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Ghana's High Commissioner to S/Leone Bids Farewell To President Bio
The High Commissioner of the Republic of Ghana to Sierra Leone, Francis Abakah, has called at State House to bid farewell to His Excellency President Dr Julius Maada Bio, after four years of his tour of duty in the country.
He said it was a pleasure to serve his country in Sierra Leone, and thanked the government of President Bio for his consistent assistance in promoting peace and security in the sub-region.
High Commissioner Abakah further noted that during his stay in Sierra Leone, he saw enormous transformation, ranging from the introduction of the Free Quality School Education Programme, to major reforms in the legal system and the just concluded launch of the socioeconomic development programme for persons with disabilities. He added that those transformations were good for nation building.
"Thank you very much, Your Excellency, for making time to see me and my delegation. Ghana and Sierra Leone have enjoyed great diplomatic relations. We shall always continue to support each other," he maintained.
In a brief remark, His Excellency President Dr Julius Maada Bio thanked the outgoing Ghanaian High Commissioner, saying that the two countries had enjoyed sisterly relations in the region for a long time. He noted that "there was always a time to say hi and time to say goodbye".
"I want to wish you well in your new posting. I am happy that we have been able to live together. Thank you very much," he concluded.
Bar Association Awards Over 20 Eminent Legal Practitioners
Bar Association President receiving her own award from the Chief Justice
The Sierra Leone Bar Association on Friday, 10th December 2021 at the Country Lodge Hotel in Freetown during their Annual Dinner and first Awards Night awarded over 20 eminent Sierra Leonean legal practitioners for their dedicated service and outstanding reforms in the administration of justice.
President Bio, First Lady, Chief Justice and Wife on the High Table
The Guest of Honour was His Excellency President Dr Julius Maada Bio who presented an Honorary Award to the Country's Chief Justice, His Lordship Justice Desmond Babatunde Edwards in recognition of his innovative reforms in the Judiciary.
The Bar Association President, Madam Michaela Eddinia Swallow used the occasion to call on President Bio to ensuring the immediate review of the Sierra Leone 1991 Constitution.
"Let me also use this opportunity to state that the Sierra Leone Bar Association is concerned about the Constitutional Review Process and we hope that as a Reformer you will usher us a progressive Constitution," said President Swallow.
She saluted President Bio's bravery and courage in abolishing the Death Penalty. The Bar Association President went on to commend President Bio for the giant developmental strides undertaken so far.
"Mr. President, your legislative reform agenda which has manifested in the repeal of the seditious libel law, the proposed Gender Empowerment Bill and your support for a proposed Constitutional amendment to allow dual citizens to be qualified to be elected as Members of Parliament will serve as an inspiration for many of your colleagues in the sub-region," she said.
Whilst commending the Chief Justice for what she described as "impressive reforms in the Judiciary," President Swallow reminded the Chief Justice about the challenges lawyers are confronted with in Courts. She highlighted delayed judgments, long adjournment of cases and the absence of prescribed fees for execution of judgments.
"I am sure many judges here had once been practitioners and they are all too familiar with these challenges," Ms Swallow said.
She however assured the Chief Justice of their unwavering support to help address these challenges.
She finally encourages colleague lawyers to be united as, "where there is unity there is strength.
This year's Bar Association Dinner was climaxed with awards ceremony and the recipients included the Justices of the superior court of judicature, senior practitioners, pupils, staff members in the Judiciary and the Justice sector.
Marampa Mines Landowners Demand Removal of Community Relations Department
By Hassan Bruz
Lunsar Town in the Marampa Chiefdom will once again occupy the centre stage for the wrong reasons, if swift moves are not taken by the relevant authorities to unruffled the situation. This time around, the potential rumpus is bound to be far more destructive considering the categories of Persons involved.
The pending uprising will certainly affect the apparent smooth operations of the Marampa Mines in case the issue is not treated with the deserved seriousness. For those following the trend in the Marampa Chiefdom Headquarter Town of Lunsar, it is heart thudding to recall how the incident that led to the destruction of the Compound of Paramount Chief Bai Koblo Queen II and the subsequent attack on the Lunsar Police Station started in triviality. Little did People know it was going to result to such a huge damage of properties including some youthful' lives.
That incident had a spreading repercussion as some people were instantly relieved from their gainful employments whose Dependants are now struggling to eke a living.
Although that incident occurred a little over one year now and the Paramount Chief is almost back in Lunsar, yet the matter has not been thoroughly resolved as many more people are currently languishing at the Maximum Correctional Centre in Freetown. All of these zeroed to the fact that a 'stitch in time saves seven' which means the Incident could have been averted if swift measures were adopted in time.
It is proper to state that a similar situation is developing and in the same Chiefdom Headquarter Town of Lunsar. Several consultative meetings have been conducted and decisions have already been made. So far People seemed very much resolved to go the extra mile should their concerns continue to be disregarded. Unlike the previous incident in which the demands of the Rioters were not quite known, this time around there seem to be a classified set of People with a defined demand. This is about the Owners of the Lands on which the Marampa Mines – the Company that is Mining Iron Ore in the Chiefdom operates. They comprised a total of 19 Villages of which 9 Villages are situated along the Concession Area. In a bid to be able to speak with one voice and make themselves much more relevant, they were able to establish what is now being referred to as – 'The Marampa Landowners Association'.
The mining company in a corresponding manner also established what is called the – Community Relations Department whose core mandate is to enhance a cordial relationship between the Mining Company and the Landowners. As an intermediary body, it is required to protect and promote the interest of the Landowners. Besides the coordination of the payment of Surface Rent to Landowners, the Community Relations Department is also expected to influence the Recruitment of Locals for gainful employment into the Mining Company and other fringe benefits. One of the critical concerns for Landowners is the aspect of joblessness. This is seemingly being provoked by the fading number of their Farmlands as most of it has been swallowed by the activities of the Mining Company. Another key concern is the Road Network to their respective Localities and the conspicuous absence of Recreational Centres in their Communities. The once tarred Roads and Streets in the sweet old days of the DELCO the Company that commenced Mining Operations have since been abandoned to rot down. Currently the Inhabitants can only boast of Bush – Paths. Those who have cause to travel to Lunsar Town for any business whatsoever, are left with the only alternative of risking their live along the Mines' Maine Route where the heavy duty vehicles that transport the Ore ply in high speed.
AIG ADMONISHES BIKE RIDERS IN BO CITY
By Anthony Vandy
As part of his work plan, the Regional Police Commander South AIG Aiah Edward Samadia in collaboration with the Brigade Commander of the 5th Infantry Brigade South, Brigadier General AB Conteh and other stakeholders have on Thursday 9th December 2021, engaged a cross section of the general membership of the Commercial motor bike riders at the Coronation field in Bo City.
AIG further maintained that he had been yearning to engage bike riders owning to what he had observed since he took over the leadership of Policing administration in the Region.
He addressed them based on the following thematics:
Indiscipline and lawlessness among Commercial motor bike riders ranging from riding unlicensed and unregistered motor bikes, overloading etc
Drug related issues and violent behaviour among youths.
Night offences, lots of drug dealers, hardcore and common criminals were arrested and prosecuted in a bid to make the society a crime free Community, AIG added.
He furthered that he had contributed immensely towards the progress of the Bike Riders Union when he was the Regional Police Commander Freetown East, AIG maintained.
Brigadier General AB Conteh reiterated that bike riding is one of the fastest growing population (self-employment) in Sierra Leone and its incumbent on them to complement the efforts of the security sector in the fight against crime in their respective Communities.
He encouraged them to be patriotic and support national development rather than riding unlicensed and unregistered motor bike, meaning that they are not a patriot but a lawless person, he concluded.
Similar sentiments were expressed by both the LUCs of Bo West and East Divisions and OSD Coordinator South in order to lure the commercial motor bike riders to deviate from such barbaric act.
Quick re-action of bike riders by taking the law into their own hands rather than following the due process of the law has become a serious security menace among Commercial motor bike riders, ACP Joseph W. Saffa concluded.
The CSO representative, Mr. Mustapha Kpaka Junior thanked the security sector, especially the AIG for such a wonderful platform.
He described the gathering as first of its kind in the history of policing administration in this part of the country.
He further maintained that "if we don't pursuit lawlessness in society then lawlessness will pursue us in society" he ended.
Comments and questions were asked in a form of planning to curb lawlessness in society which were answered responsibly by the Regional Police Commander South AIG Aiah Edward Samadia.
However, the Police boss South urged them to comply with all the problems highlighted in conformity with the law otherwise he had no alternative but to execute his duty in accordance with the law.
The meeting ended in a peaceful atmosphere as they were pleased with the initiative of the police boss
Public Review Article
THE SECRET AND GAME PLAN OF THE MIDTERM CENSUS By
Sylvanus Fornah Koroma Jr. (What A Man!)
The deceitful Statistician General of Statistics-Sierra Leone (SSL or Stats-SL) has the propensity to bring unrest in Sierra Leone if the government does not guide against this man's falsity. Just a few days ago, someone in Kenema issued threats of violence on social media that has gone viral. The message was a threat of violence against Northerners residing in Kenema that stand with and are in support of the All People's Congress (APC) position of non-participation of its members and supporters in the controversial and unprecedented midterm electronic census. But on a special piece, those issues of threats and acts of violence would be addressed. For now, the focus is on the deceitful Statistician General Professor Mallam O Sankoh (the boy from Warima as he often describes himself). This professor only cares about himself and things attached to his name. He is proud to say he changed Statistics Sierra Leone (SSL) to Stats-SL, District Census Officer to District Census Coordinator, removed Field Officers from the structure of supervising the census and condensed the four levels of census training to two. But these are legalities that we will save for an appropriate time. Meanwhile let us focus on the analysis of the table above, labeled as Table 1 which exposes the reasons for the mad rush for an unprecedented mid-term census that has been condemned both locally and internationally including the European Union and The World Bank.
Table 1 is a comparative analysis of Enumeration Areas (EAs), Households and Estimated Population from 2021 Midterm Census Cartographic Mapping and the actual EAs, Household and Population of 2015 Census by district in Sierra Leone. In just six years, the population nearly doubles. This is not possible and therefore Stats-SL should explain how they arrived at this unprecedented growth. Take a glance at the difference in the number of EAs in 2015 and those in 2021. In the Eastern Region the number of EAs increased from 2797 in 2015 to 6053 in 2021. Making and addition of 3256 which is 116.4% increase in 6 years. It must be noted that Kono only has 586 of the 3256 EAs. In other words, Kenema and Kailahun have increased their EAs by 2670.
Whereas the Northern Region has increased its EAs from 2519 in 2015 to 3889 in 2021 which is 54.4% increase in 6 years. In other words, 1370 EAs have been added to this region since 2015. This means that Kenema alone which has 1721 EAs has 351 more EAs than the whole of the Northern Province (i.e., Bombali, Falaba, Koinadugu and Tonkolili).
Whereas the North-Western Region has increased its EAs from 2011 in 2015 to 3156 which is 56.9% increase in 6 years. The number of additional EAs in this region is 1145. Again, the number of increased EAs in Kenema district alone surpasses the whole of the North-Western Region by 576 EAs.
Whereas the number of EAs in the Southern Region has increased from 2690 in 2015 to 5530 in 2021 which is 105.6% increase in 6 years. This means that the EAs have increased by 2840. In other words, the number of increased EAs in just the Southern Region is 325 more than both the regions of North and North-West combined. In Pujehun district alone, they have 944 EAs whereas the whole of North-West Region has 1145 EAs which is a difference of 201 EAs between the districts and the whole region.
Whereas the Western Area has increased its EAs from 2839 in 2015 to 5106 in 2021 which is 79.9% increase in 6 years. The number of additional EAs is 2267. Bo district has more additional EAs than Western Urban and Kenema has more additional EAs than Western Rural. In a nutshell, the South and Eastern Regions have 1314 more additional EAs than the North, North-Western Region and the Western Area combined.
The Household is generally defined for the purposes of census to mean 'all the people who occupy single housing unit regardless of their relationship to one another. Family households have a householder and one or more additional people who are related to the householder by marriage, birth, adoption or employment. A Housing Census is the official enumeration of all living quarters (occupied and vacant) in a country at a specified time.
