Noop not a piece of poetry instead in this blog post I will be discussing how East Africa has changed many relationships in my life beginning with my relationship with FOOD.
Prior to this trip I always went for chocolate and carbs. On the other end of the spectrum I would avoid red meat because the texture and the taste never sat well with me. It did not matter how it was prepared. You could fry it, bake it, make it dance I still would say nah. All in all my diet needed to change where I was in control and not my messed up taste buds. Not going to lie it was an experience.. to say the least.
My lowest point was at this restaurant where I asked for a fish burger, the waiter came back with a tuna sandwich. A part of me wanted to speak to the waiter and sort it out but the other part of me did not have the energy so I ate that tuna sandwich.. it had mayonnaise which was the first processed thing that entered my body in three weeks.
That clean eating life style, became my actual life for four glorious months. Everything was made from scratch, I did not taste or even could find a single E-number and my body suffered. My body was making weird noises and the toilet and I.. well let's say we had a thing going on. My body was screaming for chocolate and for some reason I did not come across any chocolate in any of the shops. I did what I had to do. I took a screenshot of chocolate bars and showed it to one of the shop owners and he said: "Yeah, we don't sell any of that." See, I asked him and two other people and they all said the exact same thing. I bit my lip and went home. My body kept crying, my brain kept dreaming of chocolate and after a while I was looking forward to my unprocessed, clean, mother nature's, basic meals. Changed occurred apart from the obvious such as losing weight and having clear skin, mentally I felt like an adult, a strong woman that did not crave chocolate no more. Weakness became my foe and powerful I became.
Visiting the market opened my eyes to how vegetables genuinely come in different shapes, sizes and colors. Those potatoes that you just bought they used to be covered in mud. One day I remember I had to make the salad (by the way the dressing was just lime juice, it is so amazing) and I found myself trying to figure out what this weird long looking vegetable was suppose to be. At first I thought it must be a courgette that did not get enough sunlight but then I was told that it is a cucumber. This cucumber was not thin or perfectly straight or even green, but it was the juiciest cucumber ever. A fruit or a vegetable does not have to look perfect for it to taste good good. Yes, that is a life lesson, you're welcome.
Coming back from my travels I wanted to have a chocolate bar. The reason why I wanted a chocolate bar was because finally I had access. How was my first chocolate bar? Let's just say the chocolate bar was not devoured in heavenly bliss. After I felt like my taste buds betrayed me I tried dark chocolate (70 per cent) and we got married.
The dreams I had about Nando's, pizza, fried chicken.. (the list my friend is never ending) did not become a reality since I have come home. The urge, the need, the cravings are no more, 9/10 the main meal is enough and snacking has become a myth. However that does not mean that I will ever give up on my apple pie and vanilla ice cream.
.. and I think I am staying minimal. When I left for Mama Africa.. I went on the biggest detox ever and threw out about 75 per cent of my possessions and it felt right.
Yes, I did leave for Mama Africa and I knew that I was going to come back but I still decided to throw it all out and just start over. I was taking one suitcase, another suitcase was staying with the clothes I actually love and want to wear. Cause let me tell you something I own clothes that I have no use for or are just unflattering so keeping them made no sense. Yes I donated the clothes and took my one suitcase and left.
When I got to Djibouti I had a suitcase filled with the basics. With me I brought undergarments, a bathing suit, one abaya (which is a full length outer garment) , toiletries, shorts, 4 shirts, 2 leggings, a towel and a couple of hijabs. The idea was to be as simple as possible and to buy my everyday clothes in Djibouti. I bought baatis (long dresses with beautiful prints) and shalmats (large scarfs). At first I struggled wearing the shalmats properly and I was always a little bit jealous of the women who just wore them without any effort. During my entire trip I did not had the need to buy souvenirs, instead I went on the biggest adventure of my life.
Will I keep living this minimal lifestyle now that I am back? I like to say yes, I hope so. During those four months living out of one half empty suitcase, taught me that I don't need a lot of stuff. I will however always need more of good people, positive vibes, laughter and sincerity. I will never be minimal about that part of my life.


Parsing an EDI/X12 document is either a trivial task or a difficult one depending on the tool you use. Many tools, provide a graphical drag and drop environment, where you can drop each element of the source document into a target element. Along the way, you can also define functions for these transformations and as the number of elements increase, it gets more and more messier. With MOND, our goal is to create the easiest EDI parser in the world and at the same time create the easiest EDI document creator in the world. Whether you use a graphical drag and drop tool or not, it is important to be able to refer to elements in the EDI document. For example, in an EDI 850 document, we may want to fetch the value of the data element '324' within the BEG segment. Some data elements repeat based on a qualifier(ex 'ST', 'BT'), while some data elements repeat without any qualifier. (ex: Line Items).Loops are identified by Loop Id, Segments by Segment Identifier and soon. To get the value of any data element, we need to know the segment identifier and the loop identifier. Instead of saying, get me element 324 of BEG segment (or dragging that element into a target element), in MOND we first assign a variable name to the element 324 of BEG segment. The EDI specifications assigns the identifier BEG03 to this data element, but I don't think it adds a lot of value to programmers or analysts. In MOND, we call this a variable name or better still a 'Keyword'. A better variable name or key word for this element would be PurchaseOrderNumber of PONumber or DocumentNumber. The business usage of this variable or keyword could vary from company to company or even within the 850, it may vary based on the document type. (ex:Contract Number or CallOff Number). That's why in MOND, we assign a keyword and a business term to every EDI data element that has to be parsed or created.Once we assign a keyword, the corresponding value can be fetched or set based on a simple statement. Unlike other tools in the market, MOND programmers do not have to worry about the Loops, the different EDI identifiers etc.
To set the value of the PurchaseOrderNumber, the programmer can use mondEngine.setTargetHeaderValue("PurchaseOrderNumber","NewValue"); Of course, for an analyst or a programmer we also have a browser based interface, where the keyword names are available in a drop down and can be used as source or target.With this approach, to get the value of any element that repeats based on a qualifier is also simplified.
To set these values,the approach is the same.
To set the value, use the same approach, but the setter method.
The same approach can be used for 2nd level, 3rd level repeating elements. ex: setTargetLevel2Value or getSourceLevel2Value, by passing the appropriate level1 and level2 indexes.
With this approach, we have dramatically simplified EDI parsing and document creation. In addition we have separated the business logic from the data format. The same code can be used to produce an EDI 3040, or EDI 4010 or EDI 5010 version with minimal changes. For that matter, instead of an EDI document, you could choose to create an SAP IDOC or xCBL or Ariba cXML document using the same code. Notice how simple this approach is compared to JAXB or other methods.


