text:
Man wanted in seven bank robberies, including one next to a bank in Annapolis he robbed a decade ago
By Brooks DuBose
Police are searching for Fletcher Dorsett, 51, who they say entered the Wells Fargo Bank on Bay Ridge Road on Oct. 16 around 11 a.m. and handed an employee a note demanding money. Dorsett has previously served federal prison time for robbing the Bank of America on Bay Ridge Road. (Annapolis Police Department)
Annapolis and federal police are searching for a man wanted in seven different bank robberies, including one in Annapolis on Oct. 16 that took place next to the bank the same man robbed ten years ago and resulted in a federal prison sentence.
Law enforcement are searching for Fletcher Dorsett, 51, who they say entered the Wells Fargo Bank on Bay Ride Road around 11 a.m. and handed a note to an employee demanding money. He indicated he had a gun, then stole money and fled the premises, police said.
Annapolis police said he is known to frequent Annapolis and the Eastern Shore. Dorsett was recently released from federal prison for robbing the Bank of America on Bay Ridge Road in Annapolis, which is next to the Wells Fargo Bank he is charged with robbing now. Online inmate records state he was released Sept. 24.
Dorsett was identified with help from the FBI, which has obtained an arrest warrant and charged him with armed robbery, robbery, first- and second-degree assault and theft, police said.He is wanted in connection to a string of six other bank robberies in the region between July and Monday, said FBI spokesman Dave Fitz.
The bank robberies include two in Baltimore on July 29 and Oct. 10, one in Prince George's County on Sept. 25, two in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 26, one on Oct. 16 in Annapolis and one in Nottingham on Monday, Fitz said.
The July 29 robbery occurred at the Wells Fargo Bank on Sinclair Lane, a 10-minute drive from the Volunteers of America Chesapeake, a Residential Re-Entry Center where Dorsett spent time. A Volunteers of America Chesapeake employee confirmed Thursday that Dorsett had spent time at the center but could not confirm when he resided there or for how long.
Dorsett has a previous criminal history that includes theft and bank robbery. In 1999, he pleaded guilty to violating his probation and for theft over $300. He received a suspended eight-year sentence for the theft but a non-suspended six-year and six-month sentence for the probation violation, according to Maryland online court records.
In 2009, Dorsett was sentenced to eight years in federal prison for the robbery of the Bank of America at 920 Bay Ridge Road, according to a federal news release. In that case, Dorsett handed a teller a note indicating he "had a gun and would shoot her if she did not give him $100 bills," according to the release. Dorsett was given $3,295 and he fled the scene. A picture from the bank was distributed to the media. Dorsett was eventually captured and ordered to pay back the $3,295.
The police are urging anyone with information about Dorsett or his whereabouts to call 410-260-3439 or submit an anonymous tip with Metro Crime Stoppers at 1-866-7LOCKUP.


A client is entitled to receive dividends if he or she owns shares on the record date (which is set by a company). The payout date is usually set about one month after the record date. Dividends are automatically credited to the client's account on the payout date. However, in some cases, clients might receive the funds with a few days delay due to the necessary time to process the documentation. If taxes are applied, they are debited with a separate transaction, and the details of the tax rate applied are reported in the Comment field.


text:
definetheline.edu(at)mcgill.ca
Home Archive by category "Classic"
Dr. Shariff awarded $2.5 million to address sexual violence on university campuses across Canada and internationally
By Ying Syuan (Elaine) Huang | Classic | 0 comment | 24 September, 2016 | 0
Shaheen Shariff, Associate Professor with the Faculty of Education, Director of Define the Line Projects at McGill University has been awarded a $2.5 million Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) Partnership Grant to address sexual violence on university campuses across Canada and internationally. For more about the project: http://www.sshrc-crsh.gc.ca/results-resultats/recipients-recipiendaires/2015/partnerships-partenariats-eng.aspx
University of Ottawa task force releases report on "Rape Culture"
By dhary | Classic | 0 comment | 30 July, 2015 | 0
Summary: A task force on respect and equality at the University of Ottawa has spent the past few months analyzing the events of early 2014, when the University became engulfed in the debate over sexual violence that has affected other postsecondary institutions in the past year. Two events involving the University community precipitated the conversation,Read more
BBC interviews DISE's Dr. Shariff regarding sexting, research
As Safer Internet Day is recognized around the world, DISE's Dr. Shariff spoke to BBC News about the legality of sexting. [read the BBC News article, Feb. 10, 2015] * * * Director of McGill's Define the Line research program, Dr. Shariff has become internationally known for her expertise on societal, legal and policy issuesRead more
Blurred Boundaries
By dhary | Classic | 0 comment | 26 May, 2015 | 1
Though an increasing amount of social interaction is taking place in cyberspace, the lines dictating appropriate online behaviour remain unclear. McGill researchers are examining the effects the Internet is having on groups as diverse as teens, workers and political activists. When Shaheen Shariff asked a group of under-18-year-olds whether a teenage girl has the rightRead more
Copyright © 2015 McGill University 2022

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
package main

import (
	"bytes"
	"errors"
	"io"
	"io/ioutil"
	"os"
	"sync"
	"testing"
	"time"

	"cloud.google.com/go/pubsub"
	"golang.org/x/net/context"
)

// test handleTillShutdown

func makeHandleSingleTaskFunc(callCount *int, actions []handleSingleTaskFunc) handleSingleTaskFunc {
	return func(handler *taskHandler, msg *pubsub.Message) msgNotifier {
		index := *callCount
		*callCount++
		if index >= len(actions) {
			return nil
		}
		action := actions[index]
		return action(handler, msg)
	}
}

type fakeMsgNotifier struct {
	t          *testing.T
	desc       string
	isNotified bool
}

func (notifier *fakeMsgNotifier) notify(handler *taskHandler, msg *pubsub.Message) {
	notifier.t.Logf("notified %s", notifier.desc)
	notifier.isNotified = true
}

func TestHandleTillShutdown(t *testing.T) {
	reqCh := make(chan struct{}, 4)
	respCh := make(chan *pubsub.Message, 3)
	wg := &sync.WaitGroup{}
	wg.Add(1)
	callCount := 0
	ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
	defer cancel()
	not1 := &fakeMsgNotifier{t: t, desc: "not1"}
	not2 := &fakeMsgNotifier{t: t, desc: "not2"}
	not3 := &fakeMsgNotifier{t: t, desc: "not3"}
	handler := &taskHandler{
		taskHandlerConf: taskHandlerConf{
			id:     "handler#001",
			reqCh:  reqCh,
			respCh: respCh,
			wg:     wg,
			logger: makeTestLogger(t),
		},
		handleSingleTask: makeHandleSingleTaskFunc(&callCount, []handleSingleTaskFunc{
			func(handler *taskHandler, msg *pubsub.Message) msgNotifier { return not1 },
			func(handler *taskHandler, msg *pubsub.Message) msgNotifier { return not2 },
			func(handler *taskHandler, msg *pubsub.Message) msgNotifier { cancel(); return not3 },
		}),
	}
	respCh <- nil
	respCh <- nil
	respCh <- nil
	go handler.handleTillShutdown(ctx)
	wg.Wait()
	if callCount != 3 {
		t.Errorf("handleSingleTask must be called 3 times, but called %d times", callCount)
	}
	if !not1.isNotified || !not2.isNotified || !not3.isNotified {
		t.Errorf("some notifier not invoked: %v, %v, %v", not1, not2, not3)
	}
}

