Our consumption and use of resources arguably need a rethink: Earth Overshoot Day, the date when our resource consumption for the year surpasses the Earth's capacity to regenerate those resources, is occurring earlier and earlier. This means that global consumption levels are unsustainable. The fashion industry in particular is a key driver of resource consumptions: the overproduction and overconsumption are crucial issues for the industry, and consumers have an increasing demand for 'fast fashion.' New research showsthat the average person today buys 60% more clothing items than 15 years ago—and we keep clothing items for less than half as long.
The clothing industry's impact on carbon emissions is projected to grow by nearly 50% by 2030. Moreover, the number of 'fashion cycles' for production of clothing has risen from only two per year to as many as 50-100cycles. Because of this, clothing brands are producing more, and consumers are both buying and throwing clothes at a record speed, with increasing amounts of items ending up in landfills.
The clothing industry also consumes large amounts of water: for example, it takes over 700 gallons of water to make one cotton t-shirt, and nearly 2000 gallons of water are used to make one pair of jeans.
However, there is clear power in collective action, and we as consumers have the potential to remedy this problem by moving towards a circular economy, where we extend the lifetime of resources and goods as long as possible. By changing perceptions of what we need in our closets and improving our understanding of how our purchase habits affect the environment, we can collectively move towards a circular economy, in which we keep resources in use for as long as possible.
As consumers are increasingly aware of the high environmental costs of the fashion industry, more sustainable brands and projects are developing solutions to increase recycling of materials and promote a more circular industry, reducing the billions of tons of clothing that ends up in landfills every year. Sustainable brands and other circular solutions also reduce the massive amounts of water, land and energy currently used in clothing manufacture.
Over 26 billion pounds of clothing and household items end up in landfills every year—and of that, over 95 percent of can be reused or recycled. Consumers may have the power to make an important difference through reusing items. For example, Savers,one of the largest thrift store chains in North American, is working not only to provide secondhand items at a low cost, but to help change the way consumers think about sustainability and reuse. The company's Rethink Reuse program has focused on raising public awareness and understanding of reuse through activities such as interactive art installations in Seattle, Vancouver, and Toronto, in order to better educate consumers about problems related to textile waste. Another sustainable solution is the increasing trend towards of fashion rentals, which also helps to reduce the amount of clothing items that end up in landfills.
As increasing numbers of consumers take a stance on environmental and social costs of fashion purchases, companies are responding with innovative and creative solutions. The notion of circular fashionseeks to close the loop by reusing and recycling waste, rather than the typical linear model of the fashion industry. In March, Australia will be hosting the second Australian Circular Fashion Conference (ACFC), in order to provide more opportunities to develop and invest in fashion-industry sustainability. The Conference was established in 2018, and led to a new association, the Australasian Circular Textile Association(ACTA)to respond to conference attendees' requests for assistance in moving from a linear business model to a circular one.
India's first Circular Design Awardswill be held during Lakmé Fashion Week (LFW). The Circular Design Awards will showcase 8 fashion labels, brands chosen from nearly 1000 applicants across India. These brands demonstrate their commitment to integrate circular design principles throughout all stages of their business operations, from using environmentally-friendly fabrics and product packaging to having guidelines for recycling of used clothing.
Similarly, Hong-Kong-based NGO Redress just opened the 9th iteration of the Redress Design Award—the largest global sustainable fashion competition. Currently, the fashion industry recycles under 1% of materials used in clothing production, corresponding to a loss of over $100 billion of materials wasted each year. However, roughly 80% of a clothing item's environmental impact is defined at the design stage, so fashion designers can enact change. As the world's largest textile and clothing exporter, and currently the world's largest fashion market, China has an important rolein making a difference in reducing the global impacts of the fashion industry.
It's clear that there are changes occurring in the industry, from design-level rethinking and restructuring, to consumers demanding more accountability and transparency in brands. Beyond making a commitment to purchasing secondhand and increasing the functional lives of our goods, another important way consumers can take action to promote more sustainable fashion practices is though raising awareness and increasing our knowledge about different brands and their production processes. The app Good On You, for example, rates clothing labels based on the social, environmental, and animal costs of their production, and highlights companies without transparency in their supply chain operations. In today's increasingly interconnected digital world, the demand for transparency is increasing, and hopefully will lead to great strides in reducing waste from industries like the global fashion industry.
Read more about sustainable fashion in the CFDA's Sustainability Resources.
Want to learn more about sustainable solutions and the circular economy? Join Leaders in Energy's Circular Economy Working Group, which meets on the 4th Wednesday of every month!


Lucrativ is a multichannel customer relationship management platform suitable for businesses of all sizes. It offers pipeline management, gamification tools, an integrated dialer, SMS campaign management, workflow management, lead management and more. The solution can be accessed on desktop and mobile devices.
Users can automate daily tasks and create custom-built business processes using Lucrativ's visual workflow design tool. Communication can be routed to specific members of a sales team based on their availability or skillset. Leads can be automatically segmented based on the likelihood of a lead to convert. Sales teams can also use the mobile AI module to set meetings, respond to incoming messages, schedule calls and more with voice commands.
Managers can set up competitions between sales team members and employees can view configurable leaderboards to see their team's performance in real time. Custom-built reports can be generated for historical data or viewed in real time for metrics like sales performance, pipeline health and more.
Support is offered over the phone or through an online reference library.


