text:
Whatfinger: Frontpage For Conservative News Founded By Veterans
"The Best Mix Of Hard-Hitting REAL News & Cutting-Edge Alternative News On The Web"
Vanishing Clusters Of People 'Chilling New Patterns' Found In Mysterious Disappearances- Coast To Coast Interview With David Paulides
By Susan Duclos - All News PipeLine
Former law enforcement officer David Paulides joined Coast to Coast with host George Knapp to discuss the topic of his multiple books, which is mysterious disappearances, which as we are informed, have increased over the last three years. Paulides has documented over 1400 cases that fit a certain criteria, which previously included clusters of vanishing people from National Parks and the refusal of authorities to investigate or help him in his investigations.
Children disappearing from right under their parents noses, later found in areas described as "inaccessible," with no explanation as to how those children ended up there. Clothing found. sometimes neatly folded. Bodies discovered in locations that had already been searched a dozen times, even one instance where the body suddenly appeared on the very trail that searchers used to access other locations to search.
In this interview Paulides describes newer cases within the US and in other countries and describes "chilling new patterns" discovered.
Commonalities include but are not limited to; A number of those found alive being mentally handicapped therefore unable to detail what had happened or where they had been; Other interesting details include the strange recounts of children describing "creatures," considered by many to be just a child's imagination, yet many of the children described these creatures in exactly the same manner.
(Recommended - "Little Creatures - The Gates Of Hell Are Opening" - NOTE - Adult reading, not for children)
Another very strange coincidence in many cases, is the inordinate amount of people, experienced hikers, sportsman, who were discovered in freezing temperatures but without shoes... specific cases are spoken about in this interview below.
Via Coast to Coast:
Over the course of the evening, Paulides shared a number of baffling disappearance cases that he has amassed via his research. One such story centered around a British man named Jonathan Myles Robinson who was vacationing in a small, isolated community in Switzerland which is only accessible by a railway system that shuts down at midnight. Paulides recounted how Robinson seemingly vanished at around 3 AM while walking to his hotel one night. Despite an exhaustive search of the area, the man's dead body was not discovered until five days later when searchers spied it at the bottom of a cliff in a nearby town. Eerily, cell phone records indicate that Robinson likely fell to his death shortly after 3 AM on the night he disappeared and, Paulides stressed, "there was no way" he could have traveled the distance to where his body was found.
The second video below is the original from the ANP article from August 2014 "People Vanishing In Clusters, Unexplained - What's Happening?"
Were these people "snatched" as described below and if so, by who or what? Is this some type of "harvest" as Knapp mentions, that has been going on since the 1700s?
Make sure you have time to listen to this fascinating interview because once started, it is almost impossible not to listen to it all.
The portion about chilling new details in introduced at approximately the 36:30 minute mark and continues indepth at the 45:18 minute mark.
ANP Trending
* Feminazis Three Year Temper Tantrum Continues: Women's March Full Of 'Nasty,' Whiny Snowflakes Who Are Abusing Their Children
* Livestreams: All Eyes On Virginia As Antifa, Militarized Police Face Off Against Second Amendment Supporters While Demonizing Legal Gun Owners
* Exclusive Reader Images: The Forgotten, The Must-Haves And Tips That Could Save Your Life When SHTF
* Media Melts Down Over Senator Calling CNN Journalist A 'Liberal Hack' As The Federalist Proves They Are All Liberal Hacks
* The Truth They Don't Want You To Know: Islam Is A Jonestown Cult Without The 'Kool-Aid' - Cowardly Democrats Are Tools For A Global Islamic Caliphate & Cheerleaders Of Their Own Destruction
For More Information, Please Email: [email protected]
If You Have a News Tip, Please Email: [email protected]
Web Design by Innovative Solutions Group


A member of the honor guard prepares to raise the American flag.
The honor guard fires a 21-gun salute in honor of Moffat County's fallen veterans.
Local Boy Scout Jeremy Looper plays "Taps" in honor of Moffat County's fallen veterans.
Flags adorn the Craig Cemetery in honor of Moffat County's fallen veterans. Several hundred residents turned out for the annual Memorial Day Service, held at 10 a.m. Monday, May 28.
John Garcia, a U.S. Army veteran and Commander of VFW Post 4265, delivers Memorial Day remarks during the Memorial Day Ceremony, held Monday at the Craig Cemetery.
CRAIG — Several hundred Moffat County residents paused in their Memorial Day festivities Monday morning to gather at the Craig Cemetery in honor of the servicemen and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of the United States of America.
"Today, we honor our fallen, but we also embrace a feeling of honor, patriotism and pride," said John Garcia, a U.S. Army veteran of Vietnam and VFW Post 4265 commander. "From the patriots who fired the first shots of the American Revolution, to the forces we have deployed around the world today, American has been blessed to have citizens who will serve, fight and, sometimes, die for this country.
"… Today, we pay tribute to these heroic patriots who made the ultimate sacrifice, who bravely rose up and fought for something greater than themselves, protecting a home to which they never returned. We honor their service, mourn their loss and remember the families that they left behind.
Noting that similar services were taking place across the nation, Garcia urged those in attendance to remember those who have fallen in defense of the nation as individuals with families, dreams and lives.
A list of all veterans buried in Moffat County — some 815 fallen heroes — was then read, followed by the playing of "Taps" by Troop 1150 Boy Scout Jeremy Looper, echoed by Bailey Louthan.
Memorial Day, originally known as Decoration Day, began as an event to honor Union soldiers who had died during the American Civil War. Following World War I, it was extended to include all men and women who had died in any war or military action.
Decoration Day, and later, Memorial Day, used to be celebrated on May 30, regardless of the day of the week on which it fell. In 1968, however, the Uniform Holidays Bill was passed as part of a move to use federal holidays to create three-day weekends. As a result, since 1971, Memorial Day has been officially observed on the last Monday in May.
During his remarks, Garcia also urged the public to always remember Memorial Day as a time to honor those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of the nation and to teach others the true meaning of this somber observance.
"In an effort to repay a debt that we can never truly repaid, we must honor the legacy of our nations' fallen by educating all who believe Memorial Day is just another holiday and pass our knowledge along to the next generation so that they may do the same," Garcia said. "We must ensure the youth of tomorrow understand the true cost of freedom. There is no greater way to honor the memory of those who have secured it.


BREAST CANCER- HOW ONE CAN HELP?
Tanusree, or Tanu as everyone called her, grew up in Trichi in Tamil Nadu. Her life, as she would recall later, was "simple and a lot of fun" ! With her 2 elder brothers, she would often be found racing boys on her bicycle back from school, or on top of a tree feeding birds – even climbing up pipes to roofs of neighbours houses to surprise them ! She was, as everyone fondly says, the most lovable girl around.
Tanu did her graduation with Physics, and then her MBA. She then joined Advertising, where she soon made a name for herself as an astute planner – someone who helps in creating brand strategies. It was when she was in JWT, that she met me – which for me was the luckiest day of my life. She told me later that during our first interaction itself, she had known that we were meant to be together – that she recognised me from perhaps connections we had during our past lives.
We are working to save every life, and we need your help.
Get involved, Extend your hand and SAVE A LIFE.
Is someone you know battling breast cancer or stepping back into "normal life" after treatment?
We are working to save every life, and we need your help. Get involved, Extend your hand and SAVE A LIFE.


text:
Q: All tree orders are lattice orders? Say that a set is tree ordered if the downset $\downarrow a =\{b:b\leq a\}$ is linearly ordered for each $a$. In a comment, Keinstein says that such sets are also semi-lattices, provided they are connected. This doesn't seem true to me.
Consider e.x. this tree:
   a    c    e
    \  / \  /
      b    d

$b\wedge d$ does not exist, so it is not a lattice.
Am I missing something?

A: Your example is not tree-ordered since ${\downarrow}c$ is not linearly ordered.

A: Suppose $L$ is tree-ordered - downward sets are linear - and connected. Let $a,b\in L$. Connectedness tells us there is a path betweeen $a$ and $b$: by using transitivity such a path can be simplified into a "zig-zag" path just as you have in your example (since $u< v< w\Rightarrow u< w$), and so in particular we can take a zig-zag path of minimal length between $a$ and $b$. This minimal path cannot contain an upright triangle $x< y> z$: taking the downward set of $y$ we see $x$ and $z$ are comparable and hence this triangle can be simplified to either $x< z$ or $x>z$ contradicting minimality. This leaves only two possibilities: $a$ and $b$ are directly comparable, or $a>c<b$ is the entire path, so the set of common lower bounds for $a$ and $b$ is nonempty. Since this is the intersection of two linearly ordered sets it is itself linearly ordered and has a maximum, so there is a maximum lower bound on $a,b$.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Q: How do you add a swagger comment to the "Request and Response Model"? You can add a comment on the methods like the example below but what about adding comments to the request and response model?
///
/// my summary
///
/// <remarks>
/// remark goes here.
/// </remarks>
/// <param name="somepara">Required parameter: Example: </param>
/// <return>Returns comment</return>
/// <response code="200">Ok</response>

A: I am not sure if that's what exactly you're talking about, but you can add comments to the different responses like this
[SwaggerResponse(HttpStatusCode.Unauthorized, "Authorization has been denied for this request")]

This is attribute which you use to decorate your controller method.

A: For those that aren't having luck with the existing answers, make sure that the project your property class lives in has the xml documentation enabled as well.
In my case, I had a separate project for my DTOs and needed to add it in there as well. Be sure to include xml comments from that project as well with another IncludeXmlComments method.

