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AP English Teaching Resources
Author Study - Sherman Alexie
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (2007)
The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven (1993)
North American Indian Literature Resources
Illustrator Study - Tony DiTerlizzi >
Jimmy Zangwow (2000)
Dragon Flight (2002)
The Spider and Fly (2002)
Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You (2005)
The Search for Wondla (2010)
A Thousand Splendid Suns: Part I (Primary and Secondary)
In Part 1 of A Thousand Splendid Suns, Nana says the following to her daughter, Mariam: "Women like us. We endure. It's all we have." Select three distinct passages from Part 1 that show how this sentiment informs Mariam's life and how it relates to the larger themes of the novel.
Primary Blog Expectations (respond to the prompt above): 200-250 words, minimal errors in grammar and usage, thoughtful and thorough writing. Please use the name that you were assigned in class as your nom de plume and be sure to add word count. Due by the end of Friday night!
Secondary Blog Response Expectations (read everyone's primary responses, select two that interest you, and respond to their ideas): 100-150 words EACH, minimal errors in grammar and usage, thoughtful and thorough writing. Please use the name that you were assigned in class as your nom de plume and be sure to add word count. Due by the start of class on Monday!
"She understood what Nana meant, that a harami was an unwanted thing; that she, Mariam, was an illegitimate person who would never have legitimate claim to things other people had, things such as love, family, home, acceptable."
"A man's heart is a wretched, wretched thing, Mariam. It isn't like a mother's womb. It won't bleed, it won't stretch to make room for you."
"She believed Jalil's version, that though he'd been away he'd arranged for Nana to be taken to a hospital in Heret where she had been tended to by a doctor. She had lain on a clean, proper bed in a well-lit room."
The three above quotes, all relating to the novels larger theme of family, demonstrate Mariam's struggle to feel at home in any aspects of her life. In the first quote, Mariam recalls the first time she truly realized how little claim to anything she has. She is without any kind of love or family and that absence in her life defines her character greatly. In the next two quotes, the rivalry of her mother and father are revealed. The relationship between them is so poor that Mariam isn't even sure of the truth behind her own birth. Her mother continues to badmouth her father throughout her life and teach her that all men will treat her the same. But her father doesn't do much but discredit Mariam's mother. This uncertainty in her family creates a basis of uncertainty and distrust in her life as a whole.
Roshanak
It is sad how much Miriam ends up distrusting her family. Like you said, her mother and father constantly contradicted one another, but we also see that her father seems to be a master of lies. After her mother dies, her father's wives very quickly marry her away, saying that she is at a great age to get married, yet none of their children (all of similar ages) are being married off as quickly. This also shows how distrustful she becomes because of how they lied to her. She also ended up distrustful of her mother though. Her mother was a constant in her life, spending all her time with her daughter. It seems that her mother was only able to hang on to life though because of Miriam, which is why she forbade her daughter to see a movie with her father. We see that this was actually a good and truthful warning as her father never showed up, but it also showed how much her mom was lying to herself, as she killed herself as soon as she was left alone.
WC: 183
Shahmir
I decided to respond to this blog post because I truly agreed to what was being talked about. I find intriguing on how you speak of Mariam's inability to feel comfortable with either her mom or dad. Mariam's mother constantly speaks on the absence of Mariam's father, and Mariam's father states that he's always been there for Mariam. I find this whole concept of distrust within Mariam's family as interesting because she should feel most comfortable in her household, and with her mother and father. However, although Mariam is so used to her mother, and lives with her, she still continues to value the presence of her father, and trusts his word.
Kiriana
I agree with the idea of distrust among Nana and Jalil because Mariam has been too oblivious and naive to realize that her father is just filling up her head with hopes and great stories about his life while Nana talks down on him for letting them live in such bad conditions while he lives in a beautiful home with his 3 wives and 9 other children. Nana always talked down on Jalil because he never treated them the same way as his other three wives. She wanted to teach Mariam that women will never be on the same level or same power as men because in the end women will always be mistreated.
WC:114
As sad as some of the obstacles of Mariam's life are, I feel inclined to say that this response was very refreshing because it took a different route than sexism, focusing instead on the importance of Mariam's lack of family or feelings of home in the novel. I really love how you drew this conclusion from the quotes most interpret only as gender roles and male domination over women.
Word count 71
Allysiah
"Mariam kept thinking of his face in the upstairs window. He let her sleep on the street. On the street." (Hosseini 35)
This was the first instance in the book where Mariam began to lose faith in Jalil and see his true colors. Before this scene, Mariam was completely infatuated with Jalil. He was her role model, the most prominent thought in her mind for all positive reasons. But after he just let her lay down in the street waiting for his impending arrival (not knowing he was already home) she started to realize that Jalil was not this image of perfection and purity she had in her mind. This was the first huge heartbreak Mariam felt in her life.
