most celebrated of the late 20th century. As for those nude Polaroids of Soon-Yi that Allen left out on his mantel, discovered by Farrow — he's so hapless that he couldn't even work the camera! Soon-Yi was the one responsible for that little fiasco.
And at the height of his legal battle for the beloved daughter he was accused of molesting, Allen writes that losing custody wouldn't be the worst thing that could happen to him.
Allen accuses ex-wife Mia Farrow of an improper relationship with their son in his new book. Picture: AFPSource:AFP
A fatal brain tumour, on the other hand …
"I wasn't lying," he writes.
Allen's go-to defence throughout this book is that he was "naive." A born-and-bred New Yorker, a prodigy who went on to work in Hollywood with complete autonomy for decades, a media-savvy navigator of his own image, just cannot believe how he got here. He's denied every allegation Farrow levelled against him, but here concedes that yes, just once, he "might" have put his head on 7-year-old Dylan's lap, "for a moment."
Woody Allen has had his say. So has Hollywood, streaming services, the publishing industry, multiple actors who refuse to work with him, and the public at large.
We will never know what really happened with Dylan Farrow, but it's safe to say that a middle-aged man who groomed his girlfriend's teenage daughter and now boasts of "liberating" her like Nazi-occupied France is too creepy for polite society.
And with that, Woody Allen goes the way of Harvey Weinstein — not, Allen's sure to say, that Harvey ever produced a movie of his. Allen, after all, has standards.
This story originally appeared on the New York Post and is republished here with permission.
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As states work to implement new evaluation systems, the tenuous, if not ambiguous, relationship between value-added (VA) scores and principals' observations will need to get nailed down and better understood. New research by Douglas Harris, William Ingle and Stacey Rutledge provides some insight, asking, "How consistent are principals' impressions of their teachers with their value-added data?"
Researchers interviewed elementary and secondary principals in one Florida school district and asked them first to rate a sample of teachers on a number of different factors and second to give each teacher an overall score. These ratings were then compared with those teachers' value-added data.
Researchers found a positive but quite weak correlation between the principals' overall rating and their teachers' value-added scores. They also found that some principals perceived teachers with high VAM scores as working too often in isolation and participating too infrequently in school extracurricular activities. As a result, these principals often gave lower overall ratings to these teachers. Notably, principals were not aware of teachers' VAM scores at the time they rated teachers.
At least there was a strong, statistically significant correlation where it would most be expected, that is, when principals were only asked to judge teachers "teaching ability."


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Australonoe willani is a species of marine annelids in the family Polynoidae (scale worms), and the sole member of the genus Australonoe, known only from the south-east Indian Ocean at Rottnest Island, Western Australia.

Description
The body is short, with 39 segments bearing 16 pairs of elytra. The anterior margin of the prostomium has a pair of acute anterior peaks. The lateral antennae are inserted ventrally (beneath prostomium and median antenna). Palps, antennae, dorsal and ventral cirri bear papillae. The notochaetae are about as thick as the neurochaetae. Unidentate  (lacking a secondary tooth at the tips) and bidentate neurochaetae present. In life, the species has a reddish prostomium with the rest of body and elytra orange.

References

Phyllodocida
Animals described in 1993
Polychaete genera
Monotypic annelid genera


In the heart of Ontario, Bolton sits as a valley city with a rich history and a strong, supportive local community. The area surrounding Bolton offers a plethora of outdoor activities for those living in the city, ranging from skiing and tobogganing to hiking and fishing in the Albion Hills conservation area. With so much focus on the beautiful scenic surroundings that residents enjoy year-round, it is no surprise that homeowners in Bolton want to do what they can to keep the city full of charm and character. When it's time to paint your home, you should pick a company that's as dedicated to Bolton as you are. That's why you should hire the student painters of College Pro Bolton.
Winters in Ontario are not forgiving. The constant snow, sleet, and wind can break down the exterior of even the most beautiful homes if proper maintenance is not kept up to date. Chipping, cracking, and peeling paint can decrease the value of your home and lead to expensive maintenance issues in the future. Taking pride in the look of the neighborhood and individual homes is something Bolton residents are able to do easily with the help of College Pro Bolton.
We offers affordable options for exterior upkeep on homes throughout the year by utilizing student painters and window cleaning workers. With over 40 years of experience, College Pro Bolton passes down its professional business knowledge to motivated and hardworking students living within the Bolton community. College Pro Bolton hires student painters and trains them in every aspect of running a small business. This business knowledge provides them with what they need to give you amazing service while preparing them to succeed in the future. While our student painters and window cleaning workers are helping keep your home beautiful, you are making a direct investment back in to the community as well. Student painters are able to use the money they earn to pay for their education expenses. Contact the student painters of College Pro Bolton for a free house painting or window cleaning estimate today!
Excellent service. Very professional and easy to arrange and communicate with. We appreciate the reminders and the follow up. We have used college pro for years and will continue to do so.
Windows looked amazing. Especially where the BBQ was.


text:
Q: Clearing Screen in Swipl prolog in windows When you are running command prompt in windows you can type the clear command to clear the screen. How do you do the same thing when you are running swipl prolog (by typing swipl in the command prompt) in windows?

A: On unix terminals, there is the library(tty) resource and that has tty_clear/0, but windows terminals do not support the terminal library.  However, they do support ANSI Escape Codes.
Escape codes are character sequences starting with the ESC (escape) character, ASCII 0x1B = 27.  Most start with the control sequence introducer, which is the escape followed by a left bracker:  ESC [, known as the CSI.
So you can issue the code sequence for a screen clear, which is the ED (Erase Data) command, which takes the form:
CSI 2 J   -- which expands to: ESC [ 2 J

From SWI-Prolog this can be issued using the format/2 primitive.
format('~c~s', [0x1b, "[2J"]). % issue CSI 2 J

The ED 2 command, full terminal clear, on the MSDOS ANSI handling resets the cursor to top-left, but that is not necessarily the case on all terminals, so best to combine with the CUP (Cursor Position) command, which as a reset to home is simply: CSI H.
format('~c~s~c~s', [0x1b, "[H", 0x1b, "[2J"]). % issue CSI H CSI 2 J

Update: Simplification
Thanks to @CapelliC for an alternate and clearer form, using the \e escape code for escape!
Plain clear screen:
cls :- write('\e[2J').