A: Yes just like Dimitar said, you can add comments to the responses with SwaggerResponse, the request is a bit different, just like you added xml comments to your action you should add to the parameters, here is an example:
using Swagger.Net.Annotations;
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Net;
using System.Web.Http;
using System.Web.Http.Results;

namespace Swagger_Test.Controllers
{
    public class IHttpActionResultController : ApiController
    {

        [SwaggerResponse(HttpStatusCode.OK, "List of customers", typeof(IEnumerable<int>))]
        [SwaggerResponse(HttpStatusCode.NotFound, Type = typeof(NotFoundResult))]
        public IHttpActionResult Post(MyData data)
        {
            throw new NotImplementedException();
        }
    }

    /// My super duper data
    public class MyData
    {
        /// The unique identifier
        public int id { get; set; }

        /// Everyone needs a name
        public string name { get; set; }
    }
}

And in swagger that will look like:

A: I'm using .net core 3.0, so in addition to @Helder's response, I had to do below two more steps to make XML comments visible.
manually edit the project file.
<PropertyGroup>
  <GenerateDocumentationFile>true</GenerateDocumentationFile>
  <NoWarn>$(NoWarn);1591</NoWarn>
</PropertyGroup>

add below to startup.cs service configuration method.
services.AddSwaggerGen(c =>
            {
                c.SwaggerDoc("v1", new OpenApiInfo
                {
                    Title = "My Good API",
                    Version = "v1",
                    Description = "Doesn't hurt to add some description."
                });

                // Set the comments path for the Swagger JSON and UI.
                var xmlFile = $"{Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().GetName().Name}.xml";
                var xmlPath = Path.Combine(AppContext.BaseDirectory, xmlFile);
                c.IncludeXmlComments(xmlPath);
            });

From the microsoft docs for Swagger

XML comments can be enabled with the following approaches:

*

*Manually add the highlighted lines to the .csproj file:

Enabling XML comments provides debug information for undocumented
public types and members. Undocumented types and members are indicated
by the warning message. For example, the following message indicates a
violation of warning code 1591:


Adfoam can create custom made inserts for your equipment and cases. Email us picture of your camera and case model number to get a obligation free quote.
Plastazote 455x330x175mm 4 cavity Camera lens insert to fit Nanuk 930 case.


Twice a month, we do a newsletter. We call it The Knuckle Sandwich.
We share creative and marketing stuff that inspires us as well as the odd knowledge nugget from FoF Towers.
We absolutely promise there'll be no spam.


text:
Biden unveils COVID-19 vaccine plan, with focus on mass inoculations
by Nathaniel Weixel - 01/15/21 4:23 PM ET
President-elect Joe Biden's coronavirus vaccination plan will expand the size of the federal government's response, with a focus on helping rural communities and improving communication with states.
Biden detailed the $20 billion effort, which he previewed Thursday, in a Friday speech. It's part of a much larger $1.9 trillion relief package that includes $415 billion focused on combating the COVID-19 pandemic.
Biden's remarks come as the country finds itself in the worst days of the pandemic, adding new urgency to the need to speed vaccinations.
"Truthfully, we remain in a very dark winter," Biden said, noting the country is rapidly approaching 400,000 deaths. "The vaccine rollout in the United States has been a dismal failure thus far."
According to details released by the transition team ahead of his speech, Biden's vaccination plan emphasizes a bolstered federal response, rather than leaving key details to the states.
He has vowed to get 100 million people inoculated in the administration's first 100 days, and Friday said he was "convinced" it could be done.
The current pace of vaccinations in the U.S. is not moving quickly, and Biden will need to ramp up efforts. As of Friday, more than 31.1 million doses of vaccine had been distributed, but just over 12.2 million shots have been administered, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The president-elect has already announced a plan to release nearly all the second-dose reserves to help reach his 100 million shots goal.
Biden said he plans to launch a massive public education effort to rebuild trust in science, specifically focusing on Black and Latin communities to combat vaccine hesitancy.
"It's a critical piece to account for the tragic reality of the disproportionate impact the virus has had" on Black, Latino and Native American communities, he said.
"Equity is central to our COVID response," Biden added, pledging not to leave any groups behind in the vaccination campaign.
The Biden administration plans to use federal resources including the Federal Emergency Management Agency to launch new mass vaccination sites. The administration also plans to expand state and local immunization efforts across the country, including in pharmacies and community health centers.
Federally Qualified Health Centers serve more than 30 million patients each year, including many people of color and rural communities. Under the Biden administration's plan, health centers will be able to directly access vaccine supply where needed.
"We are in a race against time," a senior Biden transition official told reporters Thursday. "We know that health care professionals, essential workers, states, tribes and our public health infrastructure have been asked to do too much with too little."
Biden's plan will include partnering with states and local providers to launch community vaccination centers around the country, and deploy mobile vaccination units in underserved and hard-to-reach areas.
It also focuses on better communication with states, so state and local leaders fully understand their vaccine allocations and timely delivery of their ordered doses.
States have complained about a lack of clear communication from the Trump administration's Operation Warp Speed, including about how much vaccine they will receive week to week.
Some states on Friday accused the administration of lying after officials promised to release all of the vaccine in federal reserves, but found out there were no reserves.
Tags biden administration Biden transition Coronavirus coronavirus vaccine Joe Biden operation warp speed Vaccination
More Healthcare News
White House focusing on vaccine access for vulnerable
by Nathaniel Weixel 2 days ago
Healthcare / 2 days ago
Overnight Healthcare
Health Care — FDA to ease blood donation rules for gay, bisexual men
by Joseph Choi and Nathaniel Weixel 2 days ago
Overnight Healthcare / 2 days ago
Walmart, CVS reduce pharmacy hours amid staffing crunch
WHO updates list of medicines to stockpile for nuclear emergencies
by Brad Dress 3 days ago
Defense / 3 days ago
Student debt relief challengers make case to Supreme Court
I voted for George Santos. He owes his constituents answers — now
Kemp declares state of emergency in Georgia after protests erupt in Atlanta
Durbin says Booker, Scott should revisit police reform

