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Questions and Implications of the French Elections: Mélenchon, La France Insoumise, Populism
International Relations • July 27, 2017 • Pierre Rousset
Jean-Luc Mélenchon's presidential and legislative campaign this year was different from the previous ones. There was a huge change in the relationship to political parties in general and to his former Left Front allies in particular. It's important to understand the reasons for this change, as well as the implications and the specific context in which it took place.
First, let's take a quick look at who Mélenchon is. He called on voters to "get rid of" traditional politicians, successfully skirting over the fact that he himself is a rather caricatural example of such figures. He was a member of the 'Lambertists', a current of Trotskyist background with a symbiotic relationship to the apparatuses of Social Democracy, the Freemasons and the Force Ouvrière trade-union confederation. In this capacity, he was sent into the Socialist Party (PS) in 1976 and built a career there. In 1983, he was elected as a municipal councillor and then to the departmental level. He became a professional politician and didn't put down roots in any particular constituency; he moved up to the Senate, in a country where senators aren't elected directly by universal suffrage but indirectly by other elected officials, and then was elected as a member of the European parliament on the PS party list. He was appointed to cabinet in the government of prime minister Lionel Jospin, who himself had come out of the Lambertists. Only now has he finally been elected directly to the parliament, but only after parachuting himself in to a constituency in Marseilles, the large Mediterranean port city. Lacking local roots, he was still able to lead the left-wing Gauche Socialiste current within the PS. This was a genuinely activist current that enabled him to leave the PS in 2008 and found the Left Party (PG).
What are his political points of reference? As I said, he originally comes out of the Lambertist current, not exactly the most democratic strain of French Trotskyism. He didn't burn his bridges with this part of his past but nonetheless fully immersed himself in the Socialist Party. In fact, one of his main points of reference, and perhaps the main one, is François Mitterrand, French president from 1981 to 1995, to whom he was close. He considers Mitterrand to be a political genius. Though somewhat of a loner, Mitterrand was able to take over the PS, turn the Communist Party (PCF) into a junior partner by forging an alliance with it (the Union of the Left), win the presidency and hold on for two seven-year terms (a record for longevity, though not for radicalism!).
Mélenchon feels absolutely no connection at all to the revolutions of the 20th century. It's almost as if they had never taken place. There's before – the Paris Commune, Jean Jaurès; and there's after – for example, Hugo Chavez. It's a huge understatement to say that he feels no empathy whatsoever for my generation's revolutionaries.[1]
He is part of a current of opinion that's quite strong in France – one that is simultaneously left-wing on socio-economic questions (public services and so forth) and nationalist. I'll come back to this later.
2012-2017: From Presidential Ambition to the Benches of Parliament
What has made Mélenchon tick since he left the PS in 2008? Well, Mélenchon has made Mélenchon tick, and it's not a clever one-liner to say so but rather an important insight into what he believes. He identifies with figures who embody important political change (beginning with Chavez – but also Mitterrand in 1981 after 25 years of right-wing rule in France). It took me some time to get my head around the idea, since it seemed so odd and so foreign to me, but it was indeed Jean-Luc Mélenchon's ambition to become president in the 2012 and 2017 elections. If you haven't understood that, you haven't understood anything. The change in orientation from 2012 to 2017 was tied first and foremost to a sense of opportunity. He chooses the character he will play and the political tack that he pursues on the basis of a tactical assessment of the period rather than a strategic project. This is the point Podemos citizen-council member Jorge Lago makes in his description of how Mélenchon changed tactics in 2017 after realizing that he had misread the presidential contest (with Fillon winning the right-wing nomination, not Sarkozy; Hamon as the PS candidate, not Valls or Hollande; and Bayrou supporting Macron).[2]
When Mélenchon speaks of a "citizen insurrection," he means a "revolution through the ballot box." His aim was to quickly secure the presidency – with the hopes of doing so either in one fell swoop in 2012 or by becoming the "third man" in those elections with a view to winning in 2017. In the event, he came fourth in 2012 – behind National Front (FN) candidate Marine Le Pen. He ran as the candidate of the Left Front (FdG), an electoral alliance between the Left Party (PG), the PCF and the various groups and networks that came together in the Ensemble! grouping. With 11.2 per cent of votes cast, he took the bulk of "radical Left" votes. This was a respectable result; but in his eyes it was altogether insufficient.
Debates at the time ran along familiar lines, having especially to do with the question of electoral alliances with the PS, on which the PG (Mélenchon) and the PCF disagreed. The PCF has a number of elected officials whose re-election often depends on reaching agreement with the PS, whereas the PG had very few (and ironically those they did have had been elected while still members of the PS).
In reaction to this initial setback, Mélenchon opted to break free any constraints placed on him by the established parties – free from his allies in the Left Front, but also free from his own party, the PG.[3] He made a "Bonapartist" turn by declaring his candidacy for the presidential election without consulting or negotiating beforehand and by creating his own movement vehicle for the elections, La France Insoumise ("France Unbowed") (LFI). He has aggressively pursued this tack and it's no longer a matter of rallying forces together (behind him) but rather of replacing forces much further afield.
Mélenchon always builds in opposition to something or someone, carefully selecting his target. For many years it was the Front National (FN). He took on Marine Le Pen one-on-one in the 2012 presidential elections and again in the northern constituency of Hénin-Beaumont in the subsequent legislative elections. He lost each time. In 2016-2017 he switched targets. "Kick them all out" became the new rallying cry. In the 2017 legislative elections, he ran in Marseilles – not in a constituency where the FN is strong but rather in one where he had done very well in the first round of the presidential elections and where the outgoing MP (from the PS), Patrick Mennucci, no longer had any hope of being re-elected – going down to defeat along with most PS MPs.
The economic program has not changed qualitatively. It's essentially a radical Keynesian approach, absent any kind of anti-capitalism, with a far greater emphasis on ecological questions than in the past. Over the months, though, language, symbols and communication techniques did indeed change. Mélenchon has taken a close look at what has worked in other countries, such as Obama's use of social media and the Sanders campaign in the USA, or the history of Podemos in Spain. He has taken stock of the traditional media's declining influence. He has worked on his image down to the smallest details (such as the clothes he wears on different occasions). He likes PR stunts, such as using holograms to address two rallies simultaneously – an expensive trick that has already been used abroad (contrary to what he has suggested), and especially by Indian prime minister Modi. He works very closely with PR consultants. He is a professional politician, more than at any time in the past.
Facing a threat on the Left from dissident PS candidate Benoit Hamon, he intensified his campaign's populist profile. Jorge Lago approvingly highlights this turn and only regrets that it came rather late, and for reasons of tactical expediency rather than strategic commitment:
"[Mélenchon's] campaign has been superbly crafted. For example, the campaign video depicting how France will look in 2018, one year after his election, is really smart because he speaks the language of government and state. […] The French understand and identify with this kind of language. When I lived in France, the fact that this language of government and state was so widespread among people is one of the things that struck me most. In short, the idea of obliterating the language of the traditional Left and radical-Left shibboleths, and of banishing red flags and certain references from campaign rallies, was executed really well in my view, albeit perhaps a little late in the day."
Speaking the language of government and state, obliterating the traditional language and shibboleths of the radical Left, banishing red flags, Mélenchon has systematically and deliberately built LFI by breaking with the historic references and symbols of a class identity (and not only of the so-called "traditional Left"). Though promoting the creation of a Sixth Republic, he has fully immersed himself in the Fifth Republic tradition by which the presidential election creates a personal relationship between a man (rarely a woman) and the French people. He has catered to the rejection of political parties, just as Emmanuel Macron has. From this angle, a candidate's profile, his media brand and what it embodies are more important than the content of the campaign program. Before getting to that, though, a few more words on the elections.
Bouncing back from his defeat in the presidential election, and emboldened by his 19.6 per cent score in the first round, Mélenchon called on voters to elect an LFI majority in the legislative elections – which would have made him prime minister, setting the stage for a conflictual cohabitation with the Macron presidency. In the event, LFI's first-round legislative score had a sobering effect even if Mélenchon was happy with his own win in Marseilles.
In the end, having run for the presidency, Mélenchon had to be content with his own election to the lower house and with that of enough fellow LFI candidates to form a parliamentary caucus – LFI has 17 MPs in total and 15 are required to form a caucus. This was actually a better result than what the polls forecast. In fact, all opposition parties gained from a relative demobilization of the Macron electorate in the second round of the lower-house elections. The PCF, for example, won in 11 constituencies and the FN in eight – depriving Mélenchon of the satisfaction of indirect revenge over FN leader Marine Le Pen.
The PCF has formed its own parliamentary caucus, separate from LFI, thanks to the addition of five overseas MPs, who enable it to hit the 15-member cut-off.
The new LFI caucus has positioned itself clearly on the left. Like the PCF, it has made defending the labour code its main focus. It's too early to know how Mélenchon will remould himself or what he will do with la France Insoumise (whose remit, in its present form, was time-limited to the election campaign). Still, we can and should look at the recurring features of Mélenchon's orientation and at the implications of the "populist moment" of 2017.
Populist Symbolism
Mélenchon often demonstrates a keen sense of political timing. This was the case, for example, when he broke with the Socialist Party in 2008 in order to create the Left Party (PG) and then the Left Front (FG) with the PCF. That same year, we had launched the idea of the New Anti-Capitalist Party (NPA) and received a very favourable response – a fact which probably hadn't escaped Mélenchon's notice at the time. The NPA could only be built as the outcome of a lengthy and complicated process; whereas the PG was built overnight on the basis of forces already organized within the PS.
The NPA process was initiated at a time when the Left Party (PG) and Left Front (FG) didn't yet exist. But the NPA's actual foundation took place after their creation and when they were very much on the offensive. As a result, the entire dynamic surrounding the launch of the NPA was thrown off kilter.
When the Left Front began to run out of steam (created for purely electoral purposes, it ultimately became an empty shell), Mélenchon tried to break free from the arrangement in a number of ways, in particular by launching the Movement for the Sixth Republic (M6R). At the time, I found this initiative to be completely off the radar, since working-class concerns were primarily socio-economic in nature. Though the M6R itself was stillborn, the idea of the Sixth Republic did get some traction, with the crisis of the Fifth Republic's institutions and the related system of parties going into full-blown crisis in 2017.
Mélenchon is always on the lookout for novelty, and this is certainly one of his qualities. He's also an excellent stage performer, a talent he uses and even abuses. In a presidential system like France's, this is an asset. The PCF was unable to find a candidate that could rival him in this respect, and this allowed Mélenchon to dominate – and subsequently abandon – the Left Front.
Here we come up against the question of an individual embodying a political future; with a project closely tied up with their own personal fate. I submit that this is the common ground between Mélenchon and the protagonists and theoreticians of Left populism: especially Chantal Mouffe and Ernest Laclau; and Pablo Iglesias and Íñigo Errejón.
On the Verso website, Chantal Mouffe herself supports Mélenchon as a "radical reformist against a mounting oligarchy."[4] She makes a careful distinction between the Latin American context (societies with powerful, entrenched oligarchies) and Europe (where the Left-Right divide remains key). But in Europe, too, she argues, it's a matter of bringing an end to the domination of an oligarchic system, by way of a democratic reconstruction.
One of Mélenchon's spokespersons and a member of his inner circle, Raquelle Garrido, is less finicky in an interview with Jacobin .[5] The watchwords of the 2017 campaign were humanism, populism, patriotism and Constitution. LFI is a "a grassroots citizen movement, our ideology is humanist populism. In many ways we have adopted the populist strategy of Chantal Mouffe and Ernesto Laclau. [Populism] "is a program. It is a demarcation strategy between a 'them' [the oligarchy] and an 'us' [the people].[…] our movement […] is intended to build something beyond parties. It has constructed itself by design — really deliberately — as something different from the cartel of parties we had in 2012." The situation is "ripe" for "what we're saying — that we need a peaceful solution" to the numerous tensions that run through French society. In 2012, Mélenchon may have appeared "too radical, too subversive." He now "seems wise."
It continues to be said of Mélenchon that he is an eternal "Jaurésien" (after the early 20th century French socialist leader Jean Jaurès), maintaining the reference to class but squarely within the reference to the Republic. The election campaign nonetheless saw a deliberate blotting out of the symbols of class-struggle politics. As the weeks went on, red flags vanished, giving way to a sea of French tricolor flags; and the Internationale made way for the French national anthem, The Marseillaise. The word "humanist," unqualified, was seen as self-sufficient. Going the way of the hammer and sickle, even the raised fist has been upstaged by the Greek letter Phi (φ).
Phi has become the movement's logo, used everywhere including on ballot papers. There's some wordplay here (Phi sounds like LFI's usual acronym "FI," just as Emmanuel Macron's initials, EM, are the same as those of the En Marche! vehicle created to support his presidential run), but much more. Phi evokes philosophy, harmony and love and is unburdened by a political past. A symbol of neither Right nor Left. When it comes to harmony, Mélenchon often disrupts things with his deliberately arrogant and contemptuous remarks, but Phi remains a neutral marker all the same.
Labour issues were at the heart of the Mélenchon campaign (against stripping workers of labour-code protection; on paycheque and taxation questions; and more), but not social classes as such. The idea of the "99 per cent" is about the people against the oligarchs. On repeated occasions, Mélenchon organized the biggest rallies of the campaign season. For the tens of thousands of people in attendance, class identity had been rendered invisible. This will have consequences, since France is among those Western European countries where class identity has been effectively pushed from centre stage to the fragmented margins – much more so, I would argue, than in Belgium or Britain, for example. A win for the neoliberal ideological offensive. In fact, although both come out of a left social-democratic tradition, in this respect Mélenchon is the antithesis of British Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.
In Left politics, is populism a temporary tactic? For one of the founders of Podemos, Juan Carlos Monedero, it should only be used temporarily, during what in Spanish he calls the movement's "fase destituyente" ("deconstruction phase") – and then surpassed in the "fase constituyente" ("constituent phase").[6] He specifically criticizes Íñigo Errejón's approach:
"Defenders of the 'populist hypothesis', and especially Íñigo Errejón, felt that it was enough to mobilize those sectors who could deliver victory and that we shouldn't raise issues that might lose us votes. That is, that we should only raise abstract matters in order to secure the broadest support possible: country, [the oligarchical] caste and corruption. [The idea] is to empty signifiers, but in fact it's the very possibility of change that ends up being gutted. When Laclau says that politics and economics are the same thing, he brushes aside the material conditions for class struggle. I think that's a mistake."