text:
Category Archives: Luton Town
Cardiff City, Championship, HOME, Luton Town
Championship Preview: Cardiff city v luton town
November 27, 2020 martintownley27 Leave a comment
Cardiff City will host Luton Town this weekend at Cardiff City Stadium. The Bluebirds come in to this match on a poor run of form that has seen them win one in eight. Luton are unbeaten in four but have drawn the last three matches.
Last season saw City win both league meetings between the sides. A 2-1 win with a 96th minute winner from Isaac Vassell, and a 1-0 win from a Lee Tomlin goal. The two side also met in the EFL Cup with Luton running out 3-0 winners.
Besides last season meetings the side have remain apart since 2007 when they played out a goalless draw at Kenilworth Road. Overall Luton lead the head to head with 23 wins. Cardiff have 20 wins and there have been 17 draws.
Recent Form
Cardiff have gone behind in all but four of their games this season. Poor errors and slow start meaning they often have to work just to salvage a point. Many Cardiff fans have been calling for Harris to be replaced after Cardiff's poor start. Cardiff are 18th, just five points from the relegation zone.
Luton, meanwhile, are looking up and currently sit 11th four points from the play-off places. With five wins so far of which three have been away from home. Their last three have seen them draw, twice leading games and conceding.
Cardiff will be without both Lee Tomlin and Jordi Osei-Tutu both still some weeks from being available. Greg Cunningham has been training , but might not be ready for a return to the match day squad yet.
Brendan Galloway will also not be in the match squad for the trip to Cardiff. Dan Potts will be unlikely to feature.
Managers Thoughts
Cardiff manager Neil Harris spoke at his pre-match press conference on the pressure building after his sides poor start:
"Yeah, ultimately, Vincent [Tan], Mehmet [Dalman], Ken [Choo], Steve Borley, they are the ones who count. Everyone is entitled to an opinion in modern society, I get that, but, to me, what matters is what we build in-house, within our changing room. But also what the thought process is of above.
"I spoke to the board, they want success. Mehmet spoke a couple of months ago about January, being in the top six and wanting to challenge and that's a realistic expectation for us. That's my job to deliver that.
"I understand that and a football manager needs to win football matches.
"I love my job, I really, really enjoy working with the group. But you have to get results as a manager.
"I think this is a big period for me, the club and the group, the next couple of games. I put expectations on my own shoulders and I need players my to deliver and I need to get big calls right."
With a big game coming this weekend, would there be chances for this Cardiff Side, Harris continued:
"I think we have tried to change the way we've played and approach games, the style of play. The majority of it has been really good. The two penalty areas have been the problem. We've not scored enough, we've conceded the first goal too often. When we have conceded the first goal it's because we have made errors.
"I've asked players to adapt their play. I may have to be a little more pragmatic in my approach to some players. We have to find a way of putting teams under more pressure. I have to consider personnel, style of play, formation, all those things considered from a Wednesday to a Saturday."
Luton Manager Nathan Jones spoke about the upcoming game to Luton Website:
"There's never a good time to play Cardiff, especially away, because they're a tough side to play. They have got experienced Championship players, a lot with Premier League experience so it's a tough, tough game.
"Not sure it's a good time, bad time or anything to play them. It's a Championship game and the Championship is never an easy ride in anyway shape or form."
When asked about his opposite number Jones said:
"Neil Harris did a wonderful job last year, got them in the play-offs. The Championship is one of those things, someone told me once that you don't have to do a hell of a lot different in the Championship to go four unbeaten or to get four or five defeats on the spin because it is that type of league.
"Neil is experienced, they are not in a precarious position in anyway shape or form, far more teams in precarious positions, plus he brought himself a little bit of leeway because he has done fantastic work there."
Jones wants his side to "impact" and start to out their stamp on the Championship:
"We don't just want to get results. Now we want to impact and to start putting our stamp on the Championship.
"That's a bold, bold statement and others may listen to that and think, 'What are they on about? These should be down the bottom'.
"But it's about what we want to do. We don't care about anything else. We don't look outside of the four walls we have here, outside Bedfordshire, for example. We want to evolve into what we want to evolve into, and that's constant work.
"We'll have to take some punches on the chin and punches on the nose, but we're going to ride them and come back stronger and stronger because we've had a good bit of experience at the level. But, now, we want to have more than experience."
For Cardiff they could have lost Wednesday game by more goals. They had goalkeeper Alex Smithies to thank for it. Smithies has been excellent since breaking into the team last season. If Smithies can keep City in the game than they do have the quality, if not the form to hurt teams.
For Luton its Welsh international Rhys Norrington-Davies. With Cardiff's lack of a proper right back its an area Luton could exploit. Norrington-Davies can get forward and help in attack and playing down Cardiff's right could give them great opportunities to get the ball into the box.
Prediction; 1-1
Luton will take the lead by capitalising on Cardiff's typical slow starts to matches, but the Bluebirds should be able to get a draw.
Alex SmithiesEFLLee TomlinNathan JonesNeil HarrisRhys Norrington-Davies
Barnsley, Birmingham City, Championship, Charlton Athletic, HOME, Huddersfield Town, Hull City, Luton Town, Wigan Athletic
Wigan 8-0 Hull- What are the repercussions for both sides and the other teams involved in the battle to avoid the drop?
Wigan recorded their biggest ever league victory on Tuesday night as they dismantled a sorry Hull side to move 11 points clear of the relegation zone.
Paul Cook's side were 7-0 up at half time, thanks to strikes from Naismith, Lowe and Williams, as well as doubles from Moore and Dowell, as Hull capitulated.
Dowell completed his hat-trick in the second half as the Latics recorded their eighth victory in their last eleven games, a run which has included 10 clean sheets.
This is a mightily impressive run of form when you factor in that they have a 12 point deduction looming, after the club were placed into administration last month.
It is the impending deduction, which leaves Wigan in danger of dropping down to League One. At the minute they sit 13th on 57 points but when the deduction is applied their points total falls to 45, which would take them to 21st, level on points with both Luton and Hull, ahead by only goal difference.
The EFL, according to the Evening Standard, have stated that the points deduction will only come into play this season if Wigan finish outside the relegation zone. It is therefore key that the club win their final two games to have any chance of staying up.
Buoyed by their recent performances, Paul Cook's men will be full of confidence for their next game against fellow strugglers Charlton and their last fixture against promotion chasing Fulham. Win those two games, and it is likely that Wigan could remain in the Championship, even with the deduction coming in to play.
Wigan are just one of eight clubs that could face demotion to the third tier, as the bottom of the Championship table is incredibly tight with just two games left to play.
Hull City, who were pummelled by the Latics on Tuesday, Luton Town and yo-yo club Barnsley currently occupy the three relegation places. Barnsley are rock bottom, two points adrift of Luton and Hull who are level on 45 points, but with a game in hand on their relegation rivals.
Lingering above the drop zone by a single point are Charlton, who also boast a game in hand. Huddersfield, who were relegated from the Premier League last season, are nervously looking over their shoulder as they are two points ahead of Charlton, having played a game more.
Birmingham and Stoke City are next, level on 49 points they sit 18th and 19th, again having played a game less than the likes of Huddersfield, Luton and Hull.
Barnsley, who won promotion to the Championship last season, are likely to go straight back down to League One, as they have the hardest run in of any of those fighting relegation.
Gerhard Struber's men face table toppers Leeds tomorrow night before entertaining in form Nottingham Forest in their penultimate game. They end the season with a trip to Griffin Park to play Brentford, and it is hard to see the Tykes getting anything from those games given their mixed form since the restart.
They have won two, drawn three and lost one of their six games since they returned from the break, but given how well the teams they are coming up against have fared they are in real trouble of going down.
Luton had looked nailed on for a swift return to League One before the break as they sat bottom of the table having endured a tough season, their first at Championship level in 12 years.
The reappointment of Nathan Jones, after he was sacked by Stoke has no doubt aided their fortunes, as the Hatters have defeated Swansea and Huddersfield since the restart, as well as picking up points against Leeds, Preston, Barnsley and QPR.
A heavy 5-0 defeat to Reading hasn't helped their goal difference, which stands at -30, the highest in the league, which could be a determining factor in the race against the drop.
They face two cup finals to preserve their Championship status, the first a monumental clash with Hull at the weekend and the second against mid table Blackburn.
It will be a big ask, as Luton will also need others to slip up, but Nathan Jones' men shouldn't be written of just yet, especially given their recent revival.
Their opponents this weekend Hull have endured a tumultuous few months, and are in serious danger of dropping down to the third division for the first time since 2005.
Grant McCann will demand a response from his side in this weekend's encounter with Luton and again against Cardiff after their dismal display on Tuesday night. They lacked any real fight and merely rolled over against the Latics.
They have won just one game since New Year's Day, as their abysmal form in 2020 has seen them slide alarmingly down the table.
It is no surprise that their disastrous form has coincided with them selling their best two players, Jarrod Bowen and Kamil Grosicki in the January transfer window, and failing to bring in suitable replacements for them.