// test handleSingleTask

func TestHandleSingleTaskAckForExceedRetryDeadline(t *testing.T) {
	pubTime := time.Date(2017, 3, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC)
	msg := &pubsub.Message{
		PublishTime: pubTime,
		ID:          "msg001",
	}
	handler := &taskHandler{
		taskHandlerConf: taskHandlerConf{
			id:      "handler#001",
			taskttl: time.Minute * 10,
			logger:  makeTestLogger(t),
		},
		now: func() time.Time {
			return pubTime.Add(time.Minute*10 + time.Second)
		},
	}
	notifier := handleSingleTask(handler, msg)
	if notifier != ack {
		t.Errorf("handleSingleTask must return ack because of exceeded deadline, but returned %v", notifier)
	}
}

func TestHandleSingleTaskNackForLogRotationFailure(t *testing.T) {
	pubTime := time.Date(2017, 3, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC)
	msg := &pubsub.Message{
		PublishTime: pubTime,
		ID:          "msg001",
	}
	handler := &taskHandler{
		taskHandlerConf: taskHandlerConf{
			id:      "handler#001",
			taskttl: time.Minute * 10,
			logger:  makeTestLogger(t),
		},
		now: func() time.Time {
			return pubTime.Add(time.Minute * 10)
		},
		rotateTaskLog: func(handler *taskHandler) (bool, error) {
			return false, errors.New("bang")
		},
	}
	notifier := handleSingleTask(handler, msg)
	if notifier != nack {
		t.Errorf("handleSingleTask must return nack because of log rotation failure, but returned %v", notifier)
	}
}

func TestHandleSingleTaskNackForLogOpeningFailure(t *testing.T) {
	pubTime := time.Date(2017, 3, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC)
	msg := &pubsub.Message{
		PublishTime: pubTime,
		ID:          "msg001",
	}
	handler := &taskHandler{
		taskHandlerConf: taskHandlerConf{
			id:      "handler#001",
			taskttl: time.Minute * 10,
			logger:  makeTestLogger(t),
		},
		now: func() time.Time {
			return pubTime.Add(time.Minute * 10)
		},
		rotateTaskLog: func(handler *taskHandler) (bool, error) {
			return true, nil
		},
		openTaskLog: func(handler *taskHandler) (io.WriteCloser, error) {
			return nil, errors.New("bang")
		},
	}
	notifier := handleSingleTask(handler, msg)
	if notifier != nack {
		t.Errorf("handleSingleTask must return nack because of log opening failure, but returned %v", notifier)
	}
}

type fakeWriteCloser struct {
	isClosed bool
}

func (fwc *fakeWriteCloser) Write(p []byte) (int, error) {
	return 0, nil
}

func (fwc *fakeWriteCloser) Close() error {
	fwc.isClosed = true
	return nil
}

func TestHandleSingleTaskAckForCommandSuccess(t *testing.T) {
	pubTime := time.Date(2017, 3, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC)
	msg := &pubsub.Message{
		PublishTime: pubTime,
		ID:          "msg001",
	}
	fwc := &fakeWriteCloser{}
	handler := &taskHandler{
		taskHandlerConf: taskHandlerConf{
			id:      "handler#001",
			taskttl: time.Minute * 10,
			logger:  makeTestLogger(t),
		},
		now: func() time.Time {
			return pubTime.Add(time.Minute * 10)
		},
		rotateTaskLog: func(handler *taskHandler) (bool, error) {
			return true, nil
		},
		openTaskLog: func(handler *taskHandler) (io.WriteCloser, error) {
			return fwc, nil
		},
		runCmd: func(handler *taskHandler, msg *pubsub.Message, taskLog io.Writer) error {
			return nil
		},
	}
	notifier := handleSingleTask(handler, msg)
	if notifier != ack {
		t.Errorf("handleSingleTask must return ack because of log command success, but returned %v", notifier)
	}
}

func TestHandleSingleTaskAckForCommandFailure(t *testing.T) {
	pubTime := time.Date(2017, 3, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC)
	msg := &pubsub.Message{
		PublishTime: pubTime,
		ID:          "msg001",
	}
	fwc := &fakeWriteCloser{}
	handler := &taskHandler{
		taskHandlerConf: taskHandlerConf{
			id:      "handler#001",
			taskttl: time.Minute * 10,
			logger:  makeTestLogger(t),
		},
		now: func() time.Time {
			return pubTime.Add(time.Minute * 10)
		},
		rotateTaskLog: func(handler *taskHandler) (bool, error) {
			return true, nil
		},
		openTaskLog: func(handler *taskHandler) (io.WriteCloser, error) {
			return fwc, nil
		},
		runCmd: func(handler *taskHandler, msg *pubsub.Message, taskLog io.Writer) error {
			return errors.New("bang")
		},
	}
	notifier := handleSingleTask(handler, msg)
	if notifier != nack {
		t.Errorf("handleSingleTask must return nack because of log command failure, but returned %v", notifier)
	}

}

// test rotateTaskLog

func TestRotateTaskLogRotateLog(t *testing.T) {
	tempDir, err := ioutil.TempDir("", "pubsubtaskrunnertest")
	if err != nil {
		t.Errorf("could not create a temp dir: %v", err)
		return
	}
	defer os.RemoveAll(tempDir)
	tasklogpath := tempDir + "/task.log"
	content := bytes.Repeat([]byte{0x5c}, 2001)
	ioutil.WriteFile(tasklogpath, content, 0644)

	handler := &taskHandler{
		taskHandlerConf: taskHandlerConf{
			id:           "handler#001",
			tasklogpath:  tasklogpath,
			maxtasklogkb: 2,
			logger:       makeTestLogger(t),
		},
	}
	isRotated, err := rotateTaskLog(handler)
	if !isRotated {
		t.Error("task log must be rotated, but not")
	}
	if err != nil {
		t.Errorf("must not cause error, but: %v", err)
	}

	prevlogpath := tasklogpath + ".prev"
	prevContent, err := ioutil.ReadFile(prevlogpath)
	if err != nil {
		t.Errorf("task log not rotated to %s", prevlogpath)
	}

	if !bytes.Equal(prevContent, content) {
		t.Errorf("not expected content in prev task log: %v", prevContent)
	}

	stat, err := os.Stat(tasklogpath)
	if stat != nil || !os.IsNotExist(err) {
		t.Errorf("old task log still exists: err=%v", err)
	}
}

func TestRotateTaskLogDoNotRotateLogDueToSize(t *testing.T) {
	tempDir, err := ioutil.TempDir("", "pubsubtaskrunnertest")
	if err != nil {
		t.Errorf("could not create a temp dir: %v", err)
		return
	}
	defer os.RemoveAll(tempDir)
	tasklogpath := tempDir + "/task.log"
	content := bytes.Repeat([]byte{0x5c}, 2000)
	ioutil.WriteFile(tasklogpath, content, 0644)

	handler := &taskHandler{
		taskHandlerConf: taskHandlerConf{
			id:           "handler#001",
			tasklogpath:  tasklogpath,
			maxtasklogkb: 2,
			logger:       makeTestLogger(t),
		},
	}

	isRotated, err := rotateTaskLog(handler)

	if isRotated {
		t.Error("task log must not be rotated, but was")
	}
	if err != nil {
		t.Errorf("must not cause error, but: %v", err)
	}

	prevlogpath := tasklogpath + ".prev"
	if _, err := os.Stat(prevlogpath); !os.IsNotExist(err) {
		t.Errorf("prev log file must not exist, but: %v", err)
	}

	actualContent, err := ioutil.ReadFile(tasklogpath)
	if err != nil {
		t.Errorf("cannot read task log %s: %v", tasklogpath, err)
	}

	if !bytes.Equal(actualContent, content) {
		t.Errorf("not expected content in task log: %v", actualContent)
	}
}

func TestRotateTaskLogDoNotRotateNonExistingLog(t *testing.T) {
	tempDir, err := ioutil.TempDir("", "pubsubtaskrunnertest")
	if err != nil {
		t.Errorf("could not create a temp dir: %v", err)
		return
	}
	defer os.RemoveAll(tempDir)

	tasklogpath := tempDir + "/nosuch.log"
	handler := &taskHandler{
		taskHandlerConf: taskHandlerConf{
			id:           "handler#001",
			tasklogpath:  tasklogpath,
			maxtasklogkb: 2,
			logger:       makeTestLogger(t),
		},
	}

	isRotated, err := rotateTaskLog(handler)
	if isRotated {
		t.Error("task log must not be rotated, but was")
	}
	if err != nil {
		t.Errorf("must not cause error, but: %v", err)
	}

	prevlogpath := tasklogpath + ".prev"
	if _, err := os.Stat(prevlogpath); !os.IsNotExist(err) {
		t.Errorf("prev log file must not exist, but: %v", err)
	}
}