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Home / Federal Reserve / Inflation / Polanyi / Restoration / United States / The Restoration
January 23, 2021 Federal Reserve, Inflation, Polanyi, Restoration, United States
The focus in the week ahead is squarely on the United States. The ECB, the BOJ, the Bank of Canada, and Norway's Norges Bank met last week. No fresh initiatives were taken, but if there is a takeaway, it is that the vaccine appears to have made policymakers, like many of us, more confident about the medium-term outlook, even though more pain and grief are likely first. Investors see continued open-spigot monetary policy and more fiscal stimulus (e.g., US, EU Recovery Fund). Coupled with the vaccine's rollout, it will generate a critical mass of more robust economic growth as the year progresses. The reflation trade has helped lift commodity prices and emerging markets. The MSCI Emerging Markets Equity Index rose by about 2.5% last week, its fourth consecutive weekly increase. In fact, going back to the end of September, the benchmark has fallen in only two of the past 17 weeks, during which time it has risen by almost 30% to new record highs. Since the eve of the election, the CRB Index has risen by nearly a quarter.
From a high level, it increasingly appears the populist moment has passed. The elites in many high-income countries were challenged beginning with the Great Financial Crisis. We saw it in terms of Karl Polyani's second movement, a popular pushback after a broad liberalization. That broad liberalization we trace to Reagan-Thatcher.
The AfD in Germany had more nationalist than populist roots, but it is the Green Party that has moved into the vacuum created by the blurring of the Social Democratic Party and the Christian Democratic Union after years of coalition governments. Ironically, there is speculation about the possibility of a CDU-Green coalition on the federal level, which up to now has been tried only on the state-level, as a possible outcome of the September election.
The Five Star Movement in Italy, for example, is now part of the governing coalition. Its more radical ideas have been tempered by realpolitik. It appears vulnerable to losing seats in the next parliament, where both chambers will be around a third smaller. Podemos in Spain serves as the junior partner in the Spanish government. It has lost its earlier momentum and slipped into fourth place. Co-opting opposition and stealing absorbing their thunder are time-tested techniques. In Greece, the New Democracy, one of the two main traditional parties, has returned to power and enjoys an outright parliamentary majority.
In the US, it was not so clear. Even though Trump was defeated on the national level, his party picked up seats in the House of Representatives and several statehouses and a governorship. Trump himself drew nearly 11 million more votes last year than in 2016. However, since the election, particularly the events leading up to and including the spectacle in the Capitol on January 6, it seems clearer that the traditional Atlantic bipartisan elite, for lack of a better name, has recaptured the mantle of leadership and returned to power.
This does not mean that stark differences on particular issues no longer exist between the two parties, but rather, the self-immolation of Trumpism appears to have palpably strengthened the traditional American politics and do seem particularly fluid. The Democratic Party since the New Deal has been the party of organized and unorganized workers but, in recent years, has increasingly been dominated by interests and cultural expressions of the professional class. Trump has reportedly threatened to launch a third party, which would ostensibly split off the party's populist-wing that had begun crystallizing with the Tea Party (circa 2009)
The elite is more globalist in outlook and more multilateralist in druthers. It is a sustained tension between Wilsonian idealism, desiring to recreate the world in its image, and the realpolitik of pragmatic realism. America will return to its traditional values. The Chinese relationship is thorny (and seemingly bipartisan), but the relationship with Europe is no walk in the park. The US has been able to delay it, but the Nordstream 2 pipeline may be completed around the middle of the year. Europe struck a long-negotiated investment agreement with China a few weeks before Biden took office. The French oil company Total became the first major to leave the American Petroleum Institute industry lobbyist over disputes about the environment days before President Biden re-joined the Paris Agreement.
The EC launched a new initiative to bolster the euro's use on President Trump's last day in office. At the same time, the US weaponization of access to the dollar funding market, a key conduit in the circuit of capital, including notably over dealings with Iran, was seen as an infringement on Europe's sovereignty. Therein lies the real exorbitant privilege of the dollar. It is not about interest rates. It is how financial power can be levered to influence political outcomes. Ultimately, that was the sentiment behind d'Estaing's curse, and it is also what chafes American's friends and rivals today.
The elite has been chastened. It just had a near-death experience. The pandemic itself strikes the very heart of what it means to be compassionate. There seems to have been a dramatic shift in public sentiment, perhaps illustrated by the redemption of Kaepernick, the football player who took a knee during the National Anthem to protest. If there are no substantial improvements in the conditions that gave rise to the American version of populism, it will return. Yet, the sympathy expressed by Secretary of State nominee Blinken for the notion that Georgia be granted NATO membership suggests that its dangerous idealism has not been completely exorcised. Moreover, several countries in Europe, including Germany and France, have been opposed in the past (George Bush had advocated Ukraine and Georgia join NATO in 2008). This could represent another element of divergence if pushed.
High-frequency US economic data have mostly disappointed, and the pandemic has gotten worse since the FOMC met last in mid-December. The US lost jobs in December (140k) for the first time since April, though the net job gains over the previous two months were revised higher (135k) by almost the same amount. Weekly initial jobless claims jumped to over 900k in mid-January, the most since August. But the largest disappointment was in retail sales, which fell for the third consecutive month in December. The Bloomberg survey's median forecast was for a flat reading, and instead, it fell by 0.7%, and November's decline of 1.1% was revised to -1.4%. More telling, consider the core measure that excludes food services, auto dealers, gas stations, and building materials, that is used in GDP models, fell by 1.9% (the median forecast was for a 0.1% gain), and the November drop was revised to -1.1% from -0.5%.
As an aside, along with inflation worries (see here), another common element in many 2021 investment outlooks is the sense that the pandemic has dramatically accelerated e-commerce. Many declare "e-everything" as consumers purchase a wider range of goods, including groceries and clothing. Some report an increase in web services, including medical, tax, and legal assistance. While some earnings reports, like Amazon, may lend credence to such arguments, the enthusiasm seems to be running ahead of the facts. In Q2 last year, the peak of the US lockdowns, online sales accounted for not quite a sixth of retail sales, and Q3 20, online sales slipped around a seventh of overall retail sales. Some of the increase in e-commerce may prove temporary in nature.
The Federal Reserve's two-day meeting concludes on Wednesday, January 27. The Fed's position is clear. It will continue to buy $80 bln a month of Treasuries and $40 bln a month in Agency mortgage-backed securities. It will do so until "substantial" progress is made to the policy objectives of full employment and price stability, redefined as an average rate of inflation (headline PCE deflator) of 2%.
The statement issued after the meeting is formulaic. The first three paragraphs and the fifth paragraphs of the five-paragraph statement were unchanged in December from November. The fourth paragraph was adjusted as the FOMC fine-tuned its guidance on its asset purchases. It could make a couple of adjustments to its economic assessment at the upcoming meeting, but these will likely be minor. Its forward guidance and purchase plans can simply be copied. It appears that the Fed may have downgraded the use of the statement with the now regular press conference as a more important channel.
Previously, it had appeared more likely that the Federal Reserve would have introduced yield curve control or, at the very least, shifted its buying to the longer-end of the curve. What has changed? The Federal Reserve seems to welcome an increase in long-term rates if it is for the right reasons. In this context, the right reasons have to do with inflation and inflation expectations. A year ago, the 10-year yield was around 1.75%. It is now hovering around 1.10%. The 10-year break-even, the difference between the conventional yield and the one offered by the 10-year inflation-protected security, was near 1.80% a year ago and is now a little above 2.10%.
A day after the FOMC's decision, the preliminary estimate of Q4 GDP will be reported. In a Bloomberg survey conducted from January 8th to the 14th, the median forecast was 4.2% down from 4.5% previously. Three regional Federal Reserve's have GDP-trackers: The NY Fed puts Q4 GDP at 2.6%. The St. Louis Fed sees it at 3.2%, and the Atlanta Fed is at 7.5%. The average is about 4.4%, in line with the median from the private sector. We suspect the risk on the downside. Still, the contrast with Europe will be highlighted the following day when Germany is expected to report its economy, the fourth-largest in the world, stagnated in the final three months of 2020. The median forecast expects the French economy to contract in Q4 but nearly around as much as the US is projected to expand.
The NY Fed's model puts the current quarter's growth at what seems to be an optimistic 6.6%. The Bloomberg survey's median forecast puts Q1 21 growth at 2.3%, down from 2.5% previously.
The December personal income and household consumption figures will be embedded in the Q4 20 GDP report. However, given the market's (hyper?) sensitivity to inflation, the PCE deflator, which the Fed targets, will draw attention the following day. It is expected to have risen by 0.3%, the most since August. However, since in December 2019, the PCE deflator also rose by 0.3%, the year-over-year rate should not change much from the 1.1% pace seen in November. Of note, the deflator fell by 0.3% in March 2020 and by 0.5% in April. These will drop out and be replaced with a higher number, which will lift the year-over-year rate. The comparisons are more difficult in June and July, and the inflation scare may ease. It will return, though, in October and November when flat prices in 2020 are dropped.
The same pattern holds true for the core PCE deflator, which Fed officials talk about but do not target. As the pandemic struck, the core PCE deflator fell by 0.1% in March and by 0.43% in April. These will drop out and boost the year-over-year pace. The core deflator jumped by a little more than 0.3% on average in the June-August period last year. When these are replaced, the year-over-year pace will likely ease, only to rise again in Q4 21, when low prints (less than 0.1% on average drop out).
The Restoration Reviewed by Marc Chandler on January 23, 2021 Rating: 5


WILFRIED Zaha and Neymar are never too far from controversy when it comes to diving. But does their off-the-ball reputation precede them?
Do the reputations of Wilfried Zaha and Neymar precede them? That was up for debate on the Sunday Supplement.
Following his match-winning contribution for Crystal Palace against Huddersfield, Zaha claimed "opponents are out to hurt me", asking for more protection from referees.
The Palace winger has been punished for simulation in the past, and the Daily Telegraph's football news correspondent Matt Law believes the 25-year-old's reputation - as well as influence - makes him a target for the opposition.
"It's a difficult debate because he has been guilty of diving in the past. Rightly or wrongly, he has developed a reputation as someone who will go down too easily," Law told the Sunday Supplement.
"It has now crossed over to the point where it works against him. He does get fouled, he does get rough treatment, and doesn't get the protection he deserves - part of that will be because of his reputation.
"I can't remember a Premier League team who has been so reliant on one player. Chelsea can win without Hazard. Palace can't pick up a point without Zaha - I've never known anything like it.
"Therefore, teams and defenders think, 'Stop Wilfried Zaha, stop Crystal Palace', and if you injure Zaha, Palace are probably relegation candidates.
Dominic King, the Daily Mail's north west reporter, added: "The incident with (Etienne) Capoue [in August] was despicable. He could have been out for the season, and that's been festering in his mind. It was awful.
Earlier this week, Dani Alves revealed he had a chat with PSG and Brazil team-mate Neymar following his antics at the World Cup, claiming the forward will mature and improve his behaviour.
Neymar was the subject of ridicule on social media for his rolling around after challenges in Russia, and went on to receive a yellow for simulation against El Salvador last week.
That incident followed a friendly against the United States, where defender DeAndre Yedlin could be seen asking the referee if he had watched the World Cup after Neymar went to ground.
It is a reputation which Neymar is now paying for, ESPN journalist Natalie Gedra told the Sunday Supplement, but she said it is a habit borne in his native Brazil.
"There is something that we have to put into context. In Brazil, being a diver, sometimes it is praised. People actually demand this from some players: 'Why didn't you dive?'," Gedra said.
"That's a cultural thing. Even the Brazilians are annoyed by that, not so much the diving, but don't roll over. That's what I heard so many times [at the World Cup].
"We all know Neymar gets fouled. He has been fouled his whole career. He learned to respond well in Barcelona, he wasn't like that.
"Now, the thing that annoys people the most is the theatrical part, and he is paying for that already. Against El Salvador, he had contact with a defender and went down because of the contact, but he got booked for diving.
"He was very annoyed after the match, because the referee booked him and smiled. In the previous match against the United States, he got fouled, and the defender said [to the referee], 'Did you see the World Cup?', you could see his lips say that.
Law added: "One of the reasons everyone respects Lionel Messi so much, apart from his talent - I'm sure someone out there will tell me he's dived - but I can't remember ever seeing him dive.
Originally published as 'Works against him': Does diving reputation precede star duo?


Welcome to Brazos Valley Seamless Gutters!
Brazos Valley Seamless Gutters specializes in five and six inch residential seamless gutters and offer products with leafguard, rain water harvesting products and can work with your landscaper to best manage water drainage systems and proper drainage around your home. Serving clients in Bryan and College station as well as the entire Brazos Valley area with Senox Corporation products, owner, Jeremy Riley, is directly involved with every gutter system design from start to finish. Senox products are unique in which they offer a 50 year paint warranty and also BVSG gives a warranty on workmanship and installation.
At Brazos Valley Seamless Gutters , we are committed to provide small town customer service with the best products available. From residential to commercial installation of seamless aluminum gutters, clean-outs and repairs, we aim to please our customers.
Contact us today for a consultation at 979-676-2800. Regardless of the season and climate, we can help you maintain your gutter system and keep it in ideal condition.


This entry was posted in Do You Expect Us To Talk? and tagged Bill Conti, cinematronix, Dave Bond, Do You Expect Us To Talk?, film, james bond, movies, oscar, podcast, Rebecca Andrews, review, Rocky, Sylvester Stallone by Chris. Bookmark the permalink.