It's possible that Mélenchon will opt to resurrect a class-based approach in parliament and not leave it to the PCF alone. Still, and the question can just as well be directed to Monedero, is it really so easy to rebuild something that you have deftly dismantled in the first instance?
"Replacement" and La France Insoumise
"Replacement" has become a central part of Mélenchon's message and political choices. There's nothing to regret about the death of the PS, which long ago ceased to be a "workers party." Nor should anyone want to breathe new life into it. If that were all this was about, then "replacement" would be fine and dandy.
However, for Mélenchon the era of parties is finished. So long live the movements! He doesn't merely take note of the decline of said parties, he actively contributes to their marginalization. This dovetails nicely with the current situation in France, and it's precisely how Macron and his En Marche (now La République en Marche — LREM) movement have succeeded.
In the present context, the consequences of this approach might be especially serious. With whom can a coalition of social and democratic resistance against Macron be organized when one's ambition is to "replace" all of one's possible party allies? After having carefully separated the field of electoral politics (a matter for politicians) from that of socio-economic action (a matter for trade unions), Mélenchon now appears to be portraying himself and his parliamentary caucus as the natural parliamentary expression of the struggles that the trade-union movement will undertake.
There is an urgent need to unite all resistance forces at the risk of being summarily defeated by the offensive that Macron is preparing around a range of questions – from granting employers more workplace-level powers; to enshrining in ordinary law the temporary measures of the present state of emergency in the country.
The problem is that replacement is the antithesis of unity.
Question: what's going to happen to La France Insoumise? What does it mean to say that the era of (traditional) parties is over?
Mélenchon toys with the notion that it's possible to circumvent parties, totally marginalizing and shattering them. But he hasn't explained what will replace them.[7] LFI wasn't conceived to be a lasting formation but as a temporary instrument for the 2017 elections. It was created in February 2016. No one could join, it was impossible to pay dues and the only thing you could do was make financial contributions for the upcoming elections. Dues imply membership and the rights and responsibilities that go with it. Signing up to the LFI process entailed neither rights nor responsibilities. Nothing is expected of you and you have no formal power.
There were perhaps up to 500,000 Internet clicks of people supporting LFI. That's a lot. Internet users submitted their ideas online. A "synthesis," or program, l'Avenir en commun ("Our common future")[8] was posted for approval and about 97 per cent of respondents were in favour. Restrictive rules were handed down: LFI support groups were not to have more than 15 members, and shouldn't straddle constituencies or coordinate their work between each other within larger geographic zones. There should be no local LFI conventions or general assemblies. These highly unusual rules (which haven't always been abided by locally) obviously strengthen the authority of top leadership, while not necessarily doing away with the need for electoral horse-trading among different competing internal party-type groupings. Overall, horizontal functioning was at once very informal and circumscribed, with tight vertical control by the core leadership.
Activist teams were established, often at the initiative of the top leadership, and took on a number of tasks – in particular doing an excellent job of getting out the LFI message on social media. While there have been analogies to the Spanish party Podemos, it's not quite so simple. We didn't have a mass movement on the same scale in France and there was no space within LFI for a founding organization like the Spanish far-Left group Anticapitalistas.
The core leadership group was drawn from the Left Party (PG). There's an all-in-the-family feel to it, with people who have a long history together. Some of them are now LFI members of parliament, some of whom had been LCR/NPA members before getting involved in the Ensemble! group.
Close identification to the leader has given rise to highly sectarian forms of behaviour from the Mélenchon fan club, which swarms together against any criticism online, to the point where their targets' online accounts have occasionally been blocked. Mélenchon himself is no fan of criticism. I really want to stress this point because it's part of a deplorable trend on the radical Left, where debates on substantive issues are mediocre at best and demonization has become commonplace. Disagreement is seen as illegitimate as soon as it touches upon a "sensitive" question.
So that's how things have gone so far, but where are we headed? Mélenchon and the tight-knit group around him have to spell out the kind of lasting movement they hope to build. And they have to explain how the pluralism of society will be expressed if, as they have argued, it is not meant to do so via the plurality of parties.
It's not hard to see why parties have been discredited. It's not because of Macron or Mélenchon. The PS in particular self-destructed under the recently concluded Hollande presidency. And nor should the PCF and far-Left blame their own failures on anyone else. The same goes for the parties of the Right. But what must we (re)build now?
LFI's social roots are very shallow. It would be quite ironic were it to make the same hegemonic claims as the PCF used to during its Stalinist phase. Long-time PCF member and faithful Mélenchon supporter Roger Martelli raises this very question in decidedly measured terms:
"Like the PCF in its heyday, La France Insoumise could very well choose to argue that there is no space outside its ranks for politics that are both realistic and revolutionary. Yet at a time of crisis and reconfiguration, where broad regrouping and collective invention are the order of the day, it is advisable to steer clear of any approach that in one way or another appears to call on other forces to pledge allegiance."[9]
The People and Patriotism
Mélenchon sings the praises of France and always has. He sings the praises of France as global power, spanning all the world's seas and oceans. He wants France to quit NATO – but "à la Charles de Gaulle," in order better to defend its interests and prestige around the world.
This has nothing to do with the actual relationship of forces in today's world, but it was very much part of LFI's campaign. Running for the presidency, Mélenchon enjoyed speaking as the country's (future) commander in chief of the French military, whose capacities he wants to strengthen (and whose nuclear weapons he wants to keep).
The "people" is a national-people, the foundation for patriotism. In an imperialist country, patriotism is not a sure bet for the Left! For Mélenchon, though, France is not imperialist. LFI doesn't fight against French imperialism because such a fight is unwarranted. Its view of foreign policy is not based on an internationalist outlook but a geostrategic one.[10] So its view of the situation in the Middle East is based on an assessment of the relationship between global powers – hence the calls to cooperate with Russia and too bad if this means negotiating terms with Assad.
The same approach of rival global powers can be applied to Europe – so the target becomes Angela Merkel's Germany (with borderline Germanophobic rhetoric).
Mélenchon also sees the unity of the Republic – France's "one and indivisible" character – as sacrosanct. He inveighs against the country's Regional Languages Charter; he attacked Hollande when he called for strengthening Corsica's regional powers; and on and on it goes. All this prompted a retort from Philippe Pierre-Charles of the Martinique GRS[11] which concludes:
"The moral of the story is that progressives on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean cannot evade a serious and fraternal debate on how to bring about the total eradication of colonialism."[12]
It has to be said, though, that Mélenchon's stance around these matters has not elicited much response within the French "radical" Left. It's a worrying and indeed demoralizing symptom.
Contradictory Impact
It's quite natural, especially from abroad, to see LFI's success solely as a hopeful sign of radical-Left recovery and renewal. And it is indeed the case that to a large extent people voted for LFI for left-wing reasons. The flipside, though, is that this success was also built upon a policy of shattering the Left's identities, symbols and historical reference points (in the true meaning of the word "Left").
This apparent paradox can't be grasped within the usual analytical framework. But we must come to terms with what is taking place. The danger is that the net outcome will be more negative than positive – with the destructive ramifications on people's consciousness weighing more heavily in the balance than the underpinnings of renewal and reconstruction. LFI requires a specific analytical framework that takes in its contradictory features.
LFI is clearly a multi-faceted space. A number of radical-Left activists have gotten involved based on the compelling argument that we should be in those spaces where things are happening. Unfortunately, this involvement took place without in-depth debate (with a few exceptions, such as Samy Johsua). In any event, a chapter is now closed. The long 2016-2017 election cycle is over. The important choices now are the ones that will be made over the coming days and weeks. There can be no getting around a substantive debate on the very notion of "Left populism," its ambiguities and the serious dangers that they entail. As Samy Johsua and Roger Martelli have pointed out, "populaire" ("working-class") and "populist" are not the same thing:
"Of course, there's nothing disgraceful about finding populism appealing; there are solid arguments in its favour. But these same arguments can also lead us into a dead-end. Populism claims to be combative but it could well be paving the way now for future defeats. We aren't about fighting with the far-Right for control of the nation; rather, we seek to extend the realm of popular sovereignty toward all political spaces without distinction. We aren't about wresting collective identity, be it national or of any other sort, away from the far-Right; rather, we advocate the free embrace of identities and belonging – with a massive increase in equality, the only lasting basis for common endeavour. We aren't about taking populism back from the far-Right; rather, we undermine their influence by building an emancipatory force rooted in the working classes. 'Populaire' ('working-class') is not the same as 'populist'. Our efforts must focus on building this force for working-class dignity."[13]
Once Again on the Political Situation
Overall, the results of the presidential election are very worrying. In the first round, the top three candidates were of the Right and far-Right. Emmanuel Macron is man of the Right in every respect – economic, of course, but also "philosophical" (his conception of the role of the individual in society); his profile differs only in that he hails from a modern Right on societal questions, unlike the very conservative Catholic third-place finisher François Fillon. As for the second-place finisher Marine Le Pen, she is the figurehead of the far-Right Front National (currently facing internal challenges following the calamitous end to her second-round campaign and the broad range of voters that coalesced against her).
The presidential race also shed light on the fragile state of bourgeois "governance" in the country, given the important role played by unexpected "bumps in the road." After the right-wing primary, Fillon was seen as a shoe-in to win the presidential election. But he then got embroiled in a series of what can only be described as unprecedented financial scandals. The striking thing about it all, though, was how his party was unable to find a replacement, placing the hangman's noose around its own neck. Had it been otherwise, Macron wouldn't have won in 2017.
PS party rebel Benoît Hamon had a stroke of luck, securing his party's nomination in the Socialist primary. At one point, he was ahead of Mélenchon in the polls. But he was unable or unwilling to break with the PS and the apparatus of the moribund party clipped his wings. Had this not occurred, it's not certain that Mélenchon's campaign would have taken off in time to reach his final 19.6 per cent result.
Mélenchon's campaign crossed over into shooting distance of the presidency during a short period of time and in a number of stages – first, the shift of polling numbers from disgruntled Hamon supporters; then a TV debate where he got the better of the four other candidates; and finally, the growing sense that he could make it into the second round.
Macron and Mélenchon were adept at seizing the opportunity that the paralysis of the two government parties opened up for them. As a result, the political-institutional stage in France is now dominated by two movements that are "works in progress" – on a large scale on the Right (Macron and LREM) and on a small scale on the Left (Mélenchon and LFI). There has been an unprecedented 72 per cent turnover among members of parliament. We are in uncharted waters.
That being said, I think that the outcome of the legislative elections, coming on the heels of the presidential contest, have revealed the limits of the changes that have taken place. The president got his majority, but it wasn't a landslide. In the first round, opposition tickets experienced the usual decline relative to their presidential candidate's scores. They rebounded somewhat in the second round thanks to the estrangement of many Macron voters, no doubt troubled by new scandals involving newly appointed ministers (Richard Ferrand and François Bayrou among others). And through it all, abstention broke all previous records – hitting 57 per cent in the second round of the legislative elections!
Mélenchon probably paid a price for refusing to make a clear call to come out against Marine Le Pen in the second round of the presidential election (as part of an attempt to hold together the wide range of voters that supported him in the first round); and for appearing excessively ambitious at each stage. Macron paid a price for scandals involving ministers in his first cabinet. But ultimately there was neither left-wing insurrection at the ballot box nor right-wing landslide. Even at a time of great party-political and institutional upheaval, political disaffection remains the dominant feature.[14] The democratic crisis is deepening.
Emmanuel Macron knows full well that he has not won a landslide. He also knows that his opponents have been seriously weakened, for the time being. So he does indeed have room for manoeuvre – and will do so for the worse. We are in a defensive position. We will probably need time to build a broad coalition of social and democratic resistance (instances of resistance already exist, but they are still marginal). No such coalition will be built without unity and absent renewal of political practice on the radical Left and in social movements. •
This article first published by europe-solidaire.org.
This article was written for the German monthly Sozialistische Zeitung (SOZ), and written just after the last round of legislative elections. La France Insoumise is holding a convention in October; that should be the occasion for a more open discussion on the questions raised by this novel experience in French politics.
Translation from French by Nathan Rao.
See "Nous n'acceptons pas de voir notre passé commun insulté par Jean-Luc Mélenchon," ESSF , 20 Nov. 2016.
Laura Chazel, Jorge Lago: "L'hypothèse populiste – Du Front de gauche à la France insoumise: quelles influences de Podemos?," ESSF , 10 May 2017.
On the 2015 crisis in the Left Party, see Clément Petitjean: "What Happened to the French Left? – Mélenchon, the rise and crisis of the Parti de Gauche."
Chantal Mouffe: "French presidential candidate – Mélenchon: A Radical Reformist Against Mounting Oligarchy," Verso , 19 April 2017.
Raquel Garrido: "France Rebels – Jean-Luc Mélenchon's campaign, humanist populism, patriotism, Constitution," ESSF , 12 April 2017.
Juan Carlos Monedero: "Podemos ne voulait pas réinventer la gauche mais reconstruire un espace d'émancipation," Le Vent Se Lève , 14 June 2017.
See the formulations he uses in the article "Le peuple et le 'mouvement'" and Samy Johsua's comments, ESSF "La France insoumise – «L'ère du peuple» et «l'adieu au prolétariat»?"
See avenirencommun.fr.
Roger Martelli: "France insoumise, PCF – Réflexions stratégiques sur l'après législatives," ESSF , 22 June 2017.
Pierre Rousset: "Jean-Luc Mélenchon, l'habit présidentiel, l'arme nucléaire et la gauche française," ESSF , 9 May 2012.
Pierre-Charles Philippe: "Mélenchon, le PCF et les colonies," ESSF , 1 May 2012.
Pierre-Charles Philippe: "La question oubliée: la République, la gauche et les colonies," ESSF , June 2012.
Samuel Johsua, Roger Martelli: "Considérations sur le populisme de gauche – "Un pôle populaire et non populiste"," ESSF , 21 Feb. 2017.
Michel Noblecourt: "Abstention – Jean-Luc Mélenchon: la légitimité à géométrie variable," ESSF , 23 June 2017.
Pierre Rousset is a former IIRE director, author of works on both East Asian politics and ecology, involved in international solidarity and editor of the website europe-solidaire.org. He is a member of the leadership of the Fourth International and a member of the NPA in France.
FranceInsoumise
International Relations, Social Movements • January 15, 2020
France at a Crossroads
Richard Greeman
International Relations, Social Movements • November 20, 2019
One Year of the Yellow Vests in France
International Relations • June 9, 2017
Sunday's French Election
International Relations, Theory • May 2, 2017
'Things are serious': Update on the French Presidential Election
Stefan Kipfer