Or with home reset:
cls :- write('\e[H\e[2J').

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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text:
Luxury apartments boom triggers paradoxical Swedish housing crisis
25 February 2019 | By GCR Staff | 1 Comment
For the first time since the crash of 2008, Sweden's housebuilders are having to buy back housing units that have not sold, Swedish TV station SVT reported on Friday.
At the same time, the country is experiencing a nationwide housing shortage.
One developer admitted it was building too many homes for the higher-end market.
HSB, a cooperative housing association, found that it was unable to sell apartments in the Stockholm area despite reducing their price 20%, and was then forced to buy back 120 of them – the first time it has had to do this for 10 years. Anders Lago, the chairman of HSB, said the state of the Swedish housing market was worse than during the crash, when the seizing up of credit flows reduced the availability of mortgages around the world.
In 2017, Boverket, the National Board of Housing, Building and Planning, said 255 of Sweden's 290 municipalities had fewer housing units than they need – the highest amount since the agency started recording figures.
And councils are struggling to provide accommodation for immigrants to the country, and those who arrange their own housing frequently experience "overcrowding, high second-hand rental costs, and severe worry about their living situation", according to a report published by the Stockholm County Administrative Board last November.
The reason for the simultaneous existence of a housing drought and market collapse is being attributed to developers' preference for building high-profit luxury apartments in big cities.
Lago said: "We have built an incredible selection of apartments, and I will also admit they were offered at high prices. Now both we and others have reason to feel critical of ourselves and ensure that the prices are pushed to bring down the costs."
He added that the collapse in demand would have an impact on the national economy. "We see that this can halve the construction starts this year compared with 2017 and 2018," he said. "Perhaps there will be a decline in GDP by half a percentage point."
SVT conducted a survey of Sweden's main construction companies and found that in total they have been forced to buy back more than 400 apartments – mainly in Stockholm, but also in cities such as Uppsala, Västerås and Örebro.
The survey did not include Skanska, the country's second largest domestic operator, which declined to put a figure on its buy-backs. However, Anders Danielsson, the chief executive of Skanska, told SVT that the collapse of the market was because "very expensive apartments" had been built, especially in the main urban centres. "They are apartments that most people cannot afford to buy or live in. As a result, there's now an oversupply of them," he said.
Meanwhile, Swedish housing website Booli reports that almost 10% of new-build apartments on the Swedish market have been reduced in price. Most reductions have taken place in Stockholm, where prices have been reduced by over 16%.
Image: Some 10% of new apartments in Sweden have had their asking price cut. Photo for illustrative purposes only (Dreamstime)
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Down here in the south of England we are heading for a similar problem not with apartments but a glut of expensive 3 & 4 bedroom detached on high density estates. At the same time overloading local authority provided services like schools and the NHS hospitals and local surgeries.
D L Smith on February 25th 2019
Middle class nailed: Study shows construction apprenticeships rival degrees in earning power
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Netherlands plans 40km-long solar farm alongside motorway


Lu'au Hale, 799 Pi'ilani St, Hilo, Hawai'i on Tuesday, December 6, 2016 at 9:00 A.M. The entire amount bid must be paid in full at the time of sale.
be sold as advertised. ALL OF THE PROPERTIES ARE OFFERED "AS IS" AND WITHOUT ANY WARRANTIES AS TO TITLE OR PHYSICAL CONDITION.
the purchaser was required to pay, including the fee for recording the deed, and in addition thereto, interest on such amount at the rate of twelve percent (12%) a year.


Not usually known for their suiting options A.P.C. hits onto something wonderful with this two button suit in anthracite. Made of 100% cotton twill, the remarkable fine finish on the cotton makes it seem almost wool-like. Meanwhile, the cut is conservative yet modern, with a two-button, hacking pocket, notched lapel design. A must have for the stylish young man this year. Available online now.