Full list of todays Gold Box deals at Amazon.de, Amazon.co.uk, Bhphoto, eBay and Amazon.com.
IRIS problem with 85 1.4 and 24-70 2.8 GM lenses (SonyAlphaForum).
Has Sony betrayed us with the a6500? (Stronz Vanderploeg).
A6500 first impressions by ThePhoBlographer.
Sony 90mm f/2.8 vs. the Zeiss Batis 85mm f/1.8 by Aaron Crum.
Patrick Murphy Racey On The α6500 poadcast at Alphauniverse.
Best mirrorless cameras in the world in 2016 (CameraJabber).


text:
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//IETF//DTD HTML//EN">
<html>
<head>
<script src="/resources/testharness.js"></script>
<script src="/resources/testharnessreport.js"></script>
<script src="resources/testharness-adapter.js"></script>
</head>
<body>
<script type="module">
import {GeolocationMock} from './resources/geolocation-mock.js';

description("Tests that navigator.geolocation.watchPosition returns unique results within its script execution context.");

const mock = new GeolocationMock();
mock.setGeolocationPosition(51.478, -0.166, 100.0);

const watchID1 = navigator.geolocation.watchPosition(function() { });
const watchID2 = navigator.geolocation.watchPosition(function() { });
const watchID3 = navigator.geolocation.watchPosition(function() { });

assert_greater_than(watchID1, 0);
assert_greater_than(watchID2, 0);
assert_greater_than(watchID3, 0);
assert_not_equals(watchID1, watchID2);
assert_not_equals(watchID1, watchID3);
assert_not_equals(watchID2, watchID3);
finishJSTest();
</script>
</body>
</html>

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Left, right, or counterclockwise: how do you take your coffee?
In the run-up to Occam's Beard, important questions are being asked. Questions you may ask yourself every day, even without realizing it. But science is here to help, and to get to the bottom of your thoughts — or, in this case, your coffee.
One team presenting at Occam's Beard has exactly this lofty goal. If you have a minute, why not help them out, and fill out this survey?
Edit (16/02/2014): the survey has been closed! To see the results of this meticulous investigation, join us on February 1st, 16h, in the auditorium of the Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown, for the first ever Symposium of Occam's Beard!


This Event Expired on March 22, 2014. If you are the coordinator for this event please login to edit your show dates and information. If you do not yet have an OldRide Membership, please create a free membership then login to this page and submit the 'Request to Manage' form.
This is our school's 3rd Annual "On The Road To Success" car show. This is a fundraiser for our PTSA. Event is open to the public from 9am-2pm on March 22, 2014. General Admission is $5.00, and Students with ID cards is $3.00. Roll in time is 7:00am for vehicles. Registration fees for: cars/trucks $25, and for motorcycles $20. Judging is done by our ASB students and we have 10 categories. Live Entertainment provided by students in our District. There will be plenty of Food, Games, Raffle Prizes and RC Airplane Demos. VENDORS WANTED! Please inquire at [email protected] or call 951-358-1675. Event Address is: 11045 Arizona Avenue, Riverside CA 92503.


Bruce Peninsula Association for Community Living promotes a holistic approach where all people can participate as equal citizens in community life. We deliver effective and responsive community services and programs for people with intellectual disabilities.
If you are someone who is looking for a great opportunity that will allow you to learn more about Office Administration and Communications this position may be right for you. We are looking for someone that is able to work in a relaxed office environment where multi-tasking and flexibility will be required.
Team player who takes on challenges and is comfortable working independently and as part of a team.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank all applicants, however, only those selected for an interview will be contacted.
BPACL is committed to developing an inclusive selection process and work environment. If contacted, please advise the hiring manager if you require any accommodation during the interview process.


Please pardon the delay in posting this link, but I've been indisposed over the past few days with a series of severe migraine headaches.
I am pleased to announce a giveaway for The Bronte Collection through The Book Depository.
To enter, please visit my giveaways page and complete the entry form: http://thebookdivasreads.blogspot.com/p/giveaways.html. This giveaway is part of the Literary Giveaway Blog Hop being hosted by Leeswammes' Blog. The winner of this giveaway will be announced on October 20th.


Provided on this website are the reviews and comparison of the 5 best cheap domain name registrars on the internet that you can use to register a domain name for your website. These are the 5 best places to buy the cheapest domain names on the web. These domain name registration services will enable you buy or purchase low cost top level domain names. The 5 domain registration providers listed here will enable you buy a new domain name or transfer an existing domain name to them. You'll be able to search and purchase inexpensive international domain names, bulk domain names, business domain names and more. The domain name registration companies listed here offer hundreds of domain name extensions such as .com, .net, .info, .eu, .edu, .ca, .us and more.
Namecheap is at the top of the best domain name registrars on the internet. This is the best site to buy a domain name. Namecheap is an ICANN accredited domain name registrar and they offer lots of domain name extensions at a very cheap price. You can register a new domain with Namecheap or transfer an existing domain to Namecheap. When you register a domain name with Namecheap, you'll be able to manage your DNS, forward your domain to any existing website and more. Some of the domain name extensions offered by Namecheap and their prices are provided below.
To buy any domain name of your choice you must visit the NamCheap's website.
The second on the list of the 5 best domain name registration companies on the web that are cheap is Godaddy. This is a very large domain name registrar managing more than 60 million domains. Godaddy is an ICANN accredited domain name registrar. When you purchase a domain name from Godaddy, you'll be able to setup your domain without requiring any technical skills. You will be able to forward your domain to any existing website. You also have the possibility to create 100 subdomains for your website. Godaddy can enable you register bulk domains or transfer an existing domain to them at a very cheap price. Godaddy offers hundreds of domain name extensions and some of them are listed below with their prices.
To buy any domain name of your choice you must visit the Godaddy's website.
Another best domain name registrar on the web that is cheap and reliable is 1&1 Ionos. With 1&1 Ionos you will be able to find the perfect domain name of your choice at a very cheap price. When you register a domain name with 1&1 Ionos you are provided with one email account and unlimited email forwarding. You can create unlimited subdomains and you will be able to manage your DNS. 1&1 Ionos offers lots of domain name extensions and some of them are listed below with their prices.
To buy any domain name of your choice you must visit the 1&1's website.
Another cheap domain name registration company on the web is Domain.com. This is a domain name registrar that offers all major top level domains and country code top level domains. When you purchase a domain name with Domain.com, you'll be able to manage your DNS, forward your email addresses to any valid email address, redirect your domain to any other URL and more. Domain.com provides lots of domain name extensions and some of them are listed below with their prices.
To buy any domain name of your choice you must visit the Domain.com website.
Among the 5 best domain name registrar on the web is 123 Reg. 123 Reg is the largest UK domain registrar managing more than 3 million domains. Every domain you register with 123 Reg comes with a free website and unlimited free email forwarding. With 123 Reg, you can use DNS and web forwarding to point your web address to any website or even your facebook page. You can even easily transfer your existing domain name to 123 Reg.
To purchase any domain name of your choice you must visit the 123 Reg website.
http://www.bestdomainregistrar.ga is a website that contains top rated domain registrars providing domain names at affordable prices. These domain registrars have been tested and trusted by thousands of webmasters and customers worldwide. All the domain name registration companies listed here offers hundreds of domain name extensions so you are guaranteed to find the domain extension of your choice.
We are a top review site that receives compensation from the companies whose products we review . Should you purchase a product that has been reviewed by us , it is clear that we shall receive compensation from that company . We have tested and reviewed the domain name registration sites ranked here . We are independently owned and the reviews that we have provided here are base on our honest opinion.
Listed below are lots of interesting tips relavant to domain names. These tips will enable you learn how to purchase bulk domain names, how to make profit buying and selling domain names, how to get traffic with expired domain names.
You will also learn how to choose a good domain name for your website or business, how to transfer your domain name to another domain name registrar, domain name email forwarding secrets, the best way to renew your domain name and lots more.
Domain Name Free Services – Where To Get Them!
Translation Of A Domain Name To Ip Address… Explained.
Domain Names: Still Paying Too Much?
Expired Domain Name – What's It All About?
Dreaming to sell your domain for millions?
Get A Domain Name – But What Kind?
Buy/Sell Domain Names! Is it Profitable?


text:
var db = require('./spec_helper').db,
    // cradle = require('cradle'),
    Model = require('../lib/index');

describe("Loading model with referenced models", function () {
  before(function (done) {

    var Author = Model.define('Author', {
      name: String,
        surname: String
    });

    var Book = Model.define('Book', {
      title: String,
        author: {has_one: Author}
    });

    Model.load(function () {

      var book = Book.create({title: "Chasm City", author: Author.create({name: "Alastair", surname: "Reynolds"})});

      book.save(function () {
          done();
      });
    });

  })

  it("Should load embedded document", function (done) {
    var Book = Model('Book');
    Book.where("title", "Chasm City", function (err, books) {
      var book = books[0];
      book.author.name.should.equal("Alastair");
      book.author.surname.should.equal("Reynolds");
      done();

    });

  });

});


text:
Why is Czech Republic now called Czechia?
Why is Czech not called Bohemia?
What is Czechoslovakia called today?
What are the two main ethnic group of Czechoslovakia?
What race are bohemians?
The name Bohemia was rejected because it explicitly excluded Moravia and Czech Silesia in the east of the country. … "Czechia makes some sense historically but the common people will call it the Czech Republic," she said. "You cannot change a language by law; it's like a living organism.
Against the wishes of many of its 15 million citizens, Czechoslovakia today split into two countries: Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
Czechoslovakia was founded by two different ethnic groups, the Czechs and the Slovaks in the aftermath of World War I.
Bohemians are the people native to, or who inhabit Bohemia, the western region of the Czech Republic. In general terms Bohemian is also used to refer to all the Czech people. The country's capitol, Prague, is located in this region.
IT IS IMPORTANT: Where do Czech glass beads come from?