"'There is no shame in this, Mariam,' he said, slurring a little. 'It's what married people do. It's what the Prophet himself and his wives did. There is no shame." (Hosseini 77)
Throughout her time married to and living with Rasheed, Mariam feared the moment that Rasheed would want to have sexual interaction. The first time that he tried Mariam was terrified and tried to plead with him. Once it was over, she felt a sense of shame, like her dignity as a woman was taken away from her without her permission. On top of this, once it really happened, to Mariam it made her life situation more real. Nana was really dead, Jalil actually forced her off with a man 4 times her age. She no longer had any control whatsoever.
"Mariam sat in the corner by herself, working on her heels with a pumice stone, insulated by a wall of steam and passing shapes. Then there was blood and she was screaming (...) Later that night Fariba told her husband that when she heard the cry and rushed over she'd found Rasheed's wife shriveled into a corner, hugging her knees, a pool of blood at her feet." (Hosseini 90)
This moment was the most heartbreaking moment in the book thus far, in my opinion. Mariam had finally found happiness and peace of mind in this pregnancy because she felt that she finally had a sense of control back. This baby was hers, she made it. When she had a miscarriage in the bath house, she felt that she had failed Rasheed. From this point forward Mariam had lost control again, and Rasheed had an underlying anger and bitterness towards her. She felt it was her fault, that she was a failure.
It was very sad when her father did not show up for the movies. She had faith in her father and loved him, but he responded to that with dejection and cruelty, but still, it amazes me that even in a book, a man would let his daughter sleep and shiver in the cold, potentially in danger.
The sexual interaction with her husband does seem to taint Miriam. Before that, she was still a child. She might have had a husband, but he was really like a roommate before this. It is sad to realize that their is no going back, especially for someone so young.
It is so heartbreaking when she loses the baby. She was so happy that she was pregnant, it seemed to almost make her happy with her life, but then she lied to herself when she then lost her baby. This is a sign that her life will never be lucky and that she has been cursed with sadness.
Miscarrying 7 times did take a toll on her and she blamed herself for something that often happens and sometimes cannot be helped. It is natural for situations like that to happen but she convinces herself that the things she ate made her miscarry and that she will never have a miracle in her life. She was forced to have sexual intercourse (let alone get married) at a young age made her have a sense that she does not and probably won't ever have control of her life. These are some scarring moments that she has to live with for the rest of her life.
I think these three quotes are very good indicators of the life and struggle that Miriam has lived. In her early life, she struggled to trust her own father and later, she found nothing but shame in her marriage. I also agree that her miscarriage was one of the most difficult scenes in the novel as she finally had some happiness and it was torn away from her that easily. I think that also shows how little actual happiness Miriam had in her life, as the simple idea of control (in the form of her child) gave her so much to look forward to.
Farahnoush
"Mariam kept thinking of his face in the upstairs window. He let her sleep on the street. On the street. Mariam cried lying down. She didn't sit up, didn't want to be seen. She imagined all of Herat knew this morning how she'd disgraced herself" (Hosseini 35).
In this scene of the novel Mariam finally began seeing her father the way that Nana had always described him. Here is when Mariam began losing faith in him and abandoning the "good man" image that she had worshipped. This moment was almost like a reality check for Mariam in which she realized how ashamed her father really felt.
"'What are you, fifteen? That's a good, solid, marrying age for a girl.'... It did not escape Mariam that no mention was made of he half sisters Saideh or Naheed, both her own age, both students in the Mehri School in Herat, both with plans to enroll in Kabul University. Fifteen, evidently, was not a good, solid marrying age for them" (Hosseini 49).
Here Mariam is realizing that her father and his wives are just trying to cast her out and find a way to get rid of her as soon as possible. Subconsciously she realizes again the shame her father feels over his mistake, and it seemed like he would agree to do anything in order to just get rid of Mariam.
"With each disappointment Rasheed had grown more remote and resentful. Now nothing she did pleased him. She cleaned the house, made sure he always had a supply of clean shirts, cooked his favorite dishes...There was always something, some minor thing that would infuriate him, because no matter what she did to please him, no matter how thoroughly she submitted to his wants and demands, it wasn't enough" (Hosseini 99).
Mariam used to cherish Rasheed, loved him even, but after the miscarriage he began treating her like garbage. Rasheed made her live in fear, and I believe this scene is related to Nana's words of wisdom because Mariam is living a life where she has to allow Rasheed to do whatever he wants to her because he has the power to do so, and she doesn't have power to stop him.
Darsameen
It's really sad when Mariam finally understands Nana's perspective of Jalil. In my opinion, a daughter views her father as her shelter and protection, but Jalil never provided that for Mariam. Jalil's presence made Mariam extremely happy, but after she truly discovered who he was, all her love turned to hate. Once again, Mariam is being rejected but this time, by her husband. After a few miscarriages, which are clearly hard to deal with, Rasheed simply rejects her instead of supporting her like a good husband. Mariam has been rejected from those who she thought truly cared about her, but hopefully, she becomes mentally strong.
WC= 105
This scene with Jalil did change Mariam, because it opened her eyes to the truth. Even though the truth was not as nice as the fictional amazing father figure she had conjured up in her head, it was not until Jalil allowed Mariam to sleep on the street rather than opening his door that Mariam saw Jalil's true colors.