text:
Bill Wagner · Aug. 1, 2018
Now that the Tour de France is over, it's time to get back to the serious business of pontificating. When confronted with the daunting task of choosing a topic, it hit me just how many significant events had occurred in just the last 10 days. The world is moving at Trump speed. So rather than delve into a single item, let's try a quick recap.
Can anyone recall the name of the Russian woman who was indicted for what the media called "being a Russian spy"? This was the latest in a long line of events that were sure to prove Russian collusion with Trump. She was accused of trying to worm her way into influential GOP circles, including the NRA and the prayer breakfast, "to advance the cause of Russia." Of course, that doesn't make her a spy but rather an "agent" of Russia, and what she was charged with was not "spying" but acting as a "foreign agent" without registering as such. If that were strictly enforced, half of K Street would be behind bars, but the opportunity to put "spy," "Russia," and "Trump" in the same sentence was too good for Democrats to pass up. She even showed up at a Trump press conference and asked him a question, so that clinched the collusion angle.
The story had a shelf life of about 10 seconds once the facts diverged. But this one hit home for me, because I know a female Russian spy when I see one. Some years ago, a Russian named Anna Chapman was accused of being a real spy. She was arrested, pleaded guilty, and was sent packing as part of a U.S.-Russia prisoner swap. Chapman tried to get close to influential government officials, and potentially compromise them, by working as a tax accountant for a New York City CPA firm to gain access to their financial records. It happened to be the accounting firm that does my tax returns, so I was dragged into the inquiry briefly, but evidently she thought I wasn't worth the effort, since my records were not part of the case. Yet another reason not to go into politics.
Speaking of women in the news, can anyone name the Georgetown Law grad who was the poster child for the Democrat push toward government-controlled health care back in the Barack Obama days? Here's a hint: She was all over the media for weeks demanding that birth control should be part of the required "essential benefits" included in ObamaCare insurance policies. She succeeded in putting GOP ObamaCare opponents back on their heels by painting anyone who disagreed with her as "anti-woman," and that was in spite of her total lack of understanding of what insurance is. Heartstrings were pulled, but she missed the fact that insurance is simply the transference of risk for unforeseen events to another party for a fee. Payment in advance for anything that occurs predictably and regularly, like changing the oil in your car or taking birth control pills, is just prepaying an expense, not shielding one from unexpected costs. It makes no economic sense to pay someone else a fee to take that off your plate. But at least her fame was measured in minutes.
Fast-forward to the latest darling of the Left, the 25-year-old democratic socialist (whatever that means) woman from New York City who defeated the number four Democrat in a recent primary. Her platform is open borders, abolishing ICE, single-payer health care, guaranteed minimum income, $15 minimum wage, housing as a human right, ending the war on drugs, elimination of fossil fuels, and free college for all. Paid for by making everyone pay their fair share in taxes, instituting a carbon tax, and "you know like not giving the military you know all those new atom bombs and you know like jets and things that they don't even want … fer shure" (that's a rough quote). And in a glorified statement of the obvious about the dearth of Democrat ideas, Democrats are embracing her as the latest progressive shiny penny and falling all over themselves to embrace a platform that is supported by dozens of American voters. You go girl!
Trump's trade moves, involving imposing tariffs to try to level the playing field, were characterized by Democrats and Never-Trumpers as the end of the world as we know it … until it wasn't. It took the EU about a week to come to DC and agree to what Trump has been pushing for all along — free trade with no tariffs on either side. Maybe the best way to get back to zero is to let the other side decide if it would like equality at zero tariffs or 60% for both. It's called negotiation, and Trump is the first in a long time who is willing to use the economic clout of the U.S. to get to free and fair trade.
Comey may be the most skilled operator ever in making himself the darling of the Democrats and the devil incarnate in the same week. First he cleared Hillary Clinton, then was forced to reopen the case when her emails were found on Carlos Danger's computer days before the election. Comey cleared her on that as well, but it is likely that the association with the sexter-in-chief (who is now serving time) cost Hillary some votes. Now in the private sector, but still thinking of himself as the smartest guy in the room whose opinion is the only one that counts, Comey issued a plea for voters to pull the Democrat lever in November. Then a couple days later, he hedged a bit by urging Democrats not to embrace progressive candidates, stating that "the great middle of America wants sensible, balanced and ethical leadership." Oops. Looks like Jim forgot to check where all the Democrat enthusiasm is these days. His dissing has now earned him time in the penalty box. His best move was getting the book out before the curtain fell.
For months I urged Trump to declassify the FISA warrant process. That was a tough call for me since I realized that much of the FISA process should be confidential, but the continuing erosion of American faith in the justice system and law enforcement overrode those concerns. So imagine my glee when the news broke that the FISA applications were going to be released thanks to a FOIA request. Then the actual docs appeared, but it seemed like 90% was redacted. There was enough to show that the phony dossier played a major role in the application and that it was not verified independently by the FBI in a blatant violation of protocols. Nor was it disclosed to the judge that Team Hillary commissioned and paid for the dossier, an even greater breach of protocol. But "other" support rationales for the application were blacked out, leaving us back where we started — uncertainty over what else beside the dossier may have provided cover, and continuing dueling memos. It continues to escape me why Trump won't declassify all the application docs and transcripts. Maybe he thinks that disclosure would have more impact closer to the midterms, but I still believe that the damage to the public faith in our institutions calls for the release of everything now.
So Donald Trump Jr. and a couple others get together with a Russian lawyer who claimed to have dirt on Hillary in Trump Tower before the election. The dirt turns out not to exist. They chat for a few minutes and leave. No harm, no foul. Everyone claims Trump was not aware of the meeting. End of story, no? Well, no. Along comes Trump lawyer Michael Cohen claiming to have tapes proving Trump knew the meeting was going to happen. The "impeach Trump" crowd goes ballistic. Finally the smoking gun! Seems like a nothing burger to me. All that happened was an agreement to listen to what another party claimed to have as opposition research — an everyday occurrence in campaign land. Since nothing came of it and nothing exchanged hands, it seems irrelevant whether Trump knew about it or not. The law refers to "solicitation" of foreign involvement and obtaining "things of value," neither of which occurred. So what's the big deal even if Trump knew about it in advance? Certainly there's nothing to justify the breathless reactions of Democrats, but anti-Trump hope springs eternal.
I am puzzled though why this is such a huge violation of campaign laws in comparison to, say, hiring a law firm to hire an opposition research firm to actively solicit foreign (i.e., Russian) sources to dig up dirt on your political opponent, which is then used both in the campaign and in obtaining warrants to spy on that same opposition campaign by the government, which was funneling the results of the spying back to the very campaign that started the ball rolling. Sure smells like "solicitation" of "things of value" from a foreign source, but that's just me.
Then part two surfaces in the form of a payment made by a magazine to a Playboy Bunny for the exclusive rights to her story of a supposed yearlong affair with Trump. The magazine ultimately decided not to publish the story. According to Democrats, this is another smoking gun on the theory that Trump was involved in the deal during the campaign, and so the money paid by the magazine constituted a "campaign contribution" that was not disclosed, since it was for the purpose of helping Trump get elected by putting a potentially damaging story in the drawer.
There are a couple of problems with that interpretation. Conviction would require showing that Trump was motivated solely by campaign concerns. It would also need to show that the magazine spiked the story solely to help Trump get elected, and that editorial discretion played no part at all. It would seem a heavy lift, and it would also seem that if the Cohen tapes showed guilt they would already have leaked. And exactly how would it be any different from, say, The New York Times using its news sections as op-eds because it knew Trump had to be stopped? The Times made no secret of the fact that the only reason it did this was to help the Hillary campaign. Endorsements are one thing, but really?
Trump has offered to meet with Iran with no preconditions. Of course, it turned him down, since it still thinks it can peel Europe away from the U.S. when sanctions kick in. But trust Trump's instinct here: The Iranian economy is on the brink of imploding, and a shove from sanctions could give Trump enormous negotiating leverage to cut a real deal with Iran on nukes and regional behavior. Trade, investment, and energy purchases are the keys, and there is no way Europe will defy the U.S. if Trump stays on message. The Iranian natives are getting restless, and it's good to be king. We could be seeing the early stages of another positive world order shift. All Democrats can do is pine for Team Obama to put the nuke deal back in.
Finally, when was the last time you heard the name "Brett Kavanaugh"? Don't worry: Anti-Kavanaugh Democrat fervor will resurface soon — the base and donor crowd will demand it — and it will play right into the GOP's hands.
The reason Democrats can't get any traction with anything except an anti-Trump platform is because things are happening too, so they are left only with negative generalities on Trump. Eventually, attacks on Kavanagh will join the platform, but that's as far as Democrats will go. With nothing positive to offer, they are reduced to spinning everything Trump in as bad a light as possible. They even tried to couch 4.1% growth as not sustainable. That may rally the radical Democrat base, but telling folks to ignore the good news in their pocketbooks is not a winning election strategy. When Kavanagh is confirmed in October, Democrats will have nowhere to go, and the blue wave will be a trickle. Welcome to life at the speed of Trump.
Don't miss Bill Wagner and other great columnists. Subscribe today!