text:
GoGuardian Extends AI-Powered Technology to New Cloud-Based Network Filter for End-to-End Optimization of K-12 Learning Environments
Industry Leader Offers Sneak Preview into First-Ever Comprehensive Cloud Solution to Secure Smartphones and BYOD
LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--GoGuardian, a leading software provider for K-12 schools, today announced the first AI-powered Cloud Filtering solution for all devices. Understanding that safety is administrators' primary concern, GoGuardian is expanding its proven advanced intelligence platform to all devices on school networks — including cell phones and BYOD (bring your own device) programs used by students, teachers, and guests. Designed with K-12 educators, this integrated cloud solution will be the most cost-effective, secure platform in the market — easily blocking inappropriate content and ensuring safe learning environments across entire districts.
"Almost all schools have a network-level filter to cover their guest network, teacher computers, computer labs, etc.," said Advait Shinde, co-founder and CEO of GoGuardian. "However, we know from our conversations with school administrators that an acute pain point yet to be solved is an effective networking filtering solution that offers students safe internet access from their own devices."
The new GoGuardian cloud-filtering product — available for the 2019-20 school year — allows schools to avoid expensive, recurring hardware expenses and pervasive maintenance overhead. This addresses school concerns that hardware-based solutions lack the versatility and flexibility of SaaS products that can upgrade instantly when new technologies are developed to outpace evolving threats. GoGuardian's solutions are designed to protect school networks at the highest level, by being configured to block attempts to circumnavigate filtering parameters via VPNs and proxy servers. At the same time, the company's products are easy and cost-effective to deploy across entire districts, making GoGuardian's platform the most technically advanced and scalable solution available.
GoGuardian's sophisticated online filtering tools and integrated platform help educators identify learning patterns, protect students from harmful and distracting content, and support students who are at risk of self-harm. Going forward, this superior level of protection will be enhanced with proprietary optical technology that will take GoGuardian's capabilities even further through enhanced image analysis software.
"The threats to school networks are as active as the threats we face in the wider world," said Tyler Shaddix, Chief Product Officer of GoGuardian. "Legacy solutions that have not been developed in this new cloud era will never be able to compete because they cannot evolve quickly enough to provide the reliable level of dynamic online filtering that schools need. We invest heavily in R&D, pushing the envelope of product innovation because we understand that our number one priority is to constantly develop new technologies that outsmart attempts to put students at risk."
About GoGuardian
GoGuardian has changed the way K-12 schools maximize the learning potential of every student. Its products help educators identify learning patterns, protect students from harmful and distracting content, and support students who are at risk of self-harm. With GoGuardian, educators can seamlessly connect students with engaging resources and communication. No other platform provides such actionable insight into student needs, which is why GoGuardian is the fastest-growing education company in the United States.
Learn more about GoGuardian's industry-defining analytics, student engagement, and self-harm prevention products at www.goguardian.com.
Rebecca Sadwick Shaddix
becca@goguardian.com
#edtechchat
#edtech
#cloudbased
#filtering
#digitallearning
#network
#edchat
#networkfilter
#k12
#growth
https://twitter.com/goguardian
https://www.facebook.com/goguardian/


text:
Greek Mythology / Myths / Creatures / Talos
Talos at a Glance
Talos was a giant bronze man who guarded the island of Crete by throwing stones at the ships of unwanted visitors. He was most probably created by Hephaestus and given to either Minos or Europa as a gift. Talos' only weakness was his ankle, where the single vein containing all of his life-fluid (ichor, the blood of the gods) was sealed with a thin membrane of skin or a bronze nail. Medea exploited this weakness and killed Talos by bewitching him to graze his ankle on a sharp rock.
The Nature of Talos
There are two conflicting stories as to the origin of Talos.
An Automaton Cast by Hephaestus
It's only natural that the most common one links Talos with Hephaestus. After all, the celestial artificer was famed for his automata, and Talos, a single-veined giant made of bronze, certainly looks like one. In this case, poets say that Talos was a gift from Hephaestus to Minos, constructed by the former to help the first king of Crete guard the island from invaders.
The Last of the Brazen Men
However, it may be that Talos wasn't created by Hephaestus and that he was, in fact, the very last of the great men who had once sprung by themselves from ash-trees, i.e., the only remaining survivor of the Brazen Race, the third of the five ages of man. As such, he was presented to Europa by Zeus as a token of his love for her.
Some say that Talos wasn't a man at all and that he was, in fact, fashioned as either a bronze bull or a man with a bull's head.
Either way, his body had a single vein, which ran all the way from his neck to his ankle, sealed there with either a bronze nail or a thin membrane of skin.
Through this vein, all of Talos' life-fluid, ichor – the blood of the gods – ran, making the giant vulnerable the same way Achilles was: for all of his frame of bronze, and all of his strength and might, he faced certain death if one merely punctured his ankle.
Medea and the Death of Talos
Talos' task was relatively simple: to run around Crete three times a day and repel unwelcomed visitors by either hurling huge stones at their ships or by heating himself red hot and then enfolding them in a fiery embrace.
As Jason and the Argonauts approached the shores of Crete, Talos noticed their ship and tried warding it off in his usual, ever effective manner. And who knows – he might have been successful yet again, had Medea not traveled on the Argo as well!
Fearless, she mounted on the deck of the ship, and after invoking the Death-spirits (the Keres) several times, she bewitched the eyes of Talos in such a manner that the bronze man was unable to see before him a sharp crag on which he, subsequently, grazed his ankle. The ichor gushed forth like melted lead, and Talos fell on the ground with the mighty thud of a huge pine.
Others say that Medea was even more courageous, climbing down from the Argo and bravely walking toward the bronze giant. Once near him, she tricked Talos by either promising him immortality or giving him some of her herbs, after which she quickly pulled out the bronze nail beneath the sinew by his ankle.
Yet a third group claims that Medea had nothing to do with Talos' death and that the guardian of Crete was actually killed when Poeas, an Argonaut and a brilliant archer, shot Talos dead in the ankle.
Read the most famous account of the story of Talos in the fourth book of Apollonius' epic poem "Argonautica" (it's near the end of the book). For a summary of all versions not unlike ours, check Apollodorus' "Library."
See Also: Europa, Hephaestus, Minos, Jason, Medea
Talos: GreekMythology.com - Jul 16, 2019
Link will appear as Talos: GreekMythology.com - Jul 16, 2019


What should pain therapy consist of?
The first results of a recently carried out model project by the German Ministry of Health: "To improve the lot of patients suffering from pain" indicated that the therapy used during the outpatient treatment for patients with chronic back pain had, in general, only little effect. According to the study, too few of the patients received adequate pain therapy. The results of an analysis of 379 patients who underwent the pain therapy treatment over a one-year period as an outpatient showed that only 280 patients had considerable pain reduction, namely a reduction in value according to the pain scale (VAS) of 50% or more.
Today, back pain accounts for by far the largest amount of pain therapy reports which are of concern to most people. However, many people also suffer pain in the extremities. This could be darting, burning, tingling or throbbing pain which may reach into the neck or back. Often hands and feet go to sleep. Also neck pains resulting in tension headaches are often present. The Hamburg surgeon Omar-Pasha knows that, "It is not uncommon for these patients to have an odyssey of tales of unsuccessfully going from one doctor to another to be given such diagnoses as "tennis elbow", "neck pain" or "lumbar" pain. The problems these patients suffer from are frequently caused by trapped, irritated or compressed arm and leg nerves.
Pain which one feels is a reaction to signals that damage is being done to the body. These signals come from the source of the pain and travel along the spinal chord into the brain where the signal will finally be perceived as pain. This means: Pain can be controlled in as much that the signals can be hindered to prevent them from reaching the brain. The pain channels can be influenced by various measures to the spinal chord nerve fibres before they reach the brain. However, with many patients the actual cause of the pain is often no longer present. These patients slip through the net of the clinical diagnostic network of nerve measurements or other technical investigations which many doctors rely too much on.
Omar Omar-Pasha says, "However, more that 10% of those affected, despite pain and clearly visible illness, have normal conductivity measurements. Today's computer tests have become so accurate, in a dubious sense, that they can display changes about virtually every patient above a certain age without the person actually having any obvious signs of illness. The situation is also aggravated in some patients who often have other illnesses present at the same time. In particular, vertebrae illnesses can increase the susceptibility of peripheral nerves.
Besides the actual test results, the experience of the doctor is important for the diagnosis. Where the problem actually lies is frequently found from the illness history and tracing the symptoms rather than from x-rays and expensive neurological diagnostic procedures.
"Peripheral nerve damage, for example, can be treated with very good results following a successful diagnosis - however the doctor must first think carefully about the problem", says Omar-Pasha, who frequently deals with such patients. In simple cases, relieving pressure and padding the damaged nerves can bring alleviation. Frequently nerves must be operated on to release entrapment. In most cases relief then occurs immediately. In very stubborn cases patients can be treated with an electrode connected to an electrical spinal chord stimulator.
In principle this is a "pain pacemaker" whose electrical pulse intensity is controlled by the patient and can be adjusted as needed. In an ideal case the pain signals will seem to be neutralised.
First of all, a stimulation test phase is carried out lasting about a week, after which the control unit is implanted under the skin. In Germany, peripheral nerve stimulation using an electrode placed over the nerve has rarely been carried out, even though it is well known in the USA, where it has become so successful that it is bordering on a miracle, even with patients previously thought beyond treatment.
Many doctors are today of the view that palliative therapy must be given space in German medicine alongside standard medicinal practice. This applies particularly to patients in severe pain whose doctors should not feel that they have to hold back from administering pain killing drugs. Also, the implantation of a morphium pump should be taken into consideration if all other methods show no adequate effect. "A useful pain reducing therapy should not be refused due to the need for a lengthy official authorisation process to take place", explains Omar-Pasha.
In most cases the Health Insurance Services will pay for treatment.
Most treatments will be paid for by the health insurance services if the treatment can be shown to be necessary. Difficulties may arise in isolated cases with individual health service providers where it may be necessary to make a convincing argument, but they will invariably pay in the end.
It is significant that today nearly all operations can be carried out in outpatient clinics. Not only does this reduce costs, it also means that patients recover quicker when not taken from their own home surroundings. One should not simply put up with chronic pain under any circumstances.
The old saying, "one has to live with it," should not be uttered by a professional doctor today.
"People say so lightly these days that ones spine is to blame for all their pain" Omar-Pasha continues: "There are many ways of giving treatment and just about every form of pain can be treated today." Naturally that is not so simple for the patient or for the doctor. An optimal pain therapy should be done in stages until the patient is free of pain and can return to daily routines without any substantial reduction in their quality of life.
"Pain can be controlled by preventing the signals from reaching the brain." "There are many methods of treatment, and any kind of pain can be treated today." Source (german article): Orthopress, Jahrgang 5, Großraum Hamburg, Ausgabe 1/02, Seite: 5 - 6.