func TestRotateTaskLogDoNotRotateUnstattableLog(t *testing.T) {
	tempDir, err := ioutil.TempDir("", "pubsubtaskrunnertest")
	if err != nil {
		t.Errorf("could not create a temp dir: %v", err)
		return
	}
	defer os.RemoveAll(tempDir)
	logDir := tempDir + "/tasklog.d"
	os.Mkdir(logDir, 0000)

	tasklogpath := logDir + "/unstattable.log"
	handler := &taskHandler{
		taskHandlerConf: taskHandlerConf{
			id:           "handler#001",
			tasklogpath:  tasklogpath,
			maxtasklogkb: 2,
			logger:       makeTestLogger(t),
		},
	}
	isRotated, err := rotateTaskLog(handler)
	if isRotated {
		t.Error("task log must not be rotated, but was")
	}
	if err == nil {
		t.Error("must cause error, but not")
	}
}

func TestRotateTaskLogDoNotRotateUnmovableLog(t *testing.T) {
	tempDir, err := ioutil.TempDir("", "pubsubtaskrunnertest")
	if err != nil {
		t.Errorf("could not create a temp dir: %v", err)
		return
	}
	defer os.RemoveAll(tempDir)
	logDir := tempDir + "/log"
	os.Mkdir(logDir, 0700)
	tasklogpath := logDir + "/task.log"
	content := bytes.Repeat([]byte{0x5c}, 2001)
	ioutil.WriteFile(tasklogpath, content, 0644)
	os.Chmod(logDir, 0500)
	defer os.Chmod(logDir, 0700)

	handler := &taskHandler{
		taskHandlerConf: taskHandlerConf{
			id:           "handler#001",
			tasklogpath:  tasklogpath,
			maxtasklogkb: 2,
			logger:       makeTestLogger(t),
		},
	}
	isRotated, err := rotateTaskLog(handler)
	if isRotated {
		t.Error("task log must not be rotated, but was")
	}
	if err == nil {
		t.Error("must cause error, but not")
	}

	prevlogpath := tasklogpath + ".prev"
	if _, err := os.Stat(prevlogpath); !os.IsNotExist(err) {
		t.Errorf("prev log file must not exist, but: %v", err)
	}

	actualContent, err := ioutil.ReadFile(tasklogpath)
	if err != nil {
		t.Errorf("cannot read task log %s: %v", tasklogpath, err)
	}

	if !bytes.Equal(actualContent, content) {
		t.Errorf("not expected content in task log: %v", actualContent)
	}
}

// test runCmd

func TestRunCmd(t *testing.T) {
	handler := &taskHandler{
		taskHandlerConf: taskHandlerConf{
			id:             "handler#001",
			command:        "/bin/cat",
			args:           []string{"-"},
			commandtimeout: time.Second * 10,
			termtimeout:    time.Second,
			logger:         makeTestLogger(t),
		},
	}
	msg := &pubsub.Message{
		ID:   "msg#001",
		Data: []byte("foobar"),
	}
	buf := bytes.NewBuffer([]byte{})
	err := runCmd(handler, msg, buf)
	if err != nil {
		t.Errorf("unexpected error: %v", err)
	}
	if !bytes.Equal(buf.Bytes(), []byte("foobar")) {
		t.Errorf("unexpected output: got %v, want 'foobar'", buf.Bytes())
	}
}

func TestRunCmdTimeout(t *testing.T) {
	handler := &taskHandler{
		taskHandlerConf: taskHandlerConf{
			id:             "handler#001",
			command:        "/bin/sleep",
			args:           []string{"5"},
			commandtimeout: time.Second,
			termtimeout:    time.Second,
			logger:         makeTestLogger(t),
		},
	}
	msg := &pubsub.Message{
		ID:   "msg#001",
		Data: []byte{},
	}
	buf := bytes.NewBuffer([]byte{})
	err := runCmd(handler, msg, buf)
	if _, ok := err.(cmdTimeoutError); !ok {
		t.Errorf("unexpected err: got %v, want cmdTimeoutError", err)
	}
}

func TestRunCmdTermTimeout(t *testing.T) {
	handler := &taskHandler{
		taskHandlerConf: taskHandlerConf{
			id:             "handler#001",
			command:        "/bin/sh",
			args:           []string{"-c", "trap '/bin/true' 15; while /bin/true; do /bin/sleep 100; done"},
			commandtimeout: time.Second,
			termtimeout:    time.Second,
			logger:         makeTestLogger(t),
		},
	}
	msg := &pubsub.Message{
		ID:   "msg#001",
		Data: []byte{},
	}
	buf := bytes.NewBuffer([]byte{})
	err := runCmd(handler, msg, buf)
	if _, ok := err.(cmdTermTimeoutError); !ok {
		t.Errorf("unexpected err: got %v, want cmdTermTimeoutError", err)
	}
}

func TestRunCmdLaunchError(t *testing.T) {
	handler := &taskHandler{
		taskHandlerConf: taskHandlerConf{
			id:             "handler#001",
			command:        "/bin/no/such/command.never",
			args:           []string{},
			commandtimeout: time.Second,
			termtimeout:    time.Second,
			logger:         makeTestLogger(t),
		},
	}
	msg := &pubsub.Message{
		ID:   "msg#001",
		Data: []byte{},
	}
	buf := bytes.NewBuffer([]byte{})
	err := runCmd(handler, msg, buf)
	if _, ok := err.(spawnError); !ok {
		t.Errorf("unexpected err: got %v, want spawnError", err)
	}
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Marvel Entertainment is excited to announce the exclusive agreement with incoming Old Man Logan artist, Andrea Sorrentino.
Following critically acclaimed runs at DC Comics, Sorrentino made a splash in late 2014 with his Marvel debut, providing art for the Uncanny X-Men Annual and All-New X-Men Annual. This May, he will launch his first series for Marvel, re-teaming with superstar writer Brian Michael Bendis for the debut of OLD MAN LOGAN #1.
Though he may not have been at Marvel for long, Sorrentino's bold style and incomparable storytelling skills have proven to be a valuable asset to the Marvel Universe. Quickly establishing himself as one of the industry's brightest rising stars, Sorrentino's artwork can also be seen this week in the pages of All-New X-Men #38 – the latest chapter of the Guardians of the Galaxy & X-Men: The Black Vortex Crossover.
Once again, Marvel is excited to welcome Andrea Sorrentino's unique style and epic visuals exclusively to OLD MAN LOGAN #1, the Marvel Universe and future Marvel projects to be announced!


