Auditions will be held at the Log Cabin at Dover Community Park on March 11th, 13th with callbacks on the 14th. Start times will be 6 pm.
One of Shakespeare's overlooked works that was very popular when it premiered. Pericles is the story of an adventurous and kind-hearted prince who through a twist of fate is forced to travel the globe. Along the way, he is joined by a colorful cast of characters who guide him in his adventures. He encounters storms, shipwrecks, pirates, assassins, love, loss, betrayal, and ultimately redemption.
This show will feature musical sequences. If you are interested in the roles of Pericles, Gower, Thaisa, and Marina, please prepare 16 bars of any folk or appropriate song (acapella).
Please be aware that there will be extensive doubling with this show. Many of the characters will be as many as two to three roles. If you audition for a particular role, be aware that you may be asked to fill other parts.
All performances will be held at the Dance Hall at Brookside Park in Dover.
Performance dates will be May 10th and 11th at 7pm.
IF YOU ARE CALLED FOR REHEARSALS, YOU MUST BE THERE. BARRING AN ALREADY MARKED CONFLICT OR A SERIOUS EMERGENCY, IF YOU DO NOT ATTEND WHEN CALLED, YOU WILL BE MARKED UNEXCUSED. REPEATED UNEXCUSED ABSENCES WILL BE GROUNDS FOR REPLACEMENT. IT IS IMPORTANT THAT IF YOU WILL BE RUNNING LATE OR AN EMERGENCY ARISES TO CONTACT THE DIRECTOR. PLEASE CONTACT AT LEAST 10-15 MINUTES PRIOR TO REHEARSAL START TIME.
Please note that roles are open to anyone interested. There will be gender blind casting.
PERICLES: A kind-hearted, noble, adventurous prince who rules over his seat of Tyre. Due to a disturbing encounter in the beginning of the play, Pericles is forced to set sail which leads him on a journey of a lifetime.
GOWER: Narrator of the play. Based on the English poet John Gower, a close friend of Geoffrey Chaucer.
HELICANUS: Pericles' wise and learned advisor. He is noble and close with the prince. He is Pericles most trusted friend.
THAISA: A Princess of Pentapolis. Fate brings her and Pericles together and she becomes his wife. Tragedy soon sees them separated. Intelligent, determined, and a force all in her own right.
MARINA: The daughter of Pericles and Thasia. Much like her parents, she is an intelligent, noble, kind-hearted, and determined young woman. She endures hardships of her own and faces her own path to freedom.
SIMONIDES: King of Pentapolis. Father of Thasia. A good man who wants the best for his daughter.
LYCHORDIA: Marina's nurse. She is a dedicated woman who cares for Marina in the wake of a major tragedy.
ANTIOCHUS: The king of Antioch. Father to Hesperis. A seemingly revered ruler who is harboring a dark secret.
HESPERIES: Daughter of Antiochus. Princess of Antioch. A renowned beauty who like her Father is harboring a dark secret.
CLEON: Ruler of Tarsus. Husband to Dionyza. A once thriving city that has fallen on hard times, but thanks to a chance encounter with the title character, fortunes seem to take a turn for the better. Until he is faced with a choice that could make or break his reign.
DIONYZA: Wife to Cleon. Like her husband, she yearns for the years when Tarsus was prosperous. However time reveals that she may not be who she appears to be.
LEONINE: An assassin from Tarsus. He is a gruff man of few words who is assigned an unenviable task. His decision sends ripples through the story.
THAILARD: An assassin from the court of Antioch. A man tasked with keeping his King's dark secret from getting out.
ESCANES: A loyal associate in the court of Tyre. He is often seen in the company of Helicanus.
CERIMON: A wise, kind-hearted, and knowledgeable nobleman in Ephesus. His last minute help prevents a tragic mistake from having long reaching consequences.
PHILEMON: Close advisor to Cerimon. He is supporter of his friend and will assist him in his endeavors.
DIANA: Roman Goddess of the Hunt, Fertility, Moon, and the Animals. She appears to Pericles in a dream and gives him a prophecy that proves critical to his journey.
LYSIMACHUS: Governor of Mytilene. Seemingly a good man at heart, he doesn't always engage in the best of behavior. But a chance encounter shows him the error of his ways and sets him on a new path.
BAWD: One of the owners of a notorious brothel in Mytilene. She is convinced that the only thing that is important is gold and she does not care how it is acquired.
PANDER: The other owner of the Mytilene brothel. He is practical and focuses on the accounting aspect. He is detached and solely focused in lining his and his partner's pockets.
BOULT: The "gatekeeper" of the brothel. He is earnest and dedicated to his craft. He struggles with making the right decision when faced with tough moral choices.
FIVE KNIGHTS: One from Antioch, Another from Macedon, and another from Sparta. Five wooers who have arrived in Pentapolis hoping to win the affections of Thasia.
THE TRIO: A group of three men who appear at different points in the story. First they are fisherman then Lords of Simonides court, and finally pirates. Their presence at each point is critical to driving the story forward.
TWO LORDS OF TYRE: Nobles of Tyre who voice concern about Pericles' absence from the county.
TWO TYRIAN SAILORS: Two sailors who are present during two important points of the story.
TWO GENTLEMEN OF MYTILENE: Two nobleman of Mytilene who decide to make some changes in their lives after hearing a speech that strikes at their cores.
MESSENGER OF ANTIOCH: A servant of Antiochus. It is his message that leads to a fateful decision with long reaching repercussions.
TWO SERVANTS OF CERIMON: Assistants to Cerimon.
LORD OF TARSUS: A nobleman who brings important news to Cleon.
TWO GENTLEMEN OF EPHESUS: Two nobles who in the process of meeting with Cerimon are witness to an incredible miracle.


Born in 1969, Bennetto spent his formative years amongst the fragrant meadows and blossoming malls of Greensborough, Melbourne.
He made his way to university, procured a BA and worked variously as a proofreader, a copywriter, an IT specialist and as the lead singer in the band Skin, which garnered national commercial airplay for their 1994 EP, Waking Up With You.
As part of the 'Drowsy Drivers' project, in 2004 Casey wrote a musical theatre biography of former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating for the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, KEATING!.
In late 2008, Casey premiered a new project as part of the Melbourne International Arts Festival: A Largely Fanciful History Of The Spiegeltent, in which he also starred; he also wrote and performed in 2009's Evening and provided the songs for the ever-threatening Christmas pantomime The Terminativity in 2010–11. He served as dramaturge on Eddie's Shane Warne: The Musical as well as making contributions to Company B's The Adventures Of Snugglepot And Cuddlepie and Die Roten Punkte's Super Musikant and Kunst Rock.
He scored both series of Amanda Brotchie and Adam Zwar's Lowdown and was nominated for an AACTA with Shellie Morris and Tim Cole for work on the 2014 musical documentary Prison Songs. He appeared with Alan Brough as underappreciated alternative rock icons The Narelles in 2015, and has hosted A Swingin' Bella Christmas for the past five years. He has hosted The Show Of The Year for the Wheeler Centre since the show's inception in 2013.
Most recently, he scored the ABC TV series Get Krack!n and is currently working on several things at once, obviously to the detriment of all of them.
Casey has also hosted a regular show on 3CR, worked extensively for PBS FM and made many appearances on 774 ABC Melbourne as host, co-host and guest.
His appearances on ABC TV's Spicks And Specks resurface occasionally to shame him.


Admission to the Civic Museum on Fourth Fridays is free after 5 p.m. and visitors will have access to all current exhibits, including Ordinary Lives, Extraordinary Times and Remembering In Flanders Fields.
Guelph Civic Museum is located at 52 Norfolk St.
This entry was posted in Art, Dance, Fourth Fridays, Literature, Music, Performance, Workshop and tagged Guelph Civic Museum events, Guelph Civic Museum exhibits, Guelph events, Guelph Museums exhibits by Fourth Friday. Bookmark the permalink.


