text:
Q: Determine the closest free set of X/Y coordinates within an ever expanding 2D grid stored in MySQL I have a very basic MySQL table in which X and Y coordinates are stored for tiles within a grid. The center of the grid is 0,0 and tiles can be created in any direction. If the coordinates exists in the MySQL table, they are considered "taken".
+---------+------------+------------+
| tile_id | position_x | position_y |
+---------+------------+------------+
|       1 |          0 |          0 |
|       2 |          1 |          0 |
|       3 |          0 |          1 |
|       4 |          1 |          1 |
|       5 |         -1 |         -1 |
+---------+------------+------------+

I need to place a set of 4 tiles (as a square, not a rectangle) into the grid in the closest possible position to 0,0.
To illustrate - the green tiles below would need to be found.

Sadly, I'm not even sure where to start with this one :(

A: Here's a single-query solution.
For any given square t on the grid, we can identify 8 possible 4-square tiles around it that may be empty:

If none of the 4 possible tiles that include (0,0) are available, the closest available tile to (0,0) must be adjacent to an existing taken square (since for any available tile not adjacent to an existing taken square, we can find an available tile that is closer).
That means we can construct a query over the taken squares to calculate possible available tiles.
To check whether we have an available tile adjacent to square t, we can use a query like the following:
  SELECT t.x AS x1, t.y-2 AS y1, t.x+1 AS x2, t.y-1 AS y2, LEAST(ABS(x1),ABS(x2))+LEAST(ABS(y1),ABS(y2)) AS distance
  FROM tiles t
  LEFT JOIN tiles t1 ON (t.x = t1.x OR t.x+1 = t1.x) AND (t.y-2 = t1.y OR t.y-1 = t1.y)
  WHERE t1.tile_id IS NULL

This will determine the left, top, right and bottom coordinates, as well as the Manhattan distance from (0,0), of available tiles in the t1 position relative to the taken squares.
Next we need a union of the available tiles in all 8 positions. We also need to check for the 4 possibly available tiles that include (0,0), since they're not necessarily adjacent to an existing taken square.
SELECT *, LEAST(ABS(x1),ABS(x2))+LEAST(ABS(y1),ABS(y2)) AS distance
FROM (
  SELECT t.x   AS x1, t.y-2 AS y1, t.x+1 AS x2, t.y-1 AS y2
  FROM tiles t
  LEFT JOIN tiles t1 ON (t.x   = t1.x OR t.x+1 = t1.x) AND (t.y-2 = t1.y OR t.y-1 = t1.y)
  WHERE t.y <= 0 AND t1.tile_id IS NULL

  UNION ALL

  SELECT t.x+1 AS x1, t.y-1 AS y1, t.x+2 AS x2, t.y   AS y2
  FROM tiles t
  LEFT JOIN tiles t2 ON (t.x+1 = t2.x OR t.x+2 = t2.x) AND (t.y-1 = t2.y OR t.y   = t2.y)
  WHERE t.x >= 0 AND t2.tile_id IS NULL

  UNION ALL

  SELECT t.x+1 AS x1, t.y   AS y1, t.x+2 AS x2, t.y+1 AS y2
  FROM tiles t
  LEFT JOIN tiles t3 ON (t.x+1 = t3.x OR t.x+2 = t3.x) AND (t.y   = t3.y OR t.y+1 = t3.y)
  WHERE t.x >= 0 AND t3.tile_id IS NULL

  UNION ALL

  SELECT t.x   AS x1, t.y+1 AS y1, t.x+1 AS x2, t.y+2 AS y2
  FROM tiles t
  LEFT JOIN tiles t4 ON (t.x   = t4.x OR t.x+1 = t4.x) AND (t.y+1 = t4.y OR t.y+2 = t4.y)
  WHERE t.y >= 0 AND t4.tile_id IS NULL

  UNION ALL

  SELECT t.x-1 AS x1, t.y+1 AS y1, t.x   AS x2, t.y+2 AS y2
  FROM tiles t
  LEFT JOIN tiles t5 ON (t.x-1 = t5.x OR t.x   = t5.x) AND (t.y+1 = t5.y OR t.y+2 = t5.y)
  WHERE t.y >= 0 AND t5.tile_id IS NULL

  UNION ALL

  SELECT t.x-2 AS x1, t.y   AS y1, t.x-1 AS x2, t.y+1 AS y2
  FROM tiles t
  LEFT JOIN tiles t6 ON (t.x-2 = t6.x OR t.x-1 = t6.x) AND (t.y   = t6.y OR t.y+1 = t6.y)
  WHERE t.x <= 0 AND t6.tile_id IS NULL

  UNION ALL

  SELECT t.x-2 AS x1, t.y-1 AS y1, t.x-1 AS x2, t.y   AS y2
  FROM tiles t
  LEFT JOIN tiles t7 ON (t.x-2 = t7.x OR t.x-1 = t7.x) AND (t.y-1 = t7.y OR t.y   = t7.y)
  WHERE t.x <= 0 AND t7.tile_id IS NULL

  UNION ALL

  SELECT t.x-1 AS x1, t.y-2 AS y1, t.x   AS x2, t.y-1 AS y2
  FROM tiles t
  LEFT JOIN tiles t8 ON (t.x-1 = t8.x OR t.x   = t8.x) AND (t.y-2 = t8.y OR t.y-1 = t8.y)
  WHERE t.y <= 0 AND t8.tile_id IS NULL

  UNION ALL

  SELECT 0 AS x1, -1 AS y1, 1 AS x2, 0 AS y2
  FROM dual
  WHERE NOT EXISTS (
    SELECT 1
    FROM tiles
    WHERE (x = 0 OR x = 1) AND (y = -1 OR y = 0)
  )

  UNION ALL

  SELECT 0 AS x1, 0 AS y1, 1 AS x2, 1 AS y2
  FROM dual
  WHERE NOT EXISTS (
    SELECT 1
    FROM tiles
    WHERE (x = 0 OR x = 1) AND (y = 0 OR y = 1)
  )

  UNION ALL

  SELECT -1 AS x1, 0 AS y1, 0 AS x2, 1 AS y2
  FROM dual
  WHERE NOT EXISTS (
    SELECT 1
    FROM tiles
    WHERE (x = -1 OR x = 0) AND (y = 0 OR y = 1)
  )

  UNION ALL

  SELECT -1 AS x1, -1 AS y1, 0 AS x2, 0 AS y2
  FROM dual
  WHERE NOT EXISTS (
    SELECT 1
    FROM tiles
    WHERE (x = -1 OR x = 0) AND (y = -1 OR y = 0)
  )
) z
ORDER BY distance
LIMIT 1

For brevity I used x and y instead of position_x and position_y. I used UNION ALL for speed since it avoids checking for duplicate rows, we only need one after all. Another optimization is to only check for tiles to the right of t where x >= 0, below t where y >= 0, and so on. Indexes on the x and y columns should be crucial to performance.
I tested it with your example grid:
+---+---+---+---+---------+
| x1| y1| x2| y2| distance|
+---+---+---+---+---------+
|-2 |  0| -1|  1|        1|
+---+---+---+---+---------+

A: As the logic is quite involved, I will not attempt a unique SQL statement; I will use auxiliary tables instead. Of course, these may be replaced by derived tables if needed.
To begin with, let's assume that we have a numbers table with values 0, 1, 2, 3, ... (large enough).
drop table if exists numbers;
create table numbers (nr int);
insert numbers (nr) values (0), (1), (2), (3), (4);

From this populate a points table. This table holds the entire grid (or at least a sufficiently large rectangular subset of it which contains the (0,0) point).
drop table if exists points;
create table points (x int, y int);

insert points (x, y)
select x.nr, y.nr from numbers x, numbers y
union all select -x.nr, y.nr from numbers x, numbers y where x.nr <> 0 or y.nr <> 0
union all select x.nr, -y.nr from numbers x, numbers y where x.nr <> 0 or y.nr <> 0
union all select -x.nr, -y.nr from numbers x, numbers y where x.nr <> 0 or y.nr <> 0;

Next compute all possible 2x2 squares:
drop table if exists squares;
create table squares (x_lo int, y_lo int, x_hi int, y_hi int);

insert squares (x_lo, y_lo, x_hi, y_hi)
select a.*, b.* from points a join points b on a.x = b.x - 1 and a.y = b.y-1;

Finally, this query will find all empty squares and order them according to the sum of their points' distance from (0.0). By limiting the result to 1 the "best" square is returned:
select x_lo, y_lo, x_hi, y_hi
, abs(s.x_lo) + abs(s.y_lo) + abs(s.x_hi) + abs(s.y_hi) as total_distance
from squares s
left join t on t.position_x between s.x_lo and s.x_hi
    and t.position_y between s.y_lo and s.y_hi
where t.position_x is null
order by abs(s.x_lo) + abs(s.y_lo) + abs(s.x_hi) + abs(s.y_hi)
limit 1
;