Whereas the Eastern Region number of household mappings increased from 295,035 households in 2015 to 561,952 households in 2021, there is a total increase of 266,917 households which is 90.5% increase in 6 years.
Whereas the Northern Region number of household mapping increased from 234,072 in 2015 to 379,558 in 2021. There is a total increase of 145,486 households which is 62.2% increase in 6 years. This means that the whole of Northern Region only has 9003 more households than Kenema as a district. Again, the Eastern Region has 121,431 more households than the Northern Region.
Whereas the North-Western Region number of households mapping increased from 212,960 in 2015 to 300,258 in 2021. There is a total increase of 87,928 households which is 41.0% increase in 6 years. This means that the Eastern Region alone has 34,133 more households than the North and North-Western Region combined. In fact, even Kailahun alone has 1599 more households than the whole of the North-Western Region.
Whereas the Southern Region household mapping increased from 271,016 households in 2015 to 511,097 households in 2021. There is a total increase of 240,081households which is 86.6% increase in 6 years. Again, the number of increased household mappings of the Southern Region surpasses both the Northern and North-Western Regions combined by 7297 household. In fact, the difference of households in Pujehun (85328), the whole of North-Western Region (87298) is 1970 households.
Whereas the Western Area number of household mapping increased from 334,148 households in 2015 to 496,146 households in 2021. There is a total increase of 161,998 households which is 48.5% increase in 6 years. Kenema only has 25,515 households less than the whole of Western Area. In a nutshell, the South and Eastern Regions have 112,216 more households than the North, North- Western Regions and Western Area combined.
A population census is the official enumeration of all persons in a country at a specified time. An estimated population is developed from the pilot census and the cartographic mapping done. We will hereby do an analysis of the Actual Population in 2015 Census and the Estimate Population from the 2021 mapping.
Whereas the Eastern Region actual population was 1,642,370 persons in the 2015 Census, it is now estimated at 3,371,712 persons in 2021. There is a total increase of 1,729,342 persons which is 105.3% increase in 6 years.
Whereas, the Northern Region actual population was 1,346,316 persons in the 2015 Census, it is now estimated at 2,227,348 persons in 2021. There is a total increase of 931,032 persons which is 69.2% increase in 6 years. The estimated increased population of Kenema district alone has a much- expected added population in 2021 as the whole of the Northern Region with just 16,791 persons difference.
Whereas the North-Western Region actual population was 1,161,885 persons in 2015 census, it is now estimated at 1,801,548 persons in 2021. There is total increase of 639,663 persons which is 55.1% increase in 6 years. This means that the Eastern Region is estimated to have 105,647 more persons than the combined regions of the North and Northwest.
Whereas the Southern Region actual population in the 2015 Census was 1,441,308 persons, it is now estimated in 2021 at 3,066,582 persons. There is a total increase of 1,625,274 persons which is 112.8% increase in 6 years. Again, the sum total of the estimated added figure in the Southern Region surpasses the joint number of persons in both the combined regions of the North and North- West by 1,570,695.
Whereas the Western Area actual population in the 2015 census was 1,500,234 persons, it is now estimated in 2021 at 2,976,876 persons. There is a total increase of 1,476,642 person. Which is 98.4% increase in 6 years. In a nutshell, the South and Eastern Regions have 307,279 more estimated added persons than the people in the North, Nort-Western Region and Western Area combined.
Stats-SL has recently commented about its published results of the unpopular Midterm Pilot Census and Cartographic Mapping result on its website; when at about the same time the World Bank had written its famous Midterm Census letter addressed to both Mr Dennis K. Vandi, the Minister of Finance and Dr. Francis Kaikai, the Minister of Economic and Development Planning, the Chief Minister, the Statistician General and the Executive Director, The World Bank were copied.
The World Bank did not only pull out of the process, but they also withdrew their financial support. The acclaimed published pilot census was not evaluated before the said date for the start of enumeration on December 9, 2021. There is evidently no field operation plan and the training was haphazardly done. We are now into the second week of the controversial, problematic and unprecedented midterm census and many enumerators do not know where to work and who supervised them. Professor Mallam O Sankoh does not seem to be in charge as Chief Census Officer.
This so-called Midterm Electronic Census is a flawed process; training was collapsed from four to two levels bypassing the regional and chiefdom level training, quality control mechanism is not there as field officers were not recruited to supervise data collection at chiefdom level. Because there is no deployment plan, enumerators are not familiar with their places of work, cannot identify Enumeration Area (EA) boundaries and most of them cannot speak the language of the localities they are working in. Another challenge is that most of the enumerators cannot operate their tablets and the data collected will be lost if not saved. Worst of all, since there is a gap (due to the absence of Field Officers) enumerators deployed in the rural areas might not go there and will 'capstone' the data (data from the top of their heads). The truth is that the boy from Warima i.e., the Chief Census Officer is not mindful about these lapses.
The issues raised by the World Bank are legitimate and should have been addressed before the start of enumeration. International Best Practice is that any issue raised by any partner, especially technical issues, should not be overlooked by the Chief Census Officer and his team. Samuel Ansumana, the Director of Communication Stats-SL reiterated the importance of expert and the technical partners on his interview on November 30, 2021, on Radio 98.1 FM, Good Morning Salone program. But yet in practice, Stats-SL is ignoring its own acclaimed belief. Going on with the census count without addressing the legitimate concerns raised by the international partners and experts is a breach of International Best Practice. This another major anomaly of the midterm electronic census!!!
The Chief Census Officer, Statistician General, Professor Mallam O Sankoh said he is the rapporteur of the UN Statistics Division. So, one would expect he followed the compendium of principles prescribed by the United Nations in conducting the census. This compendium was put together by 'Friends of Chair' (i.e., a technical group in the UN Statistics Division) and discussed and ratified by all member states of the UN.
Why is the professed UN rapporteur, the Statistician General, professor Mallam O Sankoh bringing in the processes that are not aligned with the principles and recommendations in conducting rounds of censuses. Well, he is the boy from Warima, a professor and maybe he is above the UN principle. The professor should know that no one stops him from innovating, but this should not be against agreed principles and law.
Professor Mallam O Sankoh recruited 15,000 enumerators but the actual Enumeration Areas (EAs) as per the mappings are 23,734. This being the case, there are 8,734 more enumerators or otherwise some enumerators have to serve more than one Enumeration Area to cover all 23,734 EAs.
The huge discrepancy signals some amount of inefficiency and these are believed to be part of the the concerns raised by the World Bank. The lack of justification for such a huge number of EAs not been accounted for, leaves many curious minds questioning the process and thus increase the justified level of doubt on the entire process.
We need to understand or get explanation from the Statistician General and Statistics-SL to answer these questions:
1)What economic activities have taken place to cause this economic change as stated by the Pilot Census and the Cartographic Mapping within just 6 years?
2)Most of the districts in the South and East Regions grew over 100 % in all the said assessment but none of the districts in the North and North-Western Regions went even as close as 90%. The question is why is this so?
3) For obvious reasons, would anyone want to ask questions about the Western Area figures? FOOD FOR THOUGHT!!!
2020 AUDIT REPORT IS OUT, OVER TO YOU ACC-AND PARLIAMENT
By Brima Sesay
Parliament has this week tabled in Parliament the Auditor General's Report for the Financial Year ended December 2020 produced by the Audit Service Sierra Leone. Already, copies of the report are in the public domain. It is during this time of the year that the Audit Service Sierra Leone releases the annual Audit Report of the previous year.
Section 119 of the 1991 Constitution of Sierra Leone empowers the Auditor General to audit the public accounts of Sierra Leone and all public offices. This is something the Audit Service has been doing quite well over the years. Like previous Audit Reports, the 2020 report looks damning. The report records a total loss of Le 153,916,933,928.25 spanning from 2016 to 2020. But in 2020 alone, the report says a total of Le 113,133,032,085.02 was lost. As alarming as these figures tend to be, I will not describe the report as "sensational", as the Minister of Information was quoted as saying, or "just a mere opinion" as a former Commissioner of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) once put it.
For now, one of the best things to do is to look up to the institutions at the forefront of ensuring transparency and accountability in governance- that is the ACC and Parliament. I think it is not too much again about those damning figures, but all about the actions that will be taken by the public institutions responsible for public accountability.
I am heartened by the Press Release of 14th December 2021, issued by the ACC in which it informs the public about the fact that the tabling of the 2020 Audit Report had been brought to its attention. The release goes further to state: "The ACC attaches utmost importance to the Auditor General's Reports. As such, in recent times, the Commission had provided, and will hopefully continue to provide, updates to the public through its Serialized Media Releases on the many interventions and outcomes regarding the Audit Reports 2015-2019 which resulted in investigations, prosecutions, convictions, recovery of huge sums, prevention measures, and, in appropriate situations, exoneration and clearing of persons and institutions. More importantly, the Commission is also cognizant of the Constitutional role of Parliament regarding this issue and it shall be collaborating with them."
What I have also come to love is the promptness of the response from the leading anti-graft agency. It is good that they have immediately started looking at the contents of the report, as the press release further states that: "The ACC will work with Parliament and Audit Service Sierra Leone to ensure that each party performs its role to ensure that the various issues of concern are speedily and accordingly addressed without favour for anyone. The ACC is now examining the reports to ascertain violations of the Anti-Corruption Act 2008 as Amended in 2019, or needs for intervention by the ACC; and/or identify system weaknesses within the audited institutions for appropriate prevention measures or recommendations to address them".
In the recent past, I have come to put so much trust in the leadership of the ACC for being very attentive to the contents of audit reports, either specialized or the usual annual audit reports. We have seen how the Commission was able to make huge recoveries –which now stand at over 31 billion leones- due to its interventions in these reports. In some cases, material resources are recovered- like was the case of the 47 laptops and generator in the NaCOVERC case. There are other instances of investigations leading to prosecution. Systems and processes reviews have also been undertaken by the ACC's Corruption Prevention Department to strengthen accountability systems in public offices. We have also known of cases where punitive administrative actions were taken against public officials that led to their dismissal, suspension or demotion. I know by this time, all those officials or leaderships of public institutions named in the just-released audit report will be experiencing sleepless nights. For me, this is the hallmark of accountability.
Parliament also has a role in this. I know there are instances when Parliament would refer certain matters to the ACC to further investigate where there are huge losses of public funds The Public Accounts Committee in Parliament has been very instrumental in all of this. At this time, we expect them to give ACC unhindered access to the report, as well as make referrals to the Commission for swift and concrete actions to be taken against public officials and institutions responsible for any public malfeasance. I am happy that the two institutions –ACC and Parliament- have been collaborating very well. It is also good that the Audit Service also provides a helping hand in some of these interventions.
Again another Audit Report is out, again we await strong concrete actions from the ACC with support from Parliament and where necessary Audit Service to hold accountable those responsible for any malfeasance.
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Poor Frank had Lucky Archie right where he wanted him the other night. Or did he?
Poor Frank shook his head at Lucky Archie's auction. The Lucky One was obviously missing an ace as Poor Frank could see it in his own hand. What if North had held but one ace, what would Archie have done then? It was just like Archie to use Blackwood without thinking ahead. Poor Frank shook his head and saw he had no good lead. He finally put a trump on the table.
Declarer drew trumps in two rounds and played a diamond. Poor Frank had already thought ahead, anticipating this play and ducked smoothly. Archie went right up with the king and immediately played another diamond. East won the queen, but was already endplayed at trick four!
East had no diamond to lead and a spade or heart would give Archie a free finesse and allow him to later pitch his losing diamond. He soon claimed twelve tricks and this unlikely 6♣ contract.
Red Dyeman, Poor Frank's partner, was extremely upset.
Poor Frank could hardly believe what he was seeing just the other night at the local duplicate club as he watched Lucky Archie and his novice partner pull bid after bid out of their bidding boxes. Even so, he still had to find a way to set a truly atrocious contract.