Mariam had always felt inferior to her little siblings in her father and his wives' eyes. This scene is the first time that Jalil and the wives make no attempt to sugarcoat the fact that Mariam means little to nothing to them and Jalil and that she is more of a chore than a blessing. This doesn't change Mariam as much as the last scene you discussed did, rather it gave her confirmation that her suspicions that they did not love her were true.
This scene angered me as a reader because it really gave us a lens through the eyes of traditional Afghan men in this time period. Rasheed was getting mad at Mariam for something that scientifically she had absolutely no way of controlling. This changed Mariam by causing her to start to blame herself and feel guilt for things that were in no way her fault. Mariam has always been self-conscious and has had a bit of self-resentment, but this only dug the ditch further for her.
"Learn this now and learn this well, my daughter: Like a compass needle that points north, a man's accusing finger always finds a woman" (Hosseini 7).
"A man's heart is a wretched, wretched thing, Mariam. It isn't like a mother's womb. It won't bleed, it won't stretch to make room for you" (Hosseini 27).
She remembered Nana saying once that each snowflake was a sigh heaved by an aggrieved woman somewhere in the world […] As a reminder of how women like us suffer, she'd said. How quietly we endure all that falls upon us" (Hosseini 91).
In the first quote, it describes this idea of the power of a man. It is saying how no matter the situation, a man will always find a way to blame a woman, and when he does, it'll always fall in his favor. Mariam's mother continues to talk to her with these kinds of words in part 1, and it is only a platform so that she learns to keep this idea in mind for the future. As a child, Jalil shifts all his problems and the burden of Mariam onto Nana, and we begin to see that Rasheed shifts all his problems and failures onto Mariam. In the second quote, we see the difference between a man and women in this novel. The men presented thus far are unapologetic and rigid, especially when it comes to the women introduced. However, the women introduced are strong, and they "endure" everything they're put through. This shows the "wretched" feelingless heart of men, and then nurturing ways of the women. Finally, in the last quote, we get insight on what Nana really means about enduring. Unlike Nana, Mariam has been enduring a lot thus far from her father, and now new husband, and she still hasn't turned mean or cruel. Even though Rasheed has just started to treat her wrong, we don't see Mariam lash out against him. The larger theme of this novel seems to be this idea that men put women through "hell", yet the strong women just seem to buckle up and accept it. All the women do is endure this pain they're put through, we seems to make them a lot stronger than the men presented.
Mahsheed
I love the quotes you chose, and the way you spoke about them, highlighting the strength Mariam holds throughout part one. By comparing the quote that focuses on women and men, you're addressing the bigger theme of the book of how roles are placed upon each sex. I think you have a great point when you speak about Mariam enduring "hell", yet never becoming a cruel version of herself. No matter how she was harmed by the men in her life, she stayed through it all, showing her strength and subtle determination to get through everyday. I believe we don't give Mariam enough credit for the strength she posses within the first part, and how much she continues to wrack up.
(Word Count: 121)
I like your concentration on Nana's words against the male gender; I agree that as a women who has done nothing by endure, she can teach her child only the same to expect in her future. However, I disagree that the theme of this novel is the hidden but true female power present in the characters of this novel; instead, I feel that their power is hidden by blankets weaves of years of male dominance and the oppression of women's rights to equality. Overall your take on the truthfulness to Nana's words was accurate, leaving it very clear that women in Afghanistan during the time of Mariam'sl life were granted only with the strength to endure.
Throughout Part 1, Mariam has continued to prove to the audience that she is a strong woman, through and through. As her mother said, they have to endure, because their endurance is all they have--it is all they can rely on. Even as a child growing up, Mariam has had to endure the venomous words of her mother. Nana was constantly reminding her of her place in their society, and how "to Jalil and his wives…[Nana] was a pokeroot. A mugwort. [Mariam] too. And [she] wasn't even born yet" (Hosseini 8). This illuminates how she's been constantly exposed to the harsh opinions of the world around her, casting pain onto her especially since the words came from her own mother. Her childhood depicts how much she is able to endure from the world, and still stand firm. It shows that she has learned early on in life that she must keep pushing on, no matter what is happening around her.
A big change for Marian comes in when she witnesses the betrayal of her father Jalil, and directly after, she finds her mother has committed suicide. "All she could hear was Nana saying I'll die if you go. I'll just die. All she could do was cry and cry…" (Hosseini 38). To Mariam, she had just lost both her parents within the same hour. Her mother had died, knowing that in the end, Mariam chose Jalil. And Jalil himself, knew that his daughter was finally exposed to the lies he had been telling her. Mariam's world has been turned upside down, and though she does grieve heavily, once again, she has to endure. There is nothing else she can do but realize that life is trying to break her, but she could still push through.
Throughout the time skips, we are given the information that "In the four years since the day at the bathhouse, there had been six more cycles of hopes then dashed, each loss, each collapse, each trip to the doctor more crushing to Mariam than the last" (Hosseini 99). She has been forced to endure and suffer through seven miscarriages throughout her life. Each child, she has been forced to grieve before she has even held them in her arms. Because of this "failure" of hers, she has also been forced to suffer abuse at the hands of her husband. And yet, she stays strong and makes the most of her life, the best she can. Mariam has never in her life tried to quit, and these events must have been what her mother was foreshadowing for her to endure.