Progress on the mudroom and laundry room is well underway! The shiplap and trim are finished and I'm loving the way the room is headed.
As far as installing shiplap goes, this isn't our first go around. Adam and I added the same wall treatment to the kitchen and dining room back at the previous house, way back when before all planking was dubbed "shiplap". For that room we did a very budget friendly faux version out of strips of cheap plywood.
We installed the plywood planks right over the drywall, brad nailing everything in as we went.
As you can see the results were pretty darn wonderful, and the cost was only about $100.
Then we used the same method in our older boys room to do some vertical planks 3/4 up the wall.
I loved those walls, so when we designed the new house I knew that planking was going to be a big part of it. This time though (since we were upgrading from starter house to dream house) we decided to spring for the real thing.
The entire mudroom and laundry room are getting covered, you can see the layout of that area below.
The process of installing shiplap over drywall is pretty much the same as the faux planks, you simply attach it to the wall using a nail gun. The only difference is the real thing is heavy, so finding the studs and marking them first is a must.
There are a few catches though, the first being that you will have to extend the outlets to be flush with the new wall depth (tutorial here). Also, the frames around your doorways will be pretty thick, and you will also have to trim the windows (tutorial here).
All the shiplap is going to be white, so if anyone is wondering how I'll be spending my "me" time after all the boys go to bed each night, it will be here…with a tub of patch, tube of caulk, and music that better suited for a club than a farmhouse.
The good news is that after all the torturous patching and painting are finished, the brick flooring is next on the list! I ordered four different color samples from Home Depot (they aren't carried in store), from left to right we have Little Cotton, Dixie Clay, Promontory, and Castle Gate.
Luckily a friend is installing this exact color in their house next week, so I get to check it out over there before making the final decision. Anyway, that's what has been going on around here for the last couple of weeks… I hope everyone has a great weekend!
Click here to see the painted shiplap and read all my tips and tricks!
I was definitely thinking the red brick on the right was the winner too!
2 questions: would you please share the square foot cost difference between the plywood planks anther real thing? what kind/color paint did you use?
Well let's see…the faux planks were about 30 cents a square foot, and the real shiplap is a 1x8x16 for $16, which makes it a dollar per linear foot, or about $1.60 per square foot. So yeah, the real stuff is WAY pricier.
We plan to prime it with Kilz and paint it with SW Alabaster in eggshell.
We are looking to do planking in our house real soon and I literally logged on this morning to see if you had a tutorial for what you did in the new house and you must have read my mind! Thanks! I would be fine with the budget version, but my husband says it's too much work to cut it all, so I'll look into the premade boards. Thanks again!
Your Home Depot will probably do all the cutting for you for free, that makes a world of difference! Also, I just calculated the prices for another reader, and the fake planks are 30 cents a sq ft, and the real ones are about $1.60.
Loving everything you two tackle! You probably know this already but please use a really good primer/sealer that will keep the wood from bleeding through your finished coat of paint. We used a basic primer in our 22' long entry when we built and now have spots all over and will have to prime and paint it again!!!
What primer did you use? We were planning to use Kilz.
We only used a basic house paint primer. Not Kilz, Zinzer it oil based paint. Live and learn!
Don't go with the Zinsser Bulls eye. After about 6 months, we had so many spots bleeding through. Even if we used a floor paint over it. The Kilz is better, because it is oil-based (but it stinks). So we went over all the spots again…we were lucky to have only done this in our bathroom. Our lack of time to continue saved us! Live and learn! We used the good stuff everywhere after that!
Agreed on the brick choice! It's all going to look awesome. I'm heading over to read about your budget planking as I have a blue sprigged bathroom I desperately need to freshen up from the 80s and I simply don't have any more wallpaper removal mojo left. Nailing white planks over it will be ideal, and the thin fake stuff won't steal space from an undersized room. Just wondering how the edges in between look, so hopefully you mention that.
The planking is gorgeous. What a beautiful place your home will be! I'm looking forward to seeing the planking in white. I like the bricks you chose too, though at first I was also drawn to the Promontory. Hopefully you like the red ones when you see them at your friend's house.
This clearly shows that through some creativity, smart planning and research you can completely transform the interiors beyond recognition at very low cost. This is truly inspirational.
It's looking so good! I still love the green you chose for the cabinets, and if the brick really looks like it does on the website it's going to be amazing!
Looking good! We also just finished building our home here in West Texas, but my house has so many windows I couldn't really see shiplap on any walls working, so we put it on our island. Did y'all space the shiplap ? I am still pondering where I could put some more in my home!
I hope you're okay, but this made me LOL.
Ya, there is a ton of color variation in brick for red. They may be sent you only those sample which has more demand. Whatever but your selection is really outstanding.
Loving the classic planking look on those walls. Looks phenomenal!
Hi. We wanted to install 1/4 shiplap per our existing drywall but our contractor says we can't because of the molding. Do ou need to use specific molding sizes? Thank you!!


Why Is This Commerce Department Agency Charging Other Agencies for Free Reports?
The 64-year-old National Technical Information Service has come under fire from senators and a congressional watchdog for charging other agencies for old reports that in many cases are available elsewhere for free.
The little-known Commerce Department unit is a repository of current and decades-old scientific, technological, engineering and business research reports available by subscription to agencies or individuals.
In a report released Wednesday, the Government Accountability Office said that costs for NTIS's products, from fiscal year 2001 through 2011, exceeded revenue for 10 of the 11 years. The agency was financially sustained during this period by services it offered to other federal agencies, such as distribution and order fulfillment and various Web-based services," GAO wrote.
Auditors estimated that 74 percent of the reports added to NTIS's collection from fiscal year 1990 through 2011 "were available elsewhere, and 95 percent of these were available for free. This calls into question the viability and appropriateness of NTIS's fee-based model for disseminating the reports it collects," GAO said.
NTIS was blasted on Wednesday by Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., and others at a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs contracting subcommittee hearing as increasingly irrelevant in the Internet age. Lawmakers said the agency allows private companies to provide services for the federal government for payment, "apparently acting as a pass-through to avoid the scrutiny and rules that apply to formal federal contracts. These services are also already available to federal agencies through individual contracts or the General Services Administration," McCaskill said.
McCaskill joined with Coburn in sponsoring S 2206, the Let Me Google That For You Act, which would eliminate NTIS. On a related track, both houses of Congress are considering bills to reduce the number of mandatory agency reports.
He said NTIS is not opposed to changes in its fee-based model.


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Baby born with intestines OUTSIDE of body now happy and healthy
Clitheroe baby was born with intestines outside of body
By Sophie-May Clarke @smclarkey95 Chief Reporter
A mum-of-four was terrified when she was told her baby girl would be born with her intestines on the outside of her body.
Laura Woodward, 24, tried not to let it worry her when partner Adam Porter, 30, a dryliner, wasn't able to join her for her 12-week scan in June 2020, due to coronavirus restrictions.
The couple, who already had children Ava, seven, Zachary, five, and Tommy, two, knew they were having a little girl thanks to an eight week gender test, and were excited to add the 'final piece' to their family.
But that all changed when Laura received the news at the 12-week scan that there was 'something wrong' with their baby - and her whole world went into slow motion.
After a consultation at Burnley Hospital Laura and Adam's unborn child was diagnosed with gastroschisis, a rare birth defect that causes a baby's intestines to be born on the outside of their body.
The diagnosis petrified poor Laura, and robbed her of a happy pregnancy as she worried about her little girl's future.
But after a tense few months, little Millie Woodward was born via planned C-section on 11 December 2020, weighing 5lb 11ozs, at Alder Hey Hospital, Liverpool.
Her exposed intestines were wrapped in cling film before Laura was allowed her first cuddle, and within hours her vital organs were re-inserted into the body - leaving nothing to show for her traumatic start in life other than a little outie belly button.
Laura, a care assistant from Clitheroe, said: "To look at her now, you'd never think she's been through all of that.
"My whole world stopped when the sonographer told me they were 'sorry' - I thought that was it.
"But after the most stressful time of our lives she arrived, and it couldn't have gone better.
"We're so proud of her - she's just a beautiful little girl."
Mum Laura was over the moon when she found out she was expecting a little girl with partner Adam.
The couple had a private eight-week gender test in May 2020 before the 12-week scan a month later.
"I wasn't worried because I'd done it all three times before with my other children," Laura said.
"I knew the process, and my other pregnancies had been so smooth, so I didn't have any reason to think this time would be any different."
But at the 12-week scan on 22 June 2020 the sonographer at Blackburn Hospital revealed their unborn baby had a rare birth defect.
"They just looked at me and told me they were sorry - it felt like everything went into slow motion," Laura said.
"I didn't understand what it would mean for our baby, I was just terrified."
The couple were referred for a specialist scan to gain further insight into their little girl's birth defect, and doctors confirmed she would be born with gastroschisis, where the intestines grow outside of the body.
"They tried to reassure us but it sounded terrifying," Laura said.
"We were told I didn't have to continue with the pregnancy if I didn't want to, but there was no way I wasn't giving our baby a chance.
"They told us it was a high survival rate and something that can be fixed - so we just have to hope for the best."
Laura said she found it incredibly hard to remain positive and was unable to enjoy her pregnancy like she had with her previous children through sheer panic for her unborn child - so was overwhelmed with relief when she was finally admitted to hospital for a planned C-section.
Little Millie, now eleven months, arrived at 11:11 on 11 December 2020, weighing 5lb 11ozs.
"I've always thought 11 is a lucky number - even more so now!" Laura said.
"When she arrived they wrapped her exposed organs up in clingfilm and allowed me to hold her for a bit which was just what I needed after all those months of worrying."
Millie received reversal surgery, to reinsert her small and large intestine into her body, an operation that went 'incredibly smoothly' at Alder Hey Hospital, Liverpool.
"To look at her now you'd never think she's been through so much," Laura said.
"She just has a little outie bellybutton to show for it, and is a little smaller than her friends, but I couldn't love her more if I tried.
"I try not to molly-coddle her but I just want to do everything I can to protect her now she's here.
"She's just perfect in every way."