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Middle-ground politics
GDP is not enough to understand inequality, says UNDP chief
By Benjamin Fox | EURACTIV.com
epa08058386 United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Administrator Achim Steiner speaks during the UNDP Human Development Report 2019 presentation, in Bogota, Colombia, 09 December 2019. EPA-EFE/Mauricio Duenas Castaneda
From Brexit to the 'gilets jaunes', protest movements in Europe and elsewhere have shocked political elites in recent years. At their heart is a sense that economic growth has left many people worse off even if, in most countries, the headline GDP figures suggest that countries are much wealthier.
Challenging the idea that economic growth will automatically lead to development and wellbeing is one of the main themes in the 2019 Human Development report by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) published in December.
Achim Steiner, the administrator of the UNDP, told EURACTIV that policy makers need to look beyond the GDP figures and economic indices that "simply do not capture".
"The perception is that things are not getting better but that they are in fact getting worse and that is breeding distrust of the political process.
"Income per capita and GDP is an inadequate way to respond to growing inequalities. You have to go beyond averages. We need a more calibrated view of where a country is at that looks at the basic health and education indicators," added Steiner.
Europe has seen some of the biggest gains in human development over the past decade. Ireland had the highest increase in rank on the Report's accompanying Human Development Index (HDI), rising 13 places between 2013 and 2018. Seven of the top 10 positions on the HDI are held by European countries, five of which are members of the European Union.
Yet European countries have generally experienced the same broad inequality trends as countries elsewhere. Both income and wealth inequality have deepened in many countries, even though inequalities drop significantly after taxes and transfers.
More importantly, disparities persist in health and education. Its estimates show the top 10% pretax income earners received 29% of total regional income in 1980, rising to 34% in 2017. The incomes of the top 0.1% of earners more than doubled during the period, and the incomes of the top 0.001% nearly tripled.
The bottom 50% received 24% of total regional income in 1980, but only 20% by 2017, meanwhile.
Despite overall reductions in poverty, hunger, and disease, a new generation of inequalities is opening up, according to the HDR.
"We want a more constructive and empowering debate in countries," said Steiner, adding that the purpose of the report is "to connect countries and increase understanding inequality beyond the traditional yardsticks that will yield better policy outcomes."
Steiner believes that we are seeing the emergence of 21st century inequalities, such as access to higher education, pointing out that access to tertiary education is developing 15 times faster in wealthier countries.
Similar patterns and social divides are emerging outside Europe in developing countries, and it tends to be the lower middle class that suffers the most.
Steiner points out that although Colombia is about to join the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development – the Paris-based group of wealthy countries – because of conflict, one-third of its population are left unserved by the state.
One of the questions that Steiner wants political leaders across the world to address is: what is fair globalisation?
Although the UNDP works with the economist Thomas Piketty, co-director of the World Inequality Lab in Paris, the report says that radical changes to taxation policy, particularly increases, are not going to be enough on their own.
"Inequalities begin before birth," said Steiner, pointing out that the average American child in a wealthy family has more than 300 words in their vocabulary, far more than their counterparts across most of the world.
"Tax is not everything," he adds.
Steiner believes instead that more efficient tax collection, alongside efforts to ensure that multinational companies pay their fair share, is the way forward, particularly in developing countries.
"Across Africa, we have a tax base that far exceeds receipts from development aid, and that is a turn-around from the 1960s. Africa's ability to finance their development has rapidly grown. Tax authorities are becoming far more efficient in terms of revenue collection," he added.
He also pointed to countries where administrations have introduced E-government platforms and also digitised land ownership and financial services.
"Kenya is turning upside the traditional methods of financial inclusion. M-Pesa takes away the transaction costs – you can borrow money in the morning, buy your goods to sell in the market and then repay the loan in the evening," said Steiner.
He said one of the common messages being borne out of the UNDP's research is about the lack of fairness in economic growth and development.
"'I'm losing my dignity' is the phrase we heard in Latin America," he added.
"The protests have a trigger," Steiner said, pointing to the wave of demonstrations across Europe and elsewhere. It is "the combustion that has accumulated in many societies. At a point, people say 'enough'".
"We need to understand why people feel the way that they do, and that is where economists have been falling short."
[Edited by Zoran Radosavljevic]
Achim Steiner
14 Nov, 17:19 // BREAKING: Breton passes Parliament test
14 Nov, 12:26 // Germany narrowly escapes recession in third quarter
31 Oct, 11:29 // Eurozone economy maintains growth pace
24 Oct, 14:30 // Auditors call for more control of EU venture capital for SMEs

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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The glamour of Italian fashion, an exhibition at Villa Reale
News > Eventi | The glamour of Italian fashion, an exhibition at Villa Reale
Probably, everyone in the world knows the meaning of the word bellissima, a word we Italians use to describe a girl stunningly beautiful. On the other hand, not everyone knows that, from 1945 to 1968, the whole Italy had been bellissima. To remind us of that period of time, when fashion started enlightening the Italian world with its glitters and colours, the Villa Reale di Monza has organized an exhibition that will last until September 10th. It's an exhibition designed to celebrate the beauty and unicity of fashion and of Italy in general: an exhibition to testify that, during such a painful time, beauty could still exist and prevail.
Bellissima: the exhibition at Villa Reale
Don't be discouraged by the fact that the exhibition is in Monza. Getting to Villa Real is, in fact, very easy. If you have a car, you'll only need to drive for no longer than 20 minutes. On the other hand, if you need to catch a train, don't worry: simply go to Lambrate railway station and catch the S9 train.
Soon, you'll see the Royal Villa of Monza in front of you: you'll notice how magical it is. Build in 1780 by architect Giuseppe Piermarini, the villa has undergone several renovation works and still keeps nowadays its imperial and majestic looks.
After treasuring the works of Steve McCurry and De Chirico, now Piermarini's Villa has opened its doors to the exhibition curated by Maria Luisa Frisa and Stefano Tonchi Anna Mattirolo: Bellissima. Italian haute couture from 1945 to 1968.
The name is a reference to Visconti's famous film, where Anna Magnani played a mother eager to make her daughter enter the film industry, which will reveal itself to be false and dangerous. In the exhibition, however, there is nothing misleading: everything, indeed, is clear a hymn to beauty. Fashion, photography and films are interwoven to evoke the time of artistic production that has allowed Italy to become the number one leader of the fashion industry.
In the wide and elegant rooms of the Villa, lit by the windows that cover the walls, there are items belonging to some prestigious private collections: you can see the details of both day and night-clothes studied by designers like Biagiotti, Curiel, Fontana and many others.
Not only clothes, but also jewellery, like Gucci's and Ferragamo's, Cartori's hats and samples of tissue from the Sorelle Fontana's archive.
What links together all these spectacular fashion testimonies is the central gallery, the hearth of the exhibition. Here, in fact, the many themes of the exhibition are unfold, through a spectacular selection of photographic materials, documents and films that testify to the centrality of the fashion industry in the period of Italian post-war recovery.
Furthermore, don't miss the mini-cinema installed in one of the rooms, where clips of Antonioni, Fellini and Rossellini's movies show that, during the Hollywood years, Italian fashion was able to bring back the attention to Rome.
www.mostrabellissima.it
The best pastry shops in Milan
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Experience the magic of Christmas in Milan
This period is perfect for starting to experience the magic of Christmas in Milan, in fact in the Milanese city you can already breathe the Christmas atmosphere, the first decorations are hung and the city lights up with charm, with many events, shows and attractions designed to surprise young and… Read More
Nanda Vigo at Palazzo Reale
For the fourth consecutive year, twentieth-century art returns to the doors of Palazzo Reale, with an exhibition on stage from 23 July to 29 September on Nanda Vigo, a Milanese artist and architect who has influenced the Italian and European art scene over the last 50 years. Read More
The Art of BANKSY. A VISUAL PROTEST
Until April 14 2019 – Banksy, a British artist and writer whose identity is still unknown, is considered one of the leading exponents of contemporary street art. Enjoy the exhibition at the MUDEC in Milan. Read More
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Two Years Into Tablet Editions, Conde Nast Begins Regular Readership Reports
Additional Information for Premium Advertisers
By Nat Ives. Published on March 15, 2012.
Vanity Fair on the iPad
Almost two years after Conde Nast started putting its magazines on the Apple iPad, its advertisers are finally getting one of the promised benefits: regular information on each issue's tablet readership, down to its individual ads.
Conde Nast, the publisher of magazines such as Glamour and Wired, recently gave advertisers metrics concerning tablet editions of its January issues. It now plans to give advertisers data on each new issue about 10 weeks after it comes out.
The basic metrics that advertisers can expect will include:
the magazine's paid tablet subscriptions and single-copy sales during the reporting period
the number of readers that actually opened the issue's tablet edition, including print subscribers using their complimentary digital access
the total number of times that readers opened it
and the time that readers spent with it.
Each marketer that pays Conde Nast for a premium ad or at least a hotlink will get even more interesting information: how many readers accessed its individual ad, the total number of times that ad was displayed, the average time readers spent on it, and how all those results compare with the issue's advertising as a whole.
Conde Nast executives cautioned that everything about the tablet ecosystem continues to evolve, including the best ways to measure it. "This is still just a step on the way," said Scott McDonald, senior VP for research and insights.
The metrics so far include the iPad and the Kindle Fire, but will also count Barnes & Noble's Nook going forward.
It's taken this long to get this far largely because fixing bugs takes much longer on tablets than it does on a website. Every time Conde Nast realized its results didn't encompass offline reading or didn't easily distinguish ads from editorial, for example, it had to come up with a solution, wait for Apple's approval and wait again for enough readers to download the relevant update.
Providing regular metrics will be a big step forward in the eyes of advertisers. "It's been a very long two years without a trace," said Robin Steinberg, exec VP and director of publishing investment and activism at MediaVest. "There is no doubt this is not only a good move but the right move."
It's not ideal, however, to restrict the most interesting results to premium advertisers, Ms. Steinberg said. "This type of information should not be held back at outset," she said. "They should be sharing the good and the bad so we can develop the right experiences for our clients and consumers."
The growing body of overall information on tablet readership is reinforcing some early impressions that are promising for magazines on tablets, according to Conde Nast.
Readers typically swipe through tablet editions from front to back, for example, the same way they work their way through print editions. They browse -- taking in ads as they go -- instead of jumping directly to specific articles the way web surfers do.
"Consumer behavior with digital editions of magazines is very much like their behavior with print editions of magazines, and very much unlike their behavior with websites," Mr. McDonald said.
Digital-edition readers are also still younger but more affluent than magazines' print readers, Conde Nast said, although the disparity has narrowed as tablet ownership has grown and Amazon and Barnes & Noble have introduced devices that are cheaper than the iPad.
And ads with some level of interactivity -- a hotlink at a minimum -- continue to usually hold readers' attention longer than static ads.
Nat Ives
Nat Ives is executive editor at Ad Age, which he joined in 2005 as a reporter on the publishing beat. He previously helped cover the media and ad industries as a news assistant at The New York Times and reported on commercial real estate for Institutional Investor newsletters. He graduated from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 2001.