Your original data is in the t table:
drop table if exists t;
create table t (tile_id int, position_x int, position_y int);
insert t values (1,0,0),(2,0,1),(3,1,0),(4,1,1),(5,2,1),(6,2,2),
       (7,3,1),(8,3,2),(9,0,-1),(10,0,-2),(11,-1,-1),(12,-1,-2);

DEMO

A: The SQL below first calculates and puts the empty tiles into a new table.
That grid is limited to the lowest and highest points that the black tiles have.
Plus a margin of 2 tiles for good measure.
From those empty tiles, the square blocks are calculated via inner joins.
Because if an inner join fails to link to a tile that's not in the table, then it wouldn't be an empty square block anyway.
The block with the lowest distance to (0,0) gets on top because of the order by, thus chosen.

drop table if exists filled_tiles;
create table filled_tiles (
 tile_id int not null auto_increment,
 position_x int not null,
 position_y int not null,
 primary key (tile_id),
 index idx_pos_x_y (position_x, position_y)
);

insert into filled_tiles (position_x, position_y) values
(0,0),(1,0),(0,1),(1,1),(-1,-1),
(2,1),(2,2),(3,1),(3,2),
(-1,-2),(0,-2),(0,-1);

--
-- Calculating the edges of the 2D grid
--
select min(position_x)-2, min(position_y)-2, max(position_x)+2, max(position_y)+2
into @x_min, @y_min, @x_max, @y_max
from filled_tiles;

drop table if exists tally;
create table tally (n int not null, primary key (n));
insert into tally (n) values (-9),(-8),(-7),(-6),(-5),(-4),(-3),(-2),(-1),(0),(1),(2),(3),(4),(5),(6),(7),(8),(9);

--
-- A table for the empty tiles
--
drop table if exists unfilled_tiles;
create table unfilled_tiles (x int not null, y int not null, INDEX idx_x_y (x, y));

insert into unfilled_tiles (x, y)
select X.n, Y.n
from (select n from tally where n between @x_min and @x_max) X
cross join (select n from tally where n between @y_min and @y_max) Y
left join filled_tiles t on (X.n = t.position_x and Y.n = t.position_y)
where t.tile_id is null;

select
concat('(',u1.x,',',u1.y,'),(',u2.x,',',u2.y,'),(',u3.x,',',u3.y,'),(',u4.x,',',u4.y,')') as tile_blocks
from unfilled_tiles u1
join unfilled_tiles u2 on (u1.x+1 = u2.x and u1.y = u2.y) -- right of the tile
join unfilled_tiles u3 on (u1.x = u3.x and u1.y+1 = u3.y) -- above the tile
join unfilled_tiles u4 on (u1.x+1 = u4.x and u1.y+1 = u4.y) -- above and right of the tile
where u1.x < @x_max and u1.y < @y_max -- the tiles in the up and right edges of the grid can be ignored
order by (abs(u1.x+u4.x)+abs(u1.y+u4.y))/4.0 asc -- distance to 0,0
limit 1;

Result :
(-2,0),(-1,0),(-2,1),(-1,1)

A demo can be found here on rextester.
And here is a MS SQL Server version.
With recursive SQL and CTE's, it's then possible to do this in a single query.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Colombia Just Had a Change of Guard on Palestine
Published August 15th, 2018 - 10:44 GMT
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, and former Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos at a ceremony to sign agreements at the Narino palace in Bogota, 2017. (AFP/Raul Arboleda)
By Eleanor Beevor
Political and trade relations between Latin America and the Middle East are older and deeper than many realise. But the Israel-Palestine conflict has always been less of a security matter for Latin America than an ideological one. States declared their side in the conflict according to the image that they wanted to project in the world.
And given the large number of leftist governments that arose in the region after the Cold War, those proclaimed solidarities overwhelmingly lay with Palestine. But one persistent exception was Colombia. Or at least, it was up until last week.
America's $10 BN War on Drugs
Bogota had plenty of reasons for wanting to maintain good relations with Israel. The Colombian government was for decades fighting the Marxist rebel group Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, better known by its initials FARC.
Though Colombia has had a reliably democratic system for much of the past century, the shocking inequalities in the country lent traction to FARC's communist rhetoric, even as the group faced widespread opposition for its violence.
Despite the recent peace agreement, tensions are still bubbling. The settlement with FARC was actually rejected in a referendum by the Colombian people. The peace deal was passed by government anyway, with some adjustments, but the controversy has jarred the prospects of truly peaceful reintegration.
Whoever was in power in Bogota over the last few decades tended to keep themselves ideologically distinct from FARC, and from Colombia's leftist neighbours. Bogota needed all the outside support it could get when it came to battling both FARC and Colombia's powerful drug cartels.
And America was its most reliable supporter on that front, and an ally that it could not afford to alienate. America, keen to clean up its domestic cocaine use problem, has seen successive administrations pour $10 billion into the fight against the drug trade.
This need to maintain a very distinct worldview from far-left Latin American politics extended to Colombia's stance on the Middle East. It led to the country adopting some positions that were highly unusual in the region.
Colombia, the Middle East and Israel
Colombia nominally supported the invasion of Iraq, with then-President Alvaro Uribe declaring that "…it would be wrong for a country besieged by terrorism to deny its support for the war on terrorism in the world". (That may also have been down to Bogota hoping to brand its domestic fight as part of the global "War on Terror").
It is not true to say that Colombia has been actively anti-Palestinian. Palestine has actually been one of its most significant Middle Eastern trade partners. However, it maintained relations with Israel that were more than cordial. Israel was much more to Colombia than just a political signal.
Israel was – both commercially and diplomatically – a staunch aide to Bogota as it dealt with both the FARC insurgency and the infamous, and violent Colombian drug trade. Israel has sold past Colombian administrations extensive military and surveillance technologies, sales which – according to the Financial Times – would have required Israeli government approval.
Israel also played an important assistance role in the release of the Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, who was held captive by the FARC for six years after being kidnapped in 2002. Israeli security advisors stepped in at Colombia's request, and provided technology and former security agents to help undertake the operation, although the release itself was carried out by the Colombian military.
Betancourt's release, along with her fellow hostages, was described by several commentators as a "Colombian Entebbe", a reference to the 1976 Israeli operation to free hostages trapped in Entebbe, Uganda, after their flight was hijacked by pro-Palestinian activists.
As part of the peace deal, the FARC guerrilla group will now begin its life as a political group in Colombia (AFP)
Israel thus had good reason to assume that support from Bogota was safe, and maybe even set to grow. When campaigning for the recent election in May 2018, the then-candidate and now President Ivan Duque said at a rally that he would consider moving the Colombian Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, in light with President Trump's highly controversial relocation of the US Embassy last December. (Colombia was one of the few countries that abstained in the UN vote to condemn the American decision). Duque was forced to backtrack somewhat a few days later, and reiterated his support for the two-state solution and Colombia's wish to help with the peace process.
A New President
But a very different decision by the outgoing President Juan Manuel Santos was in the works at the same time – one to recognise Palestine "…as a free, sovereign and independent state". And apparently, it was not Santos's decision alone, but made with the consultation and agreement of Duque, who won Colombia's Presidential election on June 17th.
Santos remained in office up until Duque's inauguration on August 7th, during which time his foreign minister informed the Palestinian Authority of Colombia's decision.
However, neither the public nor, it seems, Israel were any the wiser. Netanyahu had cancelled his plan to attend Duque's swearing-in ceremony, but cited instability in Gaza as the reason for the change of plan. Tzachi Hanegbi, the Minister for Regional Cooperation was sent in his place, and he wished the outgoing Santos good luck at the ceremony.
It seems that the first Israel found out about it was when the plan to recognise Palestine was leaked to the media on August 8th, just after Duque had been sworn in.
Israel was evidently caught off-guard. The Israeli Embassy in Bogota issued an angry statement condemning not only the decision, but how it had been announced. And it seems that the new administration, though it effectively confirmed that it had been aware the decision, said that the new government would review it, according to how it would affect Colombia's foreign relations, and according to international law. Ramallah, too, seems uncertain that the decision will stand – it cautiously welcomed it, but has refrained from seeing it as a done deal.
Some have interpreted this recognition of Palestine as a "legacy" move by the departing Santos, keen to cement his reputation as a peacemaker after winning the Nobel peace prize in 2016 for his role in drawing the war with FARC to a close. That may be so, though why Duque apparently gave it his blessing prior to assuming office is a more complicated matter. It may be that Duque thought this would be a symbolic, and ultimately not especially significant decision for Colombia - an assumption that may ultimately prove to be true.
But Duque's initial acceptance of the decision could also be a declaration that Colombia will run a foreign policy course independent from the United States. It would serve to counter a perception that Washington can dictate Bogota's affairs.
Whilst the Trump administration sees Duque as an ally they can work with – and certainly a far preferable candidate than his leftist opponent Gustavo Petro – many Colombians have a strong dislike for the U.S. president.
In September 2017, Trump threatened to decertify Colombia as a partner in the war on drugs because of a recent spike in coca plantations. While Trump is known for making threats as part of his "art of the deal" view of politics, this was seen as a slap in the face by Colombians, since he failed to acknowledge their own vast efforts against the drug trade, and the suffering that violence from the cartels has caused its people.
Trump's incendiary remarks about Latin American immigrants, and his cruel treatment of families attempting to cross the border, have further soured his reputation.
Recognising Palestine
Duque sticking to the policy of recognising Palestine could help allay fears that he will do Washington's bidding, a necessary move when many of the demands Trump has made of Bogota are extremely controversial. Many Colombians fear a return to conflict if Bogota tries to get too tough.
But Trump wants to see a return of aerial spraying of coca plantations with herbicides, a practice that was banned by Bogota in 2015 since the chemicals were deemed a health hazard.
Bogota is sure to face a stiff reprimand from the United States, and from Israel, who do not want to encourage a wave of support for Palestine as they try to push through a new American-led peace process. U.S. Secretary of Defence James Mattis is due to visit Colombia in the coming week, and may take the opportunity to push Israel's case.
Still, the affair is unlikely to dominate the American relationship with Bogota. Washington is far more concerned about Venezuela, and sees Colombia as a key ally in forwarding its interests in Latin America. If Duque chooses to stand by Palestine, it is unlikely Colombia will suffer much from it.
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Red Dragon by Thomas Harris is the first story where the character Hannibal Lector appears, and is the launching point for a series of books, movies and television, not the least of which are Jonathan Demme's revelation that interior menace was far creepier and disturbing than the externally gross on screen with Silence of the Lambs and the tour de force apotheosis of everything Bryan Fuller that is Hannibal. I could say so much about those two reifications, but will try to focus on the book in particular, though they must be included in passing by reference.
After so many years, this was the first Thomas Harris book I read, and I must admit I finally put it on my to read stack because of Fuller's television series. But I was surprised by how many esoteric references there were, and some of that comes out strongly in Fuller's series. To be sure there's the obvious William Blake connection with the Great Red Dragon image, but there's so much about becoming and will and good and evil and nature and choice and the interaction and intertwining and internecination and integration of all these selves and shadows here to contemplate and with which to make pacts.
There's plenty in this fiction to entertain and worth recommendation, but even moreso for those with esoteric interests who will find an even heartier eucharist.