Parvana
"Later, when she was older, Mariam did understand. It was the way Nana uttered the word—not so much saying it as spitting it at her—that made Mariam feel the full sting of it. She understood then what Nana meant, that a harami was an unwanted thing; that she, Mariam, was an illegitimate person who would never have legitimate claim to the things other people had, things such as love, family, home, acceptance"(Hosseini 4).
"'What's the sense in schooling a girl like you? It's like shining a spittoon. And you'll learn nothing of value in those schools. There is only one, only one skill a woman like you and me need in life, and they don't teach it in school. Look at me.'"(Hosseini 18).
"Some days, she believed that the baby had been an undeserved blessing, that she was being punished for what she had done to Nana. Wasn't it true that she might as well have slipped the noose around her mother's neck herself? Treacherous daughters did not deserve to be mothers, and this was just punishment. She had fitful dreams, of Nan's jinn sneaking into her room at night, burrowing its claws into her womb, and stealing her baby. In these dreams, Nana cackled with delight and vindication" (Hosseini 93).
The first two quotes above provide the reader with insight on what Mariam's life is like by emphasizing that she is an illegitimate child, and as a result of this, she goes through more than the average girl should have to. Despite the fact that the circumstance in which she was born is something that is beyond her control, Nana typically treats Mariam as she is a burden in her life, and even though there are instances where Jalil encourages Mariam not to take Nana's perspective on things, the third quote reflects how Mariam seems to have absorbed some of Nana's negativity regarding her role in life. The third quote takes place after Mariam has experienced her first miscarriage, which happens sometime after Nana commits suicide when Mariam chooses to spend time with Jalil over her. Evidently, Mariam feels as if she was to blame for the incident, which is shown in the way she continues to internalize her miscarriage, blaming herself and convincing herself that it had happened as revenge. It can be inferred that all three of these quotes relate to the novel's theme of shelter as a whole, suggesting that because Mariam really has no genuine claim to anything in the world, she will have to find a "home" in the people and places around her.
Word count: 433 words
I really like the quotes that you chose to answer this prompt. They're amazing and I feel as if they reflect Mariam's journey. I find it interesting how you spoke about Mariam mirroring her mother in the way that she can view the world a little negatively. Although, I don't think she had gained too much because she still has a naïve perspective on the life around her.
I never thought about the perspective of shelter in the fact that Mariam has no real claim to it. Because she is an illegitimate child, her path in the world has already been paved, and that might be why things go so poorly for her. But I do believe she has been doing her best with what she has, and refuses to give up.
"Learn this now and learn it well, my daughter: Like a compass needle that points north, a man's accusing finger always finds a woman. Always You remember that, Mariam."-(Hosseini 7)
"Mariam caught a glimpse of what was beneath the tree: the straight-backed chair, overturned. The rope dropping from a high branch. Nan dangling at the end of it."-(Hosseini 36)
"Now you know what your rice tastes like. Now you know what you've given me in this marriage. Bad food, and nothing else."-(Hosseini 104)
The scenes are significant to impacting Mariam's life because each quote shows that in an area where Mariam are from, Women can never win in any situation. In the first quote, the scene is when Nana speaks to her daughter, Mariam about her inconsiderate father and how he blamed Nana for the negative things that happened in their life. Nana was claiming that men point to women at fault in difficult situations. In the second quote, this scene shows when Mariam comes back home expecting for Nana to scold her for leaving her for her no good father, only to realize that Nana left Mariam too. It is obvious that Nana was struggling with herself both mentally and physically and Mariam blames herself for her mother's death. In the third quote, shortly after Nana's death, Jalil takes in Mariam. Mariam is too busy grieving to have any interest in her half siblings. The family sees her as a burden and get her in an arranged marriage. This changes her perspective of her beloved father as her takes his 3 wives side and not hers. From this moment on her grows hated towards him. These are all important (and mainly negative) scenes that show why Mariam is the way she is. She has been mistreated and neglected for her entire life and continues into the marriage. When her husband is upset that she cannot conceive, he starts to abuse her. This shows that Women don't have the same power as men do.
I agree with your response since Mariam seems to have endured many things at such a young age, from her mother's death to her arranged marriage. Basically, Mariam doesn't seem to be capable of living a normal life because the death of her mom continues to torment her and she continuously blames herself for it. I think Mariam will continue to allow her husband to physically abuse her because she doesn't know how much she is truly worth, since those who truly loved her are basically gone. Hopefully, she eventually realizes that she shouldn't blame herself for Nana's death and that she deserves happiness.
This idea is very interesting because this shows us that not only is Miriam's life unfair, but it's also doomed from the beginning. She is personally born into an unfair situation that brings her a lot of emotional turmoil in childhood and adulthood. But even more tragically she is a woman. And in her society, this fact creates the biggest problem of all. We see this especially, such as you stated, in her marriage. When her personal problem of not being able to conceive affects her, the fact that she is a woman makes it worse, in that her husband then abuses her because of this. These situations highlight the idea in this novel that underlying societal issues can sometimes be almost impossible to overcome.