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HAHN, JOSEPH YUSPA NÖRDLINGER (JOSEPH BEN PHINEHAS NÖRDLINGEN):
By: Gotthard Deutsch, S. Mannheimer
German rabbi; born at Frankfort-on-the-Main in the latter half of the sixteenth century; died there April 3, 1637. He received a good education from his father, the learned rabbi Seligmann. The name "Hahn," as his grandson, Joseph ben Moses Kosman, says in the preface to "Nobeg ka-Ẓon'Yosef," is derived from the family house called "Zum rothen Hahn." Hahn was the author of "Yosif Omeẓ," which was published at Frankfort-on-the-Main in 1723 by Moses Reiss Darum, son-in-law of Joseph ben Moses Kosman. This interesting work treats of liturgical questions, of the most important moments of religious life, of education, charity, morality, the Christian holidays, and the civil calendar. It is written in a popular style; and short remarks show the author to have been a master of the Halakah. As such he was acknowledged by his contemporaries Isaiah Horowitz, author of "Shene Luḥot ha-Berit," and Joel Särkes, author of "Bayit Ḥadash." He expresses rational views in regard to pedagogics. He recommends adherence to the old rule given in Prov. xxii. 6, "Train up a child according to its way" (A. V. "in the way he should go"), and that the scope, method, and subject of instruction be adapted to the capacity of the child: it should not be compelled to learn what is beyond its comprehension. If not fit for the study of the Talmud, it should receive thorough instruction in the Bible, which is plain and wins the heart for the fear of God. In this work Hahn also tells of the troubles that befell the Frankfort Jews before and during the persecutions caused by Vincent Fettmilch, of their expulsion in 1614, and of their readmission in 1616. Hahn was a member of one of the forty families to which the privilege of returning was first granted.
In communal affairs Hahn also displayed great activity. He founded a society, Gomel Ḥesed, whose duty it was to render the last honors to the dead, especially to such as had no relatives. The congregation conferred upon him offices of honor; and he officiated as rabbi when the rabbinate was vacant. His name is inscribed in the "memorial book," and his Hebrew epitaph (No. 1590) is found on one of the monuments of the Jewish cemetery of Frankfort.
Another work of Hahn's, containing explanations and glosses to the four codes of the Shulḥan 'Aruk, is still in manuscript.
Fürst, Bibl. Jud. i. 355;
Steinschneider, Cat. Bodl. col. 1519;
Horovitz, Frankfurter Rabbinen, ii. 5-18.
D. S. Man.


Today was the first day of class in season eight of The Starter League. I have been looking forward to it so much, needless to say I was awake at around 0400 ready to go, but the rest of Chicago was still asleep. So after another two hours of sleep, I was woken by my annoying alarm.
After a shower, breakfast and making lunch, I started on my way around 0645, the streets were still pretty quite. It only took me about 30 min to get to Merchandise Mart. I was about an hour early for class, so I got online and did some work.
Almost everybody was on time so we started at 0830, where Raghu and Jeff our instructors, started to explain more about how the classes would work. In class we need to do mainly listening, and thinking about questions. We get all the notes and additional info on The Starter League's own system, so no need to take notes in class.
I had to change the settings of terminal to look more like matrix – now I can look like a real geek!
We are learning from the beginning to do pair programming, the latest best practice. This means that you will always be two people per iMac, working together. To help facilitate this, you have to start to learn to articulate everything you do as you go along…. gonna take some time to get that right.
They also encouraged us to just try things, play around, and build things. Try and have a pet project or idea that you can use to practice what we learn in class. First they will show us something in class, then we should try and do it ourselves from scratch, and keep doing that until we can do it without looking at the code they provide. Then use what we have learned on our own project.
We started playing with the command line, and doing normal folder operations from there. Played with Sublime, a text editor that we are going to use to write the code in. Then we played around with some basic html, create some .html files from sublime and opened them in a browser. Raghu also showed us a very cool app that helps you to snap windows around on a Mac.
Jeff explained a basic computer science model involving input – processing – outputs. He showed how even a basic calculator can be broken down to fit into this model. The key they want us to take away after 11 weeks is to 'learn to learn', so we can go on and become ever better.
We all got a copy of 'Learn to Program' by Chris Pine, and we were pointed to online resource for HTML and CSS. Now there is a heap of stuff to do before the next class on Wednesday!
This entry was posted in Chicago, Coding, Starter League on 2013/07/01 by Justinus.


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Prospectus Feature: Comparing Balance: Are the Yankees Unbeatable?
Derek Zumsteg
I recently wrote a column in which I explained about how boring I found payroll caps, and how I felt that they forced everything in their leagues to become about the cap. I got a ton of e-mail, much of which read (and I'm omitting some colorful language here) "What about competitive balance? That's what the cap gives fans, you Yankee-loving…"
There is no competitive balance problem in baseball, even in the latest period of Yankee pennants. Supposedly, the Yankees play an entirely different game than other teams. If this is true, we should see this in almost any metric we choose, but it's not there.
I'm going to set out some real simple standards for measuring competitive balance in baseball, and look at what we get out of them. I've decided to use seasons following the 1994 strike as an arbitrary start point, but this coincides nicely with the Yankees' perceived dominance.
So for the seven-year stretch of 1995-2001, let's check out some cumulative records of franchises (expansion teams ommitted, which means the cumulative record here is 14,597 – 14,399).
Team                    W    L    Pct.
Atlanta Braves         679  437  .608
New York Yankees       661  452  .594
Cleveland Indians      652  462  .585
Seattle Mariners       616  499  .552
Houston Astros         606  510  .543
Boston Red Sox         602  513  .540
New York Mets          589  528  .527
Los Angeles Dodgers    588  528  .527
San Francisco Giants   587  530  .526
St. Louis Cardinals    569  545  .511
Texas Rangers          568  548  .509
Chicago White Sox      566  548  .508
Cincinnati Reds        566  550  .507
Oakland Athletics      564  551  .506
San Diego Padres       564  552  .505
Baltimore Orioles      551  564  .494
Anaheim Angels         544  572  .487
Toronto Blue Jays      541  575  .485
Chicago Cubs           527  590  .472
Milwaukee Brewers      512  602  .460
Philadelphia Phillies  507  609  .454
Montreal Expos         500  616  .448
Kansas City Royals     490  622  .441
Minnesota Twins        489  625  .439
Pittsburgh Pirates     488  627  .438
Detroit Tigers         471  644  .422
The top five on this list includes two franchises that would have been contracted when I was going to games early in my life, ones that were used then as examples of how unbalanced baseball was.
The Yankees are not playing a different ballgame than other teams are: they're not winning more games, much less a standard deviation from the top. It's not even much of a bell curve in the first place. There's no domination there, no single team way out in front. When we recently had a season where every team finished between .600 and .400, there were people who thought that was great. Looking a longer time frame, we can see that even as there are franchises at the bottom that aren't getting any better and some that don't even try, the top teams are still in the same pack.
What about playoff berths? In terms of raw "how many teams get to the playoffs," baseball looks bad compared to basketball, football, and hockey, where everyone gets to make the playoffs. In all three of those sports, teams that are barely over and sometimes under .500 win playoff berths. Baseball is far more selective: the playoffs are shorter, and even with the wild-card berth, a much smaller percentage of teams participate. Still…
World Series Winners: 4 (13% of all teams)
World Series Participants: 7 (23%)
Played in League Championships: 12 (40%)
Entered Playoffs: 18 (60%)
Just for fun, I thought I'd take a quick look at what the two other big payroll-capped, wider playoff leagues managed to get in their Big Game/Series:
NFL: 6 Super Bowl Winners, 14 participants (19%, 30%)
NBA: 4 Finals winners, 10 participants (14%, 34%)Both leagues see more teams get into the finals, but considering that baseball lets only 20% of teams into the playoffs, while the NBA allows more than 50% and the NFL 32%, that baseball sees a comparable percentage of its teams reach the World Series is a testament to the competitive balance baseball continues to enjoy.
The Yankees spend a lot of money, and they spend it well, but to suggest that the Yankees are somehow a super team on a run that has destroyed balance in baseball is lunacy. The Yankees have played extremely well and had more than their fair share of luck in the post-season. No payroll cap or other clumsy mechanism is required to make baseball more competitive, and considering the high state of balance now, it seems clear that tampering with the current system couldn't do much to increase competitiveness and would likely have unintended effects that would have the opposite effect.
This is a free article. If you enjoyed it, consider subscribing to Baseball Prospectus. Subscriptions support ongoing public baseball research and analysis in an increasingly proprietary environment.
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A new future of the Diamond Sky Bar
Hanoi, 25 February 2020
Elegance Hospitality Group (EHG) announces that since 5 March the Diamond Sky Bar at 32 Lo Su street Hanoi is now under new ownership. The bar's name will remain unchanged at the moment; however, with the implementation of a new business vision and strategy the new owners are expected to bring in a new brand.
Also changing will be overall product quality, beverage and food menus. The new owners and management are reviewing resource requirements and the current staff will be adequately compensated or invited to reapply for certain positions.
"We are sad to say goodbye to the Diamond Sky Bar" explained Do Van Dan, EHG Chairman "but it's the right time for a new vision and development and we can assure our customers that the business is in good hands with the new owners, who will ensure the character and charm of this bar".
EHG continues to manage three other Hanoi sky bars.
The Diamond Sky Bar is intriguingly designed over three levels with 360 degree views of Hanoi.
Diamond Sky Bar
13-15 floors
La Siesta Classic Lo Su
Add: 32 Lo Su street., Hoan Kiem Dist., Hanoi