Wigan's impending point deduction has given them an olive branch but if they don't collect any points from their final two games, which given their current state of affairs will be a tough ask, they could still go down.
Last season's League One Playoff winners Charlton are also involved in the relegation scrap. They won back to back games straight after the restart, but are since winless in four to leave them hovering over the dreaded drop zone with three games left to play.
They face off against Birmingham tonight in a must win clash, before hosting Wigan and travelling to Leeds on the last day of the season.
A return of four points from those games should be enough to keep Lee Bowyer's side in the division, but it is going to be a struggle given their lack of goals recently amidst the departure of their star striker Lyle Taylor.
Although very much still in trouble, a win this evening should ease fears of relegation for the Addicks.
A team in dire need of a victory are Huddersfield, who are in serious danger of suffering back to back relegations, given their poor form since the restart. They have won just one game since the break and have failed to hit the target in their last four games.
A 0-0 draw last night against Sheffield Wednesday, coupled with a Charlton victory tonight would leave the Terriers just three points above the drop zone. They have West Brom and Millwall in their last two games, a difficult run in compared to others around them.
With goals hard to come by, they really have to dig deep to grind out some results, as they will need to avoid defeat in both those fixtures to stay up.
Birmingham are another team who have been pulled into the relegation battle, as results since the restart haven't come their way. They have lost four of six games, drawing the other two, the form of a club in real trouble which cost manager Pep Clotet his job.
They have three games left, against Charlton, Preston and Derby, and with four points separating them and Hull, and Wigan's impending deduction, their early season form has probably saved them from falling out of the division.
A major rebuild will have to commence at St Andrews next season however, with Clotet gone and talented youngster Bellingham set to join Borussia Dortmund for £22.5 million.
Stoke City are also fighting for survival, after an inconsistent season. Their form since the restart has encapsulated this notion. Michael O'Neill's men drew with Reading before losing to Middlesbrough and Wigan. They then thumped Barnsley 4-0, lost to Leeds 5-0 and beat Birmingham 2-0, to distance themselves from the drop zone.
They had an awful start to the season under Nathan Jones, winning just 2 of their 14 games to sit in the relegation zone. Michael O'Neill's arrival at the bet365 Stadium mid season helped to steady the ship, and the win over Birmingham helped them take huge strides towards securing safety, something which looked impossible in November.
They face Bristol City tonight, knowing a win will all but guarantee safety, helping them break into the 50 points bracket with two tough games left against Brentford and Nottingham Forest.
Given the erratic nature of the Championship predicting who will go down is arguably one of the most difficult tasks in football. Yet, it is hard to look past Barnsley and Hull to be relegated, given their remaining fixtures and poor form.
Who will join them is where it gets interesting as Luton, Charlton, Huddersfield and Birmingham are all scrapping to avoid falling into the final relegation place.
Throw in Wigan's impending points deduction and the Championship relegation battle becomes even more complicated and simultaneously intriguing for a neutral watching on.
For more reaction to Wigan Athletic entering administration see video below:
Championship, Luton Town, Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest 3 – Luton 1
January 20, 2020 jonnyw1987 Leave a comment
Nottingham Forest came from behind to beat bottom of the table Luton Town to move 5 points within the second automatic promotion spot with a game in hand, that game ahead is on Wednesday Night against Reading at The City Ground.
The prospect of that gap being 2 points is quite remarkable when you consider it was as big as 14 points in December when Forest were in the midst of a traditional slump during that month. However, unlike previous seasons, the slump has not continued post-Christmas – Forest winning 4 and drawing 1 since then. Along with second-placed Leeds going through another traditional slump in form has meant Forest are not out of the automatic promotion contention.
However, if they are to achieve this target they will have to improve performances, today's match was another example of Forest not dominating the play but finding a way to win. They started slowly and allowed Luton early possession and pressure which led to Luton taking a deserved lead through Harry Cornick after 23 minutes. The goal came from the area where Luton were looking most dangerous, with a cross from the left-hand side from Potts.
The first half was a physical battle in midfield which Luton were largely winning, however, when Forest's Ben Watson won one of these battles, Luton complained it was a foul but Forest played on and a superb cross-field pass from Yuri Ribero found Joe Lolley who ran at his full-back and fired a shot which was not handled by Luton keeper Simon Sluga, who should have done a lot better.
Forest improved massively after the half time break being on the front for much of it, the pressure told when Lolley scored with a fantastic strike into the top corner from outside the box after Watson's good pass found him on the right-wing from where he cut inside before finishing. Lolley was a constant threat in the second half, running past players every time he got the ball. He created more chances to extend the lead and put the game beyond doubt but efforts from Tiago Silva and Sammy Ameobi went just wide.
Luton came slightly back into it in the last 10 minutes but Forest won a penalty with just minutes remaining when Silva's free-kick struck Sonny Bradley's hand in the wall. Lewis Grabban converted to get grab his 15th goal of the season to secure the 3 points.
Breaking NewsChampionshipEnglandfootballJanuary Transfer WindowNottingham Forest
Championship, Luton Town, Uncategorized
September 13, 2019 tnwheatley18 Leave a comment
Belgium's ex-assistant manager, Ivory Coast's current assistant manager, Chelsea and Man City players on loan, an FA Cup winning midfielder and now an international goal scorer. Perhaps a low to mid table Premier League team? Maybe a top 2 level championship club? Wrong on both accounts. It's Luton Town Football Club.
6 years ago today, Leicester City and Burnley were on course for promotion back to the Premier League and 5 current Premier League teams were playing in the Championship. Luton Town on the other hand, were playing and losing 2-0 away to Wrexham. Alex Wall was sent off that day, and as he walked down the tunnel I doubt anyone could have imagined the meteoric rise that would take place in the next 6 years.
In the week that James Collins made a scoring debut for the Republic of Ireland, it is only right that Luton fans remember the work that has gone in to reach the frankly dizzying heights of the Championship.
However, it is equally important to look to the future, and boy does it look bright. A new stadium under construction, a new retail park to help fund it. The playing squad is young and exciting and, most importantly, owners who are not willing to put the club's future at risk for the sake of immediate glory.
It is easy to forget that just 6 years ago the Town were non-league. The international break was proceeded by back to back wins against two of last seasons premier league bottom three in Cardiff and Huddersfield.
ChampionshipJames CollinsLuton Town
Accrington Stanley, AFC Wimbledon, Barnet, Barnsley, Birmingham City, Blackburn Rovers, Blackpool, Bolton Wanderers, Bradford City, Brentford, Bristol City, Bristol Rovers, Burton Albion, Bury, Cambridge United, Carlisle United, Championship, Charlton Athletic, Cheltenham Town, Colchester United, Coventry City, Crawley Town, Crewe Alexandra, Derby County, Doncaster Rovers, Exeter City, Fleetwood Town, Forest Green Rovers, Gillingham, Grimsby Town, HOME, Huddersfield Town, Hull City, Ipswich Town, League One, League Two, Leeds United, Lincoln City, Luton Town, Mansfield Town, Middlesbrough, Millwall, MK Dons, Morecambe, Newport County, Northampton Town, Nottingham Forest, Notts County, Oldham Athletic, Oxford United, Peterborough United, Plymouth Argyle, Port Vale, Portsmouth, Preston North End, Queens Park Rangers, Reading, Rochdale, Rotherham United, Scunthorpe United, Sheffield Wednesday, Shrewsbury Town, Southend United, Stevenage, Stoke City, Sunderland, Swansea City, Swindon Town, Walsall, West Bromwich Albion, Wigan Athletic, Wycombe Wanderers, Yeovil Town
Carabao Cup: Round One Draw Announced
June 20, 2019 Russ Vernon Leave a comment
The Carabao Cup Round One draw was made on Thursday evening from Morrisons, Colindale, North West London.
There were two stand out ties from the draw with AFC Wimbledon playing MK Dons, while newly-promoted Salford City will face Leeds United.
The draw was conducted by two former England internationals in John Barnes and Ray Parlour and was split into two regions – North and South.
Huddersfield Town, the hightest-ranked team in the Northern Section, will face Lincoln City while the highest ranked Southern side, West Bromwich Albion, will face Millwall.
Every club from Sky Bet League One and League Two enter the Carabao Cup in Round One, along with 22 Championship clubs.
Only Cardiff City and Fulham – who finished 18th and 19th respectively in the Premier League last season, will enter in Round Two, alongside the clubs from the Premier League, not in European competitions.
The first round matches are scheduled to take place week commencing Monday 12thAugust, with the final due to take place on March 1, 2020.
Full Round One Draw can be seen below:
North Draw
Tranmere Rovers v Hull City
Grimsby Town v Doncaster Rovers
Wigan Athletic v Stoke City
Port Vale v Burton Albion
Nottingham Forest v Fleetwood Town
Bradford City v Preston North End
Blackpool v Macclesfield Town
Blackburn Rovers v Oldham Athletic
Mansfield Town v Morecambe
Accrington Stanley v Sunderland
Scunthorpe United v Derby County
Rochdale v Bolton Wanderers
Huddersfield Town v Lincoln City
Middlesbrough v Crewe Alexandra
Shrewsbury Town v Rotherham United
Sheffield Wednesday v Bury
Salford City v Leeds United
Barnsley v Carlisle United
South Draw
Colchester United v Swindon Town
AFC Wimbledon v MK Dons
Oxford United v Peterborough United
Queens Park Rangers v Bristol City
Plymouth Argyle v Leyton Orient
Wycombe Wanderers v Reading
Charlton Athletic v Forest Green Rovers
Gillingham v Newport County
Stevenage v Southend United
Luton Town v Ipswich Town
Walsall v Crawley Town
Bristol Rovers v Cheltenham Town
Brentford v Cambridge United
Coventry City v Exeter City
Swansea City v Northampton Town
Breaking NewsCarabao CupChampionshipfootballLeague OneLeague Two