SOUTH Korea's KDI School has invited applications for master of public policy and master of development policy, the programmes which will begin from September 15, 2014. DoPT's training division has invited applications from suitable officers who need to…route their applications through their concerned departments. The applications need to reach the DoPT by May 10, 2014.
The master of public policy (MPP) is designed to provide a global perspective and professional expertise in public policy areas where as the master of development policy (MDP) examines various socio-economic issues in both the theoretical and the practical framework and provide capacity building for international professionals, including government officials, development consultants and regional specialists who wish to contribute to development policy-making, DoPT's letter says.
Earlier too, the government officials from India were nominated for those programmes.
Detailed information about guidelines, application form, university information etc. is available on the KDI website www.kdischool.ac.kr. Applicants must choose their desired fields of study from the listed programmes in the University Information section provided by participating universities.
IAS officers are also sent to KDI as a part of mid-career short training. Till last year, about 800 IAS officers at different levels undertook a familiarization tour of South Korea in the preceding years. As many as 90 IAS officers with 5 to 10 years of service arrived in South Korea on 19 May last year and they had stayed till May 31.
"The purpose of the study tour is to enable them to take a first-hand look at the modalities of the unprecedented socio-economic development in Korea over the last 30 years," an official statement from Korea then said. At Busan and other parts of South Korea, the Indian officials visited Hyundai Industries, shipyards, leading educational and medical institutions, public transport networks, rural development centres and other establishments.