The Pharmanex Biophontonic Scanner has become a vital tool for the health screening services we offer. This technology allows us to accurately assess your antioxidant status and internal health. Knowing your antioxidant status is as important as knowing your cholesterol levels or your blood pressure. Current medical literature suggests that key antioxidants can decrease your risk of cancer, heart disease, and complications related to diabetes. Antioxidants can slow down the aging process, boost your immune system, and speed recovery times while decreasing pain and inflammation.
How do you know your getting enough antioxidants through your diet? The Biophotonic Scanner enables us to provide a non-invasive, painless, accurate and low cost assessment of your nutritional status. Once we obtain a baseline, we can recommend appropriate supplements to assist you in maintaining better health. High quality and scientifically backed recommendations are of utmost importance and will parallel the standard of care you have come to know from us.
Scans are currently being offered for $20. Should your antioxidant status be low, we will make recommendations on how you can increase your score simply, effectively, measurable, and guaranteed. Keep in mind that one ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure.


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Monica at Cultural Italy created the perfect itinerary for a trip to Rome, Florence and Venice. My mother and I were traveling and we didn't want to worry about trip logistics but we also wanted the freedom to be on our own and not in a group. Cultural Italy provided us hotels in great locations in every city, they also handled all of our transportation requirements and finally, they scheduled various tours within each city based on what we wanted to do in those cities. The best part was that during the trip, they were able to adjust when we wanted something different. I have traveled a lot and working with Cultural Italy took all of the travel stress away and allowed me and my mother to have the most incredible trip. I can't say enough about the wonderful experience we had with Cultural Italy.


Velmarie (Johnson) Wilkerson was born on November 23, 1954 to Richard Johnson Ernestine Hughes in Gary, Indiana. She graduated from Westside High School and continued her education at the University of Indiana and Upper Iowa University.
Velmarie chose to work in the Human Services field. She worked in various social work related positions and retired from the American Red Cross in 2007. Velmarie had the gift of gab. No matter where she was or what she was doing she would enjoy the company of those around her. She also trying her luck on the slots at Prairie Meadows, fishing and working in her garden.
Velmarie passed away on November 20, 2018. She was preceded in death by her parents, Richard Johnson and Ernestine Hughes.
Left to cherish Velmarie's memory are her sons, Miles (Yvonne James) Wilkerson and Evan Royce Wilkerson; siblings, Deborah (Enoch) Kimbrew, Paul (Darlene) Hughes, Adriene Fletcher, Gwen Johnson, Karen Gatlin and Ricky Johnson; grandchildren, Kevin and Ka`Vonna Brown and special friend, Katie Gilmore as well as a host of other relatives and friends.


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Q: Manually convert float point number into binary format Hi I have following float point value in base 10: 0.625. I need to convert this value in base 10 to binary format which is: 0.101.
Algorithm I found is below. It works, but I am not understanding why this works. Could someone please explain to be why the code below works? I am aware that numbers after the decimal point is computed in the manner such that 1/2^n where n is count from the decimal point. Thanks.
To clarify, I need to know the reasoning behind the mathematical formula. Not stepping through the code.
private static String floatToBinaryString( double n ) {
    String val = "0.";
    while ( n > 0 ) {
        double r = n * 2;
        if( r >= 1 ) {
            val += "1";
            n = r - 1;
        }else{
            val += "0";
            n = r;
        }
    }
    return val;
}

A: You multiply the fraction by 2 and use the ones place digit as the binary values until the fraction is equal to zero.  Example below.
This is the standard formula for conversion using the 0.625 you have:
1) Multiply fraction by 2 =>  0.625 * 2 = 1.25
    The digit to the left of the decimal point is the first binary value, 0.1 so far
2) Ignore the ones-place digit and you have 0.25 which is still larger than zero.
    Multiply the fraction by 2 => 0.25 * 2 = 0.50
    The digit to the left of the decimal point is the next binary value, 0.10 so far
3) Ignore the ones-place digit and you have 0.50 which is less than zero.
    Multiply the fraction by 2 => 0.5 * 2 = 1.00
    The digit to the left of the decimal point is the next binary value, 0.101 so far
4) Ignore the ones-place digit and you have 0.00 which is equal to zero.
    Conversion complete!

private static String floatToBinaryString( double n ) {
    String val = "0.";    // Setting up string for result
    while ( n > 0 ) {     // While the fraction is greater than zero (not equal or less than zero)
        double r = n * 2;   // Multiply current fraction (n) by 2
        if( r >= 1 ) {      // If the ones-place digit >= 1
            val += "1";       // Concat a "1" to the end of the result string (val)
            n = r - 1;        // Remove the 1 from the current fraction (n)
        }else{              // If the ones-place digit == 0
            val += "0";       // Concat a "0" to the end of the result string (val)
            n = r;            // Set the current fraction (n) to the new fraction
        }
    }
    return val;          // return the string result with all appended binary values
}

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text:
Amazon will spotlight its music streaming with new international marketing efforts
Posted on August 20, 2018 by Anna Washenko
Amazon is reportedly preparing to take its streaming music service to a more public position. Bloomberg reports that the tech giant will be launching a multimedia campaign in support of its streaming service. The promotion will include television ads, billboards, online video, and radio across the U.S., the UK, and Germany.
Amazon's efforts in the music industry have often seemed tangential to its core services in ecommerce and enterprise web services. But as the company has found success in smart speakers and voice controls, its music platform has grown in visibility.
"We're pouring fuel on the fire," Head of Amazon Music Steve Boom said in an interview. "We have established ourselves as the leader in music services where voice is all you need to control it."
The company has been a little cagey in giving specifics about the audiences for Amazon Music and Amazon Music Unlimited. Earlier this year, Boom said in another interview that Amazon has "tens of millions" of paying music customers, but considering Amazon Music is automatically included in its popular Prime membership system, the specifics of just how much and how often people tune in there are still murky. A well-executed marketing push could give Amazon's music services more visibility, even as growing numbers of people might be unknowingly calling them up on their Echo speakers, connecting the dots in more ways.
News Amazon, Amazon Alexa, Amazon Echo, Amazon Music, Amazon Music Unlimited
Instreamatic.ai shares success from Russian voice-driven ad campaign
Rumor Fact(ory): Google may release a video screen smart speaker this year


The Sprana's FerSpec Urea is a spectroscopic process analyzer for the real time quantitative analysis and monitoring of Urea (Carbamide) product stream in the production. The analyzer measures all main components of Urea, namely, nitrogen, biuret and water. At the same time, it can also measure the concentrations of various additives. Moreover, the FerSpec Urea can detect oil or other contaminants in the stream, which could indicate some process faults or deviations from normal operation.
It is an effective process analytical solution/technology (PAT) for monitoring and control of Urea production process, giving fast analysis (measurement frequency < 1 s), full Urea composition, high measurement accuracy and basically no operational and maintenance costs.
The accuracy of quantification of various chemical components in Urea is better than 0,2 % wt.
An important advantage of the NIR analyzers as a PAT is that the fiber optic probes (i.e. fiber optic probing technologies) can be used efficiently in this wavelength range, due to low light losses in the fiber optic cables, enabling analysis of multiple process points with one instrument by simply connecting/using additional fiber optic probes.
The Sprana's FerSpec Urea process analyzer can fully replace the routine off-line analysis of Urea samples carried out in the laboratory for the product quality (production process) control often by conventional wet chemistry methods that are time consuming and costly (require qualified staff plus chemicals and consumables). It will allow to achieve a better control of Urea production process and assure the product quality. All Sprana products go with free calibration services and support for 12 months.
• Accuracy better than 0.2 % wt.
The FerSpec Urea is an effective process analytical solution/technology for monitoring and control of Urea production process, giving fast analysis (measurement frequency < 1 s), full Urea composition, high measurement accuracy and basically no operational and maintenance costs.
User friendly interface is adapted for simple and quick use in process environment making it convenient for operators. The Sprana's FerSpec Urea is an ideal process analyzer for the Urea production industry for process/product monitoring and control.
With this analyzer, it is also possible to monitor the presence or absence of oil or other contaminants in the Urea stream which could indicate some process faults, or the concentration of some added stabilizer or corrosion inhibitor.
The upcoming stream of Ammonia water can be analysed by mean of additional fiber optic probe. Additional probe measures concentration of Ammonia and detects oil and other contaminants.
Nitrogen up to 0,2 % wt. | Biuret up to 0,2 % wt. | Water up to 0,2 % wt.
Sprana has scientists and engineers who have an in-depth knowledge of the instrumentation and the application. The Sprana's FerSpec Urea process analyzer goes with free instrument calibration services and support for 12 months.
The analyzer comes with all necessary software packages. The output of the results (concentration curves and etc.) is fully customisable. The concentrations can also be monitored real time directly from the customer's existing process visualization and control software (N.B. subject to the software specifics and existing integration possibilities).