A well maintained lawn does so much more than just giving your home some curb appeal. When your lawn and garden looks good, the value of your property actually goes up. A well kept lawn can also help in preventing flooding. Best of all, it can add extra entertaining space to your home. Invest in good irrigation systems in your Caroline property to improve your lawn.
When you have an irrigation system, you can actually save money on water bills. What's more, you can save yourself from the hassle of watering your plants every day. The only thing left for you to do is make routine inspections. This means you have to check if the sprinklers are working properly and that there are no leaks.
When you set up your irrigation system, make sure to divide your lawn into zones. Areas that only have grass will not need as much water. Priority should be given to shrubs and flower beds. With divided zones, you can then incorporate the cycle and soak watering.
If you need help in installing or creating irrigation systems for your Caroline home, contact Commonwealth Irrigation & Landscape. Our technicians are highly trained and offer quality workmanship. If you are interested in having Commonwealth Irrigation & Landscape handle your irrigation system, please download the residential irrigation service contact here on our website.


Stretch marks, medical name "striae", are fine lines that develop when deep tissue under the skin tears as a result of over-stretching (e.g. pregnancy or rapid weight gain), or from rapid growth (e.g. on the back during a teenage growth spurt).
Stretch marks are common and are mainly a cosmetic concern for patients. Stretch marks often start out as red-purple ("striae rubra") in colour, and eventually fade into a silver-white colour ("striae alba") which makes them less noticeable.
Stretch marks are usually several centimetres long and 2-10mm wide.
Stretch marks can develop on the belly, hips and breasts of pregnant women, on the shoulders of body builders, in overweight or obese people, and in adolescents during a growth spurt.
Stretch marks can also occasionally occur from prolonged use of oral or topical steroids, and in a medical condition called Cushing's syndrome.
Unfortunately there is no great treatment for stretch marks; the best thing is to prevent stretch marks in the first place if possible.
There may be some benefit to treating stretch marks with such things as: moisturizing oils, topical retinoids (vitamin A), Scar Esthetique, chemical peels, and fractionated or pulsed dye lasers.