"When the pain got bad. I'd bite on a pillow and scream into it until I was hoarse. And still no one came to wipe my face or give me a drink of water…" (Hosseini 11).
"Then Jalil did, in a think, threadbare voice. 'Goddamn it, Mariam, don't do this to me,' he said as though he was the one to whom something was being done" (Hosseini 49).
"'Put these in your mouth.''..."His powerful hands clapped her jaw. He shoved two fingers into her mouth and pried it open, then forced the cold, hard pebbles into it. Mariam struggled against him, mumbling, but he kept pushing the pebbles in, his upper lip curled in a sneer…" (Hosseini 104).
Throughout Part I, of A Thousand Splendid Suns, one of the main factors Hosseini tries to point out is women's suffrage. At first, we are introduced to the physical suffering Nana had to endure while giving birth to Mariam, and the lack of support she received, but she seems to be telling this to Mariam in order to prepare her when she goes out to the read world. Moreover, after Nana's death, Mariam starts to deal with reality. Once she moved with her father, she was told she had a suitor and her dad had authorized him.After she immediately searched for hope in her father, all she received in return was his betrayal. Just like Nana said, "women endure:, and Mariam is now enduring the lack of support of her father, the only other person she had. Now, as a result of this marriage, Mariam has to endure being physically abused by the man she was forced to marry. Even though she tries to justify his actions, she is still quietly suffering, just like Nana told her. We can notice that there will be many instances in this novel where women have to endure physical and emotional pain, but at the end of the day, they simply become stronger.
WC= 210 (excluding quotes)
I completely agree that it seems that Hosseini's point of the first part of the novel is to introduce his audience to women's suffrage in Afghanistan during this time period. It is quite strange, at least for me, to read this novel as a woman of the 21st century. We hear stories of times like A Thousand Splendid Suns, but it was not until reading this novel in its entirety that I understood the magnitude of the suffering women our age had to deal with back in the times when A Thousand Splendid Suns took place. I agree that it is truly women's suffrage as a whole that shapes Mariam, because if women were treated as equals there would have been so many situations where Mariam could have just gotten up and left her unfair life. But since she was a woman and women were treated as inferiors, she was trapped.
In the first section of the novel A Thousand Splendid Suns, there are several occasions that introduce the theme of oppression of women; from male dominance in laws, home life, education and so many other aspects of daily life, it is clear the oppression of women is a dominant theme in the novel. For example, when Mariam is given away to Rasheed by her father, she pleads with her father to reject the idea yelling "'Tell them. Tell them you won't let them do this,'" followed by his selfish response "'Goddam it, Mariam, don't do this to me'" (Hosseini 49). This highlights the blatantly accepted male dominance present in Afghanistan at the time of Mariam's adolescence. This is also the beginning of living to meet the reality of the prediction Nana made about her future: being made to do nothing but endure. After living with Rasheed for less than a month, he came home with a burqa for Mariam to wear in public, reasoning that "'Where I come from, one wrong look, one improper word, and the blood is spilled. Where I come from, a woman's face is her husband's business only. I want you to remember that'" while truly wearing down her every bit of individuality and separating her further from the outside world (Hosseini 70). This example demonstrates the male power witnessed in female oppression, embedding in reader's minds the cruelty these women were forced to endure. At the very end of the first part of the novel, Rasheed lashes out at Mariam for cooking a bad meal- though she claims to have worked specially on his complaint to avoid the criticism- while also releasing other agitations- such as her inability to get pregnant and produce him a new son- by forcing rocks into her mouth and breaking her teeth. "He shoved two fingers into her mouth and pried it open, then forced the cold, hard pebbles into it… then he was gone, leaving Mariam to spit out pebbles, blood, and the fragments of two broken molars" (Hosseini 104). Here it is clear that the abusing- both mentally and physically- of women was nothing out of the ordinary in the daily life style of the main character, Mariam; while living up to the sad expectations of her mother to endure, Rasheed is successful in highlighting the oppression of women as an effect of the dominance of males present in the novel.