Tuning in to music can be a speedy course for improving your state of mind; however it's evident that there's significantly more to the advantages of music. Research has demonstrated that music profoundly affects your body and mind. Presently there's a developing field of social insurance known as music treatment, which utilizes music to mend. The individuals who rehearse music treatment are finding an advantage in utilizing music to help tumour patients, kids with ADD, and others, and even healing facilities are starting to utilize music and music treatment to help with pain management, to combat depression and to advance development, to calm people who are hyper, to ease muscle strain, and several other advantages that music and music treatment can bring. This isn't astonishing, as music influences the body and brain in numerous ways.
Brain Waves: Research has demonstrated that music with a strong beats can invigorate brainwaves to resound in a state of harmony with the beat, with quicker beats bringing more keen focus and more alarm considering, and a slower rhythm advancing a quiet, reflective state. Likewise, research has discovered that the adjustment in brainwave action levels that music can convey can likewise empower the cerebrum to move speeds all the more effectively all alone as required, which implies that music can convey enduring advantages to your perspective, even after you've quit tuning in.
Breathing and Heart Rate: Along with adjustments in brainwaves other bodily changes also occur. Those administered by the autonomic nervous system, breathing and pulse can likewise be modified by the progressions music can bring. This can mean slower breathing, slower pulse, and an enactment of the unwinding reaction, in addition to other things.
Perspective: Music can likewise be accustomed to bring a more positive perspective. The elevating sound of music and the positive or cathartic messages that can be passed on in the verses would all be able to be courses to another psychological state also. This can help keep the pressure reaction from wreaking ruin on the body and can help keep creativity and positive thinking levels higher, bringing numerous different advantages.
Different Benefits: Music has additionally been found to bring numerous different advantages, for example, bringing down pulse, help invulnerability, ease muscle pressure etc. Henceforth since music can help in so many different ways and solve so many problems more and more people are using this therapy.
Due its healing power music therapy has gained immense importance. Numerous doctor's facilities are utilizing music specialists for torment administration and different uses that help their patients' wellbeing.
While music treatment is a vital order, you can likewise accomplish numerous advantages from music all alone. You may have just been doing this since you were a young person, yet it's an awesome plan to continue consolidating music into your everyday life as you age through the existence cycle, as we currently know. Music can be utilized in day by day life for unwinding, to fell refreshed, when dealing with emotional stress it acts as a catharsis and in many other ways. A large portion of us know for a fact that music can break down the worry of a log drive, motivates us while exercising and to take a positive look when we think of negative things occurred in the past and in general promote a happy state of mind. Music is an extraordinary inactive stress reliever for some reasons and can be utilized in these way and a few others as a low-exertion stretch alleviation instrument.


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Q: Android: DetailActivity with View and Edit Fragment - how to start it I am currently trying to implement a ListActivity and a DetailActivity with a DetailFragment. When clicking an item in the list the DetailActivity with its fragment is created and displayed.
Now I want to extend this to have this "viewing" fragment where you see read-only data and a new fragment where you can edit this detail data.
I already achieved this by using the FragmentManager to replace the view fragment with the edit fragment.
Want I now need is the following: When I am in the ListActivity I want to click on an "Add" button in the menu and it should bring me directly to the "Edit" fragment instead of the "View" fragment, which is currently the default.
I tried the following but I am pretty unsure if this is the right way:
@Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
    setContentView(R.layout.activity_sunit_detail);
    if (savedInstanceState == null) {
        Uri uri = getIntent().getData();
        if (uri != null) {
            getSupportFragmentManager().beginTransaction()
                .add(R.id.fragment_sunit_detail, new SUnitDetailActivityFragment()).commit();
       }
    else {
        getSupportFragmentManager().beginTransaction()
                .add(R.id.fragment_sunit_detail, new SUnitDetailEditFragment()).commit();
    }
}

I pass a URI from the ListActivity to the DetailActivity but when Adding a new item this is empty. But still this does not work as expected...
Any help or hint would be great ;-)

A: I think I found a solution, it is working now. Problem was a little bit different as replacing the fragments with each other overlays the first.
I had to change the xml of the DetailActivity, which contained a  to  and afterwards loading and replacing via FragmentManager worked!

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Rumors surround Cairo University security recruitment - Daily News Egypt
Politics Rumors surround Cairo University security recruitment
Rumors surround Cairo University security recruitment
CAIRO: Cairo University is reportedly recruiting security officers, raising speculation that it plans to replace state security forces on campus with a civil security unit in line with an Administrative Court verdict, according to Al-Shorouk newspaper. The university recently published an announcement recruiting security specialists and a security supervisor and received thousands of applicants for …
Daily News Egypt February 2, 2010 Be the first to comment
CAIRO: Cairo University is reportedly recruiting security officers, raising speculation that it plans to replace state security forces on campus with a civil security unit in line with an Administrative Court verdict, according to Al-Shorouk newspaper.
The university recently published an announcement recruiting security specialists and a security supervisor and received thousands of applicants for the job that is supposedly bound by a five-year contract.
Sources said that the university is yet to respond to the applicants, reportedly pending the next court session on March 20.
"The university didn't implement the verdict yet, the procedures taken by Cairo University is to [stall and] buy themselves some time, Laila Soueif, professor of Mathematics at Cairo University and spokeswoman for the March 9 Movement, told Daily News Egypt.
"The president of Cairo University said that he supports the verdict but they still need the budget, she said.
The March 9 Movement is a group of Cairo University professors who came together in March 2003 to protest the US invasion of Iraq and who now press for university autonomy and academic freedom.
"My opinion is that the law is clear about this issue, it's the right of every university to have its independence, this is [universal]; that is if we want our universities to be accredited internationally, Soueif said.
"I expect the university to eventually implement this law, however, I don't know when, it requires some time and it depends on the amount of pressure we put on the university, she added.
Abdel Gelil Mustafa, professor of Medicine at Cairo University, and one of the professors who filed the lawsuit against the university, explained that the university is aware that establishing a civil security unit is a legitimate and constitutional request, Al-Shorouk reported.
He said he is surprised that the university did not implement the verdict, especially after its president, Hossam Kamel, vowed to remove security offices on campus and allocate a LE 20 million budget to establishing a civil security unit.
Mustafa said that Kamel retracted his decision, questioning the legitimacy of Article 317 of the university's bylaws that oblige the university to establish a civil security unit.
A June 2009 Administrative Court ruling had again banned the presence of interior ministry state security officers on Cairo University's campus after a Higher Administrative Court ruling allowed them inside Cairo University, overturning the initial November 2008 ruling by a lower Administrative Court.
The court added that the university's bylaws stipulate establishing a civil security unit on campus to protect its facilities, receiving its orders from the university's president. The bylaws also dictate that the security officers wear a uniform displaying the university's logo.
https://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2010/02/02/rumors-surround-cairo-university-security-recruitment/
February 2, 2010 Breaking News