Lucky Archie arrived at the club that evening without a partner and the only one available was a newer player with just 18 master points to his name. That explains some of the bidding. When North bid 2♥ with his 12 points, he obviously had no idea that he was making a forcing reverse bid. The Lucky One now overbid with a 3♦ call. But when North bid 4♣, Lucky Archie tried to sign off at 4NT. Of course, North had been taught that 4NT was always Blackwood and showed two aces. When Archie made another sign off attempt at 5♠, North bid 6♣, and this horrible auction finally ended at 6NT.
Poor Frank wondered if he should double, then realized there was really no need, as no one else in the room would reach the giddy heights of 6NT on this hand. He merely shook his head, led the queen of hearts, and hoped for the best. Lucky Archie won his ace and immediately tested the clubs, leading a small one to the jack and East's queen. Back came a heart, declarer tossing a spade as dummy's king took the trick.
Declarer led a diamond to East's jack and his queen, which held. He now repeated the club finesse, dummy's ten winning. The ace dropped Poor Frank's king, and the two long clubs were cashed, Archie tossing spades and Poor Frank a couple of hearts. Lucky Archie had a phantom vision of a possible Vienna Coup and now cashed dummy's stiff ace of spades. His eyes popped when Poor Frank's king dropped on this trick.
The Lucky One now led a diamond to East's king and his ace. When he cashed the queen of spades, Poor Frank's threw a worthless diamond. The Lucky One now cashed his ten of diamonds, then tossed his six of diamonds on the table.
"Down one," he said sadly. But Poor Frank had to follow with his last heart and Lucky Archie had somehow made this terrible contract.
"Well, Frankie, baby, thanks, but if you hadn't tossed that diamond, I would have been down," Archie said.
Poor Frank and Lucky Archie were at it again just the other night at the local duplicate club. The two were neck and neck and whoever did better on the last board would win.
Poor Frank took a shot at the nine trick game rather than the eleven tricks needed in 5♦ when North showed a less than sterling hand. West led the four of hearts and this went to dummy's five. Lucky Archie must have been in love with his queen of hearts, for – instead of playing this card – he inserted the six of hearts instead. Poor Frank won his ten and knew he had to make something of clubs to come to nine tricks.
Declarer crossed to dummy's jack of diamonds and led a club, playing the jack when Archie followed low. This lost to West's king. Due to Archie's play at trick one, West was certain that Poor Frank had started with the king, queen, and ten of hearts, while East had been dealt the six and two. Therefore, West decided to clear the hearts, relying of the ace of spades as a later entry to the last two good hearts. As readers can see, this ploy would have failed if that had been declarer's holding, as another club finesse would have produced more than enough tricks for the offense.
So West cashed the ace of hearts, dropping Poor Frank's king and then continued a heart. West was shocked when Lucky Archie won this trick with the queen, although not as shocked as Poor Frank. The Lucky One then put the jack of spades of the table. West won the ace and cashed two hearts for down two and a top board for Lucky Archie.
It turned out that many Souths were in 3NT with the lead of a small heart. But at every other table, the East player had put in the queen of hearts, undoubtedly the correct book play. But this now gave declarer an extra heart stopper and clubs were soon established, allowing the other declarers to made ten tricks in their NT contracts. Two declarers were down one in 5♦ and one made 4♦. So Poor Frank got a big goose egg on this board and Lucky Archie won that evening's laurels.
Readers will recall that Jack Leeder recently went from ecstasy to agony to ecstasy and finally back to agony. Not long after that incident, a similar fate befell Poor Frank.
The bidding requires some explanation. After Poor Frank pre-empted, Lucky Archie chose to take a shot at 3NT, perhaps relying on his legendary luck for a spade stopper. When the 3NT call was passed around to Poor Frank, he could not believe his good fortune. Lucky Archie was going for at least 800 and he, Poor Frank, would once again grace the winner's circle. So he doubled to make certain his partner led a spade. The double scared Lucky Archie, who made an SOS redouble. However, North thought his partner was only trying for a higher score and passed. Poor Frank was practically drooling. He knew he would soon be writing plus 1600 in his column.
However, there was one slight flaw in Poor Frank's plan. West had no spade to lead. After some thought, Poor Frank's partner put the ten of hearts down on the table. This ran to declarer's queen. Lucky Archie now knocked out the ace of diamonds, thankful that it was not Poor Frank who held this card.
Lucky Archie next ran the three diamond tricks, then cashed the ace and queen of clubs, Poor Frank dropping the ten and jack on these cards. For once in his bridge career, Lucky Archie had been counting. He knew Poor Frank had started with seven spades and he had seen three diamonds, one heart, and two clubs. Therefore, West had to have the remaining clubs. The Lucky One now led the four of clubs and played dummy's eight when West followed with the seven. This took the trick as Poor Frank tossed his ace of spades. Declarer soon claimed nine tricks with two hearts, three diamonds, and four clubs.
"That's 3NT, doubled and redoubled, making," he said with an obnoxious grin to his rival. Poor Frank looked like he wanted to rip his cards in two and said nothing.
"Now I know how Jack Leeder felt," he said to Janet later as the two discussed the hands.
"I think it only means the Great One has a great sense of humor," Janet said.
Poor Frank was on the verge of winning just the other night at the local duplicate club, when Lucky Archie had a chance to pass him on the last board of the evening.
Lucky Archie opened a weak two heart bid and 2NT asked for an outside feature. Three spades revealed that Archie had the king of spades and this was all Red Dyeman needed to hear. He knew Archie needed a good board to beat Poor Frank and he took a shot at the grand slam.
Poor Frank led the king of diamonds, taken by dummy's ace. Declarer then drew trumps in four rounds, ending in hand. Meanwhile, Poor Frank sluffed two clubs and two diamonds.
The Lucky One realized he was a trick or two short, so he negotiated the club finesse, playing a low club and inserting dummy's queen when Poor Frank played low. When the queen held, a smile played around Lucky Archie's lips. He now knew he had the contract made. He cashed the ace of clubs and ruffed a club. Poor Frank threw the jack of diamonds on this card.
Lucky Archie now led his last trump, hoping to catch his rival in a squeeze. Poor Frank certainly seemed like a man caught in a vise. A look of agony crossed his face as he tossed the queen of diamonds on the table.
"Not discarding any spades, are we, Frankie baby," the Lucky One said with a sneer. Poor Frank refused to answer or even make eye contact, instead staring silently at his remaining cards. Declarer crossed to dummy with the queen of spades, then returned to the king of spades as East let go the jack on this lead.
Lucky Archie smirked as he led his last spade. Poor Frank played the five in tempo, but Lucky Archie thought he noticed a slight tremor in his rival's hand as he placed this card on the table. Lucky Archie confidently called for the nine of spades. But then East produced the ten and cashed a club to set this contract two tricks. Poor Frank had won that evening's laurels and Lucky Archie was too stunned to say anything. Poor Frank stared at the last card in his hand as though it were a holy relic. It was the ten of diamonds.
Just the other night at the local duplicate club, Poor Frank got some retribution for all the wrongs he had suffered at the hands of Lucky Archie over the years.
After his partner opened 1♦ and the duo failed to find a major suit fit, Poor Frank, with his 19 points, took a shot at 6NT. Lucky Archie made the opening lead of the jack of hearts and declarer was horrified when he saw the dummy. He was missing the ace and king of clubs! Obviously, Archie didn't have both of them or he would have thrown three or four double cards on the table and then smirked as he set his rival. But were they divided, with East having one and Archie the other? Poor Frank hoped so or else he had no chance. After winning dummy's ace of hearts, he led a small club at trick two. East ducked, hoping declarer had something like a king/jack tenace. Poor Frank played his jack and Lucky Archie won the king.
The Lucky One gave his exit little thought, tossing the ten of hearts on the table. A club was thrown from dummy as East followed and Poor Frank won his king. Declarer now ran all dummy's diamonds, discarding a club and a small heart from hand. He then came to the ace of spades and cashed the queen of hearts, tossing dummy's last club. East had not shown any distress in discarding up to this point, but now had to make a fatal choice: either a small spade or the ace of clubs had to go. East chose the spade, hoping Archie could stop the suit.
But it was not to be. Poor Frank now cashed the queen of spades, led a spade to dummy's king, and the six of spades took the twelfth trick. East had to jettison his ace of clubs on this last trick, causing Lucky Archie's eyes to bug out.
"Why didn't you play that card when he led a club!" Archie yelled.
"Why didn't you return a club when you won the king?" East said.
An interesting hand came up just the other night at the local duplicate club. Three of the club's top declarers had a shot at it.
When Lucky Archie held the South hand, he bid 6♠ at his second turn. This turned out to be an easy contract. West led the queen of hearts, won in dummy. Archie then tested spades, playing the ace and a spade to the queen. When he saw the suit was breaking 4-1, he cashed the king of hearts, ruffed a heart in dummy, drew one more round of trumps and cashed clubs and diamonds. West eventually got the high trump, but it was plus 980 to the Lucky One.
Jack Leeder varied from Lucky Archie and bid 6NT at his second turn, perhaps acting on his hand's lack of distribution. He also received the opening lead of the queen of hearts, again won by dummy's ace. Jack now tested spades, for he saw that if this suit broke 3-2, he would have an easy twelve tricks. But it was not to be.
Jack was not discouraged. He now cashed all his clubs, tossing a small diamond on dummy's last high club. He then cashed the ace and king of diamonds, his last high spade and then threw West in with a spade. West had to lead from his jack/nine of hearts into Jack's king/ten. Twelve tricks were there for a nifty plus 990 to Mr. Leeder.
Poor Frank duplicated Jack Leeder's bidding, probably for the same reason, and undoubtedly also because 990 scores more than 980. But West led the five of diamonds against Poor Frank's 6NT, and this was taken by declarer's ace. This lead was a much tougher one than Jack had received and Poor Frank had his work cut out for him. He also saw twelve easy tricks if spades behaved, but the king and queen of spades revealed the bad news. Poor Frank now realized he was in trouble unless West also had the queen and jack of hearts. He immediately rectified the count by giving up a diamond to East.
Back came a diamond and Poor Frank won in dummy and went after the clubs, tossing a small spade on dummy's last high club. He noticed that West threw the queen of hearts on this card and Poor Frank allowed a small smile to play on his face. Was the situation the way he visualized it? He cashed dummy's ace of spades. West let go of the jack, but declarer knew he still had the ten. Now came a heart to the king, declarer not taking the finesse West had encouraged. Yes, the jack dropped on this and Poor Frank soon scored up 990, a tie for top.
When he later described the hand to Janet, she said, "You should have gotten a cold top just for the way you played it. But that doesn't happen in matchpoints. However, darling, I'll give you some extra points." They both smiled as she squeezed his hand.
Readers will recall that in Poor Frank CLX, our hero bid and made six diamonds against Lucky Archie. His result looked to be the best that evening, but Jack Leeder found himself in a higher scoring contract.
Readers should note that this hand has not been rotated to make South declarer, but has been diagrammed the same way it was played, with North declarer this time.
Jack Leeder's hand was so good, it would have been very difficult for him to stay out of slam once his partner gave him a limit raise. However, once East led the seven of diamonds, he went into throes of agony. He was missing the ace and king of trumps in a slam! How could he ever make it?
But Jack was not one to give up and he thought of a possible swindle. He won the opening lead with dummy's king and immediately led dummy's jack of spades. West covered with the king, Jack ducked, and East threw down the ace with a deep scowl on his face. Yes, yes, yes! Jack was in complete ecstasy. All he would have to do was ruff a heart in dummy and finesse West's marked ten of spades. He would be the only one to make six spades in the entire room. And he would win that evening's duplicate.
It would be about time. Jack was plenty tired of hearing about how Lucky Archie and Poor Frank were always fighting it out for first place. No one ever talked about Jack Leeder. No one ever gave Jack Leeder his due. Now he would show them he was the club's best player.
"You need to play a card from the dummy, Jack," his partner said.
Jack came out of his revery long enough to see that East's three of diamonds lay on the table.
"Oh, play low," he said.
Dummy followed his instructions and West ruffed to set the contract.
Suddenly, Jack was once again overcome by agony, knowing that he would not finish in the top two and maybe not even in the top three. As usual, the spotlight would fall on either Poor Frank or Lucky Archie and everyone would be talking about them when they exited the studio. And he would leave unnoticed, with no one even saying something like "Poor Jack" or "Lucky Jack." No, he was just Jack Leeder, the invisible man at the table.
Lucky Archie led the queen of hearts against Poor Frank's small slam. Poor Frank could not help but notice when the dummy came down that there was a slight flaw in this contract. He was missing the ace and king of spades! But ever the trooper, Poor Frank gave away nothing with his expression and labored on.
He won the lead in dummy and drew trumps in two rounds, ending in dummy. Next came the ace and king of clubs and two spade sluffs. He then played the king of hearts and ruffed a heart. Now all suits but trumps and spades had been eliminated. He led a low spade from hand, and Lucky Archie made the fine play of ducking. However, when Red Dyeman won his ace, he had to give declarer a ruff and a sluff. Poor Frank soon claimed his bold slam.