Virtual Classroom Week Schedule
Mon: Youtube AP Lit Lecture
Tues: Poetry Blog Part 1
Wed: Youtube AP Lit Lecture
Thurs: Poetry Blog Part 1 con't
Fri: Poetry Blog Part 2
Once a Week: MC PPC
Blog Post Rubric
A Doll's House
Class Division
Congo/Zaire
Critical Lens
Cross Cultural Misconceptions
Cross-Cultural Misconceptions
Gender Study
Hope And Despair
Objectivity V. Subjectivity
Parent Child Relationships
Parent-Child Relationships
Pleasure Reading
Right Vs. Wrong
Rudy Francisco
The Lady With The Little Dog
Virtual Poetry Unit
Week 1 Poetry Activity
Women's Roles


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tv Weekend News Al Jazeera February 13, 2016 6:00am-6:31am EST
one time. not to mention the nuclear program and other challenges all at the same time. so everybody here understands that you wouldn't be here otherwise. d.a.e.s.h.'s campaign of terror now extends its reach well beyond syria. the war that has claimed so many lives still rages. we are facing, we together, the gravest humanitarian crisis in europe since world war ii, as innocent people, many of whom are just women and children, are either trapped inside a country without access to medicine and food or they have been forced to flee. the flood of desperate migrants has now spread well beyond the middle east as we know 50 of the people now are knocking on the door of europe with a whole
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in enforcing a nato mission to close off a key access route and that is why we will join with you in other ways to stem this tide because of the potential of the damage to the fabric of the united europe. the truth is that in every decade since its founding, the e.u. has been tested by forces. internal and external. they've benefited from the house divided. we know many europeans right now feel overwhelmed by the latest round of challenges, including concerns about the u.k.'s potential exit from the e.u. here again, however, i want to express the confidence of president obama and all of us in america, that just as it has so many times before europe is going to emerge stronger than ever, provided it stays united
and builds common responses to these challenges. now, obviously, the united states has a profound interest in your success, as we do in a very strong united kingdom staying in a strong e.u. let me under score [ applause ]. let me underscore that those who claim that our trance atlantic partnership is-- trans atlantic partnership is unravelling, they are wrong. they cannot understand why we came together in the first place, not just to sail along in the best of times, but to have each other's backs when the times are tough. they forget as well that the ties that bind us are not some kind of fragile strings of
momentary convenience, they are rugged time-tested cores of values, liberty, decency, justice, rule of law, and nowhere is that more clear than in our join unwaivering support for a democratic ukraine. ur european-- our european partners, you, deserve enormous credit for showing the resolve you have shown and the common purpose you have summoned in order to stand up to russia's reaped aggression. i am confident that europe and the united states are going to continue to stand united, both in sustaining sanctions for as long as they are necessary and providing assisted to ukraine until the sovereignty is protected through the full minsk agreement. again and again we have made it clear, and i make it clear again here today, sanctions are not an end unto themselves. witness what we succeeded in
doing in the context of the iran nuclear agreement, but we shouldn't forget why they were imposed in the first place, to stand up for ukraine's fundamental rights, rights of the international normals that doctor-- norms that have been accepted ever since world war ii. they were part of what the great battle was about. russia has a choice, fully implement minsk or face sanctions. withdraw weapons and troops, ensure that all hostages are returned, allow full humanitarian access to occupied territories which by the way is required by international law and by several united nations resolutions. support free, fair and internationally monitored elections, under ukrainian law
and restore the border which belongs to it. put plainly, russia can prove by its actions that it will respect ukraine sovereignty just as it insists on respect for its own. by the same token, after two difficult years ukrainians still have work to do as well. the president who is here knows that and accepts that. neither the people of ukraine nor their partners believe that enough has happened in ukraine either. ukraine has responsibilities with respect to minsk and it is critical that keev yup holds its end of the problem, but ukraine is clearly far brighter today than it was when we met several years ago, far brighter even
before protests and with our transatlantic support, 2016 has all the ground work laid through the good work of germany, france in the normandy impact, so we can try umph over corruption. we call on all of the countries' elected leaders to demonstrate the unity, the integrity and the courage that their people are demanding. now, in addition to our joint focus on ukraine, the u.s. has significantly upgraded our commitment to european security with a planned four-fold increase on our spending on the european initiative. from just under 790 million to 3.4 billion. this will allow us to maintain a division's worth of equipment in
europe and an additional combat brigade in central and eastern europe making our support and nato's more visible and more tangible. meanwhile, and i think everybody knows this, that's not the only way to approach this, millions of young people without hope and food, no job, no education and no future. if we leave that unattended to, then we are simply turning our backs on what we know is the responsibility for how we are going to stem the tide of extremism. so we will continue to build our partnership, , concluding various things. this year we will strengthen or
economies and nothing in ttip, nothing requires europe to reduce or undo important regulations or weaken existing standards. that is false. on the contrary, the agreement will underscore our support for the inclusion of high environmental and labor standards and trade agreements just as we have done in the trans pacific partnership which encompasses 40% of the planet gdp. we have encompassed the highest labor standards and the highest environment standards enforceable by law. so ttip can showcase the dynammism of our free markets and demonstrate the economic
standards and the defense of free trade so there you have the secretary of state john kerry addressing the munich security conference. our correspondent dominic kane is in munich and has been listening to the speech. center stage, of course, to the remarks of john kerry, the situation regarding ukraine. >> reporter: that's right. you heard there his comments making clear that the minzk agreement is the only way forward. that, of course, was an agreement that the russians and ukrainians wanted to ceasing fire. he also talked about the normandy format in which the governments come together to find progress, to try to find common ground, a way forward. we know that the format which
met this morning, nothing tangible came out of that. we also heard from john kerry about the commitment to nato which the american government seize as being central to its policy in europe and how the american government was going to increase four-fold its investment about a combat brigade can i just jump in so that we can go back to john kerry and listen. >> we welcome the announcement of countries in europe that have decided to join this fight. we are going to defeat d.a.e.s.h. i have no doubt about it. even as we do that, there's a lot of work that we have to do on a measure abable - in a measurable manner. first and foremost, we are going after their fighters. our coalition has launched more than 10,000 air strikes.