text:
Stanford starts slowly, still dusts Cal in Pac-12 opener
Sporting Green // College Sports
Steve Kroner Jan. 3, 2020 Updated: Jan. 3, 2020 1:46 a.m.
1of10California head coach Mark Fox reacts to an official's call in 1st half of Pac 12 men's basketball game against Stanford at Maples Pavilion in Stanford, Calif., on Thursday, January 2, 2020..Photo: Scott Strazzante / The Chronicle
2of10Stanford's Daejon Davis reacts to drawing an offensive foul against California in 2nd half of Cardinal's 68-52 win in Pac 12 men's basketball game at Maples Pavilion in Stanford, Calif., on Thursday, January 2, 2020..Photo: Scott Strazzante / The Chronicle
3of10Stanford's Daejon Davis who led the Cardinal with 20 points drives against Cal's Paris Austin in the first half at Maples Pavilion in Stanford.Photo: Scott Strazzante / The Chronicle
4of10Stanford's Oscar da Silva drives against California's Grant Anticevich in 1st half of Pac 12 men's basketball game at Maples Pavilion in Stanford, Calif., on Thursday, January 2, 2020..Photo: Scott Strazzante / The Chronicle
5of10Stanford's Oscar da Silva defends a pass to California's Grant Anticevich in 1st half of Pac 12 men's basketball game at Maples Pavilion in Stanford, Calif., on Thursday, January 2, 2020..Photo: Scott Strazzante / The Chronicle
6of10Stanford's Tyrell Terry passes against California's Andre Kelly in 1st half of Pac 12 men's basketball game at Maples Pavilion in Stanford, Calif., on Thursday, January 2, 2020..Photo: Scott Strazzante / The Chronicle
7of10Stanford's Bryce Wills gets past California's Matt Bradley in 1st half of Pac 12 men's basketball game at Maples Pavilion in Stanford, Calif., on Thursday, January 2, 2020..Photo: Scott Strazzante / The Chronicle
8of10Stanford's Oscar da Silva shoots a three against California in 1st half of Pac 12 men's basketball game at Maples Pavilion in Stanford, Calif., on Thursday, January 2, 2020..Photo: Scott Strazzante / The Chronicle
9of10Stanford's Bryce Wills grabs a rebound between teammate Daejon Davis and California's Andre Kelly (22) and Juhwan Harris-Dyson in 1st half of Pac 12 men's basketball game at Maples Pavilion in Stanford, Calif., on Thursday, January 2, 2020..Photo: Scott Strazzante / The Chronicle
10of10Stanford's Spencer Jones (14) and Oscar da Silva celebrate Jones' 3-pointer against California in 2nd half of Pac 12 men's basketball game at Maples Pavilion in Stanford, Calif., on Thursday, January 2, 2020.Photo: Scott Strazzante / The Chronicle
Stanford took a while to get untracked against Cal on Thursday night at Maples Pavilion, but the Bears seemingly didn't get untracked at all.
The Cardinal opened Pac-12 play on the right track with a 68-52 victory.
Guard Daejon Davis led Stanford (12-2) with a game-high 20 points and a game-high five assists. The Cardinal also got double-figure scoring from fellow guards Tyrell Terry (14 points) and Bryce Wills (10).
Cal had won the previous two times it came to Maples. During the week, Stanford head coach Jerod Haase mentioned the Bears' recent success at Stanford to his players.
Stanford head coach Jerod Haase talks about his team win over Cal in the Pac-12 opener.
Video: San Francisco Chronicle
After the game, Davis was asked how many times Haase had stressed that fact leading in the lead-up to the game.
"Enough. Enough," Davis cracked. "He got his point across."
Amazingly, Davis had more assists than the entire Cal team, which finished with three. The Bears (6-8), who've lost four in a row, had all of one assist for the first 31 minutes.
Cal head coach Mark Fox — sitting next to Cal forward Grant Anticevich — discusses the Bears' loss at Maples Pavilion.
Cal head coach Mark Fox said the Bears' paltry assist total resulted partly from the 18 turnovers they committed.
By Steve Kroner
Oscar da Silva leads Stanford past San Diego
Rebuilding Cal faces high-expectations Stanford in Pac-12 opener
"When you turn it over 18 times, you take away 18 possible shots at the basket," Fox said. "Obviously, we know we're a work in progress offensively. When your two best shooters aren't shooting it great, you're not going to have a lot of assists."
The two shooter to whom Fox referred, guards Matt Bradley and Kareem South, combined to 6-for-24 from the floor.
Haase credited the defense of Davis and Wills for the Cardinal's ability to shut down Bradley and South. Haase called Davis and Wills "are as good of a tandem (as there is) in college basketball defensively ... because of their athleticism, because of their savvy and knowledge."
Bradley, who came into Thursday leading the Bears in scoring at 17.5 points per game, had 13, but only two in the first half when he went 1-for-8 from the field.
Cal forward Grant Anticevich had a team-high 16 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
Cal trailed by 15 three minutes into the second half. After a Bradley drive with 12½ minutes left, the Bears had cut their deficit to nine at 44-35.
Stanford responded with an 8-0 run. Davis had a hand in all eight points. He nailed two foul shots, converted a three-point play and then fed Spencer Jones for a 3 that gave the Cardinal a 17-point edge.
The Bears got no closer than 12 the rest of the way.
In a 72-56 loss to Kansas on Sunday, nearly eight minutes elapsed before Stanford scored and the Cardinal didn't make a field goal for nearly 12 minutes.
On Thursday, the Cardinal didn't score until a Davis slam off a Cal turnover 3½ minutes into the game. Of course, because the Bears were struggling mightily on offense as well, Davis' bucket tied the game 2-2.
Cal did lead 7-2 before Stanford's second basket, a crossunder layup by Wills.
That ignited an 11-0 Stanford run that Isaac White capped with a 3-pointer to put the Cardinal in front 13-7.
Neither looked particularly smooth on offense in the opening 20 minutes. The Bears committed 11 turnovers and went 8-for-29 (27.6%) from the floor. The Cardinal committed five turnovers and went 13-for-31 (41.9%) from the floor.
A key sequence came in the final 33 seconds. The Cardinal led 27-21 before Oscar da Silva scored from inside.
The Bears then had the opportunity to run down the clock until the last few seconds and ensure they went to the locker room down by no more than eight.
They then, in Fox's words, made "as poor of a play as you can possibly have in basketball."
Juhwan Harris-Dyson got called for traveling with 16 seconds remaining. Stanford made the Bears pay for that mistake.
Davis found Jaiden Delaire alone in the left corner. Delaire buried a 3 and the half ended with Stanford on top 32-21.
Steve Kroner is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: skroner@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SteveKronerSF
Steve Kroner
Follow Steve on:
https://www.facebook.com/SFChronicle/stevekronersf
Steve Kroner's main coverage beats for The San Francisco Chronicle's Sporting Green are WCC basketball, the Giants and the A's. He occasionally covers the NFL and college football, the NBA and golf. Steve, who joined The Chronicle in November 1998, also works as a copy editor. Before working at The Chronicle, he spent 16 years as a sports producer/reporter for KPIX TV. Born in San Francisco and raised in Millbrae, Steve went to Capuchino High and then to Cal, from which he graduated in 1981 with degrees in journalism and political science.
He lives in San Francisco.
Cal overcomes 11-point deficit, stuns Stanford at Haas Pavilion
Cal women fall to Colorado, remain winless in Pac-12 play
The 49ers' season, game by game


A walk on the wild side: L'Artisan Dzing!
Today I'm wearing Dzing, for the third time in our personal history together. I want to love Dzing: it's got all the right notes, a great idea behind it, and I love the house it's out of. What's the problem, you ask?
No problem, per se, it's just too tame. I really wanted a walk on the wild side. I heard that it was horsey (my favorite smell in the multi-verse is sweaty horse), I heard that it had an animalic growl, but this kitty has had her claws trimmed. Maybe I'm anosmic, maybe my skin just mellows the fragrance, or maybe I just need to spend some more time with it.
I get just the tiniest cumin-y hum, and yes, there's leather, but it's so subtle and refined!
It's the circus from an observer's perspective. I guess I was hoping for something a little closer to the third ring.