text:
We Like it Like That
The story of Latin boogaloo, a colorful expression of 1960s New York City Latino soul. From its origins to its recent resurgence, it's the story of a sound that redefined a generation and was too fun...
$4.99 Rent $12.99 Buy
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We Like It Like That (Official Trailer)
Uploaded Feb 17, 2016
Latin boogaloo is New York City. It is a product of the melting pot, a colorful expression of 1960s Latino soul, straight from the streets of El Barrio, the South Bronx and Brooklyn.
Starring Latin boogaloo legends like Joe Bataan, Johnny Colon and Pete Rodriguez, We Like It Like That explores this lesser-known, but pivotal moment in Latin music history, through original interviews, music recordings, live performances, dancing and rare archival footage and images.
From its origins to its recent resurgence in popularity, We Like It Like That tells the story of a sound that redefined a generation and was too funky to keep down.
Mathew Ramirez Warren
No music listed.
No equipment listed.
Own this film for just $12.99 –
Directed by Mathew Ramirez Warren 2016 78 min
See Details $15.99 Buy
New York City Music Bundle
With your purchase you will receive the critically praised and award winning documentaries, We Like it Like That and Rubble Kings
Includes 2 videos: from Rubble Kings & We Like it Like That
18 Comments. Add your thoughts.
By Saboteur Media


Are you looking for a full time permanent AZ Driver position, that allows you to be home every night and receive a competitive salary with full benefits? If so, Comco is looking for you!
Reporting to the Guelph Operations Manager, as the Truck Driver Class AZ you will be directly responsible for the operation of a Freight Liner with a flatbed trailer to make deliveries to customers and pickups at suppliers on time within Guelph and southern Ontario. You will also assist in warehouse activities, as required.
• Physically able to lift, carry, and move at least 50lbs on a regular basis, climb into cab of truck or onto trailer, and manually winch with a tie down bar for strapping.
• Our work environment is safety sensitive and will require the successful applicant to undergo a pre-employment medical and drug/alcohol evaluation.
If interested in this position, please email your resume and cover letter to Derek Fish at jobs@comcopipe.com, please quote "Guelph AZ Driver" in the subject. We thank all applicants who apply, but only those candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.
Company: Comco Pipe & Supply Company, a division of Russel Metals Inc. has grown to be one of the largest industrial carbon steel pipe, fittings and flange companies in North America. We specialize in the supply and distribution of pipe and fluid handling products to the energy, construction, manufacturing, pulp and paper mining industries. Our mission is to safely provide outstanding quality and service as defined by our customers, by continually challenging ourselves to improve.
We are an organization that is committed to the principles of Employment Equity, which includes maintaining a fair, equitable and diverse workforce. All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply.


This is the Zingo Espresso brought to you by Topeca Coffee Roasters. This is an espresso blend of coffees from Brazil, El Salvador, Ethiopia and Sumatra. In the cup, this espresso is chocolatey, sweet, and just a little fruity.
Fruity is right! And not just a little, in my experience. It was fruity right out of the grinder. Dark chocolate, and brown sugar brought more body into my latte. One of my favorites that will be added back to the queue.
Definitely chocolatey and a bit juicy/tangy on the finish. Great as an espresso base!
Not great. Couldn't get a lot of flavor from these shots. A bit boring.
I had greater expectations for this one, since it's gotten a ton of great reviews. This one is just not in my taste profile.
All three notes come out super strong when shot was pulled with my espresso machine. Would definitely order again.
Really liked the prominent berry flavors.
Dark chocolate flavor with a bit of fruity notes brewed in French press for a pleasant medium roast cup of coffee.
I think the tasting notes got it right and in that order. I didn't find it overly sweet, it's smooth and enjoyable.
Excellent coffee. A little citrus at the end.
So far one of our very favorite coffees.
For some reason, we did not like this espresso near as much as the Onyx Ozark Copper you first sent us. It tasted bitter and required a flavoring added to the latte. When we make lattes, we'd like to do a flat white. I'm only rating it two stars because you are trying to help us find the right coffee for us! Thank you for your help!
This is a delicious espresso, with aromas of buttery pastries, chocolate, and fruity berries. The first few times I ran it through the espresso machine I picked up on buttery blueberry muffins, which was very strong and welcome. I have not been able to get that flavor since, but overall a really unique bean, highly recommend.
VERY smooth. Simple in taste profile, but super enjoyable. The caffeine content was just right for me, too... not super intense.
I got a few good shots out of this one. Mostly picked up chocolate and nuts, but there was a hint of blackberry. This one was a bit hard because there were random shots that would choke my machine, or need a finer grind. I had to keep adjusting the grind/ tamp which doesn't usually happen. It was also easy for me to make these on the bitter side- that's a personal issue, have to work on fine tuning that for this coffee. Not bad overall.
Not a fan of blends, as I thought I specified in my preferences. I also usually favor lighter coffees.
This makes a killer pour over. Chocolatey and really smooth. One of my favorite deliveries ever!
Wasn't impressed with this espresso blend.
Pretty good espresso. Also good as a drip. The berry is very prevelent.
Maybe I just caught the beans on a good day, but this is a complex blend and it packs a punch. Four different coffees from four different regions (using four different processes!) are combined, and somehow the folks at Topeca made a coherent coffee out of it. It's tough to pick out all the nuances, but I was impressed enough by the first shot out of the Breville to give this one five stars. Strongly recommended.
Love this one. It is like a fine wine it is so good.
Makes a consistently excellent espresso.


Limoncello is a classic Italian digestif from Southern Italy made by macerating lemon peels in alcohol for up to a month. In this recipe I use the modernist equipment power of the whipping siphon to reduce the process down to only 5 minutes. This end product is added to sugar and water; now it's ready to use.


text:
Q: How to display dashed lines in objective-c? I have this code to display a grid with dashed line. In runtime on an iphone 5 below it shows fine, but if I run the app on iphone 5s there's no grid. I tested in iPhone Simulator and on real devices and happens the same.
Here's the code:
if (self.dashLongitude) {
    CGFloat lengths[] = {3.0, 3.0};
    CGContextSetLineDash(context, 0.0, lengths, 2);
}

//other stuff here

CGContextSetLineDash(context, 0, nil, 0);

So anyone could help??
EDIT: Hey guys I solved the issue using the same code I posted here, but in a different method. So I have now two methods: one just for the drawing the grid and another on to draw the line with data and finally got everything working.

A: The code looks fine.
As I look into the code I saw you are setting the nil in the context. nil is used to remove the dashed line.
Try to use
CGFloat dash[] = {2.0, 2.0};
CGContextSetLineDash(context, 0.0, dash, 2);

where you are creating or provide stroke your line(underneath).
CGContextSetLineDash(context, 0, NULL, 0);

is used to remove that dash pattern.

A: Instead of setting nil in CGContextSetLineDash, just wrap your code into CGContextSaveGState/CGContextRestoreGState to preserve context state before applying line dash:
CGContextSaveGState(context);

CGFloat dash[] = {2.0, 2.0};
CGContextSetLineDash(context, 0.0, dash, 2);

// Draw some lines here

CGContextRestoreGState(context);


See what's happening in Carolina Beach!
MASTER CALENDAR -includes everything that's happening in Carolina Beach! View information on events, activities, meetings, and classes.
SPECIAL EVENTS -includes information on activities and events held at the Boardwalk, Carolina Beach Lake, and other locations in Town.
COMMITTEES -includes meeting date and time information for Town sponsored committees.
TOWN COUNCIL -includes information on upcoming regular and special Town Council meetings and workshops.
1121 N. Lake Park Blvd.