Deconstructor of Fun breaks down successful free-to-play games in search of what makes them fun - or not. All of the contributors to this site are both gamers and game makers.
A keen gamer since Prince of Persia - Tom has been focused on mobile experience since the 3G. He's helped publish, design or produce over 150 mobile products and loves growing games into smash hits. He writes and consults over at mobilefreetoplay.com and DJ's in dark nightclubs when they let him out!
Mobile gaming has shifted, again. The hypercasual genre has begun to dominate the free app charts. In 2017 Ketchapp (now owned by Ubisoft) started a revolution of simplicity in game design with mobile titles such as Tower or Ballz. The games focused on clear visuals and simple mechanics and very light progression systems. Most importantly, these games removed IAP as the core monetization and replaced it with advertising revenue. The games were so simple and casual that anyone could understand them in under 10 seconds. Since then, there has been a proliferation of publishers, studios, and solo indie developers each working on similar casual titles. Today the so-called hyper-casual market is highly competitive, but there is a clear king of the app store, Voodoo, which recently received $200 million from Goldman Sachs to solidify their place on the throne.
Of all the genres of games released on the app store, no other genre commands the pure number of downloads that hyper-casual games do. The simplicity of the gameplay, coupled with the speed of gamers learning and mastering the challenge creates a voracious need to download the next new idea, older games are quickly discarded or deleted. This has not escaped the notice of many game developers with hundreds of studios trying to build the next mega hit. However, Voodoo has truly mastered both the sourcing and promotion of their titles making it tough for studios to compete. How has Voodoo dominated the hyper-casual space?
Voodoo doesn't care about the design of your game. As a publishing house, the majority of their releases can clearly be seen as "inspired by" reproductions of older games.
In each case, success is not down to the game mechanics or technical quality of the product, but Voodoo's ability to market games more effectively and reach a larger audience than those original games. Bad game design still won't make the cut, but an innovative game design is not as important as tried and tested successful mechanics.
This is very hard for the average game developer to swallow and it's hard to think that original game design is the least important aspect to Voodoo's success. What set's voodoo apart is their ability to work with a large number of talented studios each working on simple, tested, game designs, and then apply industry-leading marketing and growth practices to push games to the top of the App Store. Dictating which game design is the most popular is something the market decides, not something Voodoo strives to set.
Making rough approximations through tracking the releases of the majority of hyper-casual publishers on both Google Play and Apple App Store, Voodoo has released 7 new titles that reached top 300 in the US Free in the last 30 days. Most of the other publishers have released between 0 and 2. This is a phenomenal pace compared with classical studios or even publishers who might schedule 1 or 2 apps per month in order to give it the support needed. This highlights a fundamental shift in business practices.
Most developers' first start to iterate, test and soft launch titles in cheaper CPI countries such as the Philippines or New Zealand. Based on the feedback they got back from players, designers and developers optimize and iterate the first-time-user-flows (FTUE) or monetization balance to slowly improve the LTV and retention. When a studio is confident in their polished products, they would approach Apple and Google to showcase their app and hope for a feature. At the same time, they might allocate a large marketing budget and test multiple ad variants in order to be confident in having the largest splash possible. This is too slow for hyper-casual and it is not the way Voodoo approach app releases.
Voodoo may have 100-200 development studios each working frantically on new game designs. In each case, the focus is the core gameplay. The meta and even the advertising is left out for the initial soft launch release. Core loops are then tested without fanfare into key territories such as the US or China in order to see if there are good responses to the mechanic. Voodoo released a simple guide for their gameplay style (Snackable, Youtubable, Straightforward, Not punitive, Innovative) which clearly restricts multiple game designs from the table.
Games are then measured on a brutally tough scale. Each game needs 50%+ D1 retention to even make the cut. This creates a very competitive environment where stats and data become the key to becoming picked up by these top publishers. As a developer you want to know that your game can actually reach a large audience, this is where Voodoo has developed a lot of skills.
In a system where CPIs are low, games can grow fast. If you're able to spend $1 and make $1.50 back then you should just keep spending more money and grow faster. This relationship is often quoted as LTV > CPI (check out the free-to-play bible on Mobile Free-to-Play blog for details).
Different genres of free to play mobile games have different monetization profiles and can roughly be categorized by their mechanics or via their audience. Games with the highest monetization profiles (i.e Casino and Strategy games) are able to spend $50+ per user because the LTV of their titles is very high. However, their audience is usually quite much smaller.
IAP based monetization models focus on generating the most revenue per user but in doing so their audience becomes harder to find. Hypercasual as a genre works so well because they can lower the CPI to incredibly low levels through clear advertising creative and data-driven programmatic marketing. However, without clear IAPs or items or gacha systems, the model relies on users watching and engaging with advertising. Getting the balance between a very low CPI while maximizing the Advertising yield is where the profit is.
As a developer, you must tread a fine line between showing as many ads as possible (that result in an install) while not breaking the user's enjoyment of the game. Getting the right ads presented at the right time results in much higher eCPMs.
Because of this, many genres of game perform better than others simply because they create natural breaks in the gameplay where an ad can be shown without disturbing a users playtime. The better the app is at retaining players through its core loop the more opportunities there are to show ads and therefore the higher the LTV. But this isn't the only piece of the puzzle. You must show the highest performing ad to the right user in order to efficiently display ads that will result in installs.
Voodoo is in a better position to maximize this than other studios. Due to their immense size and scale, they have more relationships at better rates than your average development studio. This means the ads they show are more likely to result in higher-paying installs, increasing the LTV further. The mobile ad networks are ruthless and competitive: everyone wants to work with the largest player. When considering the Hypercasual segment as a business strategy you must take the business development time into account.
For larger businesses, opportunities must provide enough profit for them to seem interesting. I would say that any game that can drive $10,000 a day in gross revenue is enough to support a smaller gaming studio. Many studios don't think about making games in terms of gross profit and they often neglect to think about the number of users necessary in order to make that magic $10,000 per day.
Hypercasual games tend to make lower revenue per DAU. A typical game will be anywhere between $0.01-0.10. Along with their large network of titles Voodoo also has a large volume of data on who their most active players are. Using in-game events to look into player actions, helps you to know clearly which players are playing your games the most. The larger the Voodoo game network becomes the more refined the company can segment or target individual players with effective marketing messages.
As they expand into new genres and different players engage, further refinements in their voice or creative might work better for individual game types. By doing hyper-specific segmentation you can get lower CPIs and more ad views.
What becomes hard for developers is to perform this correctly and at scale. This requires a team of people to analyze, review, create and then execute effective marketing. Voodoo has learned how to do this very well.
The biggest mistake most game developers make when attempting to attack the hyper-casual gaming market is to think they can innovate through game design. Voodoo has proven that innovation in game mechanics is not as important as cheap and effective marketing. Their pace of release and the scale of their network is growing all the time allowing them to learn and understand their users more and more. To have a viable shot at competing you must be prepared to invest heavily in a strong data warehouse, a talented marketing team and use metrics and data to decide which games have the strongest business case.
Even though this seems like an impossible task, strong-willed and talented studios can carve out their own niche. Find a mechanic that you know well and has strong retention metrics, then work on expanding or perfecting the metagame. Be careful to keep the mechanics pure and simple or you will lose what makes hypercasual special. You must also be ruthless with your game designs and drop anything that doesn't make the cut, be quick, be bold and follow the low CPIs. Studios like Playgendary, Lion and Super TapX show that it can be done.
Brawl Stars - can Supercell do it again?


It's no secret that my husband is a meat lover. When I cook a meal, the sides are merely a reliable method of filling up any open spaces that might just happen be left on the plate once the dead carcass has been skinned, prepped, cooked and dropped in front of him for consumption. So as you can imagine, when Masterbuilt contacted me and asked if I wanted to review one of their electronic meat smokers, he practically wrote the reply for me.


text:
Dongondoutchi ("High Hill", also nicknamed Doutchi) is a commune in Niger. It is located about 300 km east of the capital Niamey and 40 km from the Nigerian border. It lies on national route 1 which links the capital to the towns of Maradi and Zinder to the east and the RN25 heading to north to Tahoua, Agadez and Arlit.

The limits of the Dogondoutchi district are roughly those of the ancient region of the Arewa. Since 2008, Dogondoutchi is the administrative centre of the surrounding Dogondoutchi department which carries the same name. It is part of the Dosso Region. The population is near 80,000 distributed over the urban centre with near 30,000, 17 villages lying 5 to 30 km from the centre and 5 Fula tribes.

Geography and geology

Site of Dogondoutchi
The town of Dogondoutchi is dominated to the north by the imposing hill from which it derives its name and it lies along an intermittent river, the Mawri Dallol. It is situated in the southeast of Niger between the Sahel to the north and the edge of the savanna zone to the south.

The region is marked by wide valleys (Dallols) which are generally dry and which, in the rainy season, drain a vast area extending from high areas of the Aïr and the Adrar de Iforas in the north to the River Niger in the south. In this sedimentary basin there are extensive sand and clay deposits, the most recent dating from the Tertiary and Quaternary periods. As a result of a later drier climate during the Quaternary period, they hardened to form impermeable lateritic plateaus worn down to form a multitude of short ravines (koris) through which the rain water reaches the Mawri Dallol.

Rainfall, drought and the struggle against erosion
The annual rainfall in Dogondoutchi varies from 400 to 600 mm, roughly equivalent to that of the Mediterranean region in France but it takes place only between June and October and there is never any rain from October to May. The rainfall may be very intense – 50, to 150 mm a day, which leads to flash floods causing structural damage to the dry clay (so-called banco) houses along the koris and carrying off arable soil. The water is rapidly absorbed into the underground water layers or it reaches ponds which either dry out after the end of the rainy season or remain semi permanent (for example the Tapkin Saw close to the town). Following the catastrophic floods of 2002 the inhabitants, in association with international aide and the United Nations "Food For Work" Programme, constructed five kilometres of dykes which now protect the town. The experience gained during this operation has served in other parts of Niger and in Mali thanks to the Niger NGO "RAIL"

Access to drinking water
The surface water (temporary ponds) around Dogondoutchi is of use for animals but is not fit for human consumption. There exists however, a deep water layer but its use poses some problems: the local terrain made up of sand or gravel needs to be blocked up and the depth of the well (25 to 75m) requires the use of much energy to raise the water. This is provided by direct manpower (or more often womanpower) and by the use of animals. To surmount these problems, the local authorities mandated an agency from Niger which proposed a programme of rehabilitation and construction of around a hundred wells across the local area as well as the training of local maintenance staff. This programme, to be completed in 2016 has been financed through international co-operation and local funding.