we, the united states, and france, a couple of other countries, have put special forces on the ground in iraq and syria in order to better enable a number of operations whilst also providing increased amounts of training and equipment to our local partners. together we have pushed terrorists out of 40% of the territory that they have controlled in iraq and 20% in syria. we have liberated, 100,000 people have returned to rebuild their homes. it doesn't get enough attention or credit. we have liberated sinjar and other places. we're hammering d.a.e.s.h.'s heavy weapons. its training camps, supplies routes and infrastructure, and minimum tree campaign to end d.a.e.s.h.'s terrorism is, in fact, expanding by the day-- military campaign.
it is not just enough. you have to also ensure that they can't get back up. that's why the second line of effort that we're pursuing is also critical, destroying their economic life line. in recent months we have learned more about d.a.e.s.h.'s sources of income, which has allowed us to be more strategic in targeting and hitting their oil production, their refinerys, tanker trucks, cash centers, illicit banking facilities. for d.a.e.s.h. lower revenues means fewer resources to finance military action and smaller pay checks to lure and sustain new fighters. already we are seeing the results of this. they've had to cut their pay checks to their fighters by 50% and in some cases they have to cut it off entirely and they don't have the ability as a result to continue this expansion. this also gives a boost to our third line of attack, which ask to reduce the number-- which is
to reduce the number of recruits. to fighten border security, fewer terrorists are getting into syria and iraq. because of lower pay and constant danger, we know that more are, in fact, trying to get out. meanwhile, with arab states in the lead, we are doing more every day to men miz the impact-- minimise the impact of terror, to fight back against distortion of islam and its rhetoric, to prevent the incitement of loan wafl attacks we opened the global engagement is it center to help expel hateful lies in all forms of media, to take the people who were once the captives annex employed by d.a.e.s.h. and put them in the media. we have a center opened up in abu dhabi.
we have a new center that the saudis, they will be starting and we will be working with them. the malaysians are following, so that those who really can talk with authority about what islam means in the languages and in the each individual nation where it makes the difference will have the opportunity to speak to people in ways that they haven't yet. the global coalition has also reinforced our commitment with respect to the fifth efforts, providing humanitarian relief to those who have suffered as a result of the conflict in syria. the entire region is responding to which challenge my friends-- this challenge, may friends. that is essential-- my friends. that is essential. i see people here and others in london, extraordinary contributions by countries around the world to put $10 billion dollars on the table. turkey has taken in more than
2.5 million i didn't know men women and children. lebanon and jordan are giving efficient refugees. you know how the staggering humanitarian crisis is affecting the daily life of politics and of social fabric of europe. unprecedented challenges. with characteristic resilience i'm proud to say and am grateful for the fact that europe is stepping up to meet that's challenges. merkel has demonstrated remarkable courage. i know it's difficult. last night i heard people etell me how much it has cost her. we all understand. that is the nature. across this continent, communities are taking in those who are fleeing violence and saying no to the voices of intolerance and racism within societies. i know how difficult it is to
live our values. it is heart, but we do try. it is one. things that binds us together. it is one of the great things that brings us here. it is our common commitment to those values which in the end make the difference in defining what life is really all about. [ applause ] in the u.s. we realized that this crisis is not on our shores, we have a moral obligation to assist our partners. that is why i was able to announce in london that we will contribute an additional 925 million to the already 4.5 billion we have contributed to syrian refugees, make us, i think, the largest donor specifically to this plight of syrian refugees.
this is an important point and it has motivated us to go to vienna, twice, everybody came together in commonality with a recognition that writing checks is not going to solve the problem. we can't just endlessly be writing checks. we can't be endlessly fighting about whether schengen is alive or dead or what is going to happen. we have to end this war and we need to bring about the quickest political settlement because almost everybody is agreed that if all one side does is escalate, the other side will too. we can have an endless escalation between iran, between shia, sunni, between saudi arabia or turkey or any country
of interest has the ability to blow this apart. one country. it takes every country coming together in order to hold it together. so the war in syria has now lasted for more than five years. right now i have to tell you, even with the success we had the other day at the table, it doesn't yet show the signs we want of burning out. that is why we are so focused on this political track. if the international community and the syrians themselves miss the opportunity now before us to achieve that political resolution to the conflict, the violence, the bloodshed, the torture, the images of children, women, the bombing, it is going to continue. all the talk that will take place here and has taken place today will mean nothing except an increase in the cynicism of
the people of the world who look to their leaders to deliver. the tragedy is that if this flounders, the call to jihad will increase. that is why the initiative that we launched last year is so important. the 20-member clues every major country with a direct stake in syria. parties as diverse as iran and saudi arabia sat at that table constructively trying to move forward. they have agreed on a list of principles unanimous nously reflected in the u.n. security council and these principles reflect the way towards a stable sovereign place that we seek. that the vast people believe can never be achieved with president bashar al-assad at its helm.