Alcohol consumption has been a part of most human cultures since prehistoric times. While drinking practices vary by culture, ranging from total abstention to avid immersion, most adult drinkers are social drinkers who enjoy alcohol in moderation.
However, about 10-15 per cent of drinkers abuse alcohol. The most severe health effects of chronic heavy alcohol consumption include damage to the liver (alcoholic hepatitis or liver cirrhosis), heart (cardiomyopathy, hypertension), brain (structural changes, decreased cognition), peripheral neuropathy, and cancer, particularly in the digestive tract. Almost as old as the history of alcohol consumption are the efforts of governments, NGOs and, more recently, international agencies such as WHO, to reduce harmful alcohol consumption.
The picture is less clear regarding moderate alcohol consumption. On the one hand, countless studies have shown that moderate drinking is associated with health benefits, including decreased risk of coronary heart disease (heart attacks), ischemic stroke, type-2 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, improved cognition in the elderly and even a decreased risk of thyroid and kidney cancers (renal cell carcinoma) and non-Hodgkin lymphoma, resulting in decreased all-cause mortality. There is some discussion on what constitutes moderate drinking (generally assumed not to exceed an average of a few standard size drinks a day).
Needless to say, these potential benefits do not apply to everyone, and some people are at higher risk for damaging effects of alcohol consumption. These include, for instance, individuals infected with hepatitis B or C, or people who have genetic defects in the capacity to metabolise acetaldehyde, the primary product of alcohol metabolism (a defect found in 20 to 40 per cent of the population in East Asia). Also, there is general agreement that pregnant women should abstain from consuming alcohol to avoid the risk of damage to the developing foetus.
On the other hand, recent reports have highlighted the potential cancer risks of drinking even moderate amounts of alcohol; some scientists advocate that there is no safe level of drinking. For instance, several studies of the impact of alcohol consumption on breast cancer risk in women reported that an increase in risk can be precipitated by as little as a third of a drink a day. Similar increases in cancer risk could apply to other types of cancer. These reports have caused anxiety and led to recommendations that all alcohol use should be discouraged.
While caution is generally a good thing in the context of cancer risks, this needs to be balanced by the potential benefits of moderate drinking.
There are reasons to interpret the epidemiological studies that suggest a causative role of moderate alcohol consumption in breast cancer with considerable caution. By necessity, all of these studies rely on self-reporting to determine the amount of alcohol consumed. Although methods to assess self-reports with regard to recent drinking have become more standardised, they remain fraught with problems. Several recent studies demonstrate recall bias, where individuals substantially underestimate not only their 'average' daily consumption, but also the occasions when they exceed this average drinking pattern. Surprisingly, the degree of underestimation tends to be greater for moderate drinkers.
This problem is exacerbated when attempting to identify drinking patterns over extended periods. Breast cancer develops over decades; thus, correlations between alcohol consumption and breast cancer cannot be determined in studies with windows of alcohol exposure that capture only current or recent alcohol intake, after clinical diagnosis.
The apparent increased risk has been suggested to be substantially due to underreporting of intake. The purported precision of some of the outcomes of epidemiological studies that identify risks of less than one drink a day is to be treated with several grains of salt. Studies are needed that overcome this problem, with a prospective study design that follows individuals over prolonged periods with continued assessment of alcohol use, including estimates of underreporting.
An interesting 'experiment of nature' gives some insight into potential risks of acetaldehyde formation during alcohol consumption. Those people of East Asian origin who are genetically deficient in acetaldehyde metabolism accumulate much higher levels of this harmful compound in their blood when they drink. Usually, individuals with this genetic defect avoid alcohol consumption due to its unpleasant physiological effects; however, some of these still use alcohol, even to excess, often due to social pressure.
These individuals are at significantly increased risk for developing cancer of the oesophagus, but not for breast cancer. This suggests that if moderate alcohol use increases breast cancer risk, the mechanism may be quite different and identifying it would allow a better assessment of the nature of such risks.
Cancer is a dreaded disease and efforts to decrease its burden globally are strongly to be encouraged. However, the current state of knowledge of the association between alcohol use and breast cancer is ambiguous and confusing to both a woman and her doctor. High-quality, unbiased research into this important area is urgently needed, so that policies to reduce alcohol-induced harm can be based on sound science.
Women with known genetic susceptibilities for breast cancer should consult with their doctor about risk factors and are well advised to avoid overconsumption of alcohol. However, to stop moderate drinking to avoid the risks for cancer may do more harm than good.