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Functions to process time series data.
Normalize timeseries data, using the maximum across all regions and timesteps.
"""Concatenates data0 and data1 along the time dimension"""
Apply the given clustering function to the given data.
if loading custom clustering. Custom clustering index = timeseries days.
If no column_name, the CSV file must have only one column of data.
How to map clusters to data. 'mean' or 'closest'.
include 'sum', 'max', and 'min'. If None, no scaling occurs.
time resolution of the output data, given in Pandas time frequency format.
E.g. 1H = 1 hour, 1W = 1 week, 1M = 1 month, 1T = 1 minute. Multiples allowed.
timesteps accordingly. Returns updated dataset.


text:
0 The Medieval Italian City State by Pauline Montagna
The Medieval Italian City State
by Pauline Montagna
My novel 'The Slave' is set in fourteenth century Northern Italy, but it isn't a tale of knights and ladies in their castles. It's set in an Italian Medieval City State, a world away from the Middle Ages as we know them in England, France or Germany.
These ancient walled cities dot the landscape of Northern Italy. They perch on hilltops like Bergamo and San Gimignano. They nestle in picturesque river valleys like Florence and Verona. They lie by river banks in the flat valley of the River Po like Mantua and Vicenza. Though some have been subsumed into a bustling port city like Genoa, or a commercial dynamo like Milan, many retain their ancient and unique charms like Pisa and Venice. Though these cities may have flowered during the Renaissance their days of true glory came in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries when they were rich and independent mercantile city states.
To visit these cities is to step back into another time. Inside their encircling walls, the houses, with their simple lines, made of local materials, seem to have grown out of the earth itself, sometimes ochre tuffa and terra cotta like Siena or white pietra bianca like Perugia. At the heart of the city is a grand piazza, like the Piazza del Campo in Siena or the Piazza delle Erbe in Verona. On market days they fill with farmers from the hinterland selling their produce. On city feast days they are draped in the colours of the local clans and might host a horse race like Siena's Palio. Fronting the Piazza is a grand municipal building, sometimes called La Signoria as in Florence or il Palazzo della Ragione as in Padua, from which the city was once governed.
Indicating the division between Church and state, though built by the people in honour of their patron saint, the city's cathedral or Duomo sits on a fine piazza of its own. The Duomo was not only a place of worship. It represented the city's history and its wealth and was large enough to house the city's total population of up to 10,000 on municipal feast days. Attached to the Duomo might be a Baptistry or a campanile. Though the largest, the Duomo was not the only church in the city, as smaller parish churches and devotee chapels might be found on every street.
Away from the grand piazzas, the streets are narrow and the houses tall and sometimes walled, their arched doorways all one can see from the street. Occasionally you will come across a tall featureless tower or the remnants of one. These were built in the early days of the city by rival feudal clans for their self-defence, and from which they would sally forth to attack their enemies, much to the great terror of the citizens.
If we make our way back to the piazza, we can visit the municipal palace. Inside, the walls might be covered in frescos dating from as early as the twelfth century depicting the ideals of good governance for the edification of the council of citizens, or the Commune, that ran the city's affairs. The make-up and methods of selection of the Communes differed from city to city and from time to time as cities experimented with different forms, but generally the Communes were formed from the city's most affluent men.
Drawn from the middle classes, these men had in large part been made rich through international trade, but most of them would be landowners as well. Among them might also be bankers, lawyers and notaries. All of them would be literate and educated in law and rhetoric (and perhaps double entry accounting, which had been invented in Italy.) Some of these men might be separated by only one or two generations from their peasant ancestors as the city state was a place of opportunity where social barriers were low.
To a large extent, the old feudal nobility was excluded from the Communes as, in fact, the Communes had been formed to protect the citizens from their unruly violence. However, they were not excluded from city life altogether, and behind the scenes would have been able to exert some power and influence. They generally had homes in the city where they spent most of their time, as well as country houses where they retreated in summer. Just as the merchants might also be landowners, the nobility would also dabble in trade, despite their patent disdain for the gente nuova who made their fortunes from it. In their own way, the nobility were crucial to the defence of their cities. They were required to maintain a horse and armour for cavalry duties and were often called on to act as ambassadors for their city to the Emperor's court.
Sometimes, as rivalries between powerful men, or unexpected crises made the Commune unworkable, an able administrator, a man with authority and legal training, might be called on to take over the running of the city. The podestà was contracted to take the reins for a fixed period. Many men made this their profession, moving from city to city. However in some cities his contract might be renewed year after year, either because the citizens had come to rely on him, or because he had become too powerful to dismiss. In such a case his position might not only became permanent but hereditary. In some cities, the Commune might be undermined and taken over from within by a rich clan, such as the Medici in Florence.
An ambitious or disaffected nobleman with military skills, might hire himself out as a mercenary commander or condottiere. Many cities hired condottieri to fight their constant intercity wars because they might not have the population or money to maintain a permanent army of their own. However they would one day pay with their freedom. Following the devastation and chaos created by the Black Death, many of these condottieri were able to take control of the very cities that had once hired them.
So, in one way or another, by the fifteenth century, most of these once independent and democratic city states had been taken over by one petty tyrant or another. Over time their de facto power was recognised by the Emperor who, generally for a price, awarded them an aristocratic title. Yet despite their venal beginnings, it was this new class of aristocrats who became the patrons of the Renaissance.
Join my mailing list by May 31 to get your own free complimentary ebook copy of 'The Slave.'
Aurelia Rubbini, the only child of a rich merchant in fourteenth century Italy, has been raised to be a dutiful daughter, wife and mother, but she longs for something more than the restricted life intended for her. Then one day, her father brings home from a buying trip an Asian slave boy, Batu, who will reshape Aurelia's destiny.
Aurelia and Batu are inexorably drawn to each other, but their relationship is forbidden as Aurelia is destined for an arranged marriage to further her father's political ambitions. When Aurelia marries Lorenzo de Graziano, a nobleman with a dangerous reputation, Batu insists on going with her for her protection. But Batu's presence arouses violent passions that Aurelia, in her innocence, can never understand.
Pauline Montagna was born into an Italian family in Melbourne, Australia. After obtaining a BA in French, Italian and History, she indulged her artistic interests through amateur theatre, while developing her accounting skills through a wide variety of workplaces culminating in the Australian film industry. In her mid-thirties, Pauline returned to university and qualified as a teacher of English as Second Language, a profession she pursued while completing a Diploma of Professional Writing and Editing. She has now retired from teaching to concentrate on her writing. As well as The Slave, she has published a short story collection, Suburban Terrors.
Her website is http://paulinemontagna.net/
Labels: Guest Post, The Medieval Italian City State, The Slave
Review: Empower by Jessica Shirvington
The Magician's Kit Giveaway
Giveaway: The Bookman's Tale
Interview with Margaret Taylor
Free audio books? Yes please! Check out this week'...
Brazen Book Blast
Review: The One and Only by Emily Griffin
Book Blast: The Lost Duchess
Review: The Free Lands by Brian Libby
Interview: Teresa Keefer
Review: Daughter of Isis
Week 2 Sync Downloads
Love At Pemberley Book Blast and Giveaway
Interview with Jean-Pierre Weill
What if your boyfriend was the world's biggest roc...
Book Blast and Giveaway: Mortal Enchantment
Review and Giveaway: The Unicorn Thief
Doctor Who Rewatch: The Return of Donna
Feature: Black Bear Lake by Leslie Liautaud
Interview with Stephen Paul
Review: Master of the Mill by Cate Toward
Giveaway and Book Blast: REVELATION by Randi Coole...
Feature: The Luthier's Apprentice
Are you ready for SYNC?
Feature: Confessions of a Paris Party Girl
Interview with Andrew Armacost
Blood Blade Sisters Series and The Duke's Obsessio...
Doctor Who Rewatch: Voyage of the Damned
Feature: Sweet Confections by Danyelle Ferguson
Going to RT? Check this out before you do!
Promo and Giveaway: Just A Kiss by Ally Broadfield...
Review: Undone by Cat Clarke
The Medieval Italian City State by Pauline Montagn...
First Impressions Cover Reveal:
Interview with Samantha Bennett
Cover Reveal: Blood and Gold
Review and Giveaway: Rose and the Lost Princess
Don't Blackmail the Vampire Feature and Giveaway
Interview with Stephen Henning