text:
El himno de la Rusia libre ( , Gimn Svobodnoy Rossii ) fue un himno propuesto por la República Rusa después de la Revolución de Febrero . La música fue compuesta por el compositor ruso Alexander Gretchaninov y la letra fue escrita por Constantine Balmont . Sin embargo, a diferencia de la Marsellesa de los trabajadores, el Himno de la Rusia libre no fue adoptado por el Gobierno provisional ruso de 1917 ni fue aprobado durante varias reuniones especiales de artistas.

Letra

Referencias

Himnos de Rusia
Himnos nacionales desaparecidos
Wikipedia:Páginas con traducciones sin revisar

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Super Falcons defender, Ebi Onome who joined Chinese football club, Henan Huishang after she agreed to a deal with the club was congratulated and celebrated by her national team mate, Asisat Oshoala.
"Allah Is The Greatest. Congrats sis and welcome to China 🇳🇬👑🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳"


text:
package fire

import (
	"context"
	"fmt"
	"net/http"
	"strings"
	"time"

	"github.com/256dpi/jsonapi/v2"
	"github.com/256dpi/serve"
	"github.com/256dpi/stack"

	"github.com/256dpi/fire/cinder"
	"github.com/256dpi/fire/coal"
	"github.com/256dpi/fire/stick"
)

// GroupAction defines a group action.
type GroupAction struct {
	// Authorizers authorize the group action and are run before the action.
	// Returned errors will cause the abortion of the request with an
	// unauthorized status by default.
	Authorizers []*Callback

	// Action is the action that should be executed.
	Action *Action
}

// A Group manages access to multiple controllers and their interconnections.
type Group struct {
	reporter    func(error)
	controllers map[string]*Controller
	actions     map[string]*GroupAction
}

// NewGroup creates and returns a new group.
func NewGroup(reporter func(error)) *Group {
	return &Group{
		reporter:    reporter,
		controllers: make(map[string]*Controller),
		actions:     make(map[string]*GroupAction),
	}
}

// Add will add a controller to the group.
func (g *Group) Add(controllers ...*Controller) {
	for _, controller := range controllers {
		// prepare controller
		controller.prepare()

		// get name
		name := coal.GetMeta(controller.Model).PluralName

		// check existence
		if g.controllers[name] != nil {
			panic(fmt.Sprintf(`fire: controller with name "%s" already exists`, name))
		}

		// create entry in controller map
		g.controllers[name] = controller
	}
}

// Handle allows to add an action as a group action. Group actions will be run
// when no controller matches the request.
//
// Note: The passed context is more or less empty.
func (g *Group) Handle(name string, a *GroupAction) {
	if name == "" {
		panic(fmt.Sprintf(`fire: invalid group action "%s"`, name))
	}

	// set default body limit
	if a.Action.BodyLimit == 0 {
		a.Action.BodyLimit = serve.MustByteSize("8M")
	}

	// set default timeout
	if a.Action.Timeout == 0 {
		a.Action.Timeout = 30 * time.Second
	}

	// check existence
	if g.actions[name] != nil {
		panic(fmt.Sprintf(`fire: action with name "%s" already exists`, name))
	}

	// add action
	g.actions[name] = a
}

// Endpoint will return an http handler that serves requests for this group. The
// specified prefix is used to parse the requests and generate urls for the
// resources.
func (g *Group) Endpoint(prefix string) http.Handler {
	// trim prefix
	prefix = strings.Trim(prefix, "/")

	return http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
		// create trace
		trace, tc := cinder.CreateTrace(r.Context(), "fire/Group.Endpoint")
		defer trace.Finish()
		r = r.WithContext(tc)

		// continue any previous aborts
		defer stack.Resume(func(err error) {
			// directly write jsonapi errors
			if jsonapiError, ok := err.(*jsonapi.Error); ok {
				_ = jsonapi.WriteError(w, jsonapiError)
				return
			}

			// set critical error on last span
			trace.Tag("error", true)
			trace.Log("error", err.Error())
			trace.Log("stack", stack.Trace())

			// report critical errors if possible
			if g.reporter != nil {
				g.reporter(err)
			}

			// ignore errors caused by writing critical errors
			_ = jsonapi.WriteError(w, jsonapi.InternalServerError(""))
		})

		// trim path
		path := strings.Trim(r.URL.Path, "/")
		path = strings.TrimPrefix(path, prefix)
		path = strings.Trim(path, "/")

		// check path
		if path == "" {
			stack.Abort(jsonapi.NotFound("resource not found"))
		}

		// split path
		s := strings.Split(path, "/")

		// prepare context
		ctx := &Context{
			Context:        r.Context(),
			Data:           stick.Map{},
			HTTPRequest:    r,
			ResponseWriter: w,
			Group:          g,
			Trace:          trace,
		}

		// get controller
		controller, ok := g.controllers[s[0]]
		if ok {
			// set controller
			ctx.Controller = controller

			// handle request
			controller.handle(prefix, ctx, nil, true)

			return
		}

		// get action
		action, ok := g.actions[s[0]]
		if ok {
			// check if action is allowed
			if stick.Contains(action.Action.Methods, r.Method) {
				// run authorizers and handle errors
				for _, cb := range action.Authorizers {
					// check if callback should be run
					if !cb.Matcher(ctx) {
						continue
					}

					// call callback
					err := cb.Handler(ctx)
					if IsSafe(err) {
						stack.Abort(&jsonapi.Error{
							Status: http.StatusUnauthorized,
							Detail: err.Error(),
						})
					} else if err != nil {
						stack.Abort(err)
					}
				}

				// limit request body size
				serve.LimitBody(ctx.ResponseWriter, ctx.HTTPRequest, action.Action.BodyLimit)

				// create context
				ct, cancel := context.WithTimeout(ctx.Context, action.Action.Timeout)
				defer cancel()

				// replace context
				ctx.Context = ct

				// call action with context
				stack.AbortIf(action.Action.Handler(ctx))

				return
			}
		}

		// otherwise return error
		stack.Abort(jsonapi.NotFound("resource not found"))
	})
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


One thing is certain about Natalie MacLean: she can sure spin a yarn. Unquenchable, the latest book by this popular Canadian author with a keen sense of self-promotion and a remarkable level of energy, is full of entertaining stories.
You will rarely, if ever, visit a wine region about which you know essentially nothing. That was the curious position in which I found myself as I arrived for TasteCamp North last weekend in Niagara, Canada.
2006 was a truly exceptional season in the Okanagan Valley, with one of the earliest starts to harvest and a long back season to leave grapes hanging and gaining ripeness and complexity. The 2006 S.L.C. (Single Lot Collection) Merlot from Mission Hill is a great testimony to the quality of the vintage, with its fine dark fruit, pleasantly chocolatey and spicy notes, fine, almost powdery tannins and very good length. Winemaker John Simes' precise work is visible in this top-tier cuvée made from selected grapes grown at the southern edge of the Okanagan Valley, creating a well-crafted, balanced wine. It's a textbook New World merlot whose 14% alcohol doesn't show. Mission Hill wines are available in the US and they are worth seeking out. Recommended.


text:
Business News Digital Legal Top Stories
US official suggests providing unlicensed streams become a felony
By Chris Cooke | Published on Monday 28 July 2014
An official from the US Department Of Justice last week told Congress that the penalty for operating an illegal streaming operation should be reclassified from the current misdemeanour level to a felony, because infringing streaming sites are becoming one of the most serious threats to the copyright industries.
It's worth noting that David Bitkower, Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the DoJ's Criminal Division, was talking about the criminal dimension of copyright, where the state prosecutes rather than affected copyright owners pursuing civil litigation. Generally copyright infringement only becomes a crime when pursued on an industrial level for profit, so traditionally it applied to the CD bootlegging factories.
In the digital domain, those operating unlicensed download or streaming platforms for profit might fall into this category too. Though, as seen in countless cases over the last fifteen years, it may be less clear cut when the online operator facilitates rather than undertakes the infringing activity. Meanwhile in the US, even when infringement is considered a criminal matter, there has been a distinction between download and streaming set-ups.
The distinction stems from how copyright law defines streaming, which has been a moot point since streaming services started to go mainstream. American criminal law, it seems, deems that streaming services exploit the 'performance right' of the copyright, rather than the true copy or mechanical right, which download stores undeniably utilise. Of course, mechanical copies do also occur in the streaming process, albeit temporarily.
Anyway, US copyright law treats the infringement of performance rights as only a misdemeanour, but mechanical rights as a felony. However, as sites selling advertising and subscriptions around infringing streaming content become a major issue for the copyright industries, Bitkower reckons the more serious level of crime should be applied to streaming as well.
Or so he told the House Judiciary Committee in Washington last week, according to Billboard.
READ MORE ABOUT: David Bitkower | US Department Of Justice

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


We have been notified that California's electrical supply/demand disequalibrium has today again reached its most critical level, with a "Stage 3" alert in effect until midnight tonight. This condition will potentially entail rolling blackouts unless widespread voluntary reductions are effective.
Looking beyond the current situation, we realize how important a stable power environment is for a research university. I can assure you that infrastructure improvements that are underway assign a premium to reliability and long-term stability.


Black and white photograph of Garris-Evans Lumber Company location on Ridgeway Road in Greenville, North Carolina. The company was founded in 1919. It still exists today, now with 5 locations and its main office on West 14th Street in Greenville. Date approximated.


This page displays sold house prices for Rock Cottages in Telford.
Rock Cottages in Cold Hatton, Telford consists predominantly of detached houses. Properties on Rock Cottages typically have values around £250,000 - £350,000, but larger detached houses can command upwards of £350,000.
Map showing Rock Cottages in Telford.


text:
est un film italien réalisé par Federico Fellini et sorti en 1954.