text:
TAMRA-5' (Carboxytetramethylrhodamine)
Modification : Tamra-5'
[Tamra-5]
Discounts are available for Tamra-5'!
Tamra NHS
Carboxytetramethylrhodamine (TAMRA) is a fluorescent dye that is a derivative of rhodamine, and is used to label oligonucleotides at the 5'- or 3'- ends, or internally. TAMRA has an absorbance maximum of 565 nm and an emission maximum of 580 nm. TAMRA-modified oligonucleotides play a particularly important role in both fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) and real-time PCR applications.
FRET is a distance-dependent interaction between two dye molecules in which excitation is radiationlessly transferred from one dye (the donor) to the second dye (the acceptor), due to spectral overlap. Because the efficiency of the energy transfer is extremely sensitive to the distance between the molecules (varying as the inverse sixth power of that distance) (1), FRET can be used to study biological phenomena that produce changes in molecular proximity (2). For oligonucleotides slated for use in FRET application, a common donor-acceptor pair is 6-FAM (donor) / TAMRA (acceptor), due to their good spectral overlap. As the donor, 6-FAM is excited at 492 nm and transfers this energy to TAMRA, which then emits light at 580 nm. FRET oligo probes are widely used to monitor biochemical reactions, particularly in in vivo studies (3).
Besides being used as a FRET fluorophore, TAMRA also can be used as a FRET-based quencher moiety in real-time PCR probes such as TaqMan probes (4), Scorpion primers (5) and Molecular Beacons (6). For such probes, 6-FAM is used as the reporter moiety, and its emission at 521 nm is monitored. When 6-FAM and TAMRA are in close proximity, the former's fluorescence at 521 nm is quenched by the latter. After sufficient spatial separation of the two dyes during the course of the assay, 6-FAM's fluorescence is no longer quenched, and its fluorescence signal becomes observable.
TAMRA also can be used to label DNA oligos for use as hybridization probes in a variety of in vivo and in vitro research or diagnostic applications, as well as for structure-function studies of DNA, RNA, and protein-oligonucleotide complexes. Oligos labeled with TAMRA at the 5' end can be used as PCR and DNA sequencing primers to generate fluorescently-labeled PCR, sequencing or genetic analysis (AFLP or microsatellite) products.
Note that, because TAMRA is in the form of an NHS ester, the oligo first must be synthesized with an Amino C6 Linker (for the ends) or the Amino C6 version of the base phosphoramidite (for internal labeling). The TAMRA-NHS ester is then manually attached to the oligo through the amino group in a separate reaction post-synthesis.
1.	Stryer, L., Haugland, R.P. Energy transfer: a spectroscopic ruler.Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA (1967), 58: 719-726.
2.	Wu, P., Brand, L. Resonance energy transfer: methods and applications.Anal. Biochem. (1994), 218: 1-13.
3.	Didenko, V.V. DNA Probes Using Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET): Designs and Applications.Biotechniques (2001), 31: 1106-1121.
4.	Livak, K.J., Flood, S.J.A., Marmaro, J., Giusti, W., Deetz, K. Oligonucleotides with fluorescent dyes at opposite ends provide a quenched probe system useful for detecting PCR product and nucleic acid hybridization.PCR Methods Appl. (1995), 4: 1-6.
5.	Thelwell, N., Millington, S., Solinas, A., Booth, J., Brown, T. Mode of action and application of Scorpion primers to mutation detection. Nucleic Acids Res. (2000), 28: 3752-3761.
6.	Tyagi, S., Kramer, F.R. Molecular beacons: probes that fluoresce upon hybridization. Nat. Biotechnol. (1996), 14: 303-308.
- TAMRA-5' (Carboxytetramethylrhodamine)


text:
Scarlet Records est un label indépendant italien, situé à Milan. Il est connu pour avoir distribué deux projets parallèle du chanteur Björn  Strid de Soilwork, et les albums de divers groupes comme Agent Steel, Royal Hunt, Skyclad, Eldritch, Hatesphere, Primevil, Labyrinth, Dark Moor, et DGM. Lancé en 1997, Scarlet Records possède un catalogue comptant plus de 200 albums. En 2011, Scarlet Records signe un contrat de distribution avec Entertainment One Distribution pour l'Amérique du Nord, aussi bien physique que numérique.

Artistes

Artistes actuels

Anciens artistes

Notes et références

Label discographique ayant son siège en Italie
Entreprise ayant son siège à Milan

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Oropouche East MP Dr Roodal Moonilal says he wants a meeting with Police Commissioner Gary Griffith to discuss information that "certain political operatives" are seeking to induce senior TTPS officers into accepting political office as an inducement to do their bidding.
"That is something I have taken note of and it is a matter I intend, in the coming days, to either discuss or write to the Commissioner of Police, to alert him of that type of intelligence which has come to my attention within recent times," he told Sunday Newsday.
The MP, who had raised the issue on Friday during debate on the Trespass Amendment Bill in the House of Representatives, which was passed by a simple majority, alleged the police officers were being lured by offers of future political careers.
Moonilal also called for new laws to forbid retiring police officers from taking up political posts.
On whether he had reported to the police, allegations that rogue officers had helped in kicking people out of their homes for gangsters to move in, Moonilal said he learnt of the situation in 2013 during his term as housing minister in the former People's Partnership administration.
Moonilal could not say if the situation was still occurring.
"We were looking at it and I don't know what happened over time. But it is something we were very conscious of and it is in keeping with other experiences.
Reply to "Moonilal wants meeting with CoP"


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The Evergrande crisis in China is about to begin
The central authorities have so far resisted the temptation to rescue the developers out, worried about creating "moral danger".
Evergrande is the largest of a long list of Chinese developers – Fantasia, Simic, Sunshine, Kaisa and Aoyuan among them – who are experiencing serious liquidity problems as a result of a broken financing model and the impact their difficulties have had on demand in the sector.
They have been cut off from the debt markets, and a core source of financing and cash, the pre-sale of apartments not yet built, has disappeared due to their inability to finance the completion (or even the start) of their planned development.
Central authorities have so far resisted the temptation to save developers, worried about creating "moral danger" and being seen to save billionaires, although Xi Jinping orchestrates a major shift in economic and social policy from encouraging wealth creation to redistribution of wealth.
Their efforts appear to be limited to trying to limit the fallout from the implications from the developers, which the People's Bank of China says can be curtailed. Hui is said to be well-connected in Beijing, so it was notable that the PBOC blamed "poor management" and "ruthless" expansion for Evergrande's problems in its response to Friday's news.
The scale of Evergrande's liquidity problems is frightening. Apart from the $ 260 million, it has an additional $ 82 million ($ 117 million) of payments that have been delayed for 30 days and therefore need to be made on Monday to avoid a formal default. It has an additional $ 255 million ($ 364 million), with the grace periods expiring at the end of January, and an additional $ 37 billion ($ 53 billion) or thereabouts to be repaid in June next year.
Whether the authorities can prevent the implosions of Evergrande and its peers from infecting the broader economy will be the critical challenge for Beijing.
Until now, they had concentrated on trying to isolate the apartment buyers and suppliers to the sector from its struggles, and largely left it to Evergrande's lenders and the other developers to devise their own answers. Their priority has been to keep suppliers and contractors afloat and make sure apartment buyers get what they paid for.
Evergrande and its advisers (including the world's leading debt consolidation firm, US investment bank Houlihan Lokey) and the team from Guangdong, which have been sent in "at the request" of the company, will probably now speed up their efforts to agree on a restructuring of the group's debt to creditors, especially international bondholders.
PBOC said on Friday that investors in the offshore bond market were relatively mature and sophisticated, and that there was a clear legal framework for dealing with their problems – ie. they can take care of themselves.
Whether the authorities can prevent the implosions of Evergrande and its peers from infecting the broader economy will be the critical challenge for Beijing. Credit:Getty Images
A major restructuring, including major "cuts" and maturity extensions, could enable the group to be orderly wound up and avoid the formal, and inevitably messy, collapse that would cause dominoes to fly through the sector and its suppliers and threaten China's financial and economic stability.
This process, which usually involves a lot of brinkmanship when creditors try to minimize their losses, will test China's sensible decision that it will not release supposedly sophisticated creditors (especially foreign creditors) in private sector companies or create public safety nets under the wealth. of "ruthless" billionaire entrepreneurs.
'I can only do so much': We asked fast-fashion shoppers how ethical concerns shape their choices
The world's largest player in renewable energy to create a major "greentailer" in Australia
Gold miners shine in flat ASX session as benchmark edges 0.1 per cent. higher
Australia's best-selling electric car is Chinese MG ZS, which has a quarter of the niche market
Kim Kardashian's beauty Pete Davidson thinks Kanye West's lyrical threat is 'completely funny'
The Canterbury Bulldogs bring in Jacob Kiraz from the Newcastle Knights