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Creator's Profile
STAR DINE
Shigeyoshi Sakamoto
Overall Producer
Ever since joining Avex in 2008, Sakamoto has been in charge of starting up new lines of business, executing those events, as well as alliance affairs. Till today, other than "STAR ISLAND", he has also been played a part in many of Avex's innovative events, such as the next-generation esports tournament "RAGE", "Diner en Blanc", "WANDERLUST", high school beauty pageants etc., and is active as a producer.
Kenji Kohashi
Born in Tokyo on 19 August 1979. He made his debut in the entertainment industry at 8 years old. After having played roles in numerous dramas, movie and stage titles, he decided to put his acting career on a hiatus in 2007. While travelling around the world, he acquired inspiration along the way, which led him to start producing movies and events. In 2012, he made his debut as a movie director with the feature-length movie "DON'T STOP!" This very same movie won 2 awards at the SKIP City International D-cinema Festival, namely the SKIP City award, and the SKIP City D-cinema Project award. He had held positions of Creative Director for "ULTRA JAPAN", and General Producer for "Star Island", and is also involved in the planning and operations for international-scale events and urban development etc.
Kazuyuki Ito (KISsonix)
Sound Director
Active as a composer, arranger, and artist, while also continuing to pursue acoustics research for 25 years, drawing on his knowledge and insights into neuroscience to develop the KISSonix HDFX. Using innovative 3D encoding technology, traditional stereo equipment and two speakers is enough to create 3D sound effects like you would experience in a movie theater. Top artists and film directors have praised the high-quality 3D sound, which has been used for Mondo Grosso's Attune/Detune, Koda Kumi's Live Tour 2017 -W FACE-, and Shunji Iwai's "A Bride for Rip Van Winkle."
Yamachang
Laser Artist
Started working as Laser Lighting Designer in 2000.
The scope of activities ranges from corporate installations and entertainment shows to illuminations, live stages and dance music festivals.
The area of activity ranges from corporate installations and entertainment shows to illuminations, live stages and dance music festivals.
Based on the methods of 'Colour = Melody' and 'Lightness / Darkness = Rhythm', he uses improvisational techniques cultivated over many years of activity. He gives a cutting-edge impression to the audience with his improvisation-like operations, which he has cultivated over many years of activity.
He sees video and lighting as light and seamlessly links and expands analogue and digital equipment, and engages in a wide range of unconventional expression, from audiovisual systems to the development and production of drone lasers, expands the worldview of artists and directors and backs up their performances with incandescent performances. Backing up the world view of artists and directors and backing up their performance of Lady Cassette.
It has earned the utmost trust of the artists and directors.
Belongs to the creator group REALROCKDESIGN.
・ Koyasan 1,200 Year Anniversary-高野山1200年の光-Light&Laser Director-
・FUTURE DRONE ENTERTAINMENT "CONTACT" -laser Director-
・SKY-HI HALLTOUR2022-八面六臂・超八面六臂-LASER& Visual Design-
・BALLPARK FANTASHIA Vega Luminique at YOKOHAMA Studium -Space Director-
SEISHIRO
Crowned the youngest winner ever of Japan's largest choreography competition, and a stunning record of five awards. Seishiro is renowned for his attention to details down to the very second. His cleverness with sound, compositional skills, and unique eye for hidden side of human nature has been highly acclaimed both in Japan and internally.
In 2022, he performed a fusion of Ikebana Ohara style and contemporary dance at the Palazzo della Cancelleria, a historic building in Vatican City.
He has also worked extensively as a choreographer, staging the AVRORA AWARDS organised by BVLGARI and participating in SK II's global campaign advertising.
The music video for RADWIMPS's 'Ningen Gokko', for which he choreographed, was awarded ""Bronze"" in the Music Video category under Choreograpyhy at the CICLOPE Festival 2022; an international award specialising in the craft of visual art.
Highly popular as a dancer and choreographer, he is trusted by and collaborated with numerous artists, including Mao Asada and Yurina Hirate.
HIROSUMI SAITO
Costume Direction & Design
Born in 1981, while working as a performer in Tokyo's club culture himself, he started making costumes on his own. Utilising his sensitivity to ikebana, which he started as a child.
He has worked on costumes for the closing ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, Ayumi Hamasaki, Kiyoji Hikawa and famous theme parks.
HIROYUKI MURAKAMI
NATSUKI HANYU
SACHIKO YAMAMURA
YOSHIYUKI MASUDA
Costume Staff
Supporting Hirosumi Saito, they've worked tirelessly for STAR ISLAND SINGAPORE 2022-2023.
YUKA ISHII
Production Assistance
Having joined DRUMCAN Inc. in 2003, Yuka has studied under Koji Tamura and Yoshio Wakatsuki.
After leaving the company in 2015, she started working as a freelancer.
And in 2016, she established Sonomano Inc.
She is one of the few up-and-coming female directors in Japan who directs and produces fashion shows and events in Japan and internally.
Involved in Tokyo Collections, international brand parties, fashion shows, exhibitions, art events and more.
With a wide-ranging career, including 15 years as the general director of the Tokyo Girls Collection which has a catchy and luxurious world view.
She has also worked in space production, apparel shop production, shop music selection and video production.
YOHEI ARIKAWA
Hair Make Creator
2006 Graduated from Tokyo VANTAN DESIGN INSTITUTE HAIRMAKE course
2007 Graduated from LONDON Glauca Rossi School of Make-up
2008 Started working as a freelancer in Tokyo
2009 Joined in MONDO artist-group
2017 M-rep by MONDO -artist affiliation / Director of MONDO Academy
Currently based in Tokyo, she is involved in fashion shows, fashion magazines, advertising shoots, events, stage, body painting, special make-up, education, etc.
Since 2011, she has been in charge of fashion shows as a make-up artist chef at the Paris Collections and has worked in global activities in a wide range of genres both in Japan and Internationally.
SEKITOVA
Music Selection
At the age of 17 in 2012, Sekitova released his first album 'Premature Moon and the Shooting Star', which led to numerous appearances at stages such as Big Beach Festival, Ultra Japan, Summer Sonic, EDC and Fujirock Festival.
He has performed on the main stage at Womb's 15th anniversary party and appeared on NHK Radio 1's ""Gogolaji! on NHK Radio 1.
This was a special event that would have been unthinkable under normal circumstances, and it was a resounding success.
His activities have been diverse, including participation in the soundtrack of the Nintendo DS game 'No More Heroes', 'Even if you Don't See It' in collaboration with the screw manufacturing tool factory YAMAWA, the track 'Foetus Traum' featuring Chisato Moritaka, and the track 'Tiger's Tail', which was released on the Nintendo DS. Foetus Traum and 'Takkyu Ishino - Lunatique (SEKITOVA Remix)' featuring Chisato Moritaka.
Born in Ehime, Japan in 2003, 19-year-old musician.
Started dancing at the age of 2 and composing music on GarageBand at the age of five. At the age of 14, he made his major label debut after his street performance in Harajuku attracted a lot of attention and spread on social media. Since then, he has released his own works, provided songs and remixes for other artists such as New Map Join Music and Hiromi Go, and provided and produced songs for TV programmes and commercials. He performed at the closing ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics and was in charge of music production.
MASATAKA KONDO
Composer, music selector and music director.
He was used to music and computers since childhood and started composing music at the age of 19.
When he was 24 years old, he started his own company (DJ MAAR). Composed music for many commercials and fashion shows for major companies, as well as music director for an apparel brand.
Thereafter, he established a second company named DEXPISTOLS, which was selected for a global advertisement for a sports brand, performed at major festivals, including overseas, and remixed and produced major singers.
Later, after working as an overseas sales manager for a major audio cable manufacturer. He was then appointed Vice President of the Music and Entertainment Agency, Dual AMP in 2021, where he is currently working.
While producing and advising on digital content and artist management, he is also studying to become a Registered Smaller Enterprise Consultant and Data Scientist.
FZ (sfpr / Radical Hardcore Clique)
While working with two bands, "sfpr" and ""Radical Hardcore Clique"", which develop a borderless sound between electro and rock, he has also worked with many top artists in Japan and abroad as a music producer.
In particular, his unique worldview combining Gagaku (ancient ceremonial music) and Western music has been highly acclaimed both in Japan and abroad. Since 2018, he has also ventured into producing music for stages and events incorporating soundscapes (soundscapes). Such as: ""Panasonic Immersive Entertainment Booth at CES 2018"", ""STAR ISLAND"", ""Agency for Cultural Affairs Strategic Arts and Culture Music director for the Agency for Cultural Affairs Strategic Arts and Culture Creation Promotion Project 'JAPAN LIVE YELL project' HIGUGU HAMMERING SONGS"", and one of the closing ceremony/composers of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics.
KAZUYUKI ITO
3D Sound Producer
Musician, acoustic space producer and developer. Based on his extensive experience, he has succeeded in developing high-quality stereophonic encoding technology that is gentle on the ears and the brain, with a focus on acoustics.
In 1982, he was scouted by Warner Pioneer and made his debut as a composer.
He works involved in 4D sound production Ghost in the Shell VRD (Oculus Lift, SONY PS4 HMD), 4D King 360° 4D video theatre productions, 3D soundtrack for Shunji Iwai's film 'The Rip Van Winkle Bride' DVD/BD, 'Kumi Koda W FACE 2017 Live BD/DVD"", 2018 ""MONDO GROSSO"" album ""Attune / Detune"" MUSIC VIDEO, 3D soundtrack for the film ""Last Letter"" BD directed by Shunji Iwai and more.
jonny.tv
Creative Director / Motion Designer / Graphic Artist
Graduated with a degree in Interactive Fine Arts from Newport School of Art in the UK in 1996.
After working up through the ranks in various Soho UK Film and Production companies, found my natural place in the field of Motion Design and proceeded to set up jonny.tv limited, initially in London and currently expanding out to Tokyo.
My company, jonny.tv, is renowned for producing high end, music focused, visual pieces for Broadcast TV, Film and Live Productions, across all media from Online and TV to Cinema and Stadium Tours.
25 years experience have given me experience across all aspects of production from Visual Design and Direction,, 2D and 3D Animation, Editing, Colour Grading and VFX to Audio Production, Installation and Lighting Design.
Having that broad knowledge of the full production process enables me to make the most off hese unique media processes and in particular, how they can work together in synergy.
With a strong passion for design and a natural feeling and interpretation of sound trough my work, I've had the pleasure and privilege to work on many prestigious projects.
In the Live arena, shows for The Chemical Brothers (UK), The Rolling Stones (UK), Adele (UK) Man With a Mission JP, Unicorn (JP) and Crossfaith (JP) have been particular highlights.
In the field of Broadcast Design, I have worked directly for many of the major global broadcasters including the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, SKY, BT Vision, Virgin and Wowow. And with some of the most creative agencies and production companies including Sony, Avex, Universal, Ridley Scott Associates, Lambie - Nairn, Turner Duckworth, FCB Inferno, The Partners, ML Studio, Treatment Studios, Coffee & TV and Marshmellow Laser Feast.
Through my work I have had the honour of achieving many awards, notably from Bafta, Promax and The Design Awards.
A brief synopsis of my my recent work can be viewed at www.jonny.tv
TAKUMI YOSHIDA
Drone Technical Director
A businessman and creator born on June 29, 1995. He established Seven Sense Co., Ltd. at the age of 15 as the youngest president in Japan. At the age of 16, he released Teens Opinion, an internet pseudo-voting site for teens, which caused a lot of buzz. In 2014, he received the Grand Prize of the Innovative Communication Award- (ICA). He has worked on MINMI's event "FREEDOM" and national tours, as well as video production for Japan's largest music festival "ULTRA JAPAN", technical director for futuristic fireworks entertainment "STAR ISLAND", space production and corporate branding. In 2017, he was selected as one of the 44 creators under the age of 30 in the world featured by +81 magazine.
JAPANESE FIREWORKS ARTISANS
Marutamaya Ogatsu Fireworks Co., Ltd.
A long-established firework shop representing Japan, which started manufacturing fireworks for viewing at the end of the Edo period.
In 1947, after World War II, a fireworks display commemorating the promulgation of the new constitution was held in the square in front of the Imperial Palace, and the first large fireworks display after the war was launched. It played a major role in the resumption of fireworks in Japan.
By exporting Japanese fireworks overseas and introducing them, they have spread the splendor of traditional Japanese culture ""fireworks"" to the world.
Features include flower carts (Happosaki), ring chrysanthemums, and time-lag fireworks.
We have a wealth of achievements in the midst of restrictions, such as urban fireworks entertainment such as ""STAR ISLAND"" and ""Tokyo Music Hanabi"" and launches on barges. Marutamaya Ogatsu have built a good relationship of trust with firework technicians representing Japan and the next generation of firework technicians, and continue to develop.
Beniya Aoki Fireworks Co., Ltd.
A firework shop headed by Akio Aoki, who is also known as the God of Modern Fireworks.
Known for its beautiful chrysanthemum-shaped fireworks, it was the first in Japan to complete a double core split.
In addition, even in the production of synchronized music and fireworks, there is a great amount of passion for constantly opening up new ways to show fireworks.
In recent years, it has received high praise at the Montreal Competition in Canada and the International Fireworks Symposium held in Japan.
Hideo Hirayama, who is in charge of directing, brilliantly expressed his view of the world at ""STAR ISLAND"" held in Tokyo, Singapore, and Saudi Arabia. It is a fireworks shop that boasts to the world both the quality of the ball and the production.
MARUGOH Co.,Ltd
A fireworks shop that has won the World fireworks Competition in recent years, and with the fireworks it creates, has attracted many people with its outstanding expressive power of the world view of themes and images. It is characterized by a time-lag fireworks with strong luminescence, and its composition and space production power further increase the value of music fireworks. With their flexible on-site capabilities, they have a lot of experience in producing fireworks as well as fireworks.
MARUGOH is so well known overseas that it attracts many fireworks connoisseurs from abroad to Japan to witness the fireworks.
The relentless pursuit of ""better fireworks"" by the pyrotechnician Satoshi Saiki, who plays a central role, makes STAR ISLAND an even more attractive form of entertainment.
They share the same passion for Japanese fireworks with each company and are convinced that they can take it to greater heights by working together to create them.
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Yet another "start the week" meeting. This is beginning to be addictive. After that it was a visit with Fearless leader to Dolby at Wooton Bassett – arranged by EJ. The visit came in two halves. The first was a tour of the factory. Here they make the "professional" equipment that goes into cinemas. Then came description and demonstrations of professional and consumer technologies being implemented. It was interesting to hear how Dolby started in Clapham 43 years ago and, by supplying a product people didn't realise they wanted, grew to become a $640 million business by a mixture of licensing their technologies, developing the hardware and software to penetrate new markets and thinking through how the technologies would affect the business models and leading that change. The demonstration of how the various "ages" of sound have evolved was amazing. I left wishing I had the money to buy a home cinema system to complement the LCD television and Blu-ray player – apparently sitting in the concert hall using the full power of 5.1 surround sound with all the extras was thrilling. One of the simple lessons I learned was to go to their website ( http://www.dolby.com/consumer/home_entertainment/roomlayout.html) and, following simple instructions, setup my television and stereo systems properly. It works!! The sad bit was realising, in conversation with FL and EJ on the way back that some of the people we went were losing their jobs.
That afternoon, we had a discussion with Imperial College. A month or so ago, we had visited them to find our more about some of the projects they are involved with and their "corporate" attitude to knowledge transfer. Part of that visit – and for me the highlight – was the visit to the incubator unit in the lower reaches of the Bessemer Building run by Imperial Innovations. The companies were developing exciting products and services and their interaction with the university seemed to benefit both sides. Their problem lay in their success. As companies grew, they got too big to fit within the incubator, but space for start-ups in London – especially ones that need scientific or engineering facilities – is rare and Imperial wanted to discuss some ideas for how to get around this problem. They also wanted our support for some of their ideas – which were quite attractive!!
Tuesday saw me off to Aston University for a meeting of the Low Carbon Vehicles Innovation Platform Steering Group. We have two competitions under this Innovation Platform at the moment – the Ultra Low Carbon Vehicles Demonstrator programme and the Ultra-Efficient Systems for the market advancement of Electric and Hybrid Vehicles. The demonstrator programme was launched before Christmas and is receiving a lot of interest (31 Intentions to Submit last week) and the systems programme was launched the Monday – so there was a lot to talk about. One of the consistent messages we get from the community is that there are too many Government initiatives in many areas and they don't know how to work out what they should do. We are therefore working closely with the Department for Transport, BERR, the Energy Technologies Institute and Cenex to make sure we coordinate our activities and are able to explain one another's – so that one enquiry to any of us get the whole picture. Tuesday evening was taken up with the drive to Norwich so that I could be there for the next day, and so I got a chance to listen to the radio 4 coverage of Obama's inauguration. A bit eerie driving through the darkness that is Norfolk listening to that speech!!
Wednesday was the Open Innovation Conference 2009 run by the Norfolk Network. The day was a mixture of talks by large companies who practice open innovation, masterclasses on aspects of business development and 1:1 private appointments with the speakers. Since I was a substitute for Fearless Leader, I got to give the keynote address (all the presentations can be downloaded for here http://www.norfolknetwork.com/a.php?cat=11101&article_id=2859) and fielded a number of questions in the open session and in the numerous networking sessions on aspects of the work of the Technology Strategy Board – our Collaborative Research & Development grants, the Innovation Platforms and the Small Business Research Initiative. As normal, I find that people are familiar with what we used to be as part of the DTI and haven't caught up with our new status at arms length from government or the many changes we have wrought in our delivery mechanisms. They always seem genuinely and pleasantly surprised!!! I have always been sceptical of the term "open innovation". It seems to me that most of what the "instruction manual" in this space, Henry Chesbrough's "Open Innovation" has to say is to elaborate on practices I have seen operating in industry through most of my career. Like many good "management" books, its subject has been "discovered" and not "invented". The presentations by the large corporates varied between a profound understanding of this approach and what sounded suspiciously like the implementation of the latest management fashion. It is a shame that there wasn't a speaker from the SMEs that make up the supply chains of this sort of company when they operate the "in" form of open innovation or who have been set up as a result of the "out" form of open innovation. With one exception, the discussions with individuals, both those who had booked an appointment with me and those who just took their chances in the coffee breaks, were the most inspiring. There was a guy with a genuinely interesting take on heat recovery from waste food and sewage (sort twice waste food) and a company that enables automatic addition of "emotion" to avatars – see here and follow links http://www.emotionai.com/. That about 200 people turned up to listen and learn was pretty good, but the fact that they hit on me and every other speaker at every opportunity speaks volumes for the hunger to succeed in the area.
Thursday it was down to London. My first meeting was with Roo Reynolds, who had been recommended by our Graham Spittle, as we started to investigate what contribution technology could make to education, but who has now moved to the BBC to work on social media. Since the Technology Strategy Board has become a hotbed of "tweeting" over the last few months, established its island in Second Life in late November and is realising that this area represents a new opportunity to communicate with our wider community – or at least a different segment of it – the meeting took on a wider significance. Lots of ideas we agreed to discuss further.
Then down to the BERR Conference Centre for a meeting of the New Automotive Innovation & Growth Team. The team are now in the final stages of collating and examining the accumulated data, bringing together the analyses by the different working groups and synthesising an overall picture and recommendations. It was pretty dispiriting to listen to the lack of communication in the room. The BERR guys were trying to get the industrial guys to understand that they really did want to make it an industry report and not another government one. Then there was the debate about how developing new products and services was a waste unless the government would give them money to industrialise these new products. They seem to be using the Aerospace industry as their role model but with none of the knowledge or finesse!!
The final meeting of the day was to accompany Fearless Leader to the Royal College of Art. We have been (sort of) engaged with them for a couple of years through the Materials and Design Exchange, which is the design node of the Materials Knowledge Transfer Network. We have also talked to them about our first steps into the "Creative Industries" and the new Creative Industries Knowledge Transfer Network. However, our work with the Design Council has taught us that the concept of "design" is more integral to the process of innovation than we first understood and we are on a crash course to work out what more to do. This meeting was mainly finding out more about the RCA's existing activities and how they complement ours – and then working out what to do next – but it did produce some ideas that Fearless Leader needs to tell me to make happen.
Friday was an all-day affair at Zytek at the invitation of Bill Gibson, the founder and chairman of Zytek. Bill has been involved in the Low Carbon Vehicle Innovation Platform since the early workshops in 2006. He is a passionate advocate of electric vehicles and has spent much of the last decade putting that passion into business practice. He told us stories of his interactions with Banks and Universities that did not reflect well on them – but he seems to like working with us. One interesting insight was that both he and his Managing Director both thought that Collaborative R&D grants had to be with a university!!! His involvement with the area goes back even further. In the first competition the "old" Technology Strategy Board ran in early 2004, Zytek was part of a consortium on the development of "Energy efficient electric urban transport". Then in a 2005 competition they were in a consortium that focused more specifically on the electric powertrain. Finally, in our first competition under the Low Carbon Vehicles Innovation Platform in September 2007, Zytek was part of a consortium aiming to develop a hybrid bus. During the day, Fearless Leader and I saw the Smart Electric Vehicle (both of us had driven one last year so were keen to see how it was built), a 7.5 ton hybrid truck and a Le Mans car that has beaten the Audis!! We also saw the motors that power the electric vehicles in both 55kW and 70kW format, (some stuff about Formula 1 I would have to kill you if I divulged), the manufacturing facility that makes most of the parts and the people who do all this. Bill told us over and over that making an electric vehicle was more complicated that just adding an electric motor and some batteries – the control systems and the various ECMs are all difficult to design and make. It was a truly inspiring day to see a British company that is still small but respected and contracted by many global players. We should write these guys up and add them to our pathetically small list of success stories.