Today we help our customers optimize and safeguard operation of business-critical equipment, reduce their carbon footprint, while at the same time reduce their total cost of ownership of power supply equipment.
Our experience includes four decades as a provider of power products and solutions for data centres within telecom and other industries. Today, our offering includes power for all types of data centres, from hyper-sized to micro-sized. Our ambition is to always provide solutions that offer unmatched availability, scalability and compactness, designed to power your data centres into the future.
The combination of superior expertise, solutions, support and service, make it possible for our more than 2500 passionate and proactive power experts world-wide to provide our customers with a unique, powerful experience.


Come visit our table at the San Francisco Birth and Baby Fair happening this Sunday, June 6th, at Fort Mason. The show will run from 10am to 5pm. Stop by our table to say Hello and if you live in the South Peninsula (i.e., Redwood City and south) enter the drawings for a complimentary Welcome to the World newborn photography package (photo session must occur after August 20th) or a complimentary Baby's First Year photography package and other specials during the day. I will also be photographing the event.
© 2011 Solheim Photography – Life As We See It. All rights reserved. Illegal to download, copy and print images and text without written permission from Solheim Photography.|ProPhoto Blogsite by NetRivet, Inc.


Tuscan Sun (PBR) - is currently on backorder. You may still purchase now though and we'll ship as soon as more become available.
Large full blooms make a big statement in colourings of deep apricot orange opening into bronze and coppery pink tones. Borne mainly on strong single stems, and with its spicy scent, these make an excellent cut flower. A prolific bloomer - even in high temperatures.


Working with color while designing is really about creating another dimension in your medium. Choosing a successful palette creates a foundation for adding meaning and hierarchy to your design. Although it may seem overwhelming at first, choosing a palette can be a very straightforward process.
I've found that three colors are all you need – and choosing them doesn't have to be arduous. Equally, putting them to use shouldn't be stressful. In this post I'll introduce some basic color theory and share a few tips I've learned along the way. Hopefully, it will help inform your choice and use of color – enjoy.
Here's the breakdown of Johannes's creation. There are twelve colors on the wheel – three primary, three secondary and six tertiary – represented as hues. The beauty of Itten's design is that it's all you need as a basis for complex color theory lessons or for something as simple as choosing complementary colors.
Hue – Another name for the pure spectrum colors, remember ROYGBIV from elementary school?
When it comes to picking a palette your choices aren't limited to the twelve colors on Johannes's wheel. That can be an overwhelming fact when designing. But the beauty of the wheel is that it's there to guide. It shows that color isn't supremely complicated. There are millions of tints and shades with varying levels of saturation out there, but they all spawn from this simple set of 12 hues; it's comforting.
Now let's put things to practice. A good rule of thumb is to begin your design using just black and white. This lets you lay the groundwork for a solid hierarchy without complicating things. Let's say you're working on an editorial layout with a feature up top followed by a listing of articles in a grid. Perhaps the wireframe for that design looks like this.
You can see that we've already started to establish points of emphasis and created a path through the design via contrast. If something is amiss at this stage, color will not be a fix. Only when you're confident in the layout should you start thinking color.
We're feeling pretty good about this though, so let's bring in color – remember to embrace simplicity. Pick three colors to work with and stick with them. My philosophy is to have two colors do the heavy lifting and reserve a third in a sidekick role. It's something that can serve as a complement for the more saturated colors to come forward. The two primary colors are then free to establish hierarchy, meaning, pathways, and identity. To find these colors one could look into color harmonies or use a tool like Adobe Color, but when first beginning I find it's easiest to draw inspiration from elsewhere.
I like to pick palettes from nature and my surroundings. The next time you're walking around the block, try and notice the colors around you. Are they chill, aggressive, wintery, or gritty? Pick out the three colors that define what you're experiencing and give a bit of thought as to why. Your phone is a great tool to help you do this. If you're an iPhone user I highly recommend Sip. For Android folks, SwatchMatic can lend a hand.
Here's some inspiration from my life with the three key colors pulled out. I've also noted the feelings they evoke after the caption.
Classic works of art are another great place to seek inspiration. If you look at the masterpieces hung on museum walls, their palettes are simple. Each color plays a distinct role in the composition. Everything on the canvas is purposeful and nothing is extraneous. Lets take a look at a couple of striking examples.
The meaning of color is a science unto itself, dependent on cultural factors, gender, and quirks, and could easily be the topic of an entire academic paper. Since this is out of scope of this post, let's simplify. Color can be broken down into two very broad categories: cool and warm. Warm colors such as red, orange, and yellow are active. Cool colors such as blue, green, and violet are chill. These are roughly split down the middle of the color wheel.
Here's a key fact to remember about this divide. Warm colors will always win a hierarchy battle between the two. Think about it like a landscape. The cool blue sky recedes into the background as the earthy, warm landscape comes forward.
Here, Albert Bierstadt creates incredible depth by playing warm and cool colors against each other. Warm colors create the foreground while the cool colors recede and create another plane for the background.
Let's pull out the three key colors from Albert's painting and put them to work on a typical marketing page. We'll use the same principles Albert used to create his composition. Let's create a base with the sky blue, since it's a cool color. Then, we'll create another plane that sits above that using the dark green. Lastly, we'll utilize the warm golden color to bring things forward once more.
Let's build from Albert's example and put the three palettes from Look around into practice using the editorial layout from earlier. First off is the brick and sky from Burlington. Here, sky blue serves as a base because of blue's natural recession as a cool color. Brick red acts as the brand color and comes forward since it's a warm color. Lastly, the charcoal black establishes a pathway through the page by bringing information forward via contrast on the subheadings. Hooray! We're creating dimension by putting things on different planes with color.
Now for the railroad engine from New Jersey. Here, we let silver serve as the base. It's a neutral color and doesn't like the spotlight very much. Neutrals are the type that want others to shine. Consequently, the dark cranberry red acts as the main color and also establishes a pathway through the page by bringing information forward due to its nature as a warm color on the subheadings. Lastly, the charcoal black serves to anchor the footer as well as provide provide contrast to the button beneath the articles and draw attention to it.
Finally we come to the neon spray paint palette. Here, once again, a cool color serves as the base. This time it's forest green. Ash gray acts as the main color, and the bright orange establishes a pathway through the page by creating focal points for the eye. It also adds energy due to its saturation.
Choosing and implementing your palette should be a little less daunting now. Keep it simple: choose three colors that fit your design and use them to establish a pathway through your design. Use them to bring things forward and push things back. Most importantly, use your palette with a thoughtful hand.
Pegie Stark Adam, Color, Contrast, and Dimension in News Design (St. Petersburg: Poynter Institute for Media Studies), 9.
Adam, Color, Contrast, and Dimension in News Design, 13.