text:
Update: Reward increases as detectives continue to search for person who stole, slaughtered horse in Manatee County FL
By R.T. Fitch on December 11, 2019 • ( 4 Comments )
By Rick Adams as published on MySunCoast.com
"The gruesome theft and killing of a horse in Palmetto to be sold as horsemeat is another reminder of the need for my bill banning the slaughter of horses for human consumption…"
PALMETTO, Fla. (WWSB) – The reward for information in a case of a stolen horse in Palmetto that was then slaughtered continues to grow, now reaching $13,000.
Centennial Farms Inc. of Palmetto and the Animal Legal Defense Fund are each offering $5,000 in addition to the $3,000 offered by Manatee County Crime Stoppers.
Surveillance video shows an unidentified man entering a ranch on the 5800 block of Buckeye Road around 11:30pm on December 2 and walking up to the stables, during the time deputies say a show horse was stolen, moved to a nearby field and slaughtered for its meat.
The victim found the horse missing around 8am the following morning and called the sheriff's office. That's when they found it slaughtered. A locked gate had been forced open by the perpetrators.
Deputies said the suspect or suspects passed up numerous other horses to steal and slaughter this thoroughbred horse, worth at least $20,000 and known to frequently compete in equestrian races.
"I'm disgusted," said Carol Whitmore, animal advocate and Manatee County Commissioner. "I'm sure most of our community is going to be."
Congressman Vern Buchanan re-introduced the SAFE Act with Rep. Jan Schakowsky earlier this year, a measure that would permanently ban the slaughter of horses for human consumption that now has more than 200 co-sponsors and is awaiting action from the House Agriculture Committee.
After learning of what happened in Palmetto, Buchanan said, "The gruesome theft and killing of a horse in Palmetto to be sold as horsemeat is another reminder of the need for my bill banning the slaughter of horses for human consumption. I will continue to lead the effort to end this practice and prohibit the inhumane export of horses to Mexican and Canadian slaughterhouses to be sold overseas."
"I'm totally going to talk to Congressman Buchanan's staff tomorrow about this," said Whitmore. "I just can't believe that there's people out there who would do this. If anybody that is listening that knows anything about this, they need to contact the authorities because we aren't going to put up with this. Two times is just too many."
It's a story that may sound familiar because the same thing happened four years ago.
A very valuable 12-year-old prize show jumper from Europe was stolen and slaughtered in a ranch in Palmetto, but detectives said they never caught the suspects.
"In 2015, a horse was slaughtered, butchered, and basically harvested for the meat and this case is exactly the same in that they took the horse over to this area where they killed it, likely right at that spot and began to butcher the horse and all that was left was certain remains of the horse," said Randy Warren, spokesperson for the Manatee County Sheriff's Office. "The meat, for the most, part was taken."
"When you have this type of a very brutal type of crime that has occurred, it grips not only just the equine community, but our entire community because people want to see whoever is doing this arrested and that's our goal," said Warren.
Deputies are looking for more information and say the suspects face charges of grand theft and animal cruelty. If you know anything, call the sheriff's office at 941-747-3011 or, to be eligible for the $3,000 reward being offered by the organization, call Manatee Crime Stoppers at 866-634-8477 or visit this website to submit an anonymous web tip.
Share this on behalf of the Horses and Burros::
Categories: Horse News, Horse Slaughter, Uncategorized
Tagged as: Equine, Horse, Horse Meat, Horse Slaughter, murder
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Kathleen Kennedy says:
Beyond my comprehension & sick to do this to an innocent animal! Feeling very angry right now, but also many tears for that innocent horses. I just do not understand some humans.. Said this many times.. Beyond my scope here!
Prayers for all innocent animals & those special humans who strive to protect them from abuse, neglect, and their right to survive. My Christmas wish this season for all of them to live in peace.
IcySpots says:
How do they know the meat was sold? If they can prove this, they have a trail to the killer or killers.
idaursine says:
The colossal nerve. I hope they get this person, whoever he is.
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An Android Library that makes it easy to make grid views with sectioned data and headers that stick to the top.
This repository is abandoned and will no longer see any development or support.
The replacement SuperSLiM is an implementation of a layout manager on top of RecyclerView. It offers extensible layouts per section, and multiple display modes for headers, including sticky headers. Really, it is better in every way with superior performance, configuration, and is not a hack of ListView, which should completely sell you on it.
StickyGridHeaders is an Android library that provides a GridView that shows items in sections with headers. By default the section headers stick to the top like the People app in Android 4.x but this can be turned off. StickyGridHeaders also automatically sizes its rows to the largest item in the row.
StickyGridHeaders has been designed to be adapter compatible with, and was inspired by, StickyListHeaders.
Version 1.0.1 has been released!
Development on master will now focus on bringing the headers into the view hierarchy and resolving dpad navigation issues.
StickyGridHeadersGridView is a drop-in replacement of any GridView in your application and is used in the same manner. To display headers your ListAdapter must implement one of either StickyGridHeadersBaseAdapter or StickyGridHeadersSimpleAdapter. The choice of the implementation allows you to decide between the 'Simple' version which automatically does some housework to enable the grid sections and headers, or the 'Base' version which leaves that work to you so you can implement a specific solution for your data set.
The standard ListView is also supported in case you just want the benefit of the improved row height calculations, the rows are sized to match the height of all items in the row, in StickyGridHeaders.
The simple adapter interface has the same signature as StickyListHeadersAdapter so if you are using the StickyListHeaders library your adapters are already fully ready for StickyGridHeaders.
This library can be used as a .jar file included in the libs/ directory of your project. The latest version is available from Google Drive.
The example source code is included in this repository.