Endpoint security solutions provider Check Point Software yesterday announced their acquisition of multi-cloud deployment protection startup company Dome9. Both companies are based in Tel Aviv, Israel.
According to a press release by Check Point, the acquisition of Dome9 will allow Check Point to enhance their architecture and cloud security offerings with multi-cloud protection capabilities and policy enforcement. Dome9 provides cloud-native security capabilities, including compliance and governance automation and identity protection.
Solutions Review reported on the recent acquisition of RedSocks by Bitdefender to incorporate more threat detection into the latter's platform. With the Check Point Acquisition of Dome9, it appears the endpoint security solution market is working to expand its capabilities as digital perimeters blur due to cloud adoption and evasive threats. The future of the endpoint security market may be one of absorption and adaption to new enterprise demands as the threat landscape shifts.
The exact terms of the acquisition have not been disclosed as of the time of writing, although Israeli newspapers have reported a payment of $175 million in addition to stock options.
You can read more about the Check Point Software acquisition of Dome9 here.


text:
KEN'S Corner & The Real News…
Coffee with Ken
Do you need empathy to be a leader?
February 29th, 2020 by Ken
I recently attended a retreat by the Lacey City Council and senior city staff. As a relationship building exercise, the attendees were asked to list the traits they saw, or desired in their fellow members of the council. They were to rank those qualities on a board where several types of qualities were listed.
Traits on the board included: integrity, innovative, professional, leadership, collaboration, diversity, productivity, accountability, stewardship and empathy.
When the final accounting was done, integrity, collaboration and accountability were ranked the highest. The lowest – – empathy.
The dictionary defines empathy as the ability to project oneself into another persons personality in order to share in another's emotions or feelings. In other words, the ability to understand the feelings of another person. (My reading of the word.)
I want those in leadership positions to understand my feelings, but more importantly I want them to FEEL what I feel. By so doing, they can better grasp how the actions they take impact me.
So my question – – Is empathy necessary to be a good leader?
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Our comprehensive list below shows all clinics in Shucknall offering treatments for .
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Description: As medical marijuana becomes legal in more states, practicing neurologists need to know how to advise their patients about its use. This session will review the evidence for medical marijuana and related products in the treatment of neurologic disorders, and provide practical information about prescribing, including dosage forms, side effects, and legal issues.
Completion Message: Participants should be familiar with: the history of cannabis as medicine; the current legal landscape of medical marijuana, including federal and state regulations; cannabinoid pharmacology; the evidence for the use of medical marijuana for people living with neurologic disorders; and how to counsel patients about risks of medical marijuana.
Jessica Robinson Papp, MD, FAAN Dr. Robinson Papp has nothing to disclose.