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This "Rooftop War" Will Determine the Future of the Solar Industry
by Dr. Kent Moors | published August 16th, 2016
On August 5, I wrote to you about the two conflicting solar initiatives the ballot in Florida. But there's an even more important political contest over solar going on in the U.S. right now.
The issue is "net metering," and it's the battlefield on which the next advance in solar energy is playing out.
Net metering is simply the policy that allows owners of solar panels to sell back the power they generate to the grid, at market rates. Needless to say, utilities are against the practice, as the policy turns their customers into competitors.
As net metering is one of the main ways of cutting the cost of owning rooftop solar panels, the future of the policy could well determine the future of the solar industry as a whole.
And in this "rooftop war," Nevada has led the way by virtually destroying an entire statewide industry with a single decision…
Nevada is Ground Zero for this "Rooftop War"
Not only is net metering a primary way of cutting the effective cost of owning solar panels, leading to a spurt in households switching to solar, but as some states have extended net metering to commercial users, solar companies have also noticed more and more interest from that sector as well.
Needless to say, utilities are against the practice, claiming that it amounts to a subsidy paid by non-solar users to those with solar panels, resulting in unjustified rate increases among the non-solar population.
And last spring, the Nevada State Legislature authorized the state's Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to set new rates for rooftop solar customers.
The reason behind this change was itself created by lawmakers. When initially approving net metering, Nevada's legislature placed a cap on the number of people who could use the net metering system. And last spring, that cap was about to be reached.
In response, the PUC decided that solar rates should go up, concluding the existing levels required customers without solar panels to subsidize those with the panels. The commission, in short, adopted the utilities' argument – and the result was immediate.
Large solar companies laid off thousands of workers in the state, with most closing their doors and suspending operations completely. Smaller companies have virtually disappeared. The few surviving ones have restricted their businesses to only offering efficiency fixes for Nevadans who already have solar panels.
But Nevada's solar industry also fought back. They began a well-publicized campaign to reverse the PUC decision, and quickly focused on one key strategy…
Nevada's Voters Will Get a Say One Way or Another
The solar industry joined forces with consumer action groups defending the interests of rooftop solar owners and tried to get the matter in front of voters on the November ballot.
You may recognize that strategy from what's going on in Florida right now, as you saw on August 5.
Initially, things looked promising. More than twice the number of needed signatures was quickly collected. But then the state supreme court chimed in.
On August 4, the court ruled unanimously that the measure contemplated was not a proper matter for statewide vote. With the ballot route off the table, advocates for the solar initiative now have only one option – putting pressure on the state legislature.
That puts this contentious issue right back into the laps of the same folks who created it to begin with.
It's also unleashed extremely well-funded campaigns by both the utilities and solar groups intended to influence (and pressure) elected officials. The punches and counter-punches are already monopolizing the air waves… and the state legislature won't even be back in session until February 6, 2017.
These campaigns are focused on two issues…
Nevada has Already Lost 90,000 Jobs
First is the attempt to "grandfather" the estimated 30,000 existing solar customers under the old rates – the rates that were in place when these Nevadans installed their solar panels.
This measure already has the support of Governor Brian Sandoval, who has promised to introduce a "grandfather" bill when the legislature reconvenes… next spring.
Second, and more important, is this. As it currently stands, the PUC decision effectively ends the expansion of residential and commercial solar power in the state, choking off what had been (after tourism and gaming) the largest domestic industry in the state.
Estimates by solar advocacy groups put the lost jobs at almost three times the current residential solar users – in other words, at about 90,000 lost jobs.
In one decision, the PUC ended Nevada's preeminence in residential solar energy.
And with campaign money and ads filling radio, TV, and newspapers from now until the November election, there's little doubt that solar power in general, and net metering specifically, will be an important (if not the main) issue in Nevada's state elections.
Both sides are now marshalling data to argue that legislators in the opposing camp are likely to lose re-election. The utilities alone have already spent over $2 million in a statewide advertising blitz to drive their position home.
On the other side, advocacy groups for solar users have staged highly publicized protests. In some cases, these have resulted in state legislators' home offices being closed.
As important as this is to Nevadans, the impact of what's happening doesn't end at the state border…
This "Rooftop War" Could Change the Face of the Solar Industry
Shortly after Nevada decided to end net metering, California's utilities commission narrowly decided to retain the practice. Overnight, California became the new presumptive base for the residential solar industry.
But with similar attacks on net metering underway in Arizona and Colorado, all eyes are on Nevada once again. How the state's "rooftop war" ends will have much wider implications for the solar industry and the utility sector.
As always, we'll be following who'll win – and who'll lose – right here in Oil & Energy Investor.
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GIL VOGEL
Warren Buffett owns Berkshire which owns Nevada Power. He also owns coal mines and trains to transport coal and oil products. The last thing he wants is for solar (that he doesn't own) to take over the National energy production and push his stone age filthy energy products out. What is unacceptable to him is that he stands to lose $Billions ($Trillions?) to private individuals who only want to save on energy costs. Yes, he is also delving into solar power, but on his own terms where he will have a monopoly over Nevada's citizens. They will have no viable alternative to his insatiable desire for more and more money that he can squeeze from the average energy consumer.
Boud Hammelburg
plse keep me posted
If being connected to the grid is required, then net metering should be allowed. Net metering cannot really apply if one is off the grid.
Edouard D'Orange
Most environmentalists and crazy Democraps have pushed the so-called renewable energy policy, with solar (and wind) as a big part of that policy. Crooked Hillary is making it part of her policy. Yet, Democraps in California (which is nearly a one party Democrap state) barely allowed net metering which is homeowners using solar panels. So, what gives? It must be the big money donors (utility companies) and big money utility shareholders stopping net metering programs. Way to go, Democraps- corrupt to the core.
Tony Simmons
Actually, the legislature did not create the net metering situation. NV Energy started the problem in June 2007 through a lack of due diligence. In 2007, the legislature added NRS 704.775 2(c)4, which states "The value of the excess electricity must not be used to reduce any other fee or charge imposed by the utility." The value of excess energy can not be used to reduce energy service fees (BTGR). special program fees, or taxes. NV Energy continued to credit excess energy for the value of BTGR and then use the credit to offset BTGR. This effectively overcredited excess energy by 175% (7 cents per kWh) more than the legislature authorized.
which effectively reduced the value of excess energy sent to the grid. Prior to 2007, the NRS was silent on fees for energy service ,NV Energy did NOT change the billing practices
7 years later in March 2014, the Bureau of Consumer Affairs recognized the problem in March 2014 and petioned the PUCN to address it in the upcominf rate case. On a 2 to 1 vote, the PUCN forward the issue to the legislature who sent it back as SB 374 for the PUCN to address. The legislature did not change any portion of NRS 704.775, the bill calculations.
Because the old rate violated a statutory prohibition, the PUCN could "grandfather" customers onto the old unlawful rate.
All the major players have a degree of liability for the misleading rates between 2007 and 2015. Don't expect the legislature to jump in before the litigation is complete.
As the drafter of the contracts and tariffs with the statutory violation, NV Energy has pirmary liability for deceptive trade practice for failure to disclose material facts.
rfaze
Well being free is better off the grid; the electricities hikes are awful. I didn't know bershire owns elerical companies since my annuity is with him. That's a good thing for me either way, but I believe in off the grid n the government paying me n my neighbors for using my energy. also what or where can I purchase a device for the storage of my own excess energy from my solar.? does anyone know or can direct me to the site I would greatly appreciate it. also I'm using telesa device along with my solar telesa pull energy from the air.
Bob Schubring
The problem here, is that the sun sets at night, but Nevadans go right on consuming electric power, which has to come from somewhere.
Utilities agreed with the State of Nevada, to be responsible for being that Somewhere, from which power will flow when the sun isn't shining. In return for agreeing to do that, the State gave utilities power to regulate how they pay to manufacture that power.
Legally there are two choices:
1. Go off-grid. Store power in batteries to use at night. When the batteries run out, sit in the dark and suffer until sunrise, then buy bigger batteries.
2. Go into the stock market and buy the Nevada Power company, and take control of it. Then make plans to sell the surplus net-metered power into other states. Change the rates paid to consumers for that net-metered power, to reflect the cost of interstate transmission to other states. The entire problem here, is that there need to be systems to run the grid at night, under current law, and there must be a way to pay for those mandated systems. If the mandated systems must be financed, solely by the power they generate at night, then rates at night must be raised, and daytime rates lowered, to account for the difference.
Paul Fearell
August 22nd, 2016 at 06:43	| #8
Why is everyone so Greedy ? If I have extra Food I share it, what if we learn to Share our extra power ♡ wouldn't that be Kind to our neighbors
RH Findlay
Ah, free enterprise. The private (often privatised) power utilities provide electrical power for the community grid and insist that we buy it whether we want it or not. Solar houses provide electrical power and the producers of that power are not allowed to sell it at a fair price to the community grid.
As for limitations to battery storage.; one can make diesel out of cooking oil quite easily and run an adequate home diesel generator at night.
Ellon Musk and his wall mounted home storage battery packs will allow the population to produce power any way they wish and then store it for use as it`s required. If you need more storage, you buy more battery packs (and more PV units/wind turbines).
In addition, your electric car has a battery pack and that will also be used to store power for use at home (most of you do not empty your `tanks` on the way to and from work…..so what`s left in the battery can be used at home and what ever you produce from evening sun or windpower will be taken by the car`s battery pack for tomorrow`s journey).
The market is going to change dramatically, no matter what the utilities, or the oil companies think or want.
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Why build sustainably? Construction and use of buildings accounts for 50% of the total energy use of Europe. This is an important area to make more efficient and reduce the energy usage. So what can we change? Rob Buckley from the Dorset Centre of Rural Change suggests building with cob, chalk, earth or straw as alternatives to more energy intensive materials, using lime as an alternative to cement and sourcing local sustainably managed timber for construction works. Sustainably built houses are also more energy efficient. Straw built houses are naturally insulated and sound proofed. But even in traditional homes, huge differences can be made. Rob Buckley suggests that if British homes were insulated to the Danish standard, CO2 emissions would be reduced by half a million tonnes per year. Proper insulation and building more sustainably in the future will make a significant positive impact on the environment.