text:
Justia Dockets & Filings Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation Christensen v. Smith et al Filing 27
Christensen v. Smith et al
ORDER DENYING TRANSFER re: pldg. ( 1 in MDL No. 2650), ( 21 in MDL No. 2650, 17 in UT/2:14-cv-00784, 19 in WY/1:14-cv-00186) The motion to transfer, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 1407, is DENIEDSigned by Judge Sarah S. Vance, Chair, PANEL ON MULTIDISTRICT LITIGATION, on 10/9/2015. Associated Cases: MDL No. 2650, UT/2:14-cv-00784, WY/1:14-cv-00186 (DLS)
UNITED STATES JUDICIAL PANEL on MULTIDISTRICT LITIGATION IN RE: ENERGY DRILLING, LLC, CONTRACT LITIGATION MDL No. 2650 ORDER DENYING TRANSFER Before the Panel: Energy Drilling, LLC (Energy) and Gerald K. Smith (a/k/a Gary Smith), Ray Ash, Robert Jennings, Austin Smith, and Rod Esson move under 28 U.S.C. § 1407 to centralize the two actions listed on the attached Schedule A in the District of Wyoming. The actions are pending in that district and the District of Utah. Energy is the plaintiff in the Wyoming action, and the individual movants are defendants in the Utah action. Gary Smith, who is Energy's chief executive officer, also is a third-party defendant in the Wyoming action.1 Pacific Energy & Mining Company (Pacific), which is the defendant/third-party plaintiff in the Wyoming action, and Dean H. Christensen, who is the pro se plaintiff in the Utah action, oppose centralization. After considering the parties' arguments, we deny centralization. The two actions do share certain factual issues concerning the performance of a May 8, 2014, contract under which Energy agreed to drill a well for Pacific in Grand County, Utah, a well in which Christensen asserts that he has an ownership interest. But the common factual issues essentially are limited to allegations that Energy, Gary Smith, and/or Energy employees (1) engaged in, or encouraged others to engage in, conduct that unnecessarily prolonged the drilling operation, and (2) induced one or more trucking companies to falsify their invoices. The complaint in the Utah action, contains unique and expansive allegations that Energy is a shell company, that the individual defendants operated a Ponzi scheme, and that defendants Smith, Austin, and Jennings slandered and libeled Christensen. Given this limited factual overlap and the minimal number of actions, creation of an MDL is not warranted. Informal coordination and cooperative efforts by the parties and involved courts can minimize or eliminate duplicative discovery and other pretrial proceedings. See, e.g., In re: Eli Lilly & Co. (Cephalexin Monohydrate) Patent Litig., 446 F. Supp. 242, 244 (J.P.M.L. 1978); see also Manual for Complex Litig., Fourth, § 20.14 (2004). 1 In the Section 1407 motion, movants aver that all defendants in the Utah action are or were members or employees of Energy. -2IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that the motion for centralization of these actions is denied. PANEL ON MULTIDISTRICT LITIGATION Sarah S. Vance Chair Marjorie O. Rendell Lewis A. Kaplan R. David Proctor Charles R. Breyer Ellen Segal Huvelle Catherine D. Perry IN RE: ENERGY DRILLING, LLC, CONTRACT LITIGATION MDL No. 2650 SCHEDULE A District of Utah CHRISTENSEN v. SMITH, ET AL., C.A. No. 2:14-00784 District of Wyoming ENERGY DRILLING, LLC v. PACIFIC ENERGY & MINING COMPANY, C.A. No. 1:14-00186


My wife, our three girls and I recently took a trip to the Caribbean. Our return had us flying into Miami National Airport with a 2-hour layover before heading back to Denver. We assumed two hours would be plenty of time to get through customs, re-check our bags, and make our way to our gate. This assumption was tested when we found ourselves at the end of a customs line that held 6000 people (yes…six THOUSAND).
A funny thing happened, though, about ten minutes before the herd stopped us — I paid attention (no small feat). As we were landing in Miami, an informational video played on the back of the seats; but you know what it's like as a plane is landing, we're in a hurry, we're anxious, and because we've heard it all before, we aren't paying attention to anything. The video referenced an app, Mobile Passport, that could potentially speed up the customs process. The video wasn't great, and I didn't quite understand what I was doing, but I downloaded the app and started through the required steps.
I was prompted to "create a trip" — which required that I input some information from each of our passports (there was an option to auto-fill this section by scanning the passport with the app, but it didn't work for me), select the destination airport, and answer the basic questions you get when reentering the country (are we carrying any fruits, plants, meats, animals, etc.). I then had to take our pictures (being careful not to show any teeth and being certain there was nobody else in the picture). The whole process took no more than ten minutes.
I wasn't confident that much time, if any, would be saved by completing this process, but I figured if it saved even a little time, it would be worth it. As we got to the customs line, there was an official letting us know we were in for a LONG wait (again, we were told there were at least 6000 people in front of us). There was then an agent yelling something about "mobile passport" and once we verified that he was referring to this app, he directed us past the very, very long, winding line. We ended up directly in front of a customs agent, with only one group ahead of us in line. From the time we started to follow the official past the line of people until we made it through customs was about the same amount of time it took me to fill out the info in the app: 5-10 minutes.
Needless to say, this simple process saved us a significant amount of time, and possibly even prevented us from missing our connecting flight. If you're going to be traveling abroad, I highly recommend looking into whether your connecting US airport utilizes this app/process. The info has to be filled out no more than (if I remember correctly) four hours before arrival at customs, so, the only downside is that you will have to wait until nearly the last minute. Good luck and hope this saves you some time!