Ron Shock is a comedian with one hell of a life story. His career path includes priest in training, chain gang member, attempted jewel thief and subsequent guest at a maximum security penitentiary, computer programmer in the U.S. Army, and Vice President of a Fortune 500 company. At age 40 he had an epiphany, and became a stand-up comedian. We talk with Ron about his life, love of music, job as concert financer for the Australian Odyssey Festival, affair with one of James Brown's backup singers, and about his experience as an opening act for Ringo Starr. Part 1 of 2.
Ron Shock is featured on Marc Maron's podcast WTF 54, a great reference, with broader focus on his comedy career, and highly recommended listening. More stories from the master!
Credits: "MLR Intro" by "Rob McCann", "Whiskey on the Mississippi" by "Kevin MacLeod", "Van Seats" by "Ron Shock", "There It Is" by "Kevin MacLeod, "Ham and Cheese Sandwich" by "Ron Shock", "Whiskey on the Mississippi" by "Kevin MacLeod".


It's so good to have a brave big brother!
I was playing nice and quietly (as always) with my brother Dexter, chewing on momma's furniture and our toy basket when I heard this BANG!... loud noise, sounded like a gun shot just behind my tail (you know what I mean). Dexter and I immediately ran through the doggie door at the speed of sound, looking back for daddy's assurance that we are safe and sound.
March 23, 2017 was the day when I met my new family just a little over 2 weeks ago. Boy, what a rough day! First they took me away from my German Shepherd relatives, the only family I have known so far and introduced me to my new brother, named Dexter. They told me he's my cousin actually, but man, what a goofy looking guy! He is 2 weeks older than me, taller and has floppy ears and big paws. I have to show him I'm in charge here. Attack is the best form of defense, right?


Eventually (or inevitably), he caught whiff of wolf, and a glance up from his own paws revealed this was the one he was looking for. "... Hello," the lion started self-consciously. "Are you Aysu?"
To say Aysu was in hiding would be a good observation and a fair statement. Not in a literal sense, she was still living in the same place, walking the beaches in search of items to make into jewelry, bowls, dyes, and the like, but she found herself avoiding most everyone since... she inhaled shakily, turning her face to the sun.
She closed her bi-colored eyes to the brightness of the light, feeling the warmth of it on her fur, smelling the salt air of the sea. Raikov was gone. Long gone. Dead. She knew it and yet she found herself running from it instead of accepting it. Losing Brielle to an unknown fate was hard enough to deal with but she couldn't yet look in the face of the truth of Raikov's death. Yes, his son had been one of the ones to take over when he left, but she had no real ties to him. It felt so strange to just be a Crafter and Navigator once more, leaving behind the sense of station she got from sitting at his side.
Aysu turned when she heard her name, setting her paws in the sand as the lion approached her. Wow, he's a big boy, she thought, tilting her head. Her black headscarf fluttered in the breeze, obsidian dagger swinging against her tattooed chest. "I am. Can I help you?"