Résumé
À la suite du décès de son assistante Rosa, Zampano, un costaud assez brutal, forain ambulant, « achète » à une mère de famille misérable la gentille Gelsomina, une fille lunaire. Voyageant dans une pauvre carriole tractée par une motocyclette, Gelsomina seconde Zampano, notamment lors de son grand numéro de briseur de chaînes. Le reste du temps, Zampano la traite comme bonne à tout faire sans lui accorder plus d'attention. À l'occasion d'une de leurs étapes, Gelsomina est fascinée par le gracile « Fou » et par son dangereux numéro de funambule. Mais, pour une raison inconnue, Zampano est en conflit avec le Fou, qui se moque systématiquement de lui ; l'intérêt qu'il porte à la jeune fille agace Zampano. Une première dispute aboutit à l'emprisonnement pour quelques jours de Zampano. Ils se retrouvent un peu plus tard sur une route de campagne ; une rixe s'ensuit au cours de laquelle Zampano tue accidentellement son rival, puis maquille le meurtre en accident de la route. Choquée, Gelsomina bascule dans la folie et, comme elle ne peut plus jouer son rôle, Zampano finit par l'abandonner. Quelques années plus tard, ayant entendu une jeune femme chanter l'air favori de Gelsomina, il apprend la mort de cette dernière. Pour la première fois de sa vie, le colosse s'effondre en larmes sur la plage.

Fiche technique

 Titre original :
 Réalisation : Federico Fellini
 Scénario : Federico Fellini, Tullio Pinelli et Ennio Flaiano
 Dialogues : Tullio Pinelli (adaptation française : Raymond Queneau)
 Décors : Mario Ravasco, Brunello Rondi
 Costumes : Margherita Marinari
 Maquillages : Eligio Trani
 Photographie : Otello Martelli et Carlo Carlini (non crédité)
 Cadrage : Roberto Gerardi
 Son : Aldo Calpini
 Montage : Leo Cattozzo
 Musique : Nino Rota
 Production : Carlo Ponti, Dino De Laurentiis
 Société de production : Ponti-De Laurentiis Cinematografica (Italie)
 Société de distribution : Les Films du Centaure (France), Théâtre du Temple (France)
 Pays d'origine :
 Langue originale : italien
 Format : noir et blanc —  — 1.37:1 — son mono (Western Electric Recording)
 Genre : drame
 Durée : 115 minutes
 Dates de sortie :
  :  (Mostra de Venise)
  :
  :
  Classifications CNC : tous publics, Art et essai (visa d'exploitation  délivré le )

Distribution

 Anthony Quinn (VF : Henri Nassiet) : Zampano
 Giulietta Masina : Gelsomina
 Richard Basehart : « Le Fou » (Il Matto)
 Aldo Silvani (VF : Georges Hubert) : Colombaioni, monsieur Girafe
 Marcella Rovena (VF : Jeanne Dorival) : la veuve
 Lidia Venturini : la sœur
 Mario Passante : le serveur
 Anna Primula (VF : Andrée Tainsy) : la mère de Gelsomina
 Gustavo Giorgi
 Yami Kamadeva : la prostituée

Tournage
Extérieurs en Italie :
 Abruzzes : Ovindoli et Rocca di Mezzo dans la Province de L'Aquila.
 Latium : Bagnoregio dans la Province de Viterbe.

Distinctions
  1954 : Lion d'argent à la Mostra de Venise
  1957 : Oscar du meilleur film en langue étrangère.

Accueil

Adaptation théâtrale
Une adaptation théâtrale, signée Pierrette Dupoyet, a été créée au Festival d'Avignon 1992 sous le titre Gelsomina.

Notes et références

Voir aussi

Bibliographie

Liens externes

   critikat,  la strada,L'enfant qui regardait le monde de sa fenêtre

Film italien sorti en 1954
Film dramatique italien
Road movie
Film réalisé par Federico Fellini
Film se déroulant en Italie
Film se déroulant dans les années 1950
Film tourné dans le Latium
Film tourné dans les Abruzzes
Film tourné aux studios Ponti-De Laurentiis
Film sur le cirque
Oscar du meilleur film international
Lion d'argent
Film produit par Carlo Ponti
Film produit par Dino De Laurentiis
Film italien en noir et blanc
Film en italien
Film avec une musique composée par Nino Rota


A woman hacking her way through vegetation.
You may know that hack means 'to gain unauthorized access to a computer system or data.' However, hack also means 'to chop or slice with rough and irregular blows' and also 'to clear a path by cutting branches and trees.' Figuratively, it can mean 'to cut severely.' Informally, it means 'to tolerate' and, in this sense, it is mostly used in the negative form. As a noun, a hack is a rough or irregular cut and also a mediocre and uninteresting writer or artist.
The woodcutter hacked down the tree.
The explorers hacked through the undergrowth in the forest.
Our department's budget has been hacked this year.
I can't hack my job anymore; I'm going to quit.
Tania took the axe and made a series of hacks in the log, but still didn't manage to split it.
That guy's nothing but a hack; his books are terrible!
hack it: cope or deal with things: "Miles dropped out of college; the classes were really difficult for him and he just couldn't hack it."
hack someone off: annoy. Example: "The way Susan keeps correcting my grammar really hacks me off!"
A hack can also be a horse kept for ordinary riding, especially one that is rented out. Because of this, hack also came to mean 'a tired-out old horse,' because often horses that were rented out were not well cared for. In UK English a hack is also a horse ride in the countryside.
Hack dates back to the second half of the 12th century and comes from the Middle English word hacken; it is a cognate with the Dutch word hakken and the German word hacken.


text:
Ethiopian Plan Crash: Nigeria Bans Boeing 737 Max 8 Aircraft
March 13, 2019 fedadmin
Nigeria has joined the league of other countries across the world in banning the "killer" Boeing 737 MAX 8 plane from flying over its airspace to ensure passenger safety. Minister of State, Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika, made this declaration when he addressed State House correspondents on the outcome of the meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC). Re-elected President Muhammadu Buhari, presided over the meeting at the Council Chamber of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The minister told newsmen that the planes would remain banned from getting into Nigeria pending the determination of the actual cause of the crash of Ethiopia airline, which killed 157 passengers. In his words, "Regarding Boeing 737 MAX 8 and MAX 9 that had been in the news recently, there is no cause for alarm as there is no operator in Nigeria that is using that type of airplane. The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) whose mandate it is to issue advisory, has already issued advisory that nobody should fly into Nigeria or out of Nigeria using Boeing 737 MAX 8 and MAX 9, pending the determination of the actual cause of the crash in Ethiopia and also pending the outcome of the response of the manufacturer, which is Boeing.
"Regardless of the enormous safety records of this plane 737, it has caused concern in the world of aviation and you know aviation is universal, whatever affects one affects the other because aircraft will be flying in and out. So, we have issued directive that no operator with Boeing 737 MAX 8 or MAX 9 should operate into and outside our airports and this is being carried out,'' the minister stated.
When reminded that Air Peace and Arik had ordered same embattled 737 planes, the minister disclosed that the planes would not be available in the country until 2021. According to him, "Regarding Air Peace and Arik orders, whether those orders were confirmed or intent, it is to our knowledge in the ministry that they won't be in the country until the next two years or so. And this is enough periods to sort out whatever problem it is with that plane. The world of aviation will not be sleeping just as we in Nigeria will not be sleeping. And it is normal standard practice that once a particular aircraft is involved in accident back to back, it is withdrawn from the market and see if there is something they are doing wrong. And if it is confirmed that a particular problem, say for instance, landing gear, they will issue an instruction to ground such plane worldwide until the problem is fix. So, this case is not different.''
Lacazette Cleared To Feature For Arsenal 2nd Leg Europe League Game
Arsenal Faces Napoli In Tough Europa League Draw


text:
Entertainment / TV
What you need to know about the SABC's new household levy
The SABC knows that South Africans aren't paying TV licences, and their solution is to have household levy collected through MultiChoice.
The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is not happy with the SABC Bill approved by Cabinet in July and wants to devise different ways to make a profit.
The SABC was making submissions to public hearings by the Department of Communications on Monday, News24 reported.
The public broadcaster has suggested a household levy to help recover and stabilise its finances – based on the possibility of access to SABC services – rather than actual usage of its services.
No more SABC TV licences?
The SABC has also called for a more even playing field amongst competitors, in particularly the dominant MultiChoice.
This would require MultiChoice to collect the public broadcasting household levy from its subscribers on the state-owned broadcaster's behalf.
The SABC also criticised the bill, saying it does not provide for further government grant funding for public interest programming.
The bill was approved by Cabinet in July – which subsequently left SABC in more financial insecurity.
Anti-corruption organisation Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) believes the SABC should be funded "accordingly".
ALSO READ: EFF demands dedicated team from SABC to cover its election campaign
Advocate Stefanie Fick, Outa executive director, who made the submission said: "We are advocating for the SABC to be funded with a government subsidy, so we don't need TV licences which are uncollectible."
Outa says because the SABC is struggling to collect the TV licence money and outsources it, their solution to bring in household levies collected by MultiChoice is "problematic".
"A regular annual grant to SABC from the fiscus could be used to cover at least part of the SABC's costs.
"It will provide a more stable revenue stream and, in conjunction with good governance and management, will avoid the irregular and disastrous last-minute bailouts," the statement read.
Outa says their fiscus solution could cut wasteful expenditure, and if TV licences are retained, they believe it is effectively another tax and should be treated as such.
"Through a money bill passed by Parliament rather than a decision on the licence fee made by a single minister, Outa also believes that the regulatory environment should be changed to strengthen SABC's commercial sector," it said.
The SABC did say if the bill retained the outdated TV license system, and does not take into account their suggested technology-neutral, public-broadcasting household levy changes, it "would exempt the indigent and should be part-collected by the dominant pay-TV operator".
SABC wants the current TV license system removed, and is concerned that the bill retained the TV license fee regime which is tied to TV sets – despite their proposal to change it completely.
Outa agrees with the SABC over rules like the "must carry" regulations, which "oblige the SABC to provide all its three top free-to-air channels to subscription broadcasters for free" (since 2008).
tv license


text:
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using System.Reflection;
using System.IO;

namespace DynamicBundles.Test
{
    public class TestPathHelper
    {
        private string _testDirectory;

        public TestPathHelper(string testDirectory)
        {
            _testDirectory = testDirectory;
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Converts a root relative path to an absolute path
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="rootRelativePath"></param>
        /// <returns></returns>
        public string rootToAbsolutePath(string rootRelativePath)
        {
            // Note that this will end in \bin\Debug
            string absoluteAssemblyDir = Path.GetDirectoryName(typeof(TestPathHelper).Assembly.Location);

            string absoluteProjectDir = Path.GetDirectoryName(Path.GetDirectoryName(absoluteAssemblyDir));

            string absoluteTestDir = Path.Combine(absoluteProjectDir, _testDirectory);