Salisbury Christian School: 2015 graduate ... Played for Emily Eskridge ... All-conference ... MVP ... Team captain.
Personal: Jacqueline Grace Seifert ... Dean's List (Fall '15, '16; Spring '16, '17) ... Born March 26, 1997 in Salisbury, Md. ... Daughter of Fred and Ruth Seifert ... Has two siblings, Sam and James ... Sister, Sam, played volleyball UNC Wilmington.
Why St. Mary's?: I liked the atmosphere and wanted to attend a small, academically challenging school.


Crazy Fish has introduced a brand new party-dining experience, set to excite and tantalise the city's taste buds.
Crazy Fish launches 'Crazy Mondays' – an exciting new party style dining experience!
Starting 17 September from 19.00, Crazy Mondays will be hosted by a very merry sailor, a marvellous mermaid, and will offer a sharing set menu with a glass of Prosecco for only AED 350.
Set within the iconic DIFC, Crazy Fish brings the sophisticated vibe of Monte Carlo into the heart of Dubai with its distinct offerings of fresh catches and live entertainment.
Monday's will never be the same again with the new 'Crazy Mondays' night. It's the ideal location for groups of friends looking for a lively after work evening, full of fun and authentic Italian cuisine.
Diners are invited to unwind as the Chef produces a delicious set menu, no time is wasted pondering what to order, the food just keeps on coming, as the DJ keeps playing.
Guests can enjoy a cool cocktail at the bar with the resident mermaid, or for the party animals, have a dance with the merry sailor who will be keeping guests highly entertained with his antics.
The set menu consists of six hot and cold sharing starters, including fresh Oysters, Chili Prawns and a divine Seabass Tartare, as well as a Burrata, Tomato and Basil salad.
The flavoursome sharing mains include two large pasta dishes, Tagliolini Fish of the Day and Raviolo Butter and Italian Sage, as well as one seafood main offering of Wild Fish of the Day in Acquapazza accompanied by side dishes of Mixed Vegetables, Wild Mushrooms and Roasted Potatoes.
For those who have a sweet tooth, Crazy Fish's refreshing Fruitini bowl, ice cream and sorbet selection bowl, will leave diners satisfied.
READ THE LUXE DIARY TO DISCOVER HOW TO LIVE DUBAI LIFE IN STYLE. FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM & FACEBOOK.