text:
Sydney Nsw
Deborah Hutton's 'forever home' for sale
Style icon Deborah Hutton's magnificent Bronte home is on the market and it is expected to fetch an eight figure sum.
Stephen Nicholls
@_SteveNicholls
Style icon Deborah Hutton's magnificent Bronte home is headed for November 27 auction with a $10m price guide.
I was impressed from the minute I walked up the front steps through the Myles Baldwin-landscaped front garden.
The wide white-timber-panelled entrance hall with its grand staircase feels welcoming.
I said "wow" as Hutton proudly showed me her "multipurpose" space, I loved the master bedroom and the sauna, and I let out a double "wow" when I saw the upstairs.
Deborah Hutton's beautiful Bronte home is for sale.
With the eastern beaches property market booming, Hutton, along with agents Michael Pallier, managing director of Sotheby's, and Bethwyn Richards, of The Agency, who have the listing, have every reason to be confident.
MORE: Deborah Hutton leaves 'the madness' behind
Bachelor couple lists stunning Sydney home
The Bronte house price record was smashed a few weeks back with the sale of 1 Marine Drive for $23.5m and Tamarama's fell last week when a home fronting Tamarama Marine Drive went for more than $25m.
Pallier describes Hutton's house as "beautiful … you could spend $100m and I don't think you could replicate it". Richards says: "It's incredible, magnificent."
Talking to this megastar – she's had such a rich life so far, being a model, magazine editor, TV personality and homewares queen – it soon became clear that Covid, and what she calls the "watershed moment" of approaching 60, have been hugely motivational.
"If I'm in this room alone I don't feel alone – it's a cosy big room," Hutton says.
The home has a $10m price guide.
Hutton is leaving the eastern suburbs behind.
Hutton's decided she wants a simpler life. A veggie patch. And a family home.
She's not sure where she's moving to yet – somewhere coastal; possibly the "northern beaches" of Wollongong and certainly no more than "an hour and a bit" from Sydney; her beloved Sydney Swans and her golf club at Rosebery.
And whereas her Bronte home was built with purely herself in mind, she says "my future is not me being solo".
It's with the new love of her life, meditation guru Andrew Marsh.
"So that's why it's exciting for me to move on and plan more of a family home, you know – and no, I'm not pregnant," she laughs.
She says her next house will be bigger.
Hutton bought what was then a 1920s freestanding cottage for $3.8m in 2015 and rebuilt it
Hutton has lived in the home for five years.
Fantastic views of Bronte and Tamarama.
"I've got nephews in the Southern Highlands – they're in Bowral, 14 and 16 – so I want to build a house down near there, so that they can come and stay. So it's going to have more bedrooms," she says.
Her current home has been perfect for her and would be ideal for a couple.
It has three bedrooms – one that she calls a "multipurpose room", where friends from the US who came for dinner ended up staying for a month during Covid, but that is also her meditation room.
Hutton bought what was then a 1920s freestanding cottage for $3.8m in 2015 and rebuilt it. It was the view from the "little lounge" of the house, built on Bronte's most elevated position, that won her over.
Demand for blue chip homes in Bronte is strong.
The house has three bedrooms, two bathrooms and a car spot.
The home sits on n Bronte's most elevated position.
She says the huge upstairs living room, with extraordinary views up and down the coastline, "makes my heart sing every time I walk up those stairs".
"I love the fact that I can see sunrises, moonrises, whales; I love the feeling that if I'm in this room alone I don't feel alone – it's a cosy big room," she says. "And then you go downstairs and I love my bathroom and I go in there and soak myself in a tub. And then I go and have an infra-red sauna and come back out and have a shower and I feel like I've done an entire spa afternoon."
Bliss.
Deborah Hutton will be hosting: Find Your Dream Home on Foxtel in 2022.
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Boy, 6, Killed in Freak MRI Accident
July 31, 2001 -- A 6-year-old boy died after undergoing an MRI exam at a New York-area hospital when the machine's powerful magnetic field jerked a metal oxygen tank across the room, crushing the child's head.
The force of the device's 10-ton magnet is about 30,000 times as powerful as Earth's magnetic field, and 200 times stronger than a common refrigerator magnet.
The canister fractured the skull and injured the brain of the young patient, Michael Colombini, of Croton-On-Hudson, N.Y., during the procedure Friday. He died of the injuries on Sunday, the hospital said.
The routine imaging procedure was performed after Colombini underwent surgery for a benign brain tumor last week. Westchester Medical Center officials said he was under sedation at the time of the deadly accident.
Hospital Takes 'Full Responsibility'
"The medical center assumes full responsibility for the accident. Our sorrow is immeasurable and our prayers and our thoughts are with the child's family," the hospital's president and CEO, Edward Stolzenberg, said in a statement.
The medical center, which is located 15 miles north of New York City in Valhalla, reported the accident as required, and the state health department sent investigators to the scene Monday. The hospital said it was conducting its own inquiry as well.
A medical center spokeswoman would not say who brought the canister into the room.
"He was a delightful 6-year-old boy," remembered Lois Gimple Shaukat, a neighbor of the family. "He, you know, had … big eyes and a bright smile."
Procedure Considered Safe and Effective
"These tend to be extremely safe machines if used properly," said Dr. Emanuel Kanal, the director of magnetic resonance services in the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center's Department of Radiology, and a widely recognized expert on MRI safety.
He estimates between 8 million and 10 million MRI procedures are performed in the United States each year, the vast majority without complications.
Nevertheless, in the years since the device first went into widespread use, there have been "hundreds or thousands" of incidents where objects became magnetized and attracted to MRI machines, he notes. The items have included cigarette lighters, paper clips, clipboards, and similar objects.
Last year, an MRI scan at a Rochester, N.Y., hospital pulled a gun out of a police officer's hand and discharged a shot.
"But [such incidents] are still the extreme minority," and serious injury from items magnetized by MRIs is even rarer, he said.
Kanal stressed that technicians are typically extremely well-trained and careful to screen for potentially dangerous items.
Personnel Trained to Look Out for Problem Objects
"It is unusual for any accident to happen around an MRI because MRI personnel are generally very trained … well trained to look out for such metal objects," agrees Denise Leslie, a private radiologist.
MRI machines have markings around them indicating the dangerous magnetic field, she explained.
The devices are generally considered extremely safe, but some people, such as those with pacemakers, generally cannot be scanned. The intense magnetic field can interfere with the function of certain electronic devices, and will easily erase credit card strips.
Tooth fillings and orthopedic implants are generally not problematic, Kanal said, but there are rare exceptions, such as temporary magnetic root caps.
The National Institutes of Health has stressed the danger of leaving objects that can be magnetized near the machine.
"The most important known risk is the projectile effect, which involves the forceful attraction of ferromagnetic objects to the magnet," the NIH concluded after a conference studying the devices in 1987.
Magnetic resonance imaging uses electromagnetic waves to produce highly detailed 3-dimensional images of the body. The device was invented in the early 1970s and first used on humans in 1977.
COVID live updates: Breakthrough cases grew fourfold during omicron


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Mixed Reviews For Arcata's Pot Code – July 21, 2010
Daniel Mintz
Eye Correspondent
ARCATA – Arcata's Land Use Code on medical marijuana cultivation is seen as a regulatory model but the City's planning director gives it "mixed reviews" for effectiveness.
The shortcoming, said Community Development Director Larry Oetker, lies not with the code itself but with having local governments regulate cannabis production.
"It needs to be regulated statewide and that burden should not be passed onto local governments," Oetker said. "Anyone who thinks they have the capacity to do that is not thinking clearly, it's too big a burden and having different standards makes no sense."
Oetker is nevertheless "quite proud" of Arcata's response to the demand for controlling the production of marijuana in the City's residential neighborhoods.
The code, adopted in December, 2008, limits residential marijuana growing space to 50 feet (although up to 100 square feet may be allowed if personal medical conditions call for it), caps lighting at 1,200 watts and bans sales out of homes.
It also regulates co-ops and dispensaries. The control of residential growing has been more of an issue but Oetker thinks the code's dispensary regulation aspect is more important because it sets up a system for non-residential cultivation.
The County is using Arcata's code as a model for a new medical marijuana ordinance and the state's Attorney General's Office has referred to it as an innovative approach.
But how well has it worked in practice?
"It's a big issue and we haven't solved the marijuana problem in Arcata with this set of rules, because we could only tackle certain aspects of this problem," Oetker said.
The issues involved with residential cultivation are "bigger than the City of Arcata," he continued. And there are also issues with using laws to control an aspect of the City's culture.
"A lot of this is simply a matter of lifestyle choices – and I'm not in the business of changing lifestyles," Oetker said.
The residential part of the code has been enforced 10 times and inspections have mostly uncovered electrical violations, Oetker reported. One case is still outstanding but the others have been cleared, with violations fixed.
Most of the inspections that resulted in enforcement actions were done with the assistance of police, said Oetker, but he didn't know if any criminal cases were launched because "that's not our purview."
But he added that if "illegal activities" are noticed, they're reported to police.
Oetker's department works with the county Drug Task Force along with fire, building and land use departments in investigations. The probes stem from complaints and when they're verified, the property owner or resident believed to be in violation of the code is sent a letter asking to set up an inspection.
Oetker said that most of the time, an inspection is agreed to but when it isn't, police become involved.
Either way, if an inspection shows no violations, the case is closed. But if building and/or fire officials see things that are wrong – including out-of-code electrical and lighting rigs – PG&E is called in to shut off electricity.
The power stays turned off until the building official confirms that the violations are cleared. If violations remain outstanding long enough, a Notice to Abate Nuisance can be issued and the City Council can declare the property a public nuisance and levy fines.
Oetker's department concentrates on land use compliance. "We play a crucial role but we're not police," he said. "Our job is to get the property back to a residential use."
Controversy over residential cultivation has quieted somewhat. "We're not getting the same level of complaints," Oetker said. But he added, "I still believe there's the same level of concern in the community."
Tags: Cannabis, Land Use Code, grow house
This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 21st, 2010 at 8:33 am	and is filed under News, Community. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.