            // rootRelativePath must start with ~/. The tilde will be replaced by the test dir.
            string absolutePath = Path.Combine(absoluteTestDir, rootRelativePath.Substring(2).Replace('/', '\\'));

            return absolutePath;
        }
    }
}


text:
Creative Economy Boosts Keene
Published Thursday Feb 21, 2019
Author Melanie Plenda
Courtesy of the City of Keene.
About five years ago, Danya Landis was living the dream as a professional artist in New York City. She had a job, friends and professional connections in one of the world's cultural hubs. Little did she suspect that a visit to the Monadnock Region—specifically Peterborough and Keene—would change her life and lure her away from the big city. Within her first hour, she met her future husband; in the second hour she met her future business partner; and then she spent the evening with people who are now close friends and associates.
Landis not only felt the pull of this bucolic place, she saw a need that she could help fill. As an artist from New York, she was used to being within a few steps of a gallery or an art space. And while she found no shortage of artists and creatives in Keene, there was a dearth of venues for them to show or produce their work.
She eventually moved to NH and, with business partner Rebecca Hamilton, began building a company that could rectify that.
They launched Machina Arts at the Hannah Grimes Center for Entrepreneurship in Keene. While technically an events management company with a goal of opening a gallery and restaurant, Machina has also organized pop-up art installation parties, instituted monthly live music mixers, and resurrected First Friday art walks, becoming instrumental in raising the profile of the arts and artists in Keene.
"The creative economy is growing like crazy here," says Nancy DuBosque, regional director of the Keene office for the NH Small Business Development Center, adding that more can be done to support and expand this sector. "Affordable and smaller-scale space is critical to support the creative economy," she says.
That growing creative economy includes MoCo Arts, a nonprofit arts education organization, which recently opened a state-of-the-art performing arts center and school in downtown Keene.
According to a 2016 survey by Arts Alive, a local nonprofit that promotes and supports the arts in the region, the collective economic impact of arts organizations in the Monadnock Region totals $18.6 million, with local and state governments taking in roughly $1.9 million in revenue from the arts. Further, their survey found that arts and culture organizations, and spending by their audiences, support 659 jobs in the Monadnock Region and that 89 percent of nonlocal audiences say that the arts brought them to the region.
Keene even plays host to the Monadnock International Film Festival (MONIFF) that has become a big audience draw and a signature event every April. The film festival is changing the days it runs from Thursday through Saturday to Friday through Sunday in 2019 in an effort to boost attendance. "We want this festival to become a destination weekend for out-of-town visitors to come here and spend a night or two. It's easier for them to take off on a Friday afternoon than a Thursday afternoon; plus they can watch films all day Saturday and Sunday," says Dianna Costello, MONIFF's executive director.
The Monadnock International Film Festival held at the Colonial Theatre. Photo by Gunnar Rathbun.
Elizabeth A. Dragon, Keene's city manager, notes that these kinds of projects have significant buy-in from the community.
"Another positive sign of a good economy is that the local community is investing in [and] raising significant funds for projects such as the library expansion and MoCo's new building," Dragon says. "These projects would not be possible without the generous donations of the community and add greatly to the way of life in Keene."
This activity around the arts even inspired Keene officials to enact the city's first policy on adopting and accepting public art either temporarily or permanently, Dragon says. "We just accepted our first project utilizing this policy at the airport," she says. "[And] the nationally recognized Wall Dogs are coming to Keene to paint murals in 15 locations throughout downtown.
Arts and culture are an important part of the discussion at the mayor's economic development committee meetings."
Phil Suter, president and CEO of the Greater Keene Chamber of Commerce, says the Wall Dogs installation in particular will literally change the face of Keene for years to come. "There is no question that arts and culture are a key part of our brand," says Suter. "The arts community is very active in producing events and in advancing public policy initiatives that are welcoming to artists."
Attracting Young Entrepreneurs
There also seems to be a shift in Keene's demographics and economy. While the average age of startup business owners at the Hannah Grimes Center, a business incubator and educational center, still hovers around 50, younger creative entrepreneurs are making their mark. "We have some more visible small businesses that are just starting, like Machina Arts, that are run by young entrepreneurs," says Mary Ann Kristiansen, executive director of the Hannah Grimes Center.
The Hive at the Hannah Grimes Center for Entrepreneurship. Courtesy photo.
Other small to midsize businesses such as Beeze Tees Screen Printing and The Bread Shed bakery are also run by entrepreneurs younger than 40. Landis points to the business culture and climate of Keene as one of the reasons for that, as well as the resources available to startups and young entrepreneurs.
Keene is home to a number of businesses run by young entrepreneurs, including Tim Pipp of Beeze Tees Screen Printing, above (Michael Moore/The Keene Sentinel) and Brittany Migneault, owner of The Bread Shed in Keene, below (courtesy photo).
"It seems a lot of young people around here are starting small businesses, and I think for one thing that's because Hannah Grimes is here," Landis says. "It's incredibly important to have that mentorship. It helps young business owners feel more comfortable."
The fact that there are other visible young entrepreneurs to connect and network with is valuable. "Within my social circle, the majority of us are working toward working full time, or close to it, for ourselves," Landis says. "There are so many passionate people who are so supportive. And I can go to them and say, 'Hey, how do you do this?' And they'll do the same in return. That's really common here."
Healthy Business Mix
Small businesses are at the heart of Keene's economy. Medard Kopczynski, director of economic development, initiatives and special projects for the City of Keene, says the City focuses on what it can do to retain those small businesses as well as attract new ones. After all, he says, it's a lot easier to retain and grow a business than to recruit one.
Kopczynski says that while Monadnock Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) has done a good job of recruiting new businesses to the region, Keene does not have a formal recruitment effort. (MEDC Executive Director Jack Dugan did not reply to requests for comment from Business NH Magazine about those efforts.)
That said, Dragon points to some larger-scale projects, such as the completion of Hillside Village Retirement Community, as initiatives that helped Keene see a significant jump in assessed value equal to $21,840,443. The city was also able to attract Unity Homes, an offshoot of Bensonwood Homes in Walpole, which recently opened a factory in Keene.
The Keene factory for Unity Homes and Bensonwood Homes. Courtesy photo.
Further, says Suter, Keene has a long history of manufacturing. There are high tech and advanced manufacturers, including Stingray Optics, Filtrine and Smith's Medical.
A Stingray Optics lens in use. Courtesy photo.
Keene has its share of large employers as well, including C&S Wholesale Grocers, the largest wholesale grocery supply company in the U.S.; Cheshire Medical Center, which is part of Dartmouth-Hitchcock; Markem-Imaje, a global provider of marking and printing technology; and The Melanson Company, a roofing contractor that ranks among the top 100 private companies in NH for revenue.
Suter says the city also offers a vibrant downtown with, "mostly locally-owned restaurants and shops," which along with the iconic Colonial Theatre is an important economic engine.
College Town
Another major employer and economic driver is Keene State College, despite its recent financial woes.
In 2017, the University System of NH, which oversees Keene State College and several other public colleges and universities in the state, directed the school to make cuts in order to rectify a $2.4 million budget deficit. That deficit actually turned out to be about $13 million, says Susan LaPanne, Keene State's vice president of finance, who was hired in March 2018.
The deficits were due in large part to a decline in enrollment over the past several years while the school remained staffed at higher levels. "We had too many employees," LaPanne says. Through a series of "voluntary separations" and across-the-board budget cuts, LaPanne says the school, under the leadership of Melinda Treadwell, its new president (pictured), has been able to right the ship. Treadwell began serving as interim president in July 2017 and was named president in October 2018.
"We told everyone, you're all going to have to give until it hurts, and they have all given until it hurts," LaPanne says. "As of the end of June, we hit our budget target that Melinda had negotiated with our board of trustees, and that allowed us a deficit of $2.4 million. … This year, we are on target to come in at a balanced budget. So we will have a zero bottom line."
She says the institution is still in the process of "right sizing" and finding creative ways to fund projects. She anticipates the belt tightening will continue for at least the next one to two years.
While this was a tumultuous time for the college from the city's perspective, it has actually led to a stronger relationship between town and gown over the past two years. "It has driven them to reexamine a lot of their operations, I think for the better, by the way, because what they are doing is becoming more conversant with and cooperative with the city itself" Kopczynski says. "I think there's been a lot of coplanning that didn't take place in the past. We're beginning to look at Keene State now as part of our lower downtown, our lower Main Street, as opposed to being a separate entity."
He adds that Keene State has taken a close look at how to work better with adjacent neighborhoods to improve relationships, and it has strengthened its connections with local industry to better meet workforce needs.
Keene State recently announced a new partnership between the chemistry department and Polyonics, a company in Westmoreland that develops and manufactures industrial labels, to provide students with internship opportunities. Over the past year, the college actually added faculty to its nursing program and added more medical and surgical classes and clinical time. The improvements resulted in the program receiving a 10-year accreditation from the American Association of Colleges of Nursing.
Last year, Keene State gave out 926 undergraduate degrees to 908 graduates and welcomed a freshman class of 950 students.
Development Efforts
The city is doing some reexamining, some businesses would argue, for the better. Dragon says Keene has taken several important steps over the past year to encourage economic development and redevelopment. These efforts include adding an economic development position, creating the Choose Keene website, producing a package of marketing materials for businesses interested in moving to Keene, and even reorganizing City Hall's fourth floor—which includes zoning, planning, health and permitting—into one combined Community Development Department.
Dragon says the city has also started its "Building Better Together" project, which is a program meant to help businesses navigate the development process. "The updated structure will provide a set of clear procedures for development queries and will create a more streamlined application process, eliminating the need to navigate multiple points of contact," Dragon says.
She says this project should be completed in 2019 as the city also continues working with the mayor's Economic Development Committee to update the economic development plan and focus on challenges like workforce expansion.
Further, Kopczynski says, the city has adopted RSA 79-E, the Community Revitalization Tax Incentive that allows a commercial property to receive a period of relief from increased property taxes in exchange for improving the building.
"I think the city is doing an awful lot to improve itself and correspondingly work with the community in determining its future," Kopczynski says.
Leaving Lower-Wage Workers Behind
EPA Gives NH $192,000 for Beach Monitoring