Population

The population is estimated to be near 80 000 (2011) with around 30 000 in the urban centre (previous figures near 57 000 in 2008 and near 7300 in 1966). The population is spread over 11 town districts, 17 villages lying 5 to 30 km from the centre and 5 Fula tribes. The ethnic groups are by order of numerical importance, the Hausa, the Fula, the Tuareg and the Djerma. Dogondoutchi is the common western border of the Hausa population, who form a majority of the population in an arc stretching from this area towards the east (Zinder). The Djerma who form the majority of the sedentary population of Niger are mostly settled towards the west whereas Dongondoutchi is the southern limit for the Fula who are pastoralists with semi-nomadic villages. Dogondoutchi marks the rough boundary between the Wodaabe (Central-Eastern Niger) Fula people and the Dallol and Bitinkoore Fulfulde dialect speaking Fula people of the west. Some of the older members of the Fula are settled. The Hausa and the Djerma are settled farmers mostly cultivating pearl millet and cowpea (small bean). The Tuareg initially from the north are also settled but continue to raise cattle in the traditional manner. Some also grow crops or are involved in commerce.

Administration
The town is administrated by the town council, which since the reforms of 2004, is elected. However, as is the case throughout Niger, the traditional chieftainship represented by a chief called "Kona" in association with the chiefs of the neighbourhoods and of the canton continue to raise taxes and also stimulate public awareness concerning the development of the town.

History
Dogondoutchi is known as the cultural centre of the Arewa region which roughly corresponds to the birthplace of the Mawari a subgroup of the Hausa. The history of Dogondoutchi is essentially that of the old region of the Arewa. In the 19th century, Queen Saraounia who lived at Lougou initially resisted the Tuareg invasion and opposed the 1899 colonial offensive by the Voulet-Chanoine mission (Battle of Lougou). After much destruction and the massacre of many, a French military post was set up at Dogondoutchi which was the site of a village of the Kwanawa surrounded by other villages that later gave rise to the different neighbourhoods of the town. The site of Dogondoutchi at the centre of the Arewa then favoured the installation and development of an administrative centre.

Religion
The dominant religion (90%) in Dogondoutchi is Islam as it is in for Niger as a whole and there are many mosques. The Maouris around Dogondoutchi are the last surviving animists amongst the Hausa. The town is also a centre for gatherings of the Bori spirit possession ritual which has been studied by western anthropologists. The town also houses Catholic and Protestant missions.

Public health

Hospitals and medical care
The health facilities in Dogondoutchi (2015) comprise a district hospital, a mother and child centre, three integrated health centres and seven health units relating to the neighbouring villages. There are 3 doctors, 14 nurses (male and female), 6 qualified midwives, 4 "matrons", 4 pharmacies and 2 pharmacy depots. Most of the births take place in a health centre and this has had a beneficial impact on the mother and child survival rate. The existence of the lakes leads to the proliferation of mosquitoes related with malaria.

Sanitation
To improve hygiene, the inhabitants have set up a Central Health Committee which has stimulated progress concerning the construction of latrines together with education in hygiene, and the organisation of refuse collection.

Installation of latrines
The programme for the construction of latrines and of waste water catch basins for individual houses was financed through loans obtained from a micro loan agency which was set up by a local woman group for this purpose. Since the end of the 1990s, more than 600 individual latrines have been built. In addition, latrines have been installed in schools and in public places with some also comprising showers. The success of this enterprise of family financing is unique in Africa (FARM report page 20). In the villages lying away from the town where the standard of living is lower, family latrines corresponding to the available individual funding have been constructed by the inhabitants themselves. Prior to this, a programme initiated by USAID was set up to raise awareness concerning hygiene following the CLTS method(Community-Led Total Sanitation). Meetings were held in each of the villages and were supported by the local radio station (Radio Dallol).

Refuse collection
Confronted with the problems linked with the irregular collection of waste and with their dispersion by domestic animals, the Central Sanitation Committee and the Neighborhood Councils with the help of the international agencies (Department of Essonne, AESN, SIOM) installed 20 waste containers in each neighbourhood and organised the collection of waste. A carter empties the containers two or three times a week using an ox and cart provided by the town council. The ox is initially supplied to the carter who ensures its upkeep and is able to purchase it after about 18 months activity. In the zones of economic activity, markets etc., each participating tradesman has (in 2015) the use of two garbage cans, one for biodegradable waste and one for plastics etc. The waste is either emptied in a garbage dump or bought and recycled by the inhabitants. A joint committee has been set up to monitor this programme and to address the severe problem posed by plastic waste which at present is burnt.

Education and cultural activities

Schools
Ten different languages are in daily use in Niger and at least four are in use in Dogondoutchi.The official language is however French. The children follow an initiation in French from the first year in primary school which lasts 6 years. From the fourth year in primary school and during all of the secondary school, teaching is only in French. There are (in 2015) 67 primary schools, including 1 Franco-Arabic, with a total of 299 classes and 36 959 pupils – 17 597 girls, 19 362 boys (numbers provided by the local school inspectors in 2015).  There are 7 secondary colleges (4 public including 1 Franco Arabic, 3 private including 1 Franco-Arabic) and 6 high schools (3 public including 1 general education, 1 technical, 1 Franco-Arabic and 3 private including 1 Franco-Arabic). The total enrolment in the secondary schools is 20 173 (11 918 boys, 8 255 girls).

The proportion of girls in primary education is almost the same as that of the boys whereas at the secondary level the proportion of girls is lower. The percentage of children in full-time education (nearly 100%) is much higher than that in Niger as a whole (girls 63.9%, boys 81.9%, total 72.9%,). The general education high school is attended by 1049 pupils and there are 20 classes of from 40 to 80 students. In addition 2995 children attend nursery and infant schools. These play an important role in preparing the children for primary school where they will learn French. Many problems remain in the school system concerning, for example, the training of teachers and the supply of school equipment. At the primary level, notebooks and pens are now provided .by the State.

Cultural activities
Dogondoutchi has a youth and culture centre and two cultural centres. The oldest is the Waye-Kaï Center set up by the Catholic Mission and open to all. The library there was for a long time the only one in the town. The school at the mission established in 1947 by the Rédemptoristes Fathers, has helped train many of the elite of Niger of all religions. The CREED (Educational Resource and Exchange in Dogondoutchi) opened in 2011 close to the high school and to one of the junior colleges. The centre was initially destined for pupils and teachers but it is now open to all. In particular it offers an initiation in computing. It is supported by the State Department of Education through the provision of staff for the library, for the training in information technology and in maintenance. To encourage literacy and to help with the learning of French, a number of containers each with a hundred or so African books for children funded by the twinned town of Orsay (France) have been distributed in the schools. The books may be borrowed by the children for their own pleasure or for that of the other members of the family. Finally, there are 15 very animated centres dedicated to reading and writing.

Economy

Agriculture
The agricultural production is strongly dependent on the climate which is that of the Sahel (see 1.1). To increase the amount of arable land and to limit erosion a system of stone rows has been set up. These complement the dykes that were installed around the town (see 1.2). Growth in the fields is only possible during the rainy season (June – October). After, the production continues to March–April on areas around the temporary ponds until they dry up.

Traditional and developing open field agriculture
The traditional crops are pearl millet (a small grain cereal) and cowpea (a small bean). The output is low (200 to 300 kg/ha for millet) since the sandy soil is poor in clay and in organic matter. The seed company Ahleri was establishment in Dogondoutchi in 2008 by agronomists from Niger who were trained in Nigeria. This gave rise to a local initiative which was further supported by international funding that increased both agricultural output and revenue. It was proposed that each farmer reserve part of his land (roughly 1 hectare) for the use of improved seeds together with micro-doses of fertiliser. In 2013, 170 farmers from 5 villages were involved with a total area of 230 hectares. Over a three-year period when the rainfall was at a reasonable level, this method led to a 70% increase of production compared to that obtained in the nearby traditionally cultivated field. The farmers who followed this programme often increased their sales turnover by more than 50%. This procedure was also tested during the drought of 2011 when it also helped to foster mutual support within the community. Several factors are necessary to obtain this result. 1) improved agricultural methods, 2) the availability of micro-credits which may be repaid not just after the harvest when the prices are low but later when the market price reaches a reasonable level, 3) the availability of storage facilities during this time, 4) the organisation of mutual aid between the farmers at the level of each village. The increase in the level of cereal production has led to an increase in the amount raised through local taxes.

Market gardening
The areas concerned occupy about 20 hectares, mostly around the Tapkin Saw lake 1 to 2 km north west of the urban centre and around the village of Liguido. Traditionally they chiefly produce green vegetables but after the severe drought of 2005, it was suggested that the farmers around the Tapkin Saw diversify their production notably by growing more energy providing crops such as the potato. To this end the association "Agro Sans Frontières" from Brittany provided the potato seeds without charge and this led to the organisation of a profitable commercial activity. The drought of 2011 stimulated a programme to extend the area that could be cultivated. A technical and hydrological study led to the project for an irrigation system, derived from the deep wells, which covers 80 hectares and which functions throughout the year. Attempts are underway to obtain the financing for an initial area of 33 hectares.

Cattle and goats
The raising of cattle and goats is usually carried out by the nomadic Fula population, who after the harvest, move southwards to make use of the grazing left in the fields. The rules concerning the access to the fields are controlled by the traditional chief (Kona). Each family possesses some farmyard animals such as guinea fowl and they also fatten veal before sale.