text:
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Is Augustine's 'confessions' an Autobiography or More than That?
✅ Paper Type: Free Essay ✅ Subject: Theology
✅ Wordcount: 2844 words ✅ Published: 26th Jul 2021
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"Like a colossus bestriding two worlds, Augustine stands as the last patristic and the first medieval father of Western Christianity." [1]
It is nigh impossible to describe the extent to which Augustine influenced Christian thought and practice in the centuries that followed his death. Augustine collected and maintained all the main motifs of Latin Christianity from Tertullian to Ambrose. Despite lacking a clear method, Augustine's works offer the reader a clear insight into the heart of the Christian communities living within the Roman Empire. Furthermore, Augustine purposely used philosophy of the ancient world in his defence of the Christian faith. His faith and works are centred on the Scriptures – they structured and evoked his heart and mind. It was the Holy Scriptures where Augustine focused his religious authority.
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Augustine seemed to have regarded himself as a summator rather than an innovator. Rather than advocating for reform, Augustine's forte was his apologetics – the influence and genius of such can be felt throughout the course of history. Even today, in the important theological revival of our own time, the influence of Augustine is obviously one of the most potent and productive impulses at work. Francis Schüssler Fiorenza, a professor of Roman Catholic Theology at Harvard, wrote;
"It is impossible for Christian theologians to discuss the doctrine of the Trinity, the nature of sin, the theory of original sin, the role of grace, the efficacy of the sacraments, the nature of ministry, or the relation between church and state without reference to the contributions of Augustine."[2]
A complete characterisation of Augustine is impossible, not only because his thought is so extraordinarily complex and his exegetic method so incurably tangential, but also because during his life, and career, his heart and mind were full of conflicts. Thus, if he is to be read wisely, he must be read widely – and always in context, with due attention to the specific aim of each thesis. I intend to follow such advice in the following analysis of one of Augustine's main works – the Confessions, a text consisting of 13 books, written in Latin between AD 397 and 400 recalls crucial events and episodes in the author's life. [3]
It has been argued that the Confessions are autobiographical, however, for my purposes I will not be assuming such. Augustine certainly follows the windings of his memory as it re-presents the upheavals of his youth and the stages of his disorderly quest for wisdom however, he omits very much indeed. In defending my position, that is, that the Confessions are much more than an autobiography I will discuss the chosen title of the text, continue by discussing the reasoning behind such a text, and concluding with a summation of my belief.
What is a Confession?
To gain a clear understanding of this seminal work by Augustine, one must first understand that it isn't simply Augustine confessing his guilts to his audience. A confession is an affirmation or declaration, and therefore a term with two distinct meanings in theological discourse. It is possible to confess sins, as well as to confess the faith. A confession of faith is both an act by which the faith of the church is declared and the resulting document from such an act. Thus, the martyrs are said to have confessed their faith in the most difficult circumstances. Likewise, the title of 'confessor' is usually given to those who confessed the faith even at the risk of their lives. [4] The Confessions therefore, is not just a confession of sins, or confessio peccati, but also a confessio fidei and a confessio laudis, that is, a statement of faith in the greatness of God and a song of praise and gratitude for the Lord's love and power.[5] Furthermore, the Catholic Encyclopaedia writes;
"The Confessions (towards A.D. 400) are, in the Biblical sense of the word confiteri, not an avowal or an account, but the praise of a soul that admires the action of God within itself."[6]
Augustine had spent almost thirty years of his life, up to the point of writing the Confessions, lost from God. This work is a reflection on those years that were lost, and his subsequent salvation by his faith in God. Augustine's path was twisted by his own design, and God made it straight, slowly and painfully. This is important to note at this point. Understanding that a confession is more than just simply a spoken retelling of an event of your life, that it is also a statement of belief or a declaration of faith, supports the notion that the Confessions is more than an autobiography. All one must do is understand the title of the work itself.
The purpose of the Confessions?
What was Augustine's purpose when writing the Confessions? If one can discern exactly why Augustine wrote such a text, then it would be possible to say for definite whether he wrote it as an autobiography or not. James O'Donnell a classics scholar at Georgetown University writes in his book, 'Augustine, A New Biography', that he believes the Confessions were not written for any practical purpose that is oriented towards others, at least not primarily, rather the book's main address is to God. He writes,
"…human readers are not only disregarded but seated in the balcony and ignored by the performer on stage…". [7]
Augustine constantly reflects on, and questions, God throughout the text. His speech is consistently directed toward God. O'Donnell then, seems to have a point. Almost every reflection of Augustine's life is paired with a reflection on, or a calling to, God. His infancy, for example, is paired with reflections on the Psalms. During the descriptions of his childhood in Book One, Chapter IX, for example, Augustine recalls moments from his education and reflects upon his prayer life;
"…if I was slow to learn, I was flogged… Thus as a boy I began to pray to thee, my Help and my Refuge… I prayed with no slight earnestness that I might not be beaten at school."[8]
This practice continued throughout his accounts of adolescence and into adulthood. Almost every aspect of his life is paired with praise and longing for God. Its purpose is twofold: Augustine firstly confesses his sins to God and, secondly, lets others know of his trials and errors so that his conversion may be an example to them. As he explains in book ten, chapter three;
"For the confessions of my past sins, when they are read and heard, may stir up the heart so that it will stop dozing along in despair, saying, "I cannot"; but will instead awake in the love of thy mercy and the sweetness of thy grace, by which he that is weak is strong, provided he is made conscious of his own weakness."[9]
Augustine also writes in his Retractationes, a reflection on his earlier works that was written around 427, that this book praises and honours God throughout;
"My Confessions, in thirteen books, praise the righteous and good God as they speak either of my evil or good, and they are meant to excite men's minds and affections toward him. At least as far as I am concerned, this is what they did for me when they were being written and they still do this when read. What some people think of them is their own affair [ipse viderint]; but I do know that they have given pleasure to many of my brethren and still do so."[10] (Retractions II. 6,)
This is the majority of what is mentioned about the Confessions in Augustine's Retractationes. While one could read this comment and argue that Augustine wrote the Confessions to make others reflect upon the role God played in their lives, however, that seems to be quite a simplistic reading of such. The Confessions was written for personal reasons – a personal spiritual reflection – not simply an autobiography. For Augustine to write a book, that purported to make 'truth' and seek 'light', was not merely a reflection upon the actions of his life but pure act itself.
The Confessions – Not Simply an Autobiography
It is not uncommon to hear people classify the Confessions as an autobiography, however, it seems that this interpretation of the work has led to many readers confusion when first reading the text. This classification is understandable. The text is a first-person account of Augustine's life. It is also organised chronologically, beginning with infancy and culminating when he is thirty-three. However, much of Augustine's life is not dealt with at all. Furthermore, autobiographies are typically a narrative of events, and if one was to begin reading the Confessions expecting such a narrative flow, one would be thwarted at every turn. It seems fair to say that Augustine's masterpiece is autobiographical, but it is not an autobiography. It is more than that.
The Confessions is written retrospectively and is a personal reflection on what happened to Augustine at different stages of his life. The book is fundamentally reflective, and this spills over into its format, the paragraphs often resemble diary entries. Throughout this reflection, Augustine tells his story – a history of his heart and soul. The former Bishop of Hippo wrote this book years after the events that were recorded. Interestingly, some have argued it was a response to criticisms he was receiving throughout his daily life. The Confessions are reflective, spiritual, prayerful and autobiographical all at once. Is it a prayer? Is it a reflective journal? Either way, it goes beyond a mere autobiography. This mixed-genre format is not east to read yet it also evokes excitement. Its format is reminiscent of the format of both some of the books of the Old Testament, such as Isiah and Jeremiah, and the Gospels themselves.
By this point, it seems clear that Augustine's Confessions goes beyond that of a mere autobiography for multiple reasons – the naming of the text, the authors purpose when writing the text and the format. The Confessions is a detailed, classic recounting of one man's internal struggles and religious conversion. Throughout the text, there is a basic and recurrent motif: the celebration and praise of the greatness of God – Creator and Redeemer.
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The characteristics of an autobiography are certainly present; however, I do not believe Augustine deliberately fashioned it so, rather he uses his own life as an exemplar of his understanding of human existence. For generations the work has been read as the moving diary of a soul, with a peculiar power to speak as well to the personal history of its readers. Edward B. Pusey, for example, notes that;
"…in The Confessions one does not get so much the impression of reading the life of another man, but rather the story of one's own soul." [11]
He further quotes Petrarch as commenting that "I seem to be reading the history of my own wanderings, and not of another's" It is no wonder that people read the story as their own, for it is a 'typical' story, recounting a fall from grace and a return to grace. The great theme of the Confessions is not simply the story of salvation of one person, but the destinies of all persons.[12] If one understands this, then how could they argue that this text is simply an autobiography? We should listen to Augustine himself, who, in Book Eleven, Chapter One, echoes this when explaining why he wrote;
"… why am I recounting such a tale of things to thee?… that through them I may stir up my own love and the love of my readers toward thee, so that all may say, 'Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised.' I have said this before and will say it again: 'For love of thy love I do it'"[13]
The Confessions are not simply Augustine's autobiography, they are, instead, a deliberate effort, in the permissive atmosphere of God's felt presence, to recall those crucial episodes and events which he can now see and celebrate the mysterious actions of God's prevenient and provident grace. Ultimately, however, the question remains; what should we, as Christians do with such a text? Perhaps we should, as Augustine wrote himself in a Letter to Darius (A.D. 429);
"…take the books of my confessions and use them as a good man should – not superficially, but as a Christian in Christian Charity… And if something in me pleases you, here praise Him with me…"[14]
Augustine, trans. by Outler, Albert The Confessions of St. Augustine, Dover, New York, 2002.
Davis T., Stephen, Christian Philosophical Theology, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2016.
Fiorenza Schüssler Francis & Galvin P. John, Systematic Theology Roman Catholic Perspectives (2nd Ed), Fortress Press, Minneapolis, 2011.
González, Justo Essential Theological Terms John Knox, Louisville, 2005.
Kreeft, Peter, Fundamentals of the Faith: Essays in Christian Apologetics, Ignatius Press, USA, 1988.
Lewis C.S. Edit. by Walter Hooper, God in the Dock – Essays on Theology and Ethics, Wm. B. Eerdmans: Michigan, 2014.
O'Donnell, James Augustine : A New Biography, HarperCollins, New York, 2006.
Pusey, Edward The Confessions of St. Augustine Macmillan, New York, 1961.
Williams, Rowan On Christian Theology Malden, MA, Blackwell, 2000.
[1] St Augustine, Trans. & Ed. By Albert Cook Outler, The Confessions of St. Augustine, (Dover: New York, 2002) p. v.
[2] Francis Schüssler Fiorenza, Systematic Theology Roman Catholic Perspectives (2nd Ed), (Fortress Press: Minneapolis, 2011) p. 12.
[3] Henry Chadwick, St. Augustine, Confessions (2008 ed.), (Oxford University Press: Oxford, 1992) p. xxix.
[4] Justo L. González, Essential Theological Terms, (John Knox: Louisville, 2005) pg. 37.
[5] Françoise Lionnet, "Augustine's Confessions: Poetics of Harmony, or the Ideal Reader in the Text." In Autobiographical Voices: Race, Gender, Self-Portraiture, (Cornell University Press: London, 1989) 35-66.
[6] E. Portalié, Works of St. Augustine of Hippo. The Catholic Encyclopaedia, (Robert Appleton Company: New York 1907).
[7] James J. O'Donnell, Augustine : A New Biography, (HarperCollins: New York, 2006)
[8] St Augustine, Trans. & Ed. By Albert Cook Outler, The Confessions of St. Augustine, (Dover: New York, 2002) p. 9.
[9] St Augustine, Trans. & Ed. By Albert Cook Outler, The Confessions of St. Augustine, (Dover: New York, 2002) p. 173.
[10] St Augustine, Trans. & Ed. By Albert Cook Outler, The Confessions of St. Augustine, (Dover: New York, 2002) p. xii.
[11] Edward B Pusey, The Confessions of St. Augustine (Macmillan: New York, 1961) p. xii
[12] Marjorie Suchocki, "The Symbolic Structure of Augustine's "Confessions"." Journal of the American Academy of Religion 50, no. 3 (1982): p. 365-78. – http://www.jstor.org/stable/1463596
[13] St Augustine, Trans. & Ed. By Albert Cook Outler, The Confessions of St. Augustine, (Dover: New York, 2002) p. 214.
[14] St Augustine, Trans. & Ed. By Albert Cook Outler, The Confessions of St. Augustine, (Dover: New York, 2002) p. xiii.
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