Seems we pay a lot more attention to full and new moons than we do to the moons in-between. Maybe that's a mistake. It turns out that in the northern hemisphere, if the left side of the moon is dark, then we are moving toward a full moon and that's a waxing or growing moon. In the Southern hemisphere it's the opposite and the moon is growing if the right side of the moon is dark. Today's picture is a waxing moon from the northern hemisphere perspective.
It turns out when people paid more attention to the moon than their watches(check out yesterday's blog if you're not sure what I'm referring to), the waxing moon was a pretty big deal. It is the time when the moon is gaining power and that means it is a time for rituals and "rites of attraction" or "positive magic". The waxing moon was seen as a good time to draw things to you. Those "things" could be love, healing energy, wisdom or prosperity. If the prosperity one is the "thing" that jumped out at you- keep reading!
The third chakra resonates with, or is influenced by, the waxing moon. Positive energy is governed by the third chakra. It is the energy center concerned with willpower, self-control and personal power. People that have well balanced and developed third chakras are often very goal orientated, successful people. They often set their sites on self-development and concentrate on realizing all their capabilities. Third chakra personalities are often leaders. They not only set things in motion, but they bring them to their conclusion. In terms of the moon phase, that would mean you set things in motion during the waxing moon so they come to conclusion or fruition at the full moon phase. The moon will be full this month on May 17th.
The challenge for the third chakra, which may be particularly "awakened" during the waxing moon phase, is the competitiveness of our modern world. If the power of the third chakra becomes disconnected from positive power and self-development, but more focused on material pursuits (prosperity raises it's head again), power for the sake of being considered powerful, and personal success at the expense of others, the person may feel "unsettled" and unbalanced. This sense of disconnect may result in unscrupulous behavior, power struggles and ruthlessness. This unbalanced power struggle can result in feelings of impatience, in-decision, and lack of focus or an inability to direct action in a purposeful way.
The Bach Flower essences that resonate with the third chakra match those feelings of imbalance. They include Impatiens, Scleranthus, and Hornbeam. Impatiens can help with that sense that the world and the people in it aren't moving fast enough. During the waxing moon you may be particularly senstitive to energy and feel a need to do something with it- quickly. Sceleranthus can help with the indecision between two things. During the waxing moon this may be the indecision between whether or not you should be working towards personal fulfillment and life purpose or material, worldly pursuits. Hornbeam can also help direct you to get started on the right road. Hornbeam may be helpful if during the waxing moon you feel sleep is not refreshing. It helps restore your vitality.
The crane in today's picture most likely didn't happen to come across my desk by accident. It turns out cranes are, in ancient Chinese, the symbol of longevity and focus. The crane is said to reflect the importance of focusing on your most important goal rather than dividing your attention between multiple projects.
So I guess the summary from all that is that we are always affected by nature, even though we may have lost sight of that a bit. A waxing moon may be calling your attention to the importance of setting a personal goal for self development. It seems like we should focus within for a bit and consider what is the most important thing for us to achieve in the next week or so, and pull our focus towards that. Maybe a good dose of positive magic is all anyone needs!


text:
package com.vmware.vim25;

/**
* @author Steve Jin (http://www.doublecloud.org)
* @version 5.1
*/

public enum ClusterDasAamNodeStateDasState {
  uninitialized ("uninitialized"),
  initialized ("initialized"),
  configuring ("configuring"),
  unconfiguring ("unconfiguring"),
  running ("running"),
  error ("error"),
  agentShutdown ("agentShutdown"),
  nodeFailed ("nodeFailed");

  @SuppressWarnings("unused")
  private final String val;
  private ClusterDasAamNodeStateDasState(String val)
  {
    this.val = val;
  }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


These images were for various clients, and mostly for their catalogues or brochures. That said, most clients tend to look for web images before moving onto a full catalogue inventory.
The image above was painstakingly crafted by Wayne Myers in the studio. Why "crafted"? Because Wayne took several images, lighting each aspect of the watch individually, and then carefully composited the final image. This is where most clients don't see or understand the time and effort that goes towards the production of the final image.
Because the lighting heads were pretty close to the subject (all were within three feet), the Lencarta SmartFlash had more power than was actually needed. The problem with using high output heads, say 600Ws, you can run into problems when working very close to your subject. You can sometimes find you just can't turn the heads down far enough.
The SmartFlash is 200Ws, and is absolutely ideal for close up work. Even with a gridded beauty dish fitted, Wayne still only needed the output to be ¼. This was positioned frame left lower corner and low, so as to skim the bezel.
A second Smartflash was firing through a 60×60 softbox, slightly higher and angled downward. This head was moved a number of times to provide more of the general lighting, which was then composited into the final shot. It can be seen as the general highlight along the top of the bezel between ten and twelve o'clock. Output was again at ¼, but the head was a little further away than the beauty dish. A silver 5-in-1 reflector was used to bounce light into the top right side of the frame.
The effect of the gridded beauty dish can be clearly seen across the surface of the slate.
Here, we used a Nikkor Micro 60mm lens, and although an aperture of f22 was used, it still remained quite shallow, nicely throwing the background out of focus as you look beyond the pendant. The main light source is a 70×100 softbox frame right, fitted to a SmartFlash, firing at ¼ output. This is actually the only lightsource here, as the remainder was provided by a silver 5-in-1 reflector frame left.
This is again a single light source, and on this occasion, a speedlight bouncing from a white foam board. which actually provides a nice semi harsh light. The stofen on the speedlight gives a crisp light nearer the speedlight, whereas the bounced light is much softer.