If you're looking for "the bare necessities", listen to old Baloo: "They'll come to you". We just show you where.
udyard Kipling was inspired by reality to write his 'Jungle Book'. In fact, he based his stories on an account told to him by a British solider, Sir William Henry Sleeman, who documented up to six cases of wild children raised by a pack of wolves, just like Mowgli. But there's no evidence of the mesmerising snake, the vengeful tiger and the singing monkeys, Kipling really did invent them.
What wasn't the product of his imagination, or at least not entirely, are the Indian jungle landscapes where the 'man-cub' has his adventures. Kipling, a British subject born in Bombay, worked as a reporter in India for several years. Despite this, he never travelled to Madhya Pradesh, the state that experts think was the setting for the children's story. The trees Mowgli climbs, the stream where he splashes around with Baloo, the grasslands he walks through with Bagheera, and even the ruins of Monkey City are all to be found here. But not necessarily in the same location. The jungle in 'Jungle Book' is actually a 'remix' of the various landscapes you can see in this region.
The Tiger Project, found in most national parks, is an initiative by the Indian government to protect its most prized animal.
As well as other national parks in Madhya Pradesh, like Saptura or Kanha (the largest one in the region, covering 940 square kilometres), the Disney team were inspired by locations outside India to create their digital jungle, like the Sabah rainforests in Borneo.
Many of them are in Pench National Park, 'real jungle with real Shere Khans', according to the Madhya Pradesh tourist office. The park is situated between the districts of Chhindwara and Seoni, and it was in the latter where in 1831, a feral child like the one Kipling read about was found. Plus, the first sentence in the book talks about some hills, the Seeonee hills, a fictional but suspiciously similar name. With lush forests and huge expanses of grassland, Pench National Park has one of the highest herbivore populations in India. Covering a total area of 757 square kilometres, it's remarkable mainly for its game reserve, where you can spot Bengal tigers, now an endangered species. It's estimated that around 65 individuals live in the reserve. They share the area with hundreds of animals, including 285 types of birds and sloth bears like Baloo.
The tiger also reigns supreme in Bandhavgarh National Park. Along with Ranthambore National Park, it's one of the best places in India to see them roaming free. But it's not so easy to spot the exotic white tiger, even though this is it's original home. None have been seen for more than 60 years. The last one, Mohan, was domesticated by the Maharajah when Bandhavgarh was still a private hunting ground.
Bandhavgarh National Park has the world's highest population of Bengal tigers.
Standing on top of a hill and surrounded by vegetation is Bandhavgarh fort, after which the park is named. It's more than 2,000 years old and according to legend, it was a gift from Rama to his younger brother. Nature has regained control over the site and nowadays it's home to several species of vulture. Kipling's Lost City is inspired by this kind of abandoned building, although in 'The Jungle Book' it was the monkeys that made the ruins their hideout. The 'Bandar-log', as the author calls them, have changed their profile: in the Disney animated film their king was an orang-utan, which would be impossible, as you don't find these apes in India. In the 2016 version, which was completely computer generated, King Louie was a Gigantopithecus, an extinct primate that lived in India, China and south-east Asia. A nod towards mingling science and fiction. Happy hunting!
Bandhavgarh National Park is home to 80 species of mammals and up to 250 bird species.


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Home > Unlabelled > UEFA Fines Turkish Football Federation After Military Salutes by Players
UEFA Fines Turkish Football Federation After Military Salutes by Players
"The CEDB has decided ... to fine the Turkish Football Federation €50,000 as an overall punishment, to include inter alia the crowd disturbances by its supporters on the occasion of the UEFA European Championship 2020 Qualifying Round match between the national teams of Turkey and France on 14 October 2019," the UEFA said in a statement.
Turkey won against the Albanians on 11 October in Istanbul with 1-0 score and reached a 1-1 draw with the French on 14 October in Saint-Denis.
Sixteen Turkish players have also been reprimanded for manifestations of a non-sporting nature as their military salutes have been considered inappropriate due to the political context of the matches.
On 9 October, Turkey launched Operation Peace Spring in northeastern Syria to clear the area of Kurdish units and the Daesh* terrorist group.
The international community has largely decried the Turkish incursion, arguing it could worsen the humanitarian situation in the region and hamper efforts to resolve the Syrian crisis.
*Daesh (also known as IS/ISIS/ISIL/Islamic State) is a terrorist group banned in Russia.