Continuing my interview with Owen Byrd of Lex Machina and Caroline Sweeney of Dorsey, I asked them a couple of further follow-up questions on how artificial intelligence ("AI") has the potential to rapidly change civil litigation.
Why isn't there a "TurboTax for law"-type service out there already where a client (or an attorney) can enter in the details of the legal issue they're facing and get a good answer using an AI-type service? Is it because the maze of laws and regulations is too difficult to automate? Will we ever see this change, at least for relatively simple issues?
Owen Byrd: "TurboTax" for law systems are starting to emerge. I'm on the board of Upsolve, a non-profit legal tech startup that provides a "TurboTax" solution for personal bankruptcy, to enable low-income people to get a fresh financial start.
Tools such as LegalMation can provide a first draft of an Answer or Discovery Request. It's not hard to imagine that tools such as LegalMation could become more client-facing as they are further developed. Of course, platforms like Lex Machina can be used to provide strategic legal insights, such as determining the best venue in which to file a lawsuit. Platforms like Ross Intelligence and Cara Case Text are integrating AI into legal research. As these platforms advance, I think you can expect to see more "do it yourself" options available. Of course, we already see some law firms offering "do it yourself solutions" as an alternative service deliver approach to meet client needs.
Do you think law firms will reach a point where they are able to use their "knowledge management", by which I mean it's collective experience in legal rules, strategy, and counseling, through a data-driven service offering that automates at least some of this knowledge, either internally or externally?
Owen Byrd: Law firms are starting to make sense of their own internal data, to improve the quality and efficiency of their legal services. Some firms have already hired full-time data scientists. It's a big challenge because so much of the data is unstructured (in documents), but natural language processing and other technologies are designed to work with such data. Knowledge management has become of competitive advantage for firms that employ it.
Caroline Sweeney: Yes! We are already there! Increasingly you see firms (including Dorsey) developing applications and on-line research tools to help clients with initial assessments or preliminary legal questions. These tools are built based on the knowledge of the legal experts, but are more readily accessible on-line. These don't substitute for legal advice, but they can provide preliminary guidance on whether legal advice should be sought. I think we will see this sort of service delivery continue to evolve and become more established in response to cost pressures, and the need for quick access to information in our global economy (think about how much easier it is to go to a law firm's website and do a preliminary assessment of whether they are prepared for the California CPA…and, if they are not well-prepared after conducting the assessment, then they can reach out for legal advice.). Document assembly software has long been in use, and it can be integrated into automated workflows. For example: a client logs into a law firm portal, answers some questions which generates a document that is automatically routed to an attorney for review, and then automatically routed back to the client. Such automation and integration of expert systems will become more prevalent as AI, robotics, and other analytic tools advance and are adopted.
Legal Project Management is another area where firms are leveraging their knowledge and expertise to improve service delivery. By analyzing historic billing information Firms can better provide alternative billing options. Using AI and other business analytic tools, billing transparency is achieved by providing information to clients so they can better understand and analyze their legal spend.


text:
module Marc2LinkedData

  class Utils

    def self.stack_trace(e, record=nil)
      $stderr.write "\n"
      $stderr.write "ERROR\n"
      $stderr.write e.message
      $stderr.write e.backtrace
      $stderr.write "\n"
      $stderr.write record.to_s
      $stderr.write "\n"
    end

    # Count all the records in the MARC file, by
    # parsing the record leader, see
    # http://www.loc.gov/marc/bibliographic/bdleader.html
    # http://www.loc.gov/marc/authority/adleader.html
    def self.marc_type_count(marc_filename)
      # 06 - Type of record
      # a - Language material
      # c - Notated music
      # d - Manuscript notated music
      # e - Cartographic material
      # f - Manuscript cartographic material
      # g - Projected medium
      # i - Nonmusical sound recording
      # z - Authority data
      record_types = {
          :a_language_material => 0,
          :c_notated_music => 0,
          :d_manuscript_notated_music => 0,
          :e_cartographic_material => 0,
          :f_manuscript_cartographic_material => 0,
          :g_projected_medium => 0,
          :i_nonmusical_sound_recording => 0,
          :z_authority_data => 0
      }
      marc_file = File.open(marc_filename,'r')
      until marc_file.eof?
        begin
          leader = Marc2LinkedData::Utils.parse_leader(marc_file)
          marc_file.seek(leader[:length], IO::SEEK_CUR)
          case leader[:type]
            when 'a'
              record_types[:a_language_material] += 1
            when 'c'
              record_types[:c_notated_music] += 1
            when 'd'
              record_types[:d_manuscript_notated_music] += 1
            when 'e'
              record_types[:e_cartographic_material] += 1
            when 'f'
              record_types[:f_manuscript_cartographic_material] += 1
            when 'g'
              record_types[:g_projected_medium] += 1
            when 'i'
              record_types[:i_nonmusical_sound_recording] += 1
            when 'z'
              record_types[:z_authority_data] += 1
          end
        rescue => e
          Marc2LinkedData::Utils.stack_trace(e, leader)
          binding.pry if CONFIG.debug
        end
      end
      marc_file.close
      record_types
    end