text:
CAPA President: NLRB 'Had It Wrong' On Northwestern Players' Bid To Unionize
If you heard a giant whooshing sound yesterday and wondered what it was, it may have been the collective sigh of relief of some big college athletic programs. It would have come just after the National Labor Relations Board dismissed a petition by football players at Northwestern University, players who wanted to form a union. But the NLRB did not rule on whether the players are university employees. Ramogi Huma, president of the College Athletes Players Association, joins me now from Los Angeles. He had backed the efforts by the players. Welcome to the program.
RAMOGI HUMA: Thanks for having me.
SIEGEL: And remind us first, why did some of these Northwestern players, like former quarterback Kain Colter, want to form a union in the first place?
HUMA: Well, really it's to get a seat at the table for college athletes. You know, college athletes fit the criteria for an employee, yet they hadn't had the opportunity to be treated like employees and have the opportunity to form a union. And in NCAA sports, college athletes don't have a seat at the table and - which leaves them with gaps in protections.
You know, if you look at some of the traumatic brain injury issues on the NFL level - well, they exist on the college football level as well. You know, we've had players die, commit suicide. NCAA sports, unfortunately, has not taken steps to correct that and refuses to do so. So, you know, that in terms of players being stuck with sports-related medical expenses and poor graduation rates, they wanted to change the system, and it was the first step in terms of getting the leverage to do so.
SIEGEL: The NCAA, of course, insists that they are student-athletes; they're not employees. Yesterday's decision by the National Labor Relations Board was unanimous. It overturned a decision last year by a regional director that said the players were de facto employees of Northwestern. How do you understand those two very contradictory rulings, one by the regional director and the other by the entire board?
HUMA: Well, just to clarify, the board actually didn't rule on the employee status. The regional director said they are employees, and the board didn't throw that part out. What they did was say that they were not going to rule. They're not going to exercise jurisdiction. The board says this only affects Northwestern football players, but other schools and players are free to petition to unionize. But it's frustrating because this delay means a delay in the players securing the leverage that they need to protect themselves, again, from those various issues.
SIEGEL: But the board's decision also underscored a complexity in big-time college sports. Northwestern is a private institution, and the decision observed that a unionized Northwestern football team would have an unfair advantage over the rest of the Big Ten schools which are public and outside of the jurisdiction of the NLRB. That seems like it would be a sticky legal problem that's not going to go away.
HUMA: Not really, no. The board had it wrong. You know, when you have a union, you still have to abide by NCAA rules. Right now, without a union, Northwestern, if it chose to, could treat its players better. It could treat its players the best among the Big Ten schools. It could provide opportunities for grad school. It could reduce traumatic brain injury risk by reducing contact in practices. But it doesn't break NCAA rules.
And all the other schools in the Big Ten are free to match what Northwestern would do with or without a union. So the board had it wrong, and I don't think the board understands college sports as well as it thinks it does. And so it's also frustrating to see the board point to some of these arguments as reasons they denied players equal protection under the law.
SIEGEL: The Big Ten, the conference that Northwestern plays in, did announce last year that it plans to improve medical insurance and guarantee multiyear scholarships. Do you see those as points of progress that have really been brought about under the pressure of the Northwestern suit?
HUMA: Oh, there's no question. You know, and actually the Pac-12, for instance, the presidents got together and said that they needed to take these various steps that the players are calling for. And within, you know, a short period of time, the conference has begun to move towards those ends. And the board pointed to that. They said well, you know, let's let NCAA sports see what they can do. They've made some recent progress.
But the irony is that the progress was made because players had that leverage, because players signed union cards. And now the board has basically stripped the players of that leverage for the time being, so we'll see soon enough how serious NCAA sports is in terms of maintaining this progress.
SIEGEL: That's Ramogi Huma, president of the College Athletes Players Association. Thanks for talking with us.
HUMA: Thanks for having me.
SIEGEL: And we were talking about the decision by the National Labor Relations Board yesterday, dismissing a petition for college football players to unionize. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.


text:
'Rejoice always,' Bishop Wang says on 60th anniversary of priesthood
Bishop Ignatius C. Wang celebrated 60 years of priesthood July 6 at St. Mary's Cathedral. The Mass also celebrated the Chinese Martyrs and dedicated special prayers for the church in China. (Photo by Debra Greenblat/Catholic San Francisco)
Nicholas Wolfram Smith
Celebrating his 60th anniversary of priesthood and the feast of the Chinese Martyrs in a July 6 Mass at St. Mary's Cathedral, retired Auxiliary Bishop Ignatius C. Wang encouraged Catholics to be courageous and joyful in their lives.
"Rejoice always (like St. Paul), always be happy, don't hesitate to be joyous because our happiness will lead others to Christ," he said.
Bishop Wang said his own life had been transformed as a child by encountering the joy of French-Canadian missionaries who would visit his home in Beijing.
"They were always smiling and playing with me and I decided one day I wanted to be happy like that," he said.
Twin themes of joy and persecution wove together in the celebration. Bishop Wang encouraged his listeners to not be afraid of persecution, whether subtle or overt, since it has always led to the growth of the church and reminded them to pray for persecutors.
He noted that "During the early church, most saints were martyrs, and the church continued to grow and spread throughout the world."
In addition to celebrating Bishop Wang's ordination anniversary, the Mass was dedicated to honoring the Chinese martyrs and praying for the church in China. Cardinal William J. Levada, Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone and retired Bishop of Santa Rosa Daniel F. Walsh attended.
The Feast of the Chinese Martyrs, instituted Oct. 1, 2000, by Pope St. John Paul II, commemorates 120 men and women who were killed for their faith from 1648 to 1930.
Father Peter Zhai, director of Chinese ministry for the archdiocese, spoke at the end of Mass about the importance of the Chinese martyrs for the church.
"A lot of us grew up in a very dark, persecuted church," he said. When he was growing up, Father Zhai said, priests and religious were imprisoned and the churches were closed.
"But no matter what, we had this strong faith supported by Jesus Christ," he said.
Father Zhai said his mother had taught his family in secret about their faith and prepared them for martyrdom, telling them "when you believe in Jesus, people may harm or persecute you, but no matter what, never give up your faith."
Faith and family were inextricable for many, Father Zhai said.
"So many of our ancestors, our parents and grandparents cherished the faith. That's why we gather today to celebrate the Chinese martyrs. When we feel their joy and dedication and how much they loved God, the blood should circulate fast in each of us so we can bring Jesus to others," he said.
"Always remember the blood of martyrs is inside each of us," Father Zhai said. "We have our parents and grandparents blood, they have kept the faith strong so that the church can continue to grow and the Gospel continue to spread."


M & D Farms And Garden Center in Homer Glen offers the community and surrounding areas everything from sprucing up the outdoors to making a fresh meal inside during the summer months.
Today we'd like to introduce you to Lisa Marie Schultz. Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours? Bring out your inner artist and have an amazing time doing it! That has been my quote of life. I have over 25 years of experience in the hospitality and decorating industry.
One Homer Glen resident has put her own spin on the do-it-yourself paint craze. Lisa Schultz started Glitter Your Pallet - a class that teaches participants to paint using Annie Sloan Chalk Paint on various wooden canvases - last October.


The Old English Cornice Company has over 60 years of craftsmen experience; the knowledge, skill and confidence of our team provide us with the ability to carry out work to the highest standards.
Our Shop Foreman has 25 yrs of experience in working to architects drawings from which he lifts the designs from all periods of plasterwork. We will work with designers, architects, and clients to achieve truly outstanding results.
Our Site Foreman has 30 yrs of experience in running a variety of major site projects from traditional to modern plasterwork. We can manage the project from start to completion.
Repairing and restoring existing plasterwork to its original state.
We can provide you with the broadest range of plain and enriched cornicing as well as matching ceiling centres to meet your individual needs.
Our expertise and unique craftsmanship enable us to offer specialist advice to reach quality solutions for all our customers.
Call us on 01932 700 507 or 07956 979 573 to arrange a personal consultation.