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How to Train Like a Sailor
Nine months on the open water racing a 66-foot sailboat around the world is an endurance feat like no other. Here's how the winning team prepared for the task.
On the way to Itajai in the Volvo Ocean Race, Luke Parkinson adjusts the daggerboard in the pit. (Matt Knighton/Abu Dhabi Ocean Ra)
Photo: Matt Knighton/Abu Dhabi Ocean Ra
Julie Dugdale
Team Abu Dhabi sailed its way to victory on June 22 to wrap up the prestigious Volvo Ocean Race around the world—and it wasn't by happenstance. Nor was it because of superior boat design or technical advantage. For the first time in the race's nearly 40-year history, each of the seven teams raced a boat that was uniformly designed, so factors like aerodynamics didn't affect speed. In other words: It was an athlete's race to win or lose.
What was the secret? Natural athleticism, sure. Getting in good enough shape to regularly lift and haul 1.5 tons of equipment with each tack and jibe in 20-foot swells? That required a rigorous six-month dry-land training program and continual fitness support throughout the race—and it just might be what pushed Team Abu Dhabi over the edge to clinch the title in the world's most unforgiving sailing contest.
"It makes a huge difference in the race," says veteran bowman/trimmer/helmsman Justin Slattery. "With only eight crew [the boat has capacity for 12], the physical demands are significant. We've got six guys grinding [hand-cranking the winches to maneuver and power the boat], and you can see the difference boat-to-boat."
Parkinson grabs the lazy sheet off the A3 before changing sails in the Pacific Ocean en route to Auckland, New Zealand. (Matt Knighton/Abu Dhabi Ocean Ra)
One of the most important goals in pre-race training for an event of this physical caliber and duration, says Abu Dhabi's sports science manager Pete Cunningham, is simply injury prevention. Losing a set of hands to a busted shoulder or torn muscle can be a massive setback in a race where sleep comes in four-hour shifts at best—though you're lucky to get three hours—and exhaustion is the status quo. "We tried to look at what you do on the boats," Cunningham says. "So it's lots of lifting and back work, lots of weights, and lots of core training."
Naturally, he says, the lower body will deteriorate a bit when you spend three or four weeks at a time at sea, but squats and lunges can combat that problem on board (although mostly, precious free time goes to sleeping). It's critical, though, to maintain upper body mass and strength. "You start the race quite healthy and fit, in the best shape," says bowman/helmsman Luke Parkinson, 25. "And over nine months of intense racing, you slowly decline in fitness levels and health. Just having a cough can slowly wear you down."
Cunningham's pre-race program, a mix of circuit training, weight training, and cardio, was aimed to minimize the potential for decline and injury. During the race, team physiotherapist Pierre Ainscow worked with the crew during stopovers to help them recover and retain as much of their acquired fitness as possible. The other key demand both before and during the race: energy. "Half my job was looking at their diets," Cunningham says. "We worked very hard at putting together 6,000 to 7,000 calories per day."
The team arrived in Cascais, Portugal, six months before the race to begin training together. Five or six days a week, the crew met for morning workouts at 7 a.m. before heading out for a full day of sailing. "We're all a very competitive bunch, and we pushed ourselves pretty hard," Slattery says. "It was very intense."
If you're thinking about an extreme endurance adventure of your own, Team Abu Dhabi's hard-core pre-race training plan is guaranteed to get you in rock solid, ready-for-anything shape. Below, Cunningham shares a typical week of his program.
Four times per week (minimum of eight hours total)
Prolonged steady state aerobic exercise: 90- to 120-minute gym sessions on a bike, rower, or treadmill. You can mix it up on different machines. Outside cycling requires a minimum of two hours.
Three sessions per week, weights vary
Chest and shoulders: Push ups (2 sets, 20 reps), bench press (4 sets, 8-10 reps), incline bench press (3 sets, 10 reps), push press (3 sets, 8 reps), shot putt (3 sets, 8 reps), rear delt row (3 sets, 10 reps), curls (3 sets, 8 reps), pushdowns (3 sets, 8 reps).
Legs and back: Deadlifts (4 sets, 8-10 reps), cable squat to row (4 sets, 8 reps), one-arm dumbbell snatch (4 sets, 8 reps), bent over row (3 sets, 8 reps), lat pull-downs (3 sets, 8 reps), seated row (3 sets, 8 reps), Uni rotational row (3 sets, 8 reps).
Abs and Core
Three sessions per week (directly after weights)
20 reps each of crunches, bicycle crunches, oblique crunches, sit ups, flat back leg lifts, flat back toe touches, jack knifes, bridge crunches, and hollow holds.
30 reps each of planks, one-leg planks, side planks, side planks and abduction, and V-ups
Substitute for an aerobic session once per week
60-minute circuit: 2 sets of 20 reps for each of the following: squat, uni rotational row, push-up, bent-over row, rower machine, overhead press, rear delt row, flat fly, seated row, cable pushdown, sit up, spin bike, curl, lying leg raise, hi-lo chop, lower body twist, chop, treadmill jog 500 meters
Filed To: Sailing / Events
The Coach That Meets You in Your Inbox