    def self.parse_leader(file_handle, leader_bytes=24)
      # example:
      #record.leader
      #=> "00774cz  a2200253n  4500"
      # 00-04: '00774' - record length
      # 05:    'c' - corrected or revised
      # 06:    'z' - always 'z' for authority records
      # 09:    'a' - UCS/Unicode
      # 12-16: '00253' - base address of data, Length of Leader and Directory
      # 17:    'n' - Complete authority record
      # leader_status_codes = {
      #     'a' => 'Increase in encoding level',
      #     'c' => 'Corrected or revised',
      #     'd' => 'Deleted',
      #     'n' => 'New',
      #     'o' => 'Obsolete',
      #     's' => 'Deleted; heading split into two or more headings',
      #     'x' => 'Deleted; heading replaced by another heading'
      # }
      leader = file_handle.read(leader_bytes)
      file_handle.seek(-1 * leader_bytes, IO::SEEK_CUR)
      {
          :length => leader[0..4].to_i,
          :status => leader[5],  # leader_status_codes[ record.leader[5] ]
          :type => leader[6],    # always 'z' for authority records
          :encoding => leader[9],  # translate letter code into ruby encoding string
          :data_address => leader[12..16].to_i,
          :complete => leader[17].include?('n')
      }
    end

  end

end

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Drama Fiesta is a jubilant celebration and a merry moment for our boys to showcase their creativity, inborn vibe and enthusiasm to perform on stage. Our third Drama Fiesta was successfully held on 18 June 2015. With a few more newly added programmes, the Fiesta was even more vibrant and pulsating.
To start the show, our two animated Masters of Ceremony, Risto Leung (6C) and Jason Li (6C) brought the whole show to life. Under the limelight, the P.4-6 actors led by their directors, Mr. Richard WOODS and Mr. Thomas CHING, shone in the play "Be Careful of What You Wish For". The charismatic Teacher, starred by Anson Ng (4D), demonstrated his talents in drama on stage. Our young actors' subtle actions and vivid facial expressions swiftly captured all the audience's attention as well as their heart!
Beside the live drama performance, the School Drama Team and the director, Miss Claire LEUNG, produced a movie "MI7: English's Mission" to echo with this year's school theme "C.I.A." (aka "Creative Intelligence Action"). The movie was based on the original production "Johnny English" (starring Rowan Atkinson). Our Drama Team actors' hilarious and comical acts, such as carrying the old man (Matthias Chan 6D) on Johnny English's (Cedric Leung 6E) back and Johnny English's silly kung-fu plus karate kicks, made the whole hall of audience burst into laughter.
Continuing on the dramatic mood, the School Drama Team carried on their performance on stage by adding a new element to the Fiesta: Thematic Group Speaking. The act "Don't Make Excuses" was a thematic act put together by Dr. Peter LEE. It combines four literary pieces including two poems, one prose, one dramatic excerpt and additional materials written by Dr. LEE. The poem "Why are you late for school" was written by Steven Turner, the prose from "Through the Looking Glass" was written by Lewis Carroll, the play "Romeo and Juliet" was written by William Shakespeare, and the poem "Excuses, excuses" was written by Gareth Owen.
Merging all the junior boys' talents, Mrs. Abanty PAUL, Ms. Jenny HO and Miss Angel LEUNG produced a new movie "Stone Slop" based on and adapted from the story "Stone Soup". The young boys' cheerful and lovely faces melted all the audience's heart.
Who rocked the Drama Fiesta? Everybody! Thanks to Mrs. Rebecca HO and Miss Agnes HIO, and the whole school, including our Headmistress Mrs. Maria LAM, and our guests Ms. Lancy TAM (Principal of Law Ting Pong Secondary School), Ms. Norris LAI (English Panel, Ying Wa College) and Ms. Alice LEE (English teacher, Ying Wa College). They all moved along and danced with body percussion with the song "We Will Rock You"! Indeed, everybody rocked!
p.s. See our Gallery for photos of the event; also, the movie "Stone Slop" is available at our video section.
The best Drama Fiesta of the three! From the show, I clearly saw talented boys and devoted English teachers in YWPS. Proud of you all!
It was indeed very enjoyable.
Creative teachers plus talented actors! Bravo!
The drama fiesta was fantastic. In the Blekinsop play, I appreciate that the actors can speak so loud without a sound mike.
It is truly a great experience to participate in this marvellous drama fiesta. I have already joined the drama fiesta for 3 years and it is still really amazing.I must thank Dr.Lee and Miss Leung for training us(the thematic group),to help us build up our courage to perform so well! I also appreciate Mr.Richard's drama group , they did a good job!The p1 to p3 drama was excellent too,I am really impressed how much courage those students have!
wow,what a fantastic drama fiesta for this year .the jonny english movie is so fun which i love it very much .but some of the most interesting parts are missing i hope that they will appear on the next drama fiesta.i am also looking forward to have the jonny english part two made by our schoolmarm team at a next years fiesta.
I was in the drama 'Be careful of What You Wish For' and I knew how our teachers worked hard to train us , it felt very concouraging when I saw that we entertained the audience ! Thank you Mr Richard and Mr Ching ! Also thumbs up for Dr Lee and Miss Leung's thematic group and P.1, P2, and P3's drama performance , they did great jobs ! the MI7 drama as it is really humorous but I would like to see how did Johnny become the king if possible!