text:
UPDATED: Chocolay River water levels dropping after weekend flooding
Courtesy: Terri Argall (WLUC)
By Andrew LaCombe
Published: Dec. 31, 2017 at 7:14 AM EST
UPDATE 10:15 a.m. Jan. 2:
The Chocolay Township Police Department has released an update on the flooding in the area of the Chocolay River.
The mouth of the Chocolay River was blocked by ice this past weekend. The blockage had cause minor flooding in the Bayou Road area, and Hotel Place.
As of Tuesday morning, the water appears to have found a passage out to the lake and is receding. Water levels had dropped 1.5-2 ft in the area.
At the time of posting, no property damage has been reported. If any residents in the affected area have sustained property damage, please contact Chocolay Township Department of Public Works Supervisor, Brad Johnson at 906-249-1448.
UPDATE at 3:30 p.m. Sunday:
The National Weather Service has extended the flood warning for the mouth of the Chocolay River until 5:15 p.m. Monday.
At 3:18 p.m. Sunday, the NWS says Marquette County Central Dispatch reported that the ice jam continues to impact areas at the mouth of the Chocolay River in Chocolay Township.
Flooding will remain possible until the ice jam releases. Residents should monitor river levels and be prepared to take quick action if waters rise.
ORIGINAL STORY at 7:15 a.m. Sunday:
A section of of Bayou Street in Chocolay Township is covered in icy water Sunday morning because of an ice jam at the mouth of the Chocolay River.
According to the Chocolay Township Fire Department, there are about eight homes on the flooded section of the road. As of 6:30 a.m. Sunday, some residents have evacuated, while others have stayed in their homes. No injuries have been reported, and utilities are still running in the area.
At 5:36 a.m. Sunday, the National Weather Service issued a flood warning for the area. The NWS said river levels are rising at an estimated half inch per hour and additional flooding may occur along the Chocolay River plain between Lake Superior and M-28 until the ice jam breaks.
Residents should monitor river levels and be prepared to take quick action if waters rise. People are also reminded to turn around and don't drown when they encounter flooded roads.
Air temperatures hovered around zero degrees Sunday morning.
The Marquette County Sheriff's Office and Chocolay Township Fire Department responded to the scene Sunday morning. Marquette County Emergency Management is working on a solution to break the ice jam, fire officials say.
This story will be updated with the latest information.
The section of Bayou Street that I highlighted in blue is covered by icy water following the ice jam @NWSMarquette @wluctv6 pic.twitter.com/kFZumi2H8Y
— Andrew LaCombe (@andrewlacombe) December 31, 2017
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The team at R&C has been busy over the past couple weeks getting your A to Z perks ready. We've just had an epic perk packing session, and we're now sending out a second round of thank you cards, as well as postcard packs, copies of Pictures from Paradise and See Me Here, buttons, tote bags and sketchbooks.
A very special thank you to Alex Kelly for generously donating time and talent towards screen printing the branded A to Z totes and sketchbooks. They're gorgeous! For those backers who ordered any of the perks mentioned here, keep an eye out for them in the coming weeks.
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Jonathan Hand, of Wildwood, and Lewis Starr, of Camden, for petitioner. Wm. Frank Sooy, of Atlantic City, for defendant.
Petition for divorce by George A. Redding against Margaret E. Redding. Decree advised refusing a divorce and dismissing the petition.
Jonathan Hand, of Wildwood, and Lewis Starr, of Camden, for petitioner.
Wm. Frank Sooy, of Atlantic City, for defendant.
GREY, Adv. M. The petition charged that the parties were married February 12, 1901, and that on October 22, 1903, defendant attempted to enter the bonds of matrimony with one William Sample or Semple, the marriage ceremony having been performed at Camden, N. J., on that date, and that defendant and Semple lived together as husband and wife from October, 1903, until May, 1904. The answer admits these charges of the bill, but asserts that defendant went through the marriage ceremony with Semple, believing her husband to be dead; that the petitioner sought her out in March, 1905 (she was not then living with Semple), and requested her to return and live with him and resume marital relations; that she thereupon went with him to Anglesea, N. J., although at that time and prior thereto petitioner knew of her attempted marriage to and of her living with Semple, and that the defendant and petitioner lived together as husband and wife from thence until May, 1912, when they parted by reason of cruel treatment on the part of the husband. The questions raised are entirely of fact. No legal principles are involved. From the facts admitted by the parties in the pleadings, and from the testimony taken, it appears that the parties were married in Philadelphia on the 12th of February, 1901. They quarreled and separated in October, 1902, and resumed marital relations again in December, 1902. They had another falling out in March, 1903, shortly after the birth of the only child, a daughter, and separated, not to again resume marital relations until March, 1905, during which period the attempted marriage and living with Semple by the defendant occurred.
There are but two issues in the case—one as to whether condonation has been proven, and the other as to who should have the custody of the child, if a divorce is granted.
The burden was upon the defendant to prove condonation. Various witnesses were called who swore that petitioner was fully aware of defendant's living with Semple as his wife for several months during the period of separation of petitioner and defendant from March, 1903, to March, 1905. This testimony of the defendant was contradicted by witnesses called for the petitioner, resulting in a very confused and unsatisfactory condition of the proofs. To ascertain the truth in this situation, it is helpful to scrutinize closely the character of the parties and their general conduct and their relations to each other. For this reason considerable latitude was given counsel in the examination of petitioner and defendant. George A. Redding, the petitioner, was engaged in the fish business at the time of his marriage. Since 1904 he has been borough clerk of Anglesea, N. J., at a salary of $500 a year and is still engaged in the fish business. In the summer of 1902 and 1903 he was employed as a life guard at Atlantic City. In the winter of 1902 he drove a wagon for Gimbel Bros. During the summer of 1904 he was employed at a hotel called "Singer's," a saloon in Atlantic City. On the witness stand he appeared to be a man of considerable physical powerand bold in character. He testified that because his wife did not tell him in May, 1912, why she was leaving him, he swore at her, using such language as "to hell with you," and worse language not necessary to quote. In September, 1902, he wrote his wife a letter (Exhibit D 13), in which he said: "I went to St. Louis and found out that the job was not what it was cracked up to be. I came home yesterday, Wednesday"—when, in fact, he testified he had not been to St. Louis, and had no job there. He was arrested in May, 1903, on a charge of theft, and was in jail about a week, and was then discharged, the grand jury finding no bill, but he forgot this episode, and also that he had written a letter from jail to Mrs. Redding, and it was only upon the production of the letter at the trial that he remembered his incarceration. He testified that while he and his wife were living together at Anglesea, after the Semple affair, he carried on correspondence and had seances with other girls. He swore that he had had no correspondence with other women within the last two years. He denied that he intended to admit adultery with any one when he testified that he had seances with other women. He seems to be fond of his child, and has voluntarily contributed $10 a month for the child's support since the separation in May, 1912.
Mrs. Redding, during the periods when she was separated from her husband (and not living with Semple) and at the time of the trial, was living with her mother, Mrs. Jones, either in Millville or Atlantic City. The testimony of various witnesses tended to show that, excepting the single instance of her illicit matrimonial adventure with Semple, she is a woman of good character, not addicted to drink, who took good care of her child, and when she kept house for her husband, the petitioner, he swore she took good care of him and the household. He said he believed she was true to him since they resumed their life together in March, 1905. Her appearance on the stand indicated to my mind a woman of somewhat weak or vacillating, but not of bad character.
Having in mind these general characteristics of the parties, the defendant offered evidence tending to show her husband's knowledge of her life with Semple. She says she lived with Semple until November, 1901; that they then parted, and she went to live at Millville, with her mother and her child. In the month of March, 1905, Mrs. Jones, the defendant's mother, having written to Redding that the child was sick, Redding, the petitioner, appeared at the Jones house, and a conversation occurred between petitioner and defendant, which the petitioner opened by saying, "What has become of your man?" to which she replied substantially that she had not any man, that he had gone. The man was not further discussed between them, and Semple's name was not mentioned. That same night Redding stayed with his wife at her mother's, and they resumed marital relations, and a few days afterwards he went to Anglesea, and she followed, and they lived together as man and wife until May, 1912.
This story of Mrs. Redding's is substantiated by her mother. Redding admits having received the letter from Mrs. Jones, the defendant's mother, and that, as requested by it, he went to Millville, and saw his wife, and arranged that they should live together again. In conformity with that arrangement, he says they shortly afterwards resumed marital relations at Anglesea, which continued until May, 1912. He denies, however, having held the conversation above referred to. Mrs. Yard, Mrs. Redding's sister, testifies that she made them a visit when petitioner and defendant were living together at Anglesea in 1905, and that the parties quarreled, and, in her presence, Redding said to his wife: "I am doing you a favor to live with you after you being married." Redding denies having made this statement. The next occasion when Redding is said to have disclosed knowledge of Mrs. Redding's relations with Semple was in January, 1907. Mrs. Redding testified that her husband showed her and read her two letters (which were offered in evidence). The first of these letters was contained in an envelope addressed, "Mrs. George Reading, Anglesea, New Jersey." The postmark on it reads, "Atlantic City, N. J. Dec. 29, 1900. 6 a. In." The letter itself, dated "12/28/06," starts thus: "Mrs. Sample or Mrs. Reading eather one will do I guess all right as yours father wishes me to tell you he has proofs that you have two Husbands living at this present time as youre Husband No. 2 visits us quite often." The letter contains frequent reference to husband No. 2. The second of these letters was contained in an envelope addressed to "Mr. George Redding, Anglesea, New Jersey, Book 106." It was postmarked Atlantic City January 3, 1907. The letter itself is dated "1/2/07," and begins: "Mr. George Redding Kind Sir Yours letter received where you said you Opened youre Wifs letter wich I am very glad you did for I wanted you to see what was in it as far as I am consuraned I am not afraid of any thing what I have said, you said the letter came to you like a thunderbolt I do not see how that can be for I was told that you had warned this mr. Sample and Mag frome going to geather so therefor you must of knowed him or you would not of doen that," etc.
Mrs. Redding says she did not receive the letter addressed to her, above mentioned, until she was shown that letter and the one addressed "Mr. George Redding," that they were both shown to her by her husband in 1908. She says her husband read the letters to her, and said: "I am not going to pay any attention to it because somebody is going totry to make trouble again for us." Later she testifies that he said: "I have two letters from Mrs. Cronin at Atlantic City about your marriage. What have you got to say about it?" She replied: "Nothing. You knew it long ago." To which he replied: "What if I did know?" and she answered: "Poor time to start trouble." Mrs. Cronin testifies as to these letters that she wrote the letter of December 28, 1906, to defendant, and received a reply signed, "George Redding." Although she did not know his handwriting, and did not know him personally, she took it to be his letter, and wrote the answer of January 2, 1907. She did not produce Redding's reply, and said she must have destroyed it with some other papers. Redding denies ever seeing the letters before the trial, and denies any conversations with his wife about them. I am inclined to believe the testimony of Mrs. Redding and Mrs. Cronin in regard to these letters, and Redding's possession of them. It will be observed that the letter of December, 1906, is addressed to "Mrs. George Reading," the writer apparently being unfamiliar with the proper spelling of the last name, but the letter of January, 1907, addressed to "Mr. George Redding" is correct in this respect; the latter's name being spelled as petitioner spells his name. The envelope containing the letter of January, 1907, also bears a post office letter box number, which was not on the envelope containing the former letter, thus indicating that the writer must have been informed on those two points.