Crafts and businesses
A number of the traditional crafts are present in the urban centre (carpentry, iron work). In 2005, a local artisan developed a system of extraction from the wells which limits the contamination of the well by using two separated systems of ropes, one inside the well and one outside. This system has been adopted for all of the wells built or renovated through the programme supported by international aid (AESN). A technical training centre and a technical high school have been established locally to develop skills related to the installation and upkeep of the various technical facilities (irrigation, sinking of wells, water distribution, auto mechanics, etc.).

Commerce
Dogondoutchi is situated at the junction of routes to the north, to Nigeria, to the east and to the west (Niamey). It possesses a hotel and many restaurants and it is a centre of commerce both for food and clothing. The bustling Friday market offers a wide selection of local products (cereals and vegetables) and it also comprises a cattle market.

References

Further reading
 Samuel Decalo. Historical Dictionary of Niger (3rd ed.). Scarecrow Press, Boston & Folkestone, (1997)
 Finn Fuglestad. A History of Niger: 1850–1960. Cambridge University Press (1983)
 Jolijn Geels. Niger. Bradt UK/ Globe Pequot Press USA (2006)
 Jean-Michel Guillon, Bernard Hernandez. Dogondoutchi, petit centre urbain du Niger.  Revue de géographie alpine. Volume 56, Issue 56-2, (1968) pp. 297–358.
 Adeline Masquelier, Witchcraft, Blood-Sucking Spirits, and the Demonization of Islam in Dogondoutchi, Niger, Cahiers d'études africaines, 189–190, 2008
 Adeline Masquelier. Prayer Has Spoiled Everything: Possession, Power and Identity in an Islamic Town of Niger. Duke University Press, (2001)
 Adeline Masquelier. Behind the Dispensary's Prosperous Facade: Imagining the State in Rural Niger. Public Culture – Volume 13, Number 2, Spring 2001, pp. 267–291
 Adeline Masquelier. Lightning, Death and the Avenging Spirits: "Bori" Values in a Muslim World. Journal of Religion in Africa, Vol. 24, Fasc. 1 (Feb. 1994), pp. 2–51

External links

 Photo and satellite map of Dogon Doutchi Mountain.

Communes of Niger
Dosso Region

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Dec 18 Government Transparency Ain't All It's Cracked Up To Be -- Yet
Politics, Strategy, Transparency, eGovernment
By Dennis D. McDonald, Ph.D.
Don't get me wrong. I'm all for "open government." But there are problems inherent to real-world democracy that can't be automatically solved by making the workings of government more visible to the public.
This is especially true about the reporting by government of data collected from large and complex populations of people and organizations. (I wrote about one example last February in Challenges Facing Recovery.gov and the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board.)
Why doesn't "transparency" around large complex programs automatically succeed? There are several explanations:
People make mistakes. Building complex databases from hundreds, thousands, or even millions of different sources is bound to introduce unintended error somewhere along the way. Quality control efforts are essential but must be implemented throughout the process from data collection through final reporting and access. All that quality control takes planning, time, and money. The resulting data sets are bound to contain errors. People can pounce on these errors to cast doubt on the entire effort.
Source data can be sabotaged. Many open government efforts depend on widespread public participation, even volunteer effort. If someone wants to make a system look bad, source data can be withheld, selectively reported, or even incorrectly reported. Then when reporting time rolls around those same errors can be pointed out as "evidence" that the overall system is untrustworthy. Has this happened? I don't know. But when you look at the complexity that surrounds some reporting efforts you realize how easy it would be to throw a "monkey wrench" into the works.
Facts aren't sufficient. Even if the system gathers data flawlessly from a myriad of local sources, builds a comprehensive database with squeaky-clean reliability, and makes the contents of the database easily accessible in detailed and summary form, those who don't support the underlying assumptions behind the data will never be convinced of (or admit to) the facts the data are intended to document. That's just politics as usual.
Communication can be restricted. Governments of all shapes and sizes are good at figuring out ways to keep facts away from public scrutiny. While we might all agree in principle that certain national security data needs to be kept away from prying eyes, the fact is that government bureaucracies are well-practiced in burying unpleasant, embarrassing, or inconvenient facts, even in the face of public pressure for openness.
Still, I'm a firm believer that democracy functions best when the inner workings of government are visible. But creating and taking advantage of that visibility is not a simple task. Creating and maintaining reliable sources of data requires time, money, and expertise.
More importantly, people need to be able to gain access to and understand what the data are all about. One problem is, as the complexity of that data increases, the expertise required to understand and interpret that data also increases. Consequently the need for such expertise increases the likelihood for politics to flavor how the facts are interpreted.
What's the solution? More transparency, it's obvious to me, is one answer; this current Administration is certainly behind this when compared with previous Administrations. But that's not all. Vivek Kundra lists the following list of complex elements in Changing the Way Washington Works as he introduces the Federal CIO Council and OMB's Data.gov public dialog effort:
Focus on Access
Disaggregation of Data
Grow and Improve Through User Feedback
Program Responsibility
Rapid Integration
Embrace, Scale and Drive Best Practices
This is a long list that will require a LOT of work to implement. But it's a good start.
It isn't possible to reverse decades of secrecy, compartmentalizing, and data hoarding overnight. But I'm optimistic since, despite the costs of transparency, it's probably impossible to reverse the flow once the barriers start to fall.
Copyright (c) 2009 by Dennis D. McDonald. Contact Dennis at ddmcd@yahoo.com.
Dec 23 Social Media Engagement Tips: Study Your Target Communities First
Dec 1 An ERP and Manufacturing Software Timeline
Dec 2 Government Contract Award Announcements: The Soft Underbelly of "Government Transparency"
Apr 19 Just Measuring Government Performance Is Not Enough
Sep 4 Meetings and the Limits of Government Transparency


text:
About CRF
Declaring a Climate Emergency
Facing the unthinkable
Developing strategies to address the imminent threat of runaway climate change
The Climate restoration foundation
Summary Analysis of BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2015
Report available here
Fossil fuel consumption is increasing in all the developing regions of the world and outstripping reductions made by the developed world. It makes the prospect of climate change agreement at the December COP impossible to contemplate.
It is already well documented that the explosive increase in fossil fuel consumption across the developing world, in particular China, reflects the shift in manufacturing to these regions. This is especially so with products and services requiring steel and cement production which are unavoidably carbon intensive. This was initially reflected in exponentially expanding coal consumption. Now that Chinese coal consumption has levelled out, oil consumption is now expanding exponentially reflecting China's transition into its next phase of destructive growth.
Today's globalised economy interconnects national economies such that the wealth of one country is dependent on the wealth that others can create for it. In this environment prothletising about individual national successes in achieving carbon reductions is irrelevant. What is needed is far more profound efforts to jointly reduce emissions. This can only be done with joint sacrifices.
The growth of renewables is stalling. It is concerning that this is happening when it still constitutes such a small percentage (1.81%) of the total global fossil fuel energy production. It severely challenges the arguments that are being put forward at the COP conferences that renewable technologies will provide the key to a zero carbon economy.
There is no evidence to substantiate the claim that developing economies will take up new low carbon technologies in such a significant way that they will leap-frog the fossil fuel consumption stage of past industrialised economies.
Given the severe state of climate change as measured by the Arctic ice cap melting and atmospheric CO2 already exceeding 400ppm, these figures demonstrate that unless we radically change our approach we will be unable to avoid the total collapse of our ecosystem and our extinction.
This set of data brings the concept of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) that formed the basis of the Cold War into a new and more brutal focus. Unless we can all agree on an immediate and significant reduction in CO2 emissions along with restoration of our ecosystem and successful geo engineering, then MAD is our fate.


Our office welcomes your visit, Dr. Shervin Louie is consistently dedicated to being the best Hollywood dentist for you. We aim to create a high standard of dental care at our office in the most gentle and efficient conditions. Our office is equipped to be a relaxing and inviting experience for all patients.
Our comprehensive dental care services are provided in the convenience of our strategically located office. We work with the most recent technologies in cosmetic dental care and innovate on our own as well. We have been serving the communities around Los Angeles County for over 30 years. For information about dental care or if you require immediate care, our website is a worthy bookmark.
We not only aim to make the best level of care available, but our office is established to be efficient and convenient to access for patients. Dr. Louie and his staff happily welcome the job of treating your smile with the personal level of care you deserve.
To schedule an appointment, please call our office today.
Dr. Louie's expertise in veneers has helped numerous patients successfully reduce the effects of stains and discoloration.
Dental implants are the definitive restoration to treat missing teeth. It recovers your natural smile with optimum health and durability.
An in-office teeth whitening treatment can create an entirely new look for your smile. It is an efficient procedure that eliminates years of discoloration.
Revolutionary Invisalign aligners straighten your smile in a more comfortable and integrative manner than regular metal braces.
Dr. Shervin Louie and his team integrates family care with professional expertise to create a world class experience. Our office is equipped to treat smiles in the most inviting and results-oriented manner. The experience we provide is one for you and the family!
Call now for an appointment at (323) 461-9353 or submit a contact form from our website. We can help you with any additional concerns or questions you may have.
Wonderful service. Beautiful office And brand new supplies. And the staff were so sweet.
Absolutely AMAZING!! My girlfriend had her veneer, installed by another dentist, it suddenly pop off mid dinner. We called Dr. Shervin Louie and even though he had been working since 7AM he stayed open late while we rushed over.
Dr. Louie and his staff are fabulous!!! They handled this anxious patient with great kindness and care. Dr. Louie makes procedures that could be painful as painless and comfortable as possible.
The BEST! I felt very taken care of from the first time I stepped into the office less than a year ago. From great office personnel who figure out your insurance coverage for you to a recent courtesy telephone call from Dr. Louie the evening after he removed two old crowns for replacement.
"I have been to many dentists in my life but Dr. Louie.... Read More"
"At no time during the procedure did I feel any pain... Read More""