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Home / Business / No private sector increases just yet
No private sector increases just yet
Marlon Madden
Private sector workers who might be expecting a wage increase because of the proposed reduction in corporation tax could forget about it, at least for now.
In fact, President of the Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) Ezra Prescod said it would be "reckless" if he should agree that private sector bosses give their workers a pay hike without first understanding what their businesses have gone through over the past decade.
He was responding to suggestions made last week by Minister of Transport, Works and Maintenance Dr William Duguid, who pleaded with private sector operators to give their workers a wage increase in a bid to spur economic recovery.
Duguid had argued that it was only fair for the local private sector to give an increase to workers considering Government's recent decision to lower the corporation tax rate from 30 per cent to be between zero and 5.5 per cent, effective January 1, 2019.
However, Prescod suggested that should private sector workers get an increase in wages it would have to be "some ways out".
"To speak now to wage increases would be reckless of me as a representative of the private sector without having an understanding of what businesses have to really recover, because you would imagine that some would have gone through financing to keep their businesses open, some would have really cut as much as they could cut and really now need to stabilize their own businesses to continue into the future," said Prescod.
"I am certain though that once they are able to do so, people in a bid to become more competitive in the world economy need to invest in training, they need to ensure they have the right talent and properly positioned talent and also ensure that the talent that they have is well rewarded. At that point, and that is some ways out, I do think that they will have to address that, but to say now they are going to raise wages I think is irresponsible and I can't speak to that," he said.
The BCCI head explained that since the reduction in the tax rate would not take place until early 2019, that meant companies would still have to file their next tax return at the current rate of 30 per cent come the middle of next year.
Furthermore, said Prescod, due to the harsh economic climate over the past decade, businesses have been constrained, and have had to endure some contraction in most operations due to various tax measures over the years.
"One of those measures is the imposition of taxation at the corporate level, the adjustment up to 30 per cent on corporation tax. That corporation tax still becomes due, further to the minister of finance's comments, at the end of fiscal year 2018/2019. So that 30 per cent is going to carry through," he explained.
"We are going to be recognizing at the end of that period a decrease in tax rate for most entities within the band that has been defined by the Prime Minister up to the end of calendar year 2018/2019, which then becomes due for filing in June 2020," he said.
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14 thoughts on "No private sector increases just yet"
johnny crow
The BLP has opened its fat legs to the ruthless members of the BCCI, and you know what happens to a woman, when she opens sesame to Tom, Dick, and Harry. These retailers have and are getting everything thing requested from this Administration, and will only give back crumbs when asked. Their prices will either remain where they are, or will keep rising, but they will not decline. Parasites abode
Shane Peters
Government need to set a minimum wage between ten and twelve dollars an hour because it doesn't matter how much concessions,waivers or write offs the private sector gets they will not give they
workers another penny….Especially the ones at the bottom…
Carson C. Cadogan
As I said over and over, nothing that happens in during this period of time Barbados will benefit BLACK BARBADIANS
Only WHITE BAJANS and INDIAN MUSLIMS.
BLACK BARBADIANS are to carry all the BURDEN.
Wake up my people, look at what is staring you in the faces. Total financial ruin, while all the minority races in this country smile all the way to the Bank.
Their LAVISH lifestyles unaffected in any way, shape or form!!
Rawle Spooner
Simple it government was serious about workers getting pay increase they could just legistate it and these businesses would have no choice,do politicians expect these greedy businesses to give workers more just like that.Also word of advice to slimy politicians when ya all giving away all these concessions and exemptions that is the time to put demands in writing,Barbados is run by greedy shady folks who only looking out for themselves and that ain't gine ever change.
should read " nothing that happens in Barbados during this period of time, will benefit BLACK BARBADIANS""
Line number one.
what happened in the last 10 yrs that benifitted the poor black bajans?
if you set a minimun wage, just to get at the private sector, they will lay off workers to make up the difference.
take which poison you want !
What the real problem is , the Barbados economy is in the wrong hands. We have a situation where the minority races which make up just 3% of the Barbados population are in control and no Black politicians are doing anything to reverse that untenable situation.
The 97% of the Barbados population will continue to be held hostage including this joker, Ezra Prescod.
What is he as a Black man doing to help Black Barbadians??
put your list out there of what you have done to help black bajans
sonyfair
Note: The NSRL was not removed for the consumers, only for the Business/ Merchants who had to pay it at the port, the consumers are still paying it on items and the caring person and the one whose ministry this falls under ain't doing a thing about it.
Which other country in the whole world has 3% minority races of its population controlling the economy??
China, America, England, Canada,Russia, Israel??
1% of American controls the USA economy
Don't know if it has any miniority that is only 3%
Tell us if it is a minority race or tribe?? Apache, Cherokee, cheyenne, Comanche, Chinook??
Which 1%?
Tee White
Until Bajans wake up and realise the whole 'representative democracy' and system of party government is a fraud which is aimed to keep them down, this nonsense will continue.
@Tee White – just to add – This black people have to wake up on so many levels. EVERY one of them colonial SYSTEMS are GEARED/orchestrated to keep the master/slave concoction going. These government ministers will spend their tenure digging holes, and cementing them with the masses inside then hopelessly revert back to their every day nutting positions leaving the black masses in an even deeper hole. This 97% loves to delude themselves to otherwise.
@CCC – I know what you are saying but this hardship of this majority people is more deep than you can even imaging.


It was my privilege to accompany a king to his college reunion dinner last evening.
Turns out a queen was also among the royal subjects. What? No crowns?
We ate well and sang well and storied well and laughed well and came home smiling.
Here's an informal look at the formal pose of the class of 1968 (thanks to Judy for posting it on Facebook).
Mauri did alot of playing around yesterday. I enjoyed listening while he played at the Psy D hooding.