The next exhibition of knowledge on the part of the petitioner is testified by the wife to have occurred in 1908, when Redding showed her a marriage certificate which was offered in evidence and marked "Exhibit D 1." It is dated October 22, 1903, and certifies that William Sample and Miss Maggie Jones, both of Atlantic City, were married by W. H. Burred at Camden. The certificate is witnessed by Alma H. Burrell. Defendant testifies that her husband came to her with this paper, and said: "Look what I have got. This is good proof of your having married," etc. She says, after he had showed it to her, it was in his possession in Anglesea up to the time of their separation. A sister of the defendant testifies that Redding showed the certificate to her, and said: "Here is a certificate, the proof of Maggie's marriage." The true history of this certificate is hard to come by. Mrs. Redding testifies that, when her husband showed it to her, he said he got it from Mrs. Cronin. Mrs. Yard, a sister of Mrs. Redding, swears she saw the certificate in the Redding house, while the parties were living together. Mrs. Warren Gordon, a neighbor of the Reddings, swore that she saw the certificate, Exhibit D 1, three or four years ago in the Redding house at Anglesea, when Mrs. Redding took it out of a bureau drawer and showed it to her. Mrs. Cronin testified that she got the certificate by mail after a personal visit to Miss Burrell in Camden, and that she gave the certificate to Mrs. Redding's father or grandfather some time prior to June, 1909, and did not give it to Redding, whom she did not know. Miss Burrell testified she was visited by Mrs. Cronin, and at her request made out the certificate (D 1) which was a copy of a lost original, and gave it to Mrs. Cronin some time in October, 1909. Mrs. Cronin says that certificate (D 1) was not the certificate received from Miss Burrell. Miss Burrell says she never made out but one certificate since the original, and that Exhibit D 1 is the one she gave to Mrs. Cronin. So far as matters of date are concerned, all the witnesses were very hazy and unsatisfactory. I could conclude nothing from their testimony in regard to dates. Even the petitioner and the defendant in their pleadings both err in stating they resumed marital relations in March, 1904, and each so testified on the witness stand, but at the closing of the case they corrected their testimony in this regard, asserting that it was in March, 1905, which I believe was the true date.
All this testimony touching Redding's producing and talking of the marriage certificate and having it in his possession is denied by him explicitly, and he tells this story. The certificate (D 1) being produced by him at the trial in response to the call of the defendant's counsel, he says that in May, 1912, while he and his wife and child were living together at Anglesea, his wife left him without cause, taking the child with her. Some three weeks afterwards he received a letter from a man named Ed. Fair, which letter was admitted in evidence, dated June 3, 1912, stating that their mutual friend, Frank Wilmer, was dead, and that before he died he had told the writer that Maggie (meaning Mrs. Redding) had married another man while Redding was in Florida seven or eight years ago. The letter requested that the petitioner should call upon the writer. Redding testified that he did call in response to the letter, and that Fair then gave him the certificate (D 1), and that that was the first time he had ever seen it and was the first he had ever heard of his wife's attempted marriage or of her living with Semple. Fair says that he called upon Wilmer when he was sick; that Wilmer told him to get some papers out of his trunk, which he did, and among which was the certificate (D 1). Fair in his first examination says he got the certificate from Wilmer's trunk in September or October, 1911; that he kept it from that time until June, 1912, without saying anything to Redding about it, but that, when he heard of Redding's separation from his wife in May, 1912, he felt justified in showing it to him. Fair was recalled at the end of the case to correct his dates, and he then said he got the certificate from Wilmer's trunk in July or August, 1910, or 1911, so that he must have had this certificate for either 10 months or a year and 10 months, but does not seem toknow which, before he showed it to Redding. There was no testimony to show how Wilmer came by the certificate. He was a friend of Redding's, however, and may have had it from the petitioner. There seems to be no conflict of dates in this regard, i. e., Wilmer may have had the certificate from July, 1910, till Fair delivered it to Redding, and still the story told by Mrs. Redding and her witnesses as above detailed may be true, so far as mere possession of the certificate is concerned. So, as to Redding's knowledge of the existence of the certificate, the preponderance of the evidence is certainly against his story of how he came by the certificate.
The final separation of petitioner and defendant occurred in May, 1912. She testifies (and in this she is supported by her mother) that he told her to get out; that he could not stand any longer her having lived with Semple; that she must leave his home. He denies this story, and says he did not know she was going, but came to his home one day in Anglesea and found her packing up. She would not tell him why she was going, but asked him to kiss her good-bye. A few days after her departure, he wrote two letters, one to Mrs. Redding's mother. This letter is dated May 10, 1912, in which he asks her: "Don't you think that Maggie and little Maggie had better come home, as I am very sorry for which I have done and said, and I promise you that I will forget and forgive the past and I will never mention it again," etc. He further says he is going to write to Maggie. Then he says: "Now that I come to think of it I have no one to blame but myself as I know that I was the cause of it all years ago, but I am in right here and I dont want to break up my home as I know what it is and what it will mean to little Maggie and myself. Now I am going to write to Maggie and ask her to come home before it gets out and I know that she will never regret it as I promise to do as I say," etc. He then wrote a letter dated May 11, 1912, addressed to "My dear wife & child." In this letter he says he is sorry for what he has said and done, and wants to come home. He says, "I will never cause you to regret it and will forget what has happened." Then he goes on to say: "Now I dont want to break up this home, as I have been quite a while making it, and I know that it is all my fault, and that I was the cause of it some years ago, while we were living in Atlantic, now don't think I will ever mention what has happened, I will forget and forgive the past, and I want you to do the same." What facts, then, in their previous marital life are referred to by the allusions in these letters about forgetting and forgiving the past and that he was the cause of it all years ago? Redding undertook to explain these references in the two letters; his explanation being that in the letter of May 10th, when he said he had no one to blame but himself, he referred to what happened in September, 1902, which was the time of their first separation. The testimony of Mrs. Redding in regard to the separation of September, 1902, was this: "In September (1902) my husband chased me out, and went away with another married woman (naming her) from Atlantic City." This testimony does not seem to be specifically denied by the petitioner. He explains the language in this letter, "I have no one to blame but myself because I was the cause of it all years ago," by saying that he referred to trouble in Atlantic City; that there was too much mother-in-law; that she wanted to live with her mother, and he could not see it, etc. At that time they were living on Texas avenue, and the mother was living in another house just back of them. These explanations do not explain, but, having in mind what had occurred between the parties, the letters seem to bear out the theory that Redding knew of the Semple marriage. These letters show an assumption by Redding for all the blame of their matrimonial troubles, and that he was the original cause of the trouble, and therefore is willing to forget and forgive acts which she did which required such forgiveness on his part, in order that there should be a continuation of marital relations.
The language in these letters perfectly fits the following facts appearing in the testimony: In September, 1902, she says he left her to go with a married woman. They resumed marital relations in January or February, 1903, following, and she testifies that in February, 1903, he was out every night meeting a woman called Nellie Burk. She refused to put up with this, and told him he could go, and he went. Then she says she did not see him again until March, 1905, when he came to Millville and persuaded her to resume housekeeping with him. Redding had admitted on the stand having seances with other women, correspondence with other women, and having received letters from Nellie Burk, one of them being dated as late as September 1, 1910, when he was living with his wife at Anglesea. If these things are true and the separation of September, 1902, and February, 1903, were on account of his running with other women, then he was the first at fault in offending against their marriage contract, and having left her for that reason she thereafter, by reason of his absence, went through the form of marriage and lived with Semple. For this he was in these letters taking the blame upon himself, stating that he was the original cause of all the trouble, asking her to forgive him for that and saying that he would forget and forgive her part in their troubles. This seems to me to be the natural explanation of the language he uses in the two letters of May 10 and May 11, 1912. In each letter he says, "I will forget and forgive the past," and that he wants her to do the same. In each letter he sayshe will never mention again what has happened. It is difficult to come to any other conclusion than that Redding knew that his wife had lived with Semple. The defendant lived with Semple as his wife openly from March, 1903, to November, 1904. Part of the time they were living together as husband and wife in the home of her sister and her sister's husband. They were so living together in Atlantic City and Philadelphia. During most of this time Redding was living in the same localities. In the spring of 1904 he was living at Anglesea. He was in Atlantic City in the summer of 1904, tending bar for Singer. While at Singer's his mother-in-law brought the little girl in to see him frequently, and he gave Mrs. Jones money for his wife. He says in reply to a question from his own counsel that he would not talk with Mrs. Jones about Mrs. Redding because he constantly saw the latter, his wife, all this occurring in 1904, when she was living with Semple in Atlantic City.
The probabilities are with the defendant's story. This case differs radically from the numerous cases in which the wife has a lover whom she clandestinely meets. Here is the open and notorious character of the living together of his wife with Semple in the community in which he was working. They had mutual friends, who knew of the Semple affair, and he had friends who knew of it. Indeed, most of the witnesses who testified on the subject (except Redding, himself) seemed to have known of the relations between Mrs. Redding and Semple—Yard, his brother-in-law, who was called as a witness; Wilmer, who Fair swore had the certificate (D 1) in his trunk prior to his death in 1910; Fair, who took that certificate from Wilmer's trunk, and had it from one to two years before the separation of the parties in May, 1912. It is difficult to believe that all of these close friends of the petitioner having this knowledge should not have mentioned it to him, and should have carefully kept their knowledge from him. I have endeavored to confine this discussion to such facts as the defendant has supported by her own testimony and that of additional witnesses or of circumstances supporting her testimony, and which facts have only been controverted by Redding himself or by one witness.
Upon the whole, my conclusion is that the burden of proving condonation has been sufficiently carried by the defendant, under the rule prescribed in Letts v. Letts, 79 N. J. Eq. 630, 82 Atl. 846; Graham v. Graham, 50 N. J. Eq. 709, 25 Atl. 358. I will therefore advise a decree refusing a divorce and dismissing the petition.
Application for the custody of the child is also denied, as the court has no jurisdiction over the custody of the child in this proceeding, unless a divorce is granted. Weigel v. Weigel, 60 N. J. Eq. 331, 47 Atl. 183.