If you've ever wanted to create an app for the iPhone or iPad but didn't know where to start, this new, basic guide from Apple might help. It's a step-by-step overview and introduction of the tools you need and how to submit an app to the App Store.
The guide promises to teach you to create a simple iOS app and learn the basics of Objective-C, the programming language for iOS apps. Note that to actually get an app published in the App store, you'll need to have an official developer account for $99 a year.
While the simple guide isn't as thorough as taking a full-fledge class in iOS programming, and you'll still need to put in some work and read the detailed resources Apple has linked to in each of the sections, it's a nice, easy-to-read starting point that's free.


text:
Toronto Maple Leafs to appear in Amazon's All or Nothing Docuseries – Deadline
January 14, 2021	Hollywood No Comments
Amazon Goes Into Hockey With Latest Version Of Its All or nothing a bit of sporting docuseries.
The streamer ordered All or Nothing: Toronto Maple Leafs by Cream Films, a division of the Canadian production company behind the upcoming CNN series The story of the end of the night, Amazon Studios, and NHL Original Productions.
The series, which will air later this year, comes as the Maple Leafs kick off their season against the Montreal Candians tonight.
It will feature on the ice and behind the scenes access to the team's season as they compete in the first all-Canadian division in NHL history.
It is also the latest international version of All or nothing Next series on New Zealand All Blacks and Premier League football clubs Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur. There have been five NFL versions of the show.
" The Pack " canceled at Amazon after one season
All or Nothing: Toronto Maple Leafs is produced by Steve Mayer, Ross Greenburg and Steven Stern.
"As part of our continued investment in Canada, this new original Canadian series will offer behind-the-scenes access and rarely seen views of the Toronto Maple Leafs, one of hockey's most legendary franchises – and my favorite team. – for a season unlike any in NHL history, "said James Farrell, vice president of local originals at Amazon Studios. "As a fan dating back to when I lived in Toronto, I know that live action on the ice is matched only by drama behind closed doors. The series will provide an exclusive access experience for Prime members. "
"All or Nothing has an established reputation for its inspiring storytelling and unprecedented access to some of the world's greatest sports franchises," said Steve Mayer, general manager of content and senior executive vice president of the NHL. "What an incredible honor that Amazon chose the NHL and one of our most legendary teams in hockey history, the Toronto Maple Leafs, to watch. With the unwavering support of the Leafs players, coaches and front office, we will give fans around the world unprecedented access to an NHL team's entire season for the very first time. We look forward to this incredible opportunity to partner with Amazon to expand the NHL's continued commitment to deliver our great game not only to our hockey fans, but to all sports fans around the world.
Photos: Pranutan Bahl broken in Bandra | Parties and events
Janhvi Kapoor star Good Luck Jerry faces film hiatus amid farmers protest: Bollywood News
Venice Film Festival Removes Sconfini Section Permanently – Deadline
Fatima Sana Shaikh shoots in Rajasthan for silent project, source reveals details: Bollywood News


TOP CFA members and Bellarine MP Lisa Neville were at the Wallington Fire Brigade on Sunday, for the handover of its second tanker.
CFA Operations Officer Ian Beswicke and Assistant Chief Officer Bob Barry were at the handover – 10 years in the making.
Wallington Brigade Captain Craig Warren said it was an auspicious occasion.
He said former members Tim Monahan and Rhys Esler, and current member Alistair Drayton first raised the need for the tanker a decade ago.
"For the 20 years that I have been associated with the brigade, Wallington has made itself available for every major fire campaign," Mr Warren said.
These campaigns, Mr Warren said, would take the brigade's tanker away, leaving Wallington exposed.
After years of sausage sizzles, and garage sales, the brigade raised enough money to apply for a government grant for the tanker.
The bid was successful and the tanker arrived in Wallington last November.
After four weeks of training the brigade put it into operation.
A week later it deployed the tanker to the fires that devastated the Otways last year.
"It has already made a significant contribution to protecting the community," Mr Warren said.
"I'd like to thank the Victorian Government and the CFA for making Wallington Tanker 2 a reality.


text:
Q: Extract sub category info from XML using Google Sheets import xml I am trying to capture elements of an qmd file (that is xml markup) using Google Sheets importxml. Based on the reply to my question Google ImportXML from QGIS metadata file I am able to capture the primary tag.
=transpose(IMPORTXML("https://drive.google.com/uc?id=1AI2C8hQnSOuuoyJXizYBszGmpMXW8xxT&export=download","//authid"))

However I can't access some elements
    <spatialrefsys>
      <proj4>+proj=utm +zone=55 +south +ellps=GRS80 +towgs84=0,0,0,0,0,0,0 +units=m +no_defs</proj4>
      <srsid>2449</srsid>
      <srid>28355</srid>
      <authid>EPSG:28355</authid>
      <description>GDA94 / MGA zone 55</description>
      <projectionacronym>utm</projectionacronym>
      <ellipsoidacronym>GRS80</ellipsoidacronym>
      <geographicflag>false</geographicflag>
    </spatialrefsys>
  </crs>
  <extent>
    <spatial minx="322783.17999999999301508" minz="0" crs="EPSG:28355" maxx="337384.35999999998603016" miny="8170597.66000000014901161" maxz="0" dimensions="2" maxy="8181833.33999999985098839"/>
    <temporal>
      <period>
        <start></start>
        <end></end>
      </period>
    </temporal>
  </extent>

From the //extent I want minx, maxx
for XPath I have tried "//extent", "//extent/spatial", "//extent/spatial[@*]" and "@minx"
but get no result.

A: *

*You want to retrieve the values of maxx and minx using IMPORTXML().

If my understanding is correct, how about this modification?
Modified formula:
=TRANSPOSE(IMPORTXML(A1,"//spatial/@maxx | //spatial/@minx"))

*

*https://drive.google.com/uc?id=1AI2C8hQnSOuuoyJXizYBszGmpMXW8xxT&export=download is put in the cell "A1".

*In this case, //spatial/@maxx | //spatial/@minx is used as the xpath.

*

*Attibute values can be retrieved with @.

*When you want to use these values as the number, you can use this.

*If you want to use the values as the text, for example, how about the following formula?
=TRANSPOSE(ARRAYFORMULA(TEXT(IMPORTXML(A1,"//spatial/@maxx | //spatial/@minx"),"0.0000000000")))

Result:

Reference:

*

*IMPORTXML
If I misunderstood your question and this was not the result you want, I apologize.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


The Rotmilan-Höhenweg (hiking trail red kite falcon) is an approximately 44 kilometre long, cross country circular trail through the Elsofftal. The pentagonal signpost marks the way for hikers and cyclists through the Wittgensteiner villages of Elsoff, Christianseck, Diedenshausen, Alertshausen and Neuludwigsdorf in county Hessen (Hessenland). An interesting "border experience" with a fascinating panoramic view.
The Rotmilan (red kite falcon) flys over everything that connects the two federal states Nordrhein-Westfalen and Hessen. With some luck, the hikers can observe the birds of prey, which gave the road its name, while hunting. The trail starts at 380 metres and brings you up to 675 metres above sea level and it offers you a rich nature with splendid views to the Wittgensteiner Land and the Ederbergland.
The Rotmilan-Höhenweg offers plenty of different views and shows itself extremely divers. Due to a few paved trails, cyclists as well as hikers will thouroughly enjoy this trip. Subsections are particularly well suited for those who are traveling with prams, wheelchair or a walking frame. Also ten feeder paths are marked as a connection to the villages Alertshausen, Christianseck and Diedenshausen, which can be used as circlet paths with different lengths. The paths are marked with a red pentagon on a yellow ground.
Hikers are advised to wear hiking boots and take food and plenty of water. One of the starting points is the village square in Elsoff, an alternative is the car park Struthbach in Christianseck.


The University uses a Content Management System (CMS) called Ingeniux. The CMS is available to all departments and colleges. To request access to our CMS, please complete the steps below.
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On the occasion of the Asia Society Art Gala honoring Lee Ufan, Nyoman Masriadi and Zeng Fanzhi, Kreemart collaborated with Mariko Mori, and Chef Guido Mogni to create tonight's performative dessert.
Mariko Mori's performance will take place on the sculptural platform inside a ring of illuminated pearls made of sugar. Mr. Ken Ikeda, Japanese musician and artist who has composed and recorded for David Lynch amongst others, will improvise a composition and students from Savannah College of Art and Design will assist in the performance.
Mariko Mori's "Pearl for Oneness" was made possible thanks to Kreemart, Mariko Mori Studio and Asia Society – New York.


Johanna is a Holistic Health Educator, Author, Speaker, Blogger and founder of Earthly Bodies Natural Living, LLC where she helps people overwhelmed with how to live naturally healthy lives in an over-processed world make their body a spiritually, mentally and physically safe place to LIVE.
Johanna is a 2001 graduate of the University of South Alabama where she received her degree in Health Education with a focus on Nutrition and Kinesiology. The couples newest business venture, Kale Yeah! Juice Cafe in Foley, AL, now shares this same mission.
Christovia is the CFO of their businesses and runs the day to day operations and promotion. As a former football player for The Tuskegee University Tigers and The University of Alabama Crimson Tide he has experienced first hand what proper nutrition allows the body to achieve. Being married to a health educator has allowed him to continue testing those limits and advocate in the community alongside his wife.
When you visit Kale Yeah! Juice Cafe you will experience the best raw juices, raw smoothies and plant based eats that nature has to offer. Kale Yeah! is here to show you that your body can and wants to heal itself of all ailments and be in optimum condition. Just give your body what it wants and it will GLOW from the inside out!
Christovia and Johanna have been married for 12 years. In the face of adversity and the tragedy that birthed both Earthly Bodies Natural Living and Kale Yeah! Juice Cafe they have found true strength and God's love in each other. Johanna has no problem saying that she will be forever grateful that God chose her to be his wife and the mother of their children.
They are fueled by their passion to find out more about keeping these Earthly Bodies healthy and a safe place for us to LIVE. Their passion and commitment is around showing people a better way to provide their body the health and nutrition it needs to thrive and achieve optimum health.
You can meet them and get juiced at 119 S McKenzie St in Foley, AL or visit them online at earthlybodies.org and kaleyeahjuicecafe.org.


text:
Q: Git master home directory I've accidentally made my home directory the master. How do I undo this?
Note: every time I open up terminal now it declares that my home directory is (master). I don't want my home directory in github, just a few subfolders.
Thanks!

A: You can remove the git directory that is hidden inside of your home directory. In the terminal enter the following:
cd ~
sudo rm -R .git

Note: THIS WILL REMOVE ANY GIT HISTORY FOR YOUR HOME DIRECTORY. This will not remove any files in your home directory but it will remove git tracking from your home directory which is what I assume you want to do.