House Bill 8 raises the Notary commissioning/examination fees and sets fees for an apostille or certification.
House Bill 8 is a budget bill that affects the state budget of Utah for the coming year.
Raises the Notary commission/examination fee from $75 to $95.
Raises the fee to retake the examination within 30 days of the first test from $30 to $40.
Sets the following fees for apostilles and authentications: (a) $20 per apostille or certificate of authentication; and (b) $10 per apostille or certificate of authentication for an adoption.
As part of a larger state budget bill, Notary examination fees will be raised for the coming year. There is a $20 increase in the examination fee and a $10 increase in the retake examination fee. The budget bill set fees for apostilles and certifications issued by the Lieutenant Governor's office on notarized documents destined for other states and countries.


Bergmark Copenhagen will provide you and your company with a scheduled follow up service if arranged.
Just send us your wishes for any follow up calls, and we will contact you to make sure your company has all our products in stock.
Call us weekdays between 10-16 or send an email with your wishes.


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Creativity and Content Free Speech and Censorship News
Didi Rankovic July 13, 2019 0 Comments
A bill looking to make it easy to sue internet users for copyright infringement stands a good chance of being passed in the US Congress.
But further facilitating such claims, as the CASE Act proposes, could boost copyright trolling and have negative effects on free speech says the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF).
The bill's goal is to introduce a so-called copyright small claims court, to make sure copyright holders suing on infringement grounds don't have to bring costly federal cases each time.
Instead, the EFF noted in its criticism of the planned legislation, a quasi-court would be set up within the Copyright Office – which is not an impartial participant. The digital rights group is now warning that the CASE Act would remove many protections currently afforded to internet users, and expose them to copyright trolls.
Even though the bill caps the fines at $5,000 – $15,000 per work – that's still high enough to financially ruin many Americans, where the average annual income is $57,652. And this is particularly true because the new process would leave those accused of infringement "without many of the traditional legal safeguards or rights of appeal [US] justice system provides."
To make suing people in this way even easier – and no doubt more appetizing for copyright trolls – the bill states that a copyright holder would be able to sue even if the work they claim had been infringed was not registered with the Copyright Office.
That would produce a catastrophic situation. "Nearly every photo, video, or bit of text on the Internet can suddenly carry a $7,500 price tag if uploaded, downloaded, or shared even if the actual harm from that copying is nil," the EFF warned, calling on internet users in the US to contact their senators and oppose the legislation.
As for the danger posed by the CASE Act to free speech, the organization said it would turn the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) notice "into a long-term censorship tool."
Namely, the bill would allow copyright holders to request that content be removed from online platforms, and at the same time bring their case before the new small claims court. The platforms would no longer be under obligation to act on a counter-notice and repost the content within 14 days.
This could then turn into many months of effective censorship, the EFF is warning.
Didi Rankovic
Didi Rankovich is an experienced online journalist, editor, and translator, with a career spanning over ten years writing for major a English-language website in Serbia, and previously working as translator for international organizations and peacekeepers in the Balkans. Rankovich is passionate about free and open source tech and is a head contributor for Reclaim The Net, focusing on lead stories. [email protected]


Sexual assault is a topic we have covered frequently this past year because it continues to be an extremely prevalent and increasingly discussed issue both on campus and in the world at large. With movements like #MeToo, women from all around the world have banded together and gained a new sense of confidence to come forward and bravely disclose their personal stories. Most recently, this solidarity was expressed in the Times Up movement when almost all the Golden Globes attendees wore black to protest sexual assault.
However, despite the positivity of these movements and all the support and understanding they have fostered, victim blaming—even in these movements—persists. Going back to the Golden Globes, for example, the women who did not show up in black were wrongfully shamed for not joining the protest. Unfortunately, victim blaming is often the response individuals receive when they come forward with their accounts. One way to combat victim blaming, as well as to prevent acts of potential assault, is to spread out accountability among community members and to make everyone responsible for being an active bystander.
Bystander intervention training is an initiative that Grand Valley State University has taken seriously, and for the second consecutive year, GVSU has received a grant from the Michigan State Police to help fund campus sexual assault programming. The grant will help to continue the university's use of the national "Bringing in the Bystander" model on campus. This will be accomplished through the bystander intervention program Peer Education and Prevention (P.E.P.) Talks, in which trained GVSU students educate their peers about sexual assault prevention and how to be a good bystander.
With the handful of assaults that have happened involving GVSU students over the past few years, it is easy to identify the need for bystander education programs. Students who may witness a potential assault may feel absolved from blame because they weren't directly involved, while others may feel too afraid or don't know exactly how to respond. These types of programs, though, introduce a new sense of responsibility by educating students on how—and why—they should act.
Based on surveys of P.E.P. Talk viewers, the university also found that there were issues with students understanding what constitutes consent. This is a disquieting realization. Not only must students be trained to be active bystanders, but they must understand what does and does not constitute consent in the first place. Now, with the grant GVSU has received, the student theater troupe ReACT!, which educates students on issues of sexual assault and dating violence, will integrate consent education into its programs.
Making education on sexual assault more readily available for students is a positive step. The grant will give ReACT! more chances to carry out performances on campus. However, the performances won't be impactful if GVSU students don't decide that they are serious about fighting sexual assault by learning what does and does not constitute consent and how to be active bystanders. If GVSU students don't feel confident that they are knowledgeable in these two areas, they should attend these events this semester.


Our website is one of the main forms of marketing for AAMA and we would love for our members to help us out.
Google offers the ability for members of the public to rate and review business. It is dead simple – either search for "Australian Academy of Martial Arts" in Google or Google Maps (or click here), and submit a review.