text:
In 1800 Spain cedes Louisiana to France in a secret treaty.
In 1861 President Lincoln establishes America's first air force, the Balloon Corps.
In 1885 Special delivery mail service begins in the United States.
In 1890 Congress passes the McKinley Tariff Act, which raises tariffs to a record level.
In 1896 The U.S. Post Office establishes Rural Free Delivery, with the first routes in West Virginia.
In 1896 Yosemite becomes a National Park.
In 1903 The Pittsburgh Pirates defeat the Boston Pilgrims (Red Sox), 7-3, in the first World Series game. Boston goes on to win the series.
In 1908 Henry Ford introduces the Model T at the cost of $825 per car.
In 1936 General Francisco Franco is proclaimed the head of an insurgent Spanish state.
In 1940 The first section of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, 160 miles in length, is opened to the public.
In 1942 The first American jet plane (Bell XP-59) is flown.
In 1943 Allied forces capture Naples during World War II.
In 1949 Communist Party Chairman Mao Tse-tung raises the first flag of the People's Republic of China in a ceremony at Beijing.
In 1951 First treaty signed by woman ambassador - Eugenie Anderson.
In 1952 The first UHF station signs on in Portland, Oregon.
In 1960 Nigeria gains independence from Britain.
In 1961 Roger Maris of the New York Yankees hits his 61st home run during a 162-game season, compared to Babe Ruth's 60 home runs during a 154-game season.
In 1962 Johnny Carson succeeds Jack Paar as the host of "The Tonight Show."
In 1962 "The Lucy Show" premieres on CBS-TV.
In 1964 Japan opens the first 100mph passenger rail line.
In 1964 The Free Speech Movement is launched at the University of California at Berkeley as students demand the right to engage in political activities on campus.
In 1968 The cult horror film "Night of the Living Dead" premieres.
In 1971 Walt Disney World opens in Orlando, Florida.
In 1979 The U.S. returns the Canal Zone to Panama after 75 years, but not the canal.
In 1979 Pope John Paul II arrives in Boston for the start of a 7-day, 6-city tour of the U.S.
In 1981 In a news conference, President Reagan says that the U.S. would defend the oilfields of Saudi Arabia against anyone who threatened the flow of oil to the West.
In 1982 EPCOT Center opens in Orlando, Florida.
In 1985 Israeli planes fly 1500 miles to bomb PLO headquarters in Tunis.
In 1985 U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Margaret Heckler agrees to leave her Cabinet post to become U.S. Ambassador to Ireland.
In 1986 Former President Jimmy Carter's presidential library and museum is dedicated in Atlanta.
In 1987 Eight people are killed when an earthquake measuring a magnitude of 5.9 and an aftershock measuring 5.3 struck the Los Angeles area.
In 1988 The Supreme Soviet elects Mikhail Gorbachev as President succeeding Gromyko.
In 1989 More than 6000 East Germans crowd aboard "Freedom Trains" to West Germany.
In 1990 Air Force General Curtis E. LeMay dies at age 83.
In 1991 President Bush condemns the military coup in Haiti, suspending U.S. economic and military aid and demanding the immediate return to power of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
In 1992 The U.S. Senate votes, 93-6, to approve the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty.
In 1992 Texas billionaire Ross Perot jumps back into the presidential race.
In 1993 12-year-old Polly Klaas is abducted from her Petaluma, CA, home; her body was found more than two months later. Richard Allen Davis was later convicted for her murder and sentenced to death.
In 1994 The U.S. and Japan reach a series of trade agreements averting a threatened trade war.
In 1994 The National Hockey League team owners begin a 103-day lockout of their players.
In 1995 An earthquake in southwestern Turkey kills at least 55 people, injures about 200, destroys 1,000 homes and damages 4,000 others.
In 1995 Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman and 9 other defendants are convicted in New York of conspiring to attack the U.S. through bombings, assassinations and kidnappings.
In 1995 An earthquake in southwestern Turkey kills about 90 people.
In 1996 A federal grand jury indicts Unabomber suspect Theodore Kaczynski in 1994 mail bomb slaying of ad executive.
In 1996 The minimum wage increases 50 cents to $4.75 an hour.
In 1996 NASA begins turning over day-to-day shuttle operations to private industry.
In 1996 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat meet at the White House.
In 1997 WorldCom Inc. moves to block the merger of MCI and British Telecom, offering its own $29.4 billion bid in the biggest proposed merger in U.S. history.
In 1997 In Pearl, MS, 16-year-old Luke Woodham stabs his mother to death, then went to school with a rifle and opened fire, killing his former girlfriend and another student and wounding six others.
In 1998 Boeing agrees to pay $10 million to settle allegations it disclosed secrets to foreign companies on a rocket project.
In 1998 A federal judge allows a libel case by Richard Jewell, once a suspect in the Olympic Park bombing, to proceed against the New York Post.
In 2000 Pope John Paul II names Philadelphia heiress Katharine Drexel as the second U.S.-born saint.
In 2000 On the last day of the Sydney Olympics, the U.S. men's basketball team beat France for the gold medal.
In 2001 The U.S. Supreme Court suspends former President Clinton from practicing before the high court.
In 2001 A Pakistan-based militant group attacks the state legislature in Indian-ruled Kashmir, killing 38 people.
In 2002 Iraq agrees to a plan for the return of U.N. weapons inspectors for the first time in nearly four years.
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B-Kyu: B-Kyu in Kuala Lumpur ~ Peters Pork Noodles, Fatt Kee Hokkein Mee, Imbi Markets and Hussain Bistro Curry House.
B-Kyu in Kuala Lumpur ~ Peters Pork Noodles, Fatt Kee Hokkein Mee, Imbi Markets and Hussain Bistro Curry House.
A quick stopover in KL on our way back from Penang to revisit a few favourites including Imbi Market and find some new ones among the air con walkways.
Our aim for this KL stopover was to eat as much Indian food as we could. But you know, things don't always go to plan. We started off right, with our hotel in the middle of a bunch of Indian joints, many of them 24 hours, like the one across the road.
We see these beautiful green tandoori at Restoran SK Corner and have to try it. It tastes like tandoori chicken, only green. It's served with fresh onions, cucumber and a wedge of lime.
The bread and dip is wonderful however. Restoran SK Corner is the corner of Jalan Rembia and Tengat Tong Shin.
We meet a super friendly pat buddy who follows us out of a restaurant after dinner.
We cross the road and our pussycat buddy is still watching us, "I thought we had something special" he says.
We head out to Brickfields which is best known for Indian food but we're after a specific Chinese place. We get completely lost until we're saved by a random uni student who kindly walks us all the way there.
Anyhoo, this is the food court we were looking for, below the Mayflower Seafood Restaurant. Of course we walked right past it the first time, the entrance is a little hidden under a staircase through an alleyway as you walk along Jalan Brickfields. There's a big parking lot next door.
And this is the stall we wanted to try: Peter's Pork Noodles. The bloke running the stall sat down with us for a good chinwag, this place seems as much a social club as anything. A number of the fellas running these stalls were in the airforce together, and they knock off about 2.30 each afternoon for a beer and a chinwag. We compare costs of running the stall in Sydney, he is probably better off here.
Peter's Pork Noodles are a bit famous and a bit bloody good too. It's like a soupy porky spaghetti, it's plain but just right. 6.50 ringat a small bowl.
Alison gets her pork noodles with an egg. That's her job. The egg makes the broth just like an udon style, giving you a bonus egg soup at the end. The soup has pork five ways: crisp crunches of skin, slices of pork, liver bits, lardons and mince. You can also choose what style of noodles you like, either rice, 'rats tails', yellow noodles or vermicelli.
In the shopping centre across the road we try the Burger King 'Ninja Burger' and go for a product vs ad shot. It's like a whopper with black buns, nothing too special.
We catch a train to Petaling Jaya expecting to find a central shopping area to explore but we couldn't find one. We just found suburbs, suburbs and more suburbs. The train is overground most of the time, it's a good way to an airconditioned overview of the city.
We pick a stop at random at Asia Jaya and there's not much going on. We find a small food court type place beneath an expressway overpass.
We're glad we're not the only folks eating. Inside are stalls full of nasi kandar and Malay food.
We give Anisha Corner a whirl, the food looked good and ready to eat.
One plate was enough - bright red fried chicken, sweet kecap manis coated chicken leg, biryani rice, chopped fresh cucumber, eggs and gravy. We also had some tea halia, a ginger tea with milk served on ice and super refreshing.
We get the train in a couple of directions to check out the 'burbs, some of the tree-line outer burbs in the hills look very pleasant. There's a sprall of new houses and malls along the train lines, welcome to big city living.
For dinner we do a random wander and (finally) agree on this place, Fatt Kee Hokkein Mee Stall.
We like how the prices on the menu come according to how big you want the serving, or even if you just want prawns.
The sour plum and lime drink was sensationally refreshing.
The Hokkein Mee is amazing. It's wet, rich and spicy, kind of dark and stormy. Hawker in Sydney is channeling the spirit of this dish. There's got to be a load of pork fat in there, there must be, it's lovely and lardy. Mr Shawn got super excited over this one.
Fatt Kee Hokkein Mee is at 183 Jalan Imbi, next to Restoran Win Heng Seng.
Next morning we hit Imbi Markets. Alison gets a kaya toast with soft poached googie, it's all she's been dreaming of. The eggs are gently cooked in a tin cup of hot water to get that just right consistency.
Imbi Market was the standout group favourite on an earlier trip to KL. Development was going on all around Imbi Market so we reckon this could be our last visit here. See our earlier trip for more on Imbi.
Shawn discovers that there is a dry version of pan mee, one of his favourite Malaysian soups. The noodles are fresh made to order, hand cranked through a pasta machine. The dry version has a much spicier kick though we found the spicy goo on the noodles to be overpowering, cloying. The soup version is the winner for us, but that's just us.
The drink shop here still does the best ice coffee we've had in Malaysia, sweet with a nice bitter coffee kick to it.
In a mall we see development proposal for Penang, man that place is going to change. We wonder how they will install the giant lightswitch in the sky.
KL's newish overground walkways are wonderful. You can walk between shopping centres in air-conditioned comfort.
The walkways give pedestrians a calm break from the heat, traffic and roadworks outside. If you do a lap of each shopping centre it's good exercise to walk off all that pork lard in the noodles.
From the walkway we spy this gem of a Malay restaurant, Hussain Bistro Curry House in the Cosway Wisma.
It's buzzing on a Saturday afternoon.
Grab a plate of rice and pile up your plate, they will charge you mostly based on how much protein you've added.
Malay food is amazing, finding it fresh when and where you want it is tricky. We don't get anything nearly as good as this in Australia, and you've often got to hunt for it in Malaysia as well.
We have a dilemma, which is we want to try every dish, and we only have time for one visit. We stack our plates high. We envy the locals who can drop in regularly and just get a little bit of this and that to suit the mood, balance the flavours.
Long sticks of fried tempeh, fish cooked with eggplant, sambal stuffed fish, throw in some fresh wing beans on the side for a crunch.
Fish stuffed with a spicy red sauce, fried croquettes, noodles and bean sprouts.
Sweeties - moist steamed cake, with or without brown sugar. Throw in some iced tea and the lot cost about 28 ringat.
Hussain Bistro Curry House is at the bottom of the LCCC/Bukit Bintang exit to the Hotel Isthana and Wisma Cosway.
Restoran SK is my all time favourite. I stay super close usually twice a year, and get up early to have breakfast (2x roti, murtabark, teh tarik, ais lychee) and then go for a walk in the heat so I can be back there for a second breakfast by 11am.
Every time I read your KL posts late at night, I almost book my self a cheap airasia return ticket for a weekend (eating only) getaway.
If only the flight was a few hours less, we would be tempted for a few long weekends as well.
Great post and lots of useful info - thanks. Must get to KL again soon, before Imbi market closes!
Looks like we're headed to KL for a family trip (and maybe an extra friend) 4 kids in KL should be awesome.
We jettisoned our usual trip to HK, mainly because the tickets were cheap, accommodation cheap and without a disneyland, we shave a good 1/3 of the cost of the trip off.
Thanks again for all the foodie stuff, it seems from looking at google maps that I can't find these things, but putting in street names gives me an idea of where to street view.