HomeReMixesSuper Smash Bros. for Wii U "Got My Mind on My Money Match"
"Menu", "Super Smash Bros. Brawl Main Theme"
NEW FREE ALBUM - Apex 2015: This Is the Moment!!
"Another year, another Apex album! As always, I'm excited to present another entry into our FGC-oriented album series. Players from all over the world train all year and travel from far and wide to find their moment at Apex, so this year's album is called "This Is the Moment" and it's all about everything they do and all the hard work they put in culminating in a battle of epic proportions. This year, we've got lots of great remixes from your favorite artists, covering old games and new games alike, with some killer album artwork to boot (from our Mega Man 25th anniversary album artist, rnn!).
We always have such a great time heading out to Apex and watching all the players absolutely destroy at Smash and all the other games out there, and every year the event only gets bigger and better. We're looking forward to doing more albums in the future, but for now, enjoy "This Is the Moment," and GET HYPE!!"
"One of my favorite memories from Apex was when we were selling some stuff at our table and one of the attendees came up to our booth and was interested in buying something. When Deia told him the price, he looked in his wallet and saw he didn't have enough, so he said, "Alright, Imma go money match for 5 bucks real quick!" and he ran off. The dubiousness of money matches aside, it was a hilarious moment and it was great seeing someone so matter-of-factly confident about his skills.
This track has a lot of fun stuff going on, the foremost being the percussion track that uses a random arpeggiator to provide dynamically-generated variations to the drum patterns. This is a technique I used before in my Eevee EP remix, and at this point it feels like an indispensable part of my repertoire. I wanted to develop a very serious, dark energy at the start, which is why chords don't actually change until the second time through the melody. I used the Brawl theme as a backing track to the solo section because it's always been my favorite Smash theme and it has a simplicity that lets it sit underneath more complicated melodic lines without sounding messy. I really enjoyed how this mix came out, and I hope everyone else does too."
Shariq's LAST mix was from the FIRST Apex album, back in 2013, so it's been awhile since he popped up on the OCR homepage with a new featured mix. Without being overtly edgy or aggressive, this mix still has great energy & variety; I especially liked the interplay between the chippish lead and staccato string lines @ 2'02" & the ensuing syncopation, which really soars. There's a lot of structure & development to the piece, and in true DarkeSword fashion, he gets a lot of mileage out of every instrument/component he employs. A classy ending holds a single note out past the diminishing delays of the accompanying synth lines - nice. What I like most about this mix is that it very much has the FEEL of playing a match with someone - the back-and-forth, the analysis & development, and the individual moments where it seems like time slows down and everything hinges on a single outcome. Shariq's captured that specific topology in musical form with one of his best mixes yet; great stuff from another great Apex album!
Nice crunchy saw to open, with an interesting beat accompanying it making this a stand-out track already. I like the semi-laidback energy of this track; it keeps the mood quite chill while making sure the groove never fades out. The lead has an excellent tone; not too bright but clear enough to make it stand out. Overall a surprisingly relaxing mix.
I too was expecting something a little more intense for a Smash Bros remix on a fighting remix album. It's a decent surprise, and still worth a listen. Seems more like lobby room music than fighting music, but I'm cool with that. Nothing wrong with a more relaxing arrangement of a Smash Bros remix.
I just recently played this game for the first time. On a black-and-white TV, actually, but hey! Full retro! If I recall correctly, I sent myself flying off the stage twice in a row as Little Mac. Good times. I agree with the assessment that the Brawl theme sits in the background pretty well, although I never really noticed that before. Cool. The track as a whole is a bit more relaxed and loose than I'd expect for an album compiled for a fighting game tournament, but hey, good fights can use thought and patience as well as them ridiculously fast combos. I approve of the synth choices, and the pads help hold things together. Nice work!
Sounds cool to hear these sources done in such a cerebral, players thinking kind of way. Fun to hear it ReMixed like this rather stuck in full blast with nothing behind it. Great use of synthy elements. Very nice.
"Super Smash Bros. Brawl Main Theme"


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Joe Reidy
When he's not involved in making a film, Joe Reidy is likely to be watching one–haunting screenings at the Film Forum, MOMA, Lincoln Center, or the Tribeca Film Festival, soaking up anything and everything for the "storehouse of visual references" he brings to his work.
It's an obsession that's helped fuel his relationship with director Martin Scorsese through 20 years and 11 projects. "We have that love of film in common," admits Reidy. "He encourages it and it helps us with a shorthand. He'll often give me an assignment, a 'you should see this,' just so we can draw on it at some later time."
Scorsese first hired Reidy in 1986 to help him work out technical pool shots for The Color of Money in Chicago. He's been 1st AD on nearly every feature the director has done since, including his latest, The Departed.
Other A-list directors have also chosen Reidy as their right hand, including Oliver Stone, Robert Redford and Sidney Lumet. But while he plays a key role in many of the best New York-based productions, Reidy is no hard-boiled native–he's actually a slightly shy midwesterner, who grew up outside Cleveland in a large Irish Catholic family, the son of a funeral director. Enchanted with the American films of the late '60s and early '70s, Reidy attended NYU film school, finishing in 1976, and soon after found his way into the DGA Assistant Directors Training Program. "I had great mentors," he recalls, naming Yudi Bennett and Candace Suerstedt, and it was "a great turning point in my life."
Reidy has worked steadily ever since, as an AD, a co-producer and even as on-screen talent, doing various bit parts, including his favorite, as a gambler caught cheating in a scene from Casino with Robert DeNiro and Don Rickles. "Sometimes a part will come up and the director somehow thinks I'm right for it," he says, adding, "I find it very hard to watch myself."
While he's passionate about shooting on location in New York, the Tribeca resident gets his greatest fascination from the period films he's been involved in, like The Last Temptation of Christ, where "we were in Morocco filming and re-creating the Crucifixion," and JFK, in which "we were at the exact locations, seeing what the assassin would have seen." "Those are powerful things that really speak to me," says Reidy.
Another highlight was recreating early Manhattan for Gangs of New York. Talking about Scorsese's creative process, Reidy says: "He composes a film sort of intellectually and emotionally, and puts it on paper, and then he turns some of that shot list over to me and the cinematographer to prepare and get organized. He's the boss, that's for sure, but I'm put in a position of trust."
On the set, Reidy strives to "help the director be organized and prepared, and to set a tone in which people can work." Of his personal style, he says, "I think calm and level is the way to go."
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1st AD Shawn Pipkin-West brainstorms simple solutions for seemingly complex problems.
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Carrying the Tune After 17 Seasons
Even after 17 seasons on The Voice, associate director Laura Lyons pays close attention to the information at hand.
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Associate directors and stage managers working on shows like the Oscars and Grammys may have the most nerve-wracking job in the business.
Sullivan's Travels
Preston Sturges takes a dip.
From his early days in live TV, Sydney Pollack has been giving mainstream movies a good name. Now, after a low budget documentary about his friend Frank Gehry, he's thinking more indie.
Orson Welles, Volume 2: Hello Americans
Spanning the years 1941-1947, Volume 2 traces the larger-than-life director's career from Kane to his never finished documentary, It's All True, about life in Brazil.
Bad Sex (And Other Quibbles)
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Terry Zwigoff
For Terry Zwigoff, Fritz Lang's mordant 1945 film noir Scarlet Street is a lot of laughs. He explains why.
Movie Money
Bill Daniels, David Leedy and Steven D. Sills
If knowledge is power, then every player in Hollywood looking to gain the upper hand in dealmaking ought to dip into this book. Not that the book's contents – like the studio accounting practices it depicts – will be fully understandable to anyone who's not a CPA.