text:
1: Warm, but Not Too Warm
2: How Plants Breathe and Keep Us Alive
3: On the Carbon Trail – What Happens When Plants Die
4: Cool Oceans, Cool Planet
5: Salt to Fresh and Back Again
6: Who Eats What in the Big Watery World
7: The Earth's Crust and What Lies Below
8: Moving, Shifting, and Shaking
9: How the Water Shapes the Land
10: Bubble Nets and Food Chains
11: Food Webs Powered by the Sun
12: How Do We Get to Just Right
Earth Breathes
When I was a little boy, I loved to watch and feel the tide come in. On summer days I would stand on the beach in front of our house with my toes barely touching the edge of the water. Ever so slowly the rising sea would creep in around my feet and then crawl steadily up the beach behind me, filling in my footprints one after another. If I was patient and stood still for a long time, little minnows would swim in from the deeper water and gather around my feet. When they bumped against my ankles it tickled.
Minnows are very curious, and always looking for food.
Later on, when I was a little older, I learned that on Cape Cod the tide comes in and goes out every twelve hours, or two times in a twenty-four-hour day. It seemed to me that this steady, never-changing rhythm was kind of like the Earth breathing. In … out. In … out. In … out. But each breath the Earth took was very very slow. The water on my beach inched forward little by little, then slipped away again just as slowly. This made sense because I could see that our Earth was huge, especially compared to a little boy like me. Since the world is so big, I thought, each breath must take a really long time to bring in and let out—hours and hours.
By the time I was nine or ten, I was planning my summer days around the tides. At low tide, when the water had retreated, we had much more beach to play on. Low tide was the time to play stickball with my cousins, or build sand castles, or maybe dig some clams for dinner. When the water came in again at high tide, we ran around in the shallows, chasing and splashing each other with lots of shrieking and laughter.
At low tide we had much more beach to play on.
I loved to watch the little fish and crabs that followed the water on the incoming tide. The minnows traveled in schools, darting here and there trying to catch tiny creatures I couldn't see. Every once in a while a bigger fish would come flashing in from deeper water and grab some of the little ones. When the tide was high, the crabs liked to crawl into the seagrass that grew in clumps along the beach. They'd often dig themselves into the sand to hide when I came near.
I also noticed that some of the grass would be completely covered by the water at high tide, but that only seemed to make it grow better. I could see that the movement of the tides was very important to all these animals and plants living along the shore.
Beach Creatures Near My Cape Cod Home
Soft-shell clams live about a foot down in the sand. They're really good to eat!
Quahogs are big clams with hard shells. They live just a few inches under the sand.
This hermit crab lives in a shell that it found on the sea floor.
Horseshoe crabs like this one have been living on Earth for millions of years.
When I first told my dad about how the tides were like the Earth breathing, he just smiled. When I was a little older, he told me that the real reason the water comes in and goes out every day is mostly because the moon and the sun are pulling it back and forth. "When you throw a ball up in the air, it falls back to the ground, right?" he said. "That's because the Earth is pulling it," he explained. "We call the pull of the Earth gravity.
"The moon has gravity too," he added. "The moon pulls our oceans toward itself and away from the Earth. And that makes the tide go out."
I listened and tried to understand. "Okay," I thought, "so maybe the moon does help the tides come in and go out." But secretly I liked my breathing idea better. It was exciting to think of our Earth as a great big round living thing, breathing in and out like we do, only much more slowly.
NOW I'M AN OLD MAN. For seventy years I've lived near the ocean, watching the tides come in and go out, and learning about all the fish and other animals and plants that live in the water.
During my lifetime scientists have been studying the Earth and how it works. And guess what? The Earth is alive. It does breathe. Even more amazing, when it breathes, it helps all of us living things breathe too!
This summer my grandchildren are coming to visit me on Cape Cod, and they love to play by the ocean just like I did at their age. (I still do!) I'm hoping that they will help me learn more about how the Earth lives and breathes, and how the living Earth keeps us alive.
My grandson Tom is thirteen. He lives with his sister, Julie, and their parents outside Boston. (You can tap the map on the next page to see where they live.) Tom is in middle school—he's especially good at math, and loves to play soccer and tennis. He is also fascinated by flying and space travel.
Map of the United States
Boston is a city on the East Coast, close to Cape Cod.
Julie is ten, just finishing fifth grade, so she'll move on to the middle school next year. In school, her favorite subjects are English and science. Spending time with friends is important to her. Julie has always loved the ocean and seems really at home here on the Cape.
A few weeks ago I stayed with them at their house in Boston, and we had a chance to talk about fun things we could do while they're on the Cape.
"I want to go boogie boarding on Nauset Beach," Tom said, "and go out fishing for striped bass and bluefish." Tom and his dad have done a lot of fishing together, and sometimes I go with them.
"Me too on the boogie boarding!" Julie exclaimed, sweeping the hair out of her eyes, "and I want to visit the seals in the bay. And, Gramps, could we go sailing in your sailboat?"
"Of course you can!" I caught her as she danced by and gave her a hug. "You know I love to sail, and those other ideas are great too. Now let me tell you what else I'd like for us to do." Both children looked at me expectantly.
"I want you to help me look for Goldilocks," I announced.
Their faces changed to surprised and confused. "Goldilocks?" said Julie. "We know where to find Goldilocks. She's in the fairy tale about the three bears."
I smiled, because of course she was right. "Do you remember the story?"
"Sure. Goldilocks went for a walk in the woods and came to a little house. She knocked on the door but nobody answered. The door was unlocked, so she just went in."
Julie paused to remember what happens next, and Tom picked up the story. "She found three bowls of porridge in the kitchen. Porridge is like oatmeal. She was hungry, so she decided to eat some."
"Goldilocks is in the fairy tale about the three bears."
"Right!" Julie agreed. "And the cereal in one bowl was too hot, and in the next bowl it was too cold. I can't remember which was the Papa or the Mama bear's bowl. But I know when she tried the baby bear's porridge, it was juuust right, and she ate it all up!"
Tom wanted to add something. "Goldilocks also went upstairs because she was tired and tried out the beds up there. It was kind of like the porridge. One bed was too hard, one was too soft, and the third one was just right. So she lay down and fell asleep. When the bears came home, they found her there."
"Perfect. You remember the whole story. So, Tom, what's the Goldilocks story telling us, do you think?"
Tom looked away and thought for a minute. "I think it's saying that things can be too much one way or too much the other way, but somewhere in the middle they are just right."
Julie was impressed by Tom's explanation. "Like the baby bear's porridge wasn't too hot or too cold," she said tentatively. "It was just right!"
"That's exactly what I mean by looking for Goldilocks," I explained. "I want you to help me understand more about this planet we live on, and what makes it just right as a place to live. So looking for Goldilocks is looking for just right."
"I see," said Julie. "So Goldilocks is sort of code for 'just right.'"
"Exactly," I responded.
Just then the kids' mom called us all into the kitchen for dinner. Afterwards I sat around with them while they did homework, and we talked some more. "I know you two have been studying Earth science in school," I began. "And I've been reading about some of the cool new things scientists have been learning about the Earth. Have your teachers ever talked about Gaia?"
Both children looked at me blankly and then at each other. "Never heard of it," Tom said. "What's Gaia?"
"In ancient Greece, Gaia was a goddess who was the mother of everything there is, and she represented the Earth. Now some scientists are using her name to talk about how the whole Earth is a living thing, where everything works together."
"When I found out about that idea, I really liked it," I went on. Since they still looked confused, I tried a different explanation. "When I was a kid, I loved to stand on our beach and watch the tide come in. It felt to me like the whole world was slowly taking in a big breath. Then when the tide went out I imagined the Earth was breathing out again. It made me feel like the world was a living, breathing thing."
"That's a cool idea, Gramps," Julie murmured, her eyes bright. "I like to think about the whole Earth breathing."
Tom was more doubtful. "At school we learned that tides are caused by the gravitational pull of the moon and the sun," he explained seriously.
"That's true," I agreed. "When I was older, my dad told me how the moon affects the tides, and I noticed that we got higher tides when the moon was full. But the idea of Earth breathing is more than just the tides.
Scientists use the Gaia theory to show us that the Earth is one great big organism, like an animal."
"Really?" Julie got so excited that she popped out of her chair. "You mean it's alive like a person, only humongously big?"
"Not exactly," I responded. "But the idea is that the Earth has working organs, like our heart and our lungs."
This mention of organs caught Tom's attention. "What do you mean, the Earth has organs?"
"Well, you know that an organ is a part of your body that helps keep you alive, right?" I replied. "For example, our lungs are the organ we breathe with. If you put your hand on your chest and breathe in and out, you can feel your lungs working."
Both children put their hands on their chests and breathed deeply. "Okay," said Tom, "so what are Gaia's lungs?"
"Most of the plants on land breathe too," I replied. They take in carbon dioxide gas from the air, and they breathe out the oxygen that we humans and other animals need to breathe. So the land and the plants that live on it make up one of the Earth's organs— kind of like our lungs."
"Most of the plants on Earth breathe too."
Tom went silent with his mouth a little open, thinking about the Earth breathing. After a minute he suggested, "I would think of the land as being more like our skeleton, holding up everything that lives on it."
"That's true too," I agreed. "Scientists talk about the Earth's crust, and how it has moved and changed over millions of years."
Julie had a question. "What about the oceans?" she wanted to know. "Are they an organ like the land?"
"Good question!" I said. "Scientists think that the oceans are kind of like our heart and blood vessels. You know how the heart moves the blood around in our body through our arteries and veins? The arteries and veins are like the currents in the ocean that move warm water into cold parts of the world and cold water into warm parts of the world."
Because he's a fisherman, Tom knew about ocean currents like the Gulf Stream, which brings warm water up the east coast from Florida. He wanted to know more. "Are the land and the oceans the Earth's only organs, or are there more?"
"There's one more really important organ," I replied, "and that is the atmosphere."
"Which of our organs is the atmosphere like?" Tom wondered.
I was glad I had read up on the Gaia theory because these two were really testing me. "The atmosphere is like your skin. Did you know that your skin is the largest organ in your body? The atmosphere around us protects the whole Earth from the incredibly hot rays of the sun, just like our skin protects everything inside our bodies. But the atmosphere also holds onto some of the sun's heat, like a blanket—kind of like how our skin holds in the heat our bodies make when we walk or run."
"The atmosphere is like your skin. It protects the Earth from the rays of the sun."
Like most kids in middle school, Tom had been learning about the human body. "I know that the organs in our bodies work together to keep us alive. Our skeleton holds everything up. Our heart and lungs team up to get oxygen from the air we breathe and carry it in our blood to other parts of our body. Our skin holds heat inside our body to keep us warm, and lets out sweat if we get too hot. So what about the Earth—do its organs work together like ours do?"
"That's exactly what the scientists have figured out," I said. "They've learned how the land, the oceans, and the atmosphere work together to make the food we eat and the water we drink. Also, these organs join forces to keep the air around us the right temperature—warm enough so we don't freeze and cool enough so we don't burn up."
Julie's eyes went bright again. "You mean like Goldilocks … not too hot and not too cold?"
"Just like Goldilocks!" I answered with a laugh.
Tom high-fived his sister, a rare compliment. "Okay, Gramps," he reminded us. "You said you want us to look for Goldilocks this summer when we're on the Cape. So how do we do that?"
"Actually I think we need to start by looking at the whole Earth," I suggested, "and then see what we can learn from the land and the water and the atmosphere right around the Cape. Once you get there we're going to be spending a lot of time outside," I reminded them.
"The whole Earth?" Julie scrunched up her eyebrows like question marks. "You mean like with a globe or something?"
"We could do some exploring with Google Earth…" Tom offered.
I'd been saving a surprise. "Sure, but I have a more exciting idea," I said. "You know that friend of mine I've talked about—the ex-Marine pilot at Hansom Air Base?"
Tom had been sitting on the couch idly tossing a tennis ball up and down. At my mention of the pilot he suddenly sat up straight. "You mean the guy who flies a little spacecraft and takes people for rides up into space?" he asked, his voice going high with excitement.
"The guy who flies a little spacecraft and takes people for rides up into space?"
"That's the guy. He's offered to take me up sometime, and I'm going to ask if we can all go together in the next few weeks. I already spoke to your mom and dad, and they'd be okay with it. What do you say?"
"Oh … wow!" Tom whispered, looking over at Julie. "A ride in a rocket ship!" Tom loves to fly, but he knows that flying in space is different from flying in a regular airplane. "Will we be wearing space suits and helmets with oxygen piped into them?" he asked, both eager and a little nervous.
"We will," I affirmed. "Bing has a regular business flying people up into the atmosphere to look around and take pictures. So we'll be perfectly safe with him."
Julie finally found her voice. "For real?" she asked me. "For real." I said.
Crafted on the Narrow Land


Lightning strikes routinely go unseen in Nevada's remote, unpeopled mountain ranges. But when a bolt cracked a lone ponderosa pine on the Sheep Range in August 2012, some scientists in Reno took note.
This tree, like dozens of others across the Great Basin, was rigged with a suite of sensors measuring its growth and sap flow by the minute while beaming data back to scientists. The lightning didn't spark a wildfire, but it did cause quite a data gap.
"It blew quite a few sensors and instruments away," said Scotty Strachan, coordinator of environmental research for the University of Nevada, Reno's department of geography. The department's DendroLab is among several research groups participating in a National Science Foundation initiative to monitor tree growth and other environmental and climate variables across Nevada.
The tree monitoring network is part of a project that aims to refine the science of dendrochronology, which uses tree rings to reconstruct what the climate looked like thousands of years ago and model how it might change in the future.
At four sites across two mountain ranges, the research group outfitted several conifer species with instruments that monitor biological functions like sap flow and stem growth. But just as important is each site's host of environmental sensors that measure climatic variables like air temperature, precipitation and soil moisture.
Why is measuring tree growth and these environmental parameters at the same location a big deal?
The heart of tree ring studies lies in comparing annual growth lines with climate data, either recorded or modeled. By understanding the relationships between tree growth and changes in environmental conditions, scientists can use tree ring records to create a reasonable picture of what temperature and precipitation patterns were like thousands of years in the past.
But scientists often have to settle for climate data that wasn't collected anywhere near the trees they're studying. And the farther away the data was collected, the less representative it is of the conditions that were influencing a tree's growth as it laid down its annual rings. It's especially a problem in mountainous landscapes where the topography varies greatly and the local climate changes with it. That's the case in the Great Basin where the tree instruments are deployed.
Installing and testing the tree growth sensors alongside environmental monitoring stations has been an important first step in quantifying those uncertainties. These sensors are in place as part of a larger climatic, ecologic and hydrologic monitoring network in Nevada funded through the National Science Foundation's Office of Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, or EPSCoR. Around a dozen towers installed in remote, mountainous locations will give researchers important data from locations they otherwise might not have been able to access using equipment they might not have been able to afford.
"By creating open baseline data that are being measured in exactly the same way at all the towers, and then providing these to individual researchers, they can then address science questions within their areas of expertise going into the future without having to foot the bill for this infrastructure that's been put in place," Strachan said.