text:
Q: Slick 3.0 Connection to MySQL with connection pool enabled I have the following application.conf
mysql {
  driver = "com.mysql.jdbc.Driver"
  url = "jdbc:mysql://myserver:3306/mydb"
  user = "foo"
  password = "bar"
  keepAliveConnection = true
  connectionPool = enabled
}

when I do Database.forConfig("mysql") I get an exception
java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: enabled
        at java.lang.ClassLoader.findClass(ClassLoader.java:530)
        at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(ClassLoader.java:424)
        at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(ClassLoader.java:357)
        at slick.util.ClassLoaderUtil$$anon$1.loadClass(ClassLoaderUtil.scala:17)
        at slick.jdbc.JdbcDataSource$.loadFactory$1(JdbcDataSource.scala:37)
        at slick.jdbc.JdbcDataSource$.forConfig(JdbcDataSource.scala:46)
        at slick.jdbc.JdbcBackend$DatabaseFactoryDef.forConfig(JdbcBackend.scala:288)
        at slick.jdbc.JdbcBackend$DatabaseFactoryDef.forConfig$(JdbcBackend.scala:285)
        at slick.jdbc.JdbcBackend$$anon$3.forConfig(JdbcBackend.scala:33)
        at com.abhi.CodeGen$.delayedEndpoint$com$abhi$CodeGen$1(CodeGen.scala:25)
        at com.abhi.CodeGen$delayedInit$body.apply(CodeGen.scala:15)
        at scala.Function0.apply$mcV$sp(Function0.scala:34)
        at scala.Function0.apply$mcV$sp$(Function0.scala:34)