By purchasing this handcrafted jewelry, you're supporting a fair-trade organization of more than 80 artisans in Delhi. The group encourages the empowerment of women and provides the community's youth with access to schools and education.
MERSiO is committed to supporting these social programs, and we are proud to offer fair wages to the artisans while positively contributing to their development.
Sana, a young woman from Delhi, India, is a perfect example of her community's perseverance and ambition. After witnessing her father's difficulties with the family business, she took the initiative to offer his handcrafted jewelry to socially responsible brands, like MERSiO, who support the fair-trade principles.
Today, the organization supports more than 80 artisans.
Please do not use liquid jewelry cleaners.
Limit exposing your jewelry to water (bathing, hand-washing, dishwashing, etc.) and never wear them into a pool or spa.


With more than 2 billion active users, Facebook is a low-cost and also reliable means to market your business. How Do I Set Up A Business Facebook Page - Making use of Facebook for business purposes is often tough, due to the fact that its regulations and algorithms can make it difficult to ensure your fans see your posts.
Nevertheless, Facebook is one of the best devices for targeting a details audience through paid campaigns. Facebook recognizes a whole lot concerning its customers ( compared to we ever before believed), as well as it uses this info to your advantage when you purchase advertisements.
Below are the basic attributes of a Facebook brand Page and how you can use them to your benefit.
If your business falls under the "local business or place" category, you will should enter your business category and business name as well as address and also phone number. For all various other categories, just group and also business name are required.
As soon as you have filled out the fundamentals of your business Page, it's time to customise your Facebook for business Page.
Include a summary for your business, an account photo, and also add your new Page to favourites for simple accessibility from your personal account.
You likewise have the option to customise your favored Page target market. This suggests that Facebook will try to get to individuals in your target market.
This setting is optional and can be changed at any moment by mosting likely to your business Page, clicking "Settings" in the upper best side and also mosting likely to "Preferred Page Audience.".
Change your settings for exposure, notifications, messaging, tagging, linked apps, and also extra.
If you desire other people in your business to have accessibility to your business' Facebook Page, you could appoint them as admin, editor, mediator, advertiser, or analyst under Settings > Page Responsibilities.
If you require more help determining which setups to choose, look into these commonly asked questions for taking care of a Facebook business Page.
Once your Page is real-time as well as prepared to go, you're ready to boost your social networks reach. Welcome buddies to "like" your Page; share updates, photos, and also statuses; as well as upload interesting posts.
You can share promotions, host occasions, market, gather evaluations, as well as much more on your Facebook business Page. Regardless of your industry, Facebook can assist your business satisfy its objectives.
As soon as you have actually developed your business's Facebook Page, the actual difficulty begins: developing as well as engaging an audience of followers and also clients. Right here are 10 ideas in order to help you in the process.
Facebook has excellent targeting devices. It could help you target particular demographics, locations and interest groups. You have to understand who you're trying to market to initially, obviously. As soon as you have a mental picture of your suitable audience, use the targeting tools Facebook offers.
Though you've created a service Facebook Page to get even more clients, your audience won't react well if you're just attempting to offer them your services or product with every post. Attempt to be personalized in your Facebook posts. Aid your target market really feel comfortable with you by sharing more than advertising and marketing material.
It can be tough to get organic traffic on Facebook, but doing giveaways and also various other competitions can assist. You can use services like Rafflecopter to supply a reward for liking and following your Page. It's a great idea to obtain followers to share your Page to get the contest. Make sure the giveaway is relevant to exactly what you're marketing. You intend to bring in the perfect target market, so don't give away something random; give away something that your perfect buyer would certainly desire.
Facebook allows you to Create events as your business. You can invite any individual to these events, and pay additional to advertise them to a target market on Facebook. Events can be a smart means to engage your target market as well as turn them right into clients.
It can be taxing to Create and share just initial web content. You can conserve time and also effort by curating and sharing relevant material from various other sources that your excellent audience would additionally want. Connecting with these other resources could benefit you in various other means as well. Some of these sources could share your content in return, which can help you connect with a wider target market.
Don't just release a post then be finished with Facebook for the week. Create and also share articles that will engage your audience, and after that react to their remarks, inquiries as well as concerns. If you're having conversations with your audience, they're most likely to become your consumers.
In January 2018, Facebook introduced it was making significant changes to its newsfeed formula. With this change, Facebook will certainly focus on individual links as well as interaction. In other words, your messages will not be seen unless they generate a conversation.
Keep in mind the good times and also commemorate anniversaries by highlighting firm turning points like the wedding anniversary of your opening or your initial 1,000 fans. This could assist you involve your audience as well as appear even more personalized. If you're offering a special promo for any type of milestones or wedding anniversaries, you could promote them on your Page too.
Facebook uses understandings and analytics on how your blog posts are performing. Take advantage of these statistics to find out what type of content is involving your target market. Adjust your posts inning accordance with what you discover to become much more interesting, and also recycle one of the most successful techniques.
If you locate that you're investing too much time on Facebook daily, you could try scheduling your posts. You can do some of this in Facebook itself, or you can utilize a third-party system like Hootsuite or Buffer to Create and also arrange material to cooperate the future. While this does spend some time in advance, it could save you time in the long run. To find out more concerning social media tools, read this business News Daily guide.
The best means to reach your desired target market is to run Facebook ads. While these do set you back cash, they work due to the fact that you could pick your targeted audience based upon demographics, actions or get in touch with information. You can select a daily or total allocate ads, choose the quantity of time an ad runs, and readjust your wanted target market. Facebook tracks the communications on each promo you run, which could aid you create very successful projects in the future.
If you're scrolling via your Facebook timeline, you might see a great deal of video clips. That's since video clips do wonderful on the platform. One way to Create Facebook video clips is via Facebook Live, which enables you to transmit to a huge target market absolutely free.
" Facebook Live is among one of the most effective yet underutilized tools a small company could make use of to engage with their market," stated Elizabeth Giorgi, founder and also CEO of Mighteor. "In today's mobile-first world, online video clip acts as a way to link directly with the fans you have actually gotten on your social networks instantly.".