Melissa is incredibly patient whenever I bring my camera along with us to go out somewhere. The trick is to make sure she has food and 1-3 mimosas FIRST and THEN I guess it's much easier to stomach my obnoxious picture taking. She also got a fancy new bag with her fancy new initials monogrammed on the side, so she was more tolerant than usual.


text:
Newcastle's Janmaat injures hand after punching dressing room wall
By Kyle LynchApr 11, 2016, 3:58 PM EDT
Newcastle United fell to Southampton this past weekend, extending a poor run of form that has seen the Magpies lose six of their last seven matches.
The frustrations boiled over during halftime as defender Daryl Janmaat broke two fingers after punching a wall in the dressing room.
[ MORE: Premier League Playback ]
Janmaat had been taken off just before the half with a groin injury and then took his anger out on a wall during what was reported to be a very tense break in the Newcastle dressing room.
The Dutch defender was seen leaving the stadium in a sling, although neither his hand or groin issues are expected to keep him out of any upcoming matches.
[ VIDEO: Premier League Player of the Week — Round 33 ]
This incident is a microcosm of Newcastle's season as a whole as the Magpies currently sit 19th on the Premier League table, six points below safety with six matches to play.
Today marks the one-month anniversary of Rafa Benitez's appointment at St. James' Park, although there isn't much to celebrate. Since taking charge on March 11, Rafa is yet to win a match, earning just one point from a possible 12 as the club continues to slide towards the Championship.
Follow @KyleLynchFC


Kris Wood is an expert photographer and picture editor from London, currently working as an in house photographer and film-maker. A former member of the UK Picture Editors' Guild, there isn't much in the photographic industry that Kris hasn't done.
Kris has created and managed digital content for some of the UK's best known companies and his work has been featured on the BBC as well as in the Daily Mail, the Telegraph, the Sun, the Metro and the Evening Standard.
During his career, Kris has managed teams of photographers, acted as the brand guardian for a number of high profile accounts, designed custom lighting set-ups, run training seminars and attained a qualification in conducting risk assessments for on location shoots.


text:
Sexter Weiner and MB-Linked Huma Glide into Park Avenue Pad Owned by Hillary Moneybags
Tuesday, August 21, 2012 3:41 AM
From the New York Post, August 13, 2012:
Anthony Weiner's wife not only took him back, she took him back in style — moving with the shamed pol into a luxurious, $3.3 million Manhattan pad owned by a deep-pocketed Democratic donor, The Post has learned.
After quitting his Queens House seat amid a notorious sexting scandal, Weiner and beautiful, brainy spouse Huma Abedin, a top aide to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, landed in the sprawling, 12th-floor Park Avenue trophy residence owned by Rosen Partners LLC, which is headed by close Clinton pal Jack Rosen, records show.
Rosen — who oversees the American Jewish Congress — is an influential international political force. He's been a guest at the White House, flies the Clintons in his private plane, and has poured money into both Bill and Hillary Clinton's election campaigns over the years, according to campaign-finance records.
He has also contributed several thousand dollars to Weiner's coffers, and is a top Obama bundler, donating more than $500,000 to the president's re-election efforts.
The market-rate rent on Weiner and Abedin's 2,120-square-foot, four-bedroom, 3.5-bathroom apartment — where the disgraced pol has said he spends his days doing laundry and changing baby son Jordan's diapers — is at least $12,000 to $14,000 a month, real-estate sources said.
A much smaller 1,476-square-foot, two-bedroom unit on a lower floor recently rented for $10,000, records show.
Some Weiner-watchers are stunned that the pol, who gave up his $174,000 salary when he resigned, and Huma, who makes around $155,000 annually, can afford the posh pad at 254 Park Ave. South at East 20th Street.
"It's a ridiculously expensive place," said a top Democratic fund-raising source with deep ties to the Clintons.
"Everyone assumes they live there for free, thanks to a donor, a friend of Bill and Hillary, or even just someone with an empty place who is connected," the source said.
But Hillary Clinton spokesman Philippe Reines insisted that Weiner and Abedin pay "market rate'' for the pad.
"They are a two-income family and are more than capable of paying their market-rate rent," he said, declining to disclose exactly what the couple pays.
Weiner hasn't landed steady work since leaving office, according to sources. But some friends of the onetime rising star said he has consulting work and will have no problem exceeding his congressional salary.
Federal officials such as Abedin face restrictions on receiving gifts and must disclose their financial dealings to ensure that their decision-making isn't compromised by private interests.
As one of Hillary's key confidantes, Abedin is in a position where she could exert considerable influence on America's top diplomat.
But one official familiar with Weiner and Abedin's living situation scoffed at the notion that Rosen would try to influence Clinton through Abedin or that Abedin would sell out, saying, "There is no issue with their housing.''
Weiner and Abedin's new home, the largest in Rosen's newly rehabbed Beaux Arts building, was on the market for $3,285,000 in the spring of 2011. At the same time, Weiner was caught sending salacious text messages and nearly-naked photos of himself to women he met online.
The property came off the market last summer, after Weiner resigned and inked a deal to sell his modest, 875-square foot two-bedroom Forest Hills condo for $430,000.
Shortly after Weiner and his wife moved into the new place, records show, Abedin sold her Washington, DC, condo for $620,000. She had bought the place for $649,000 in 2006, taking out a $532,000 mortgage.
The couple used their new building's 1,400-square-foot commons area, with a bar and billiards table, to host a the party for son Jordan's bris earlier this year.
"Maybe they just didn't want all those people seeing the apartment," said one guest.
Meanwhile, like his new tenant, landlord Rosen is no stranger to sex scandals. In 1999, he was hauled into court by a Russian model who said she'd had an affair with the married dad of two and that he was the father of her young daughter. Rosen first denied paternity but then stopped fighting the suit, and the judge gave the child — who is now in high school — Rosen's surname.
Rosen did not return calls.
Such nice people.


Arne Jacobsen cushion by Fritz Hansen. Pattern: Tassel by Arne Jacobsen. Colour: Ochre yellow. Material: Wool. Size: 45x45 cm.
Louise candleholder, silver plated stainless steel, Diameter 6,9 cm, height 2,1 cm. Designed by Grethe Meyer.