If I change my config to
mysql {
  driver = "com.mysql.jdbc.Driver"
  url = "jdbc:mysql://myserver:3306/mydb"
  user = "foo"
  password = "bar"
  keepAliveConnection = true
  connectionPool = disabled
}

Then everything works.
But why do I get this wierd error message if I try to establish a connection with connection pool enabled?
Edit: This is my build.sbt
   "com.typesafe.slick" %% "slick" % "3.2.0",
   "com.typesafe.slick" %% "slick-codegen" % "3.2.0",
   "mysql" % "mysql-connector-java" % "5.1.38",
   "com.zaxxer" % "HikariCP" % "2.6.3"

A: Probably you haven't dependency in classpath for some jar with pool implementation, such as Hikari. Possible duplicate of Setting connectionPool crashes Slick 3.0


text:
Q: UITabBarControllerDelegate compare value of viewController I have a tabBar with 4 tabs on it, and I want to perform some action when a specific tab is selected, so I have uncommented the UITabBarControllerDelegate in the xxAppDelegate.m
I also wanted to see the value that was being sent logged in the console - in order to test my "if" statement. However this is where I got stumped.
// Optional UITabBarControllerDelegate method
- (void)tabBarController:(UITabBarController *)tabBarController didSelectViewController:(UIViewController *)viewController {

    NSLog(@"%@", viewController);
}

The console dutifully logged any selected controller that had been selected, but in this particular format:
<MyViewController: 0x3b12950>

Now, I wasn't expecting the square brackets or the colon or the Hex. So my question is how do I format my IF statement? This is what I thought would work but I get an error mentioned further down.
// Optional UITabBarControllerDelegate method
- (void)tabBarController:(UITabBarController *)tabBarController didSelectViewController:(UIViewController *)viewController {

    NSLog(@"%@", viewController);
    if (viewController == MyViewController)
    {
    //do something nice here …
    };
}

... The error is "Expected expression before 'MyViewController'"
Anyone know how I should be doing this?

A: You need to compare to a specific view controller instance. For example, if the if statement should be true when the second tab is selected:
if (viewController == [tabBarController.viewControllers objectAtIndex:1]) {
    // ...
}

A: Thanks that worked. I guess you have to know what object your comparing against first.
For anyone reading this the code supplied works, however you need to be careful that the text "tabBarController" in the example refers to the instance variable (the global one).
In order for your code to work your view controller needs to refer to a uniquely named local version as follows. Compare this to my original code.
// Optional UITabBarControllerDelegate method
- (void)tabBarController:(UITabBarController *)tabBarController_local didSelectViewController:(UIViewController *)viewController
{
//...
}

Hope this helps someone faced with the
Local declaration of 'tabBarController' hides instance variable

warning when trying to implement.

A: When comparing tabbarcontroller use self , like this:
if (viewController == [self.tabBarController.viewControllers objectAtIndex:1]) {
    // ...
}

It will remove the warning.


Organic pounds reduction supplement one may possibly not have heard of! – The Best Plantar Fasciitis Stretches!!
Organic pounds reduction supplement one may possibly not have heard of!
In coloring textiles, dried safflower flowers are used as a Natural dye source for the orange-crimson pigment Carthamin. Carthamin is furthermore regarded, within the dye sector, as Carthamus crimson or Organic and natural crimson 26.
That brings me to CLA Which is a naturally occurring fatty acid found in meat and dairy products. It is additionally a popular dietary supplement that is bought with promises of aiding people eliminate weight, maintain bodyweight loss, retain lean muscle mass, and control type 2 diabetes — the type of diabetes that is sometimes associated with obesity.
CLA arrives in varying amounts. Be certain to obtain a product that contains 80% CLA to attain maximum weight-loss accomplishment, he says.
Inside little experiments involving animals, CLA has been shown to avert heart condition and quite a few types of cancer, Gaullier says. It furthermore appears to enhance the immune system.
Scaled-down scientific studies of CLA's overall performance within weight loss have shown some contradictory results — most likely considering that they used human body fat scales to evaluate breakthroughs, and all those scales are not exceptionally accurate, he tells WebMD. In his research, Gaullier utilized a body-scanning know-how called DEXA (dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry). "It is incredibly accurate in measuring overall body weight," he tells WebMD.
His is the initial continual research of CLA's safety and overall performance in fat loss.
The world manufacturing of safflower seeds in 2013 amounted to 718,161 tons. With a production value of 174,900 tons, Kazakhstan was the primary producer of this crop in the world in the exact same yr. The production of safflower within Kazakhstan accounted for 24% of the overall global safflower production. India and the United States ranked second and 3rd in safflower production in 2013 with production values of 109,000 tons and 95,360 tons, respectively.
High Cholesterol (but not enough facts if inherited) – Some research usually means that taking safflower oil as a nutritional supplement or substituting it for other oils in the diet program allows decrease over-all and low-density lipoprotein (LDL or "bad") cholesterol. Even so, it does not appear to decrease other blood fats termed triglycerides or increase high-density lipoprotein (HDL or "good") cholesterol.
Cystic Fibrosis – Early experiments demonstrates that taking safflower oil by mouth for just one yr does not improve attempt markers or severity of cystic fibrosis in youngsters.
Hepatitus C – Early reports signifies that using a specific product containing safflower, pumpkin seeds, plantain seeds, and Japanese honeysuckle (EH0202) via mouth for Three weeks decreases overall discomfort, bloating, nausea, and vomiting in people with hepatitis C. However, the number of hepatitis C virus exhibit inside the overall body does not seem to be to be affected.
High Blood Pressure – evidence relating to the outcomes of safflower oil on blood pressure is conflicting. Some early research suggests that taking safflower oil by mouth for 6-8 weeks minimizes blood pressure in folks with high blood pressure. However, other evidence suggests that using safflower oil is not effective for lowering blood pressure.
Scaly Skin – Early research indicates that using safflower oil containing vitamin E and linoleic acid by mouth for much more than 8 weeks can improve skin dryness and roughness in individuals with phrynoderma.
This Supplement may be safe to be taken via mouth or even via drip or Ivy as long as the ivy is administred by a certified knowledgeable health care personnel. Youngsters could possibly just take this as long as it is also administred through a clinical professional.
Top Cla Safflower Oil Side Effects is an Allergic Reation – Safflower could possibly trigger an allergic reaction in humans who are fragile to the Asteraceae/Compositae family. Members of this family incorporate ragweed, chrysanthemums, marigolds, daisies, and innumerable others. If you have allergies, be sure to verify with your health care support before taking safflower.
Diarrehea, Stomach Cramps – Interaction Position: Moderate Be cautious with this mixture.
Speak with your health provider.Safflower oil could possibly increase blood sugar. Diabetes medicines are used to lessen blood sugar. By way of enhancing blood sugar, safflower oil may decrease the functionality of diabetes medicines. Keep an eye on your blood sugar carefully. The dose of your diabetes drugs may well need to be adjusted.
Enormous levels of safflower could possibly slow blood clotting. Using safflower together with medications that also slow clotting may enhance the chances of bruising and bleeding.
Safflower oil is not a low-calorie food, which is why eating much too much of it can hinder pounds loss. Merely A single tablespoon of safflower oils consists of A hundred and twenty calories. That's about on par with other oils and fats, still dramatically further more than most food popular to a weight-loss diet regime. In comparison, 1 cup of celery consists of 16 calories, and raw spinach provides just 7 calories for each cup. Effective weight loss at a rate of One to 2 pounds weekly means you should burn about 500 to a thousand calories more than one consume each and every working day, notes Harvard Health Publications.
Next Post Hey Lockwood, Ohio Plantar fasciitis ache can be generated easily by going for walks.


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