Check out all our previous and current speakers!
Ayesh Karunaratne is a freelance software developer with a passion for software performance, architecture, security and street food. He maintains a few security-related plugins for Drupal/Wordpress, and has discovered vulnerabilities in open source software too.
Balazs is known as tatarbj, lives in Brussels, Belgium. His current role is at the European Commission is an IT Security Analyst and Drupal Security Correspondent, also being a Provisional Member of the Drupal Security Team, security researcher and contributing to the Drupal community.
Drew's been a geek for longer than he cares to remember, an active member of the Drupal community for over a decade, is a Provisional Member of the Drupal Security Team, has contributed to core and is the (co-)maintainer of several contrib modules. He is a Senior Security Analyst in Acquia's Incident Response Team.
Joan is the Managing Consultant at Glasswall BV, a Dutch-based cybersecurity company specialized in creating security awareness and new insights. We do this by supplying our customers with actionable information, learning through new experiences and the fruits of specialized tooling.
Joe is the CEO and Co-founder of App Guard, a SaaS for Update Automations. He is a passionate business computer scientist and his focus turned to Open Source technologies that he loves to talk about - you can meet him in Drupal events all around the globe.
Lawri van Buël is a long time user and promoter of Open Source, starting at his time with Studie vereninging (Studie association) Overflow and its dispuut (sister association) Interlink (source of the InterLinkSearchEngine or ILSE.nl once upon a time).
After graduating from the Fontys Information Technology, he worked as a software test engineer for Philips Research.
Mr. Rodrigo Panchiniak Fernandes is an experienced Drupal Developer with 10 years of engagement in the Drupal.org community, having contributed with a patch to the Drupal 8 core and several sandboxes modules and one full project (proc).
He is always up to date on new technologies and advocates the use of the same within a scenario that does not harm the progress of the company.
Tiago currently works as a DevOp but with a system administrator mind, has been an avid Linux user for about 15 years and an administrator for half that time.
Also likes photography and electronics and the occasional beer.


text:
Q: Subclassing std::pair and std::map in C++     #include <iostream>
    #include <string>
    #include <utility>
    #include <map>

    using namespace std;

    class MyPair: public pair<string, int>
    {
        int _ref;
    public:
        MyPair(): pair<string, int>(), _ref(0) {}
        MyPair(string arg1, int arg2): pair<string, int>(arg1, arg2), _ref(0) {}
        ~MyPair();
        void inc() {
            _ref++;
        }
        void dec() {
            _ref--;
            if (_ref == 0) delete this;
        }
    };

    class MyMap: public map<string, int>
    {
    public:
        MyMap(): map<string, int>() {}
        MyMap(const map<string, int>& mp): map<string, int>(mp) {
            //for(auto i=begin(); i!=end(); ++i) i->inc();
            //I want to perform that instruction above, but it gives me an error
        }
        ~MyMap() {
            //for(auto i=begin(); i!=end(); i++) i->dec();
            //same as here
        }
        void insertNewPair(MyPair * mypair) {
            insert(*mypair);
            mypair->inc();
        }
    };

    int main(int argc, char **argv)
    {
        MyMap mymap;
        mymap.insertNewPair(new MyPair("1", 1));
        mymap.insertNewPair(new MyPair("2", 2));
        cout << "mymap[\"1\"] = " << mymap["1"] << endl;
        cout << "mymap[\"2\"] = " << mymap["2"] << endl;
        return 0;
    }

I subclassed a class from std::pair so that I can append a reference counter in it. I named it "MyPair". I also subclassed from std::map and I named it "MyMap". So that everytime I insert new MyPair in MyMap, it calls the inc() member function of MyPair, so that MyPair would increment its _ref member which is the counter of its reference. If I delete an instance of MyMap, it decrements all the _ref member function of each of its contained MyPairs. If _ref in MyPair hits 0, it means that it was no longer referenced, so it will delete itself.
That code above works, because I managed to comment some lines of codes there in MyMap. When I uncomment them, the compiler gives me an error that says that std::pair has no members like inc() and dec(), even though I insert MyPair instances there at the main function. I know that the compiler doesn't notice that I inserted MyPair instances that contains those members, not just a plain std::pair.
Is there's a way that I can call those members of MyPair(inc() and dec()) inside MyMap?
Thanks for your answers in advance.

A: First of all, inheriting from standard containers is a very bad idea.
Secondly, I see many problems in your code:

*

*Overuse of dynamic memory: You are using new in places where there is no reason at all. Note that your pair is of std::string and int, that is, 12 bytes per pair with a common std::string implementation (Asumming 32 bits architecture). 4 bytes of the pointer which std::string uses to hold the char array, 4 bytes for the size counter of the string, and 4 bytes for the int of the pair. So there is no reason to use dynamic memory here. If you want to share ownership, use a smart_pointer or a reference wrapper like std::reference_wrapper.

*Following from the problem above, overuse of error-prone raw-pointers. As I said, smart pointers are a better alternative.
Finally, I think your compiler error is generated due to slicing:  std::map uses std::pair internally to store the values. When you insert your pair, that pair is sliced, because std::map::insert espects const std::pair& as argumment and a reference of a derived class is casted implicitly to a reference of a base class.
So, as the compiler says, the pair (std::pair) has no members inc() and dec().
You are inheriting from std::pair, not std::pairis inheriting from your pair class.
Consider the tipical inheritance example:
class animal
{
    void eat();
};

class dog : public animal
{
    void bark();
};

The point here is the dog is an animal, but the animal is not a dog (Not all animals are dogs). So the dog can eat because it is an animal, and bark because its a dog. But the animal can't bark, because conceptually its not a dog.
So if you see a dog as if it was an animal only, the dog cannot bark.

A: You use auto which finds out that the type (returned by begin) is a map.
And map has no inc.
Maybe implement std::begin( MyMap ) to retrive the right iterator.
But You should probably not derivate, and more wrap a pair.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Thank you for taking the time to visit the City Council District 2 web page. I hope that you will continue to do so, as this is our community's page. I am always open to any concerns or suggestions you may have on how to better our district. Please feel free to contact me via phone or e-mail. It has been my privilege to serve this District, and I look forward to the many new and exciting things to come for this District.
He is one of six children, and the father of one son, JohnShay Dodd. He often refers to his son as his "heartbeat," and his mother is definitely his biggest supporter. Having a loving, supportive family is foundational, and he believes that every child deserves to be reared in such a family. Having this kind of foundation, He believes, has made all the difference in his life. He was taught early, as a child, to treat others as he would want to be treated, and this is the motto that he lives by today.
Graduate of Jackson State Community College and Lane College.
He has helped unite local communites through crime marches in an effort to increase awareness and unity among each other, and to help make the entire city of Jackson a more neighborly and safer place to live.
He has worked diligently to give our youth and teens more entertainment and recreational outlets which helps keep them engaged in positive vs negative behaviors.
His established, working relationship with the community and the city government, is beneficial to moving our community forward.
He has gladly served the residents of Jackson's district 2 since 1999, and look forward to this continued service. He also served as Vice Mayor (2002-2003) and represented the City of Jackson at state, regional and national levels.
While representing his constituents, He has had to make many tough decisions which affect our community. Those decisions have been made very carefully through prioritizing, effective information gathering and analysis, and while working within the availability of resources.
He will continue to use every opportunity afforded to him to make sure that he listens to his constituents.


Private Music Lessons – We offer private lessons for piano, voice, and guitar for students of all ages. Our goal is to develop new and experienced musicians with a love for music. Visit the Private Lessons page for more information.
Piano Classes – We have partnered with Imagine Rosefield in AZ from 2012-2018 and started the Keys and Chords program where we offer piano classes after school. Small class sizes, fun learning, and positive reinforcement are all a part of each class. Visit the Keys and Chords page for more information on how to get this program started at your school!
Worship – If you are looking for a passionate worship leader with or without a band for any special events, conferences, or retreats, visit the Biography and Ministry Opportunities page for more information.
Performance – If you are looking for the perfect addition to your special event, we offer special music for weddings, funerals, parties, etc… Contact us directly for more information!
This couple, each called to a separate ministry and gifted in two different ways, come together as a Ministry Team that is complimentary and unifying. God will use this couple in a mighty way for your event. Whether you are planning a retreat, conference, or special worship service, Adam and Shannon will lead people into the presence of our Heavenly Father.
We offer both worship and speaking for conferences, retreats, memorials, and any other special event in need. Visit the Biography and Ministry Opportunities page for more information.


This poster features Dug, the speaking dog, from PIXAR's "Up." The poster says "I can speak! Take it from Dug." There are other words on the poster as well.
This three pin set depicts posters featuring Up characters - Russell, Dug, and the three guard dogs of Charles Muntz.


Actor Daniel Radcliffe in a scene from the 2001 film Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.
DANIEL Radcliffe soared to fame as the beloved character Harry Potter. Now, nearly 17 years later, the actor is revealing how he felt playing the boy with the lightning bolt scar.
During an appearance on the Tonight Show this week, host Jimmy Fallon showed the Lifespan of a Fact star, 29, a few memes featuring Harry Potter. When Fallon held up one which replaced the lyrics of Jay-Z's 99 Problems to fit the fantasy film, Radcliffe, who applauded the meme went on to admit that he "never felt cool" in the starring role.
Radcliffe was just 11 when he was cast as the Boy Who Lived.
"What's cool about that stuff is I never as a kid, you're just insecure at that age," admits Radcliffe. "I never felt cool at any point playing that character … and people thought that was pretty cool, it's nice."
At age 11, Radcliffe achieved international stardom when he was cast as the lead in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in 2001, which was based on the best-selling novel by J.K. Rowling.
Emma Watson, Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint became household names. Credit: AP Photo/Warner Bros.
Not only did the film become a box-office sensation, but the eight-film series spanned Radcliffe's late childhood - and set him up for life. The franchise ended its run in 2011 and skyrocketed the young actor's net worth to nearly US$100 million (A$139.3 million).
Radcliffe managed to escape the child star curse, however, and has gone on to enjoy a scandal-free Hollywood career. He credited his parents for providing a sense of normalcy over the years.
"From my point of view, I feel like my parents set a ridiculously high bar for me when I become a parent," he told Fox News in December 2017.
Continued Radcliffe: "I just look back and go, 'Man, they really made things easy for me and comprehensible and not scary.' I don't think they were ever thinking, 'We have to do this.' I think my mum and dad were just parenting very instinctively.
"Not that I'm saying I'm an amazing person, but I just feel like they did a really good job."


The United States Mint issues a one ounce .9995 platinum proof coin annually as part of its popular American Eagle Program. The 2013 American Eagle Platinum Proof Coin continues that tradition which dates back to 1997.
In addition, the 2013 Platinum Eagle also is offered as the fifth year of a six year series of coins featuring reverse designs emblematic of the principles found in the Preamble of the Constitution of the United States. The 2013 coin depicts a reverse emblematic of the theme "To Promote General Welfare."
The themes are taken from a collection of narratives prepared by the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court as requested by officials of the US Mint.
Platinum Eagles were also struck in fractional sizes in previous years. However, that practice was discontinued in 2008 as part of a product streamlining process of the Mint.
US Mint Sculptor / Engraver John Mercanti designed the obverse of the coin which has remained the same since the series introduction in 1997. It depicts an image of the Statue of Liberty looking "towards the future." Obverse inscriptions include LIBERTY, E PLURIBUS UNUM and the year of production.
The reverse of the coin contains the design emblematic of the fifth principle found in the US Constitution, "To Promote General Welfare." Reverse inscriptions include UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 1 OZ, .9995 PLATINUM and the legal tender face value of $100.