text:
Democrat Maxwell Frost's CD 10 campaign announces raising $407K in 4th quarter
Frost defies expectations of a Gen-Z newcomer running in a field of traditional candidates.
Democratic congressional candidate Maxwell Alejandro Frost continues to defy expectations as a generation-Z newcomer running in a field full of traditional candidates — announcing a stunning $407,000 fundraising effort for the latest period.
Frost is a 24-year-old progressive activist taking on a state Senator, a former State Attorney, a well-known preacher, and a civil rights lawyer with a national profile in the Democratic Primary Election for the Democratic-stronghold Florida's 10th Congressional District
His campaign announced Wednesday it raised $407,211 from 13,920 contributions received during the fourth quarter of 2021, covering October, November, and December.
Official fundraising reports for the fourth quarter have not yet been posted by the Federal Election Commission.
Frost's campaign did not reveal any additional details of his campaign finances Wednesday.
Frost's announced quarterly haul is more than double the $169,000 his campaign raised in his first reporting period, the third quarter of 2021, when he led all CD 10 candidates in fundraising for the period.
"These fundraising numbers show that our campaign is a force to be reckoned with," his campaign manager Kevin Lata said in a statement released Wednesday.
CD 10 covers western Orange County. The proposed redistricting maps would not change it much. The seat is opening because three-term incumbent Democratic Rep. Val Demings is running for the U.S. Senate instead of for reelection.
For the Democratic Primary Election, Frost is up against Sen. Randolph Bracy of Ocoee, former State Attorney Aramis Ayala of Windermere, St. Mark AME Church Senior Pastor Rev. Terence Gray of Orlando, civil rights lawyer Natalie Jackson of Orlando, teacher Teresa Tachon, and entrepreneur Jack Achenbach of Orlando, among others.
Bracy, who entered the race in late May, had the largest campaign fund, with $272,891, at the end of the third quarter of 2021, according to the most recent reports publicly available through the FEC. In those reports, Frost debuted in second place in the money chase, after having campaigned for only about half the period.
"Our campaign's message is resonating with working families who want representation that has the courage to ask for more," Frost said in the statement issued Wednesday by his campaign. "Nurses, forklift drivers, teachers, caregivers, social workers, farmers, union organizers, and cashiers are donating to this campaign because they want a system that works for and values every single human being — a representative who leads with love for their community and is committed to the fight for everything and everyone."
The Republican candidates in CD 10 include Orlando non-profit executive Willie Montague, Orlando businessman Troy Rambaransingh, and Angela Walls-Windhauser of Winter Garden, among others.
Frost's campaign said its fourth-quarter haul works out to an average donation of $29.25. His campaign said 99% of the donations were under $100, with teachers and nurses among top contributing groups.
Florida Senate Democrats are stacking cash ahead of a pivotal November showdown for Senate seats
Spencer Roach seeks end to committee week fundraising, zombie campaigns
The White House announced Tuesday President Joe Biden's website for Americans to request free coronavirus tests was now live.
Officials said the website, covidtests.gov, was live but still remained in the beta phase of the programming and testing process.
The president expects to officially launch the website on Wednesday as he also plans to hold an official press conference at the White House to mark his upcoming one-year anniversary as president.
Families can request four free coronavirus tests on the website after putting in their name and address.
The government will begin shipping the test within 7-12 days, according to a notice on the website.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki acknowledged during the daily briefing that the website was live, but only operating in a limited capacity.
"We can't guarantee there won't be a bug or two," she said.
Biden is struggling to catch up on testing, despite being in charge of the pandemic for a year as president.
Joe Biden replaces the mask he wears. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Many Americans trying to travel and gather with family over the Christmas holiday were unable to get access to tests or faced long waits in line for several hours at testing centers.
Biden was initially defensive about his administration's performance, scoffing at questions from reporters during a December event on fighting the coronavirus pandemic.
"What took so long is it didn't take long at all," he said, complaining the omicron variant of the virus caught everyone off guard.
Despite Biden's efforts to ramp up and increase testing capacity, state governors have called out the federal government for making it harder to get tests for their residents.
"You know, so now it's sort of hijacking the tests that we already had plans for, and we're now getting some of those providers to tell us they no longer have the rapid tests," Maryland Governor Larry Hogan said in an interview on CBS on Sunday.
The majority of people across the globe feel that are being misled by journalists, government leaders, and business executives, according to Edelman's 2022 global "Trust Barometer."
The survey found that 67 percent of people globally are "convinced" they are being "purposely" misled by journalists and reporters, which is up eight percent from 2021.
Additionally, 66 percent think their country's government leaders "purposely" mislead them, which has risen nine percent from 2021, while 63 percent said business leaders "purposely" mislead them, which has increased seven percent from 2021.
When respondents were asked about trust, 46 percent said they do not trust journalists, which has risen one percent from last year.
Additionally, 42 percent said they do not trust the county's government leaders, which has risen one percent from last year. 49 percent said they do not trust CEOs, which has grown one percent from last year.
WASHINGTON, DC – DECEMBER 08: U.S. President Joe Biden stops to talk to reporters. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
However, 66 percent of the respondents said they trust their own CEO, which has risen three percent since 2021.
The survey also found that 76 percent "worry about false information or fake news being used as a weapon," which has risen four percent since last year.
Edelman's survey had 31,050 respondents globally, spanning 27 countries. The survey was taken between November 1 and 24 of last year and had a margin of error plus or minus 0.6 percent points.
Jacob Bliss is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow him on Twitter.
"The 2022 midterm elections are now 294 days away, and Republicans maintain a strong lead in their bid to recapture control of Congress," notes Rasmussen Reports.
"[I]f the elections for Congress were held today, 48% of Likely U.S. Voters would vote for the Republican candidate, while 39% would vote for the Democrat," the pollster reported. "Just four percent (4%) would vote for some other candidate, but another nine percent (9%) are not sure."
Rasmussen showed these same results back in December.
Rasmussen is not only one of the most respectable and reliable pollsters out there and has been for two decades; these results track with what we see everywhere.
To begin with, His Fraudulency Joe Biden's approval rating sits in the low 40s, while his disapproval rating is in the 50s. On top of that, Gallup just released a poll that showed a 14 point swing to Republicans over 2021.
Other pollsters show the generic ballot closer, but those pollsters are not as reliable as Rasmussen. What's more, history has shown us that the Republican party can enjoy sweeping victories even when they are tied or close in this specific poll.
For example, in 2014, there was a huge red wave, even though the GOP was only up an average of 2.4 points. In 2010, the GOP swamped the Democrats, and the generic poll only had Republicans up by two points. As is the case with almost all polls, the Republican party tends to outperform the polling while Democrats tend to underperform.
People visit a voting site at a YMCA on Election Day, November 02, 2021 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Even the left-wing serial liars over at NBC News are using the word "shellacking" to describe what's coming for the Democrat party in this year's midterms:
Over the last 30 years, the NBC News poll has given us a good idea if the president's party is headed for an exceptionally good midterm election, a shellacking, or somewhere in-between.
And right now, the arrows are pretty much pointing in the "shellacking" territory for President Biden and the Democrats as we debut our Midterm Meter, which will use our poll to gauge the overall political environment for the president's party.
NBC points out that right now, a whopping 71 percent of the public say the country's on the wrong track, Joe Biden's job approval sits at 52 percent, and…
In 1994, 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018 — when the president's party suffered big losses — overwhelming majorities said the country was headed on the wrong track before the election; each president's job rating was below 50 percent; and the president's party trailed on the generic ballot.
Joe Biden and his Democrat party are in full control of the federal government. The result is chaos, misery, and disease: empty store shelves, a spike in violent crime, record inflation, a southern border in chaos, and a raging coronavirus. Additionally, Russia, North Korea, and China are getting adventurous, and who knows how many American hostages are still stuck in Afghanistan?
Add to that the culture wars Democrats have launched to include racism and gay porn in public school curriculum and to force all of us to believe a man can magically transform into a woman.
As I've said before, this country is on the verge of something more than a shellacking. Instead, we are headed for a significant political realignment.
Follow John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC. Follow his Facebook Page here.


text:
Q: Prevent pod deletion by the garbage collector It seems that kubernetes tends to delete the orphan pods automatically when the node is NotReady for some time, if the terminated pod amount is up to the threshold.
The imps might be the Garbage Collector, or the Controller:

In general, Pods do not disappear until someone destroys them. This might be a human or a controller. The only exception to this rule is that Pods with a phase of Succeeded or Failed for more than some duration (determined by the master) will expire and be automatically destroyed.

After appending the --terminated-pod-gc-threshold=-1 to the controller manager, the pods will be retained for a period of time after the node is NotReady, but it was removed at last.
Then I'm trying to config the Garbage Collector. Actually, there's a Deployment in my cluster, with the ownerReferences defined as following, but how to specify the owner for bare pods, in order to prevent pods deletion when the nodes are NotReady?
ownerReferences:
  - apiVersion: extensions/v1beta1
    blockOwnerDeletion: true
    controller: true
    kind: ReplicaSet
    name: cluster-autoscaler-8253924875
    uid: 930abce3-58c8-4738-b891-8653ae71c2d1

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Just a few weeks ago the world's longest running live hairdressing competition, the L'Oreal Professionel Colour Trophy Australia, made its comeback from a 7 year hiatus and took the stage in Sydney.
The competition takes pride in providing a platform for emerging hairdressers to showcase creativity and technical excellence. This year Cataldo's Salon achieved a stellar result with all 6 of their entrants getting through to the semi-finals across the Colour Trophy Award and Rising Star categories.
and Claudia Cataldo's stunning metallic pixie-cut saw her take one of the top three positions for the National Colour Trophy Award.
They are now set to compete against 15 other Colour Trophy Award finalisits and five Rising Star Award finalists at the Grand Finale on 4 February 2018 in Melbourne.
We just love celebrating local talent and we wish Michael and Claudia the best of luck in the Grand Finale.
BOSS GIRL - THE LAB.


In his Spitalfields albums, Horace Warner collected together all the portraits that he made of the people who lived in Quaker St around 1900 and, because he captioned some of them with their names, we have been able to trace the biographies of his subjects in the public records.
When you see this tender portrait of Jessica Wakefield in her clean apron and her younger sister Rosalie in her check dress, poised upon the threshold of life, it is impossible not to wonder what happened to these two and thus it imbues the photograph with an even greater resonance to discover that they lived to the ages of ninety-four and eighty-four respectively.
These bare facts deliver a poignant dramatic irony to Horace Warner's photograph, once we know what life had in store for the Wakefield Sisters. We hope they remained close and were able to support each other through the travails and joys of life. Once Jessica & Rosalie come alive to us as individuals, we are left to contemplate the moment of stillness in 1900 that was captured for eternity by this picture.
Vicky Stewart worked with Helen Green, Lesley Law and Jacqueline T Ward for months this summer researching the biographies of the Spitalfields Nippers and, although Horace Warner only named a few of his subjects and we were not able to trace all of these, we hope those published in the book comprise a representative selection which may suggest a broader picture of the lives of the children in the photographs.
Lovely writing GA, it's wonderful that people are interested in these stories from the past. Good luck with this newest bbok.
Another wonderful book from Spitalfields Life Books.
I'm awaiting this phantastic book!
It will be in the mail to you on Monday!
What an incredible venture. Looking forward to many hours perusing these pictures.
Thank you so much for providing the background on the children in the photos. The Guardian link provided by Rupert Bumfrey also has another link to photos and further descriptions of some of the children. It's so poignant to see what happened to them; one little boy, when he grew up, ended up being killed in WWI. The level of poverty (and struggle) is appalling – although, sadly, it's still prevalent in many countries of the world.


text:
Rick Pitino Press Conference Notes
By Mike Rutherford@CardChronicle Nov 21, 2011, 6:44pm EST
Share All sharing options for: Rick Pitino Press Conference Notes
Video is also at the C-J.
--Wishes a happy 52nd birthday to Kenny Klein.
--Peyton Siva is still not ready to come back. He will not play on Tuesday against Arkansas State. Even when he does come back, he's not going to look very good because he's missed so much practice. Hopes that he will be able to practice on Thursday and then play against Ohio on Friday.
--Rakeem Buckles will take his next (physical) test on Wednesday and we're hoping that he will be able to practice on Thursday.
--Trying to keep Wayne Blackshear in some semblance of shape. When he gets out of his sling he'll be able to run some more.
--Arkansas State has been very competitive in all their games. They have a solid front court and a very good backcourt.
--Look at all the upsets already all over the country. It can happen to anyone on any given night. We could lose to anybody on our schedule from this point on.
--Ohio U. will be a very tough test. They're very difficult to prepare for. If you ever get a chance to watch them on TV, check out their band. Their band is extremely entertaining. But they're also an outstanding basketball team, and each of the next three games are going to be very challenging.
--Our three seniors - Jared, Kyle and Chris - really stepped up in a difficult road environment, and that's what you'd expect from them.
--Jared Swopshire is probably playing the best basketball on the team, and that's a great surprise to all of us. We didn't know if he'd even play this year, and the way he's played so far is very exciting for us.
--Trying to play Stephan Van Treese a little bit more each game until he gets built back up into game shape.
--Thinks it'll take Rock about two weeks once he's cleared to be ready to play in games. The mental aspect will be the biggest hurdle for him. You feel that brace when you're wearing it.
--Playing Russ at the point was a necessity. You don't want your point guard to have four turnovers and no assists, but it was still a good experience. In case we ever need him to backup Peyton, he's there. He did a very good job in that game, but he just doesn't have the mentality of the point guard. Elisha Justice does. Still, it was definitely a good experience for Russ.
--If ever we needed a long home stand, it's now because we're getting a lot of guys back who are way out of playing shape. Zach Price and Angel Nunez are like Otis George and Larry O'Bannon in that they're both going to be very good, just until their junior and senior seasons.
--Chane Behanan is physically ready, but he's still learning the game mentally and making a lot of mental mistakes right now.
--Kyle Kuric is now more than just a spot-up shooter now and that's big for this team.
--Our system is very difficult to pick up, which is why it would have been very difficult for Wayne Blackshear to beat out Chris Smith or Kyle Kuric for a starting spot even if he was healthy. Chris knows the game and he's doing a very good job. He'll step up when the game is on the line and we're on the road.
--The Butler game was about as much fun as Pitino has ever had as a coach in a road game.
--When Rock comes back we'll be able to move Swop to the three a little to back up Kyle. Right now, nobody is really backing up Kyle.
--It's very difficult to project where this team is going to be in February. There's no way to know how good Wayne Blackshear or Kevin Ware are going to be at the college level. You don't know how Rock's going to be. There are so many unknowns.
--There's no question Ohio U. can beat Louisville.
--Wayne Blackshear is coming off two major surgeries and hasn't played basketball in seven and-a-half months. Who knows how good he can be by the end of the season.
--Rock will take the least amount of time of anyone to get back into the flow of things because he's so mentally tough. Even though he's from Miami, "his mother works in a prison and his father's a tough dude."
--Swop's not a tough kid, but not a lot phases him. He's a different type of kid. Very spiritual. Feels like he'll let the lord down if he doesn't play to the best of his ability.
--Gorgui's not a tough kid, but the more strength and size he gains the tougher he's going to become.
--Rock's a tough kid. Chris Smith's a tough kid. Kyle, believe it or not-- "Evansville is not Compton, but Kyle is a tough kid."
--Russ is a very tough kid. One day at practice Chris was trying to bully Russ, and Russ said, "you're messing with the wrong guy, you're not going to back me down." Russ isn't going to back down to anyone, even though he's only 165-pounds.
--To get Mark Jackson Jr. in the shape he wants him to be, they're having a contest to see who can lose 20 pounds first. Pitino is 182-pounds right now, which means he'll have to get to 162 to win. He hasn't been that weight since 8th grade. It's been going on two years to try and get this kid into shape, and this is what it's taken. "If I look sick, it's because I will be sick because I'm 162 pounds."
--Mark wants to play, but he's going to get hurt if he plays and he's not in shape. Now he's competing against me, and the motivation should be not to lose to a 59-year-old man. I think I'll win, but I hope he wins soon.
--Having coaches in shape is very important because you can't demand players to be in shape if you're not. Has made several deals with coaches involving weight loss. They all gain it back after they get away from me. Scotty D has put a lot of that weight back on. That's what happens when you win a national championship.
--Knows Jared Swopshire is in pain. He went through the same injury Taquan had, and it's one that lingers.
--Before a game, Swop goes through a two-hour routine to prepare himself for that game. That's before the initial warm-up. Not many guys would do that.
--Would be foolish for anyone to expect Kevin Ware to come in and be better than Bullet or even Tim Henderson, because he doesn't know anything that we do.
--Chane has to improve his balance and he's got to stop bringing the ball down in the post. He also needs to learn how to absorb a scouting report.
--Outwardly, Wayne Blackshear is great. Everyone on the team loves him. Inwardly, I'm sure he's struggling and frustrated with not being able to play.
--Doesn't think Russ is a burst of energy. People think that because he comes in trying to score. When Peyton comes back he'll be a burst of energy off the bench.
--Just watched a tape of Marquette and is extremely impressed. Defensively, they look they're already in February form. Syracuse is also very impressive. Those two and North Carolina and Kentucky are the best of the teams he's seen so far. Marquette deserves a much better ranking. There's no doubt in his mind that they're a top ten team.
--Studied Marquette today and picked up two things that he really liked. That's why coaches are so great today, because of the technology. You can study any game or any technique you want because every game is on TV. Because of that, today it's all about getting talent and developing talent. It's all about talented players with great work ethics.
--(Asked about he and son Richard standing at the same time at various points throughout the Butler game) "That little shit has to sit down...Make sure you don't air that now."
--Richard is a brilliant young mind right now. He's much better than I was at his age. He's done a tremendous job with scouting. Blown away by how much he's grown since going to Florida for those two years under Billy Donovan.
Seedy K's GameCap: BC