you cannot stop the war that way. yesterday we made progress advancing to of the main issues. now, immediately, stopping the violence. ceasefire. in the we hours of friday morning we agreed that the sustained delivery of humanitarian aid will begin this weekend. first to the areas where it is most urgently needed and then to all the people throughout the country, particularly in the besieged hard to reach areas and the u.n. has now said that the trucks are loaded ready to go and we also established a task force which has met already for the first time in geneva and we will report regularly on the progress to be able to guarantee the delivery of this aid. the i.s.s. g also agreed to
implement a nationwide cessation of hostilities to begin in one week's time. why in a week? why not yesterday? for the simple reason that the modalities have to be worked out and people have to be communicated to in order not to have it start with failure. this will apply to any and all parties in syria with the exception of terrorist organizations d.a.e.s.h. and al-nusra. there is a lot of work to do before this effective cessation can commence and to that weaned have established another task force. with lavrov and i will chair together with other i.s.s. g members and we will work on the modality of how we deal with this. to date, the vast majority in our opinion of russia's attacks have been against legitimate opposition groups and to adhere to the agreement that has been
made, we think it is critical that russia's targeting change and the entire i.s.s. g, including russia, has agreed to work to make that happen. let me be clear about this. foreign minister lavrov said we need to work together as a group to determine who should be annulled tacked, who is qualified as a terrorist, who isn't. i will say bluntly that there is no way to properly put a humanitarian access as ambitious as the one we have embraced in place and there is no way to adequately deal with acisation of hostilities unless we do sit down and work together on every aspect of this from the political to the humanitarian, to the military also. we are doing that now. so we're not approaching this with some sense of pie in the sky hope. we will work through where this
tarring should-- targeting should take place. how we work together in order to be effective so we don't drive people away from the table because, obviously, if people who are ready to be part of the political process are being bombed, we're not going to have much of a conversation. that's what we're working on. the security council resolution has demanded that all parties immediately cease any attacks against any civilians. that too has not happened to date. indeed, the violence by the regime, as we all know went up. free fall bombs are being used which are not precise. we all know civilians are being killed. so we hope this week can be a week of change. now, some have argued that the reason humanitarian access has been denied and there has been this bombing is because bashar al-assad and his allies,
including russia, might believe that by defining the will of the international community they could win the war. that is a proposition being discussed. if that is what russia and bashar al-assad think, then i believe they would be missing the lessons of the last five years. the syrians who have rejected bashar al-assad have endured four years of shelling, barrel bombs, gas, skud missiles, chemical attacks, torture and they may be pushed back here or there, but they are not going to surrender. i don't believe there is anybody who believes they will. the countries that have supported bashar al-assad and the countries that have opposed him say they're both committed to continuing that. that is not a recipe, obviously,
for a resolution. it is critical for all of us to take advantage of this moment to make this cessation of hostilities work. one thing i would say is that the more successful people are in standing up bashar al-assad, at the same time the more successful they will be in attracting more jihadis to the fight. that's the perverse reality of what has happened there. so whether one side or another has an advantage today, this conflict will still require a political solution at some point in time in order to make peace, no matter what happens. this is the moment. this is a hinge point. decisions made in the coming days and weeks and few months could end the war in syria or it could define a very difficult set of choices for the future:
everyone here knows what we have to do to get this right. putting the end to the violence and bloodshed but also providing humanitarian aid needed, and the end of the conflict will come when the parties agree on a plan for a political transition that was accepted as the standard for this in 2012 in geneva with the geneva communique. let me just close by saying that at dinner last night it was interesting. i was listening to a conversation, i listened and chatted with a lot of colleagues over the last few days. it is pretty clear that the sun certainty, even the fear of what's happening in europe of these refugees, of syria, of
terrorism, it is different and everybody feels that. as a result in some quarters there is a pessimism in the air. i believe we have good reason actually to be optimistic about the future. the reason is the size, the durablity, the capacity, the talent, the extraordinary resilience of this alliance in one form or another that has been expressed not just in the formality of this alliance since it came into being since world war ii, but throughout the last century. yes, there's violence in the world, you better believe it. but do you know what? it has changed. the 20th century was defined by state-on-state violence and millions upon millions of people dying. there are actually fewer people
dying in conflict today than ever before. despite the challenges we face between 1990 and 2015, remarkable things have happened, changed life for hundreds of millions of people. the rate of child mortality fell by over one half. life expectancy has increased dramatically around the world. particularly in developing countries. in 2001 there were less than a million kids going to school in afghanistan and all of them were boys. today there are almost 8 million kids going to school and 40% of them are girls. more than two and a half billion people have gained access to clean water in the last few years and the number of people living in extreme poverty has declined by more than one half. it is for the first time in history below 10%. i could run a longer list of
things and you know them, that we're doing, productivity, the changes in technology. a century ago the numbers of people brought into the near or middle-class or middle-class in china and india and many other countries, a century ago this month, the battle of verdun was just beginning, the most excruciating chapter of horrific war that would cause 37 million killings a wide-ranging address to the munich security conference taking place in that german city emphasising again the size of the alliance against violent extremism, talking up the optimism that he himself feels with the regard to the possibility of this cessation of hostilities in syria taking effect within a week. he will be
<div class="tv-ttl">Weekend News<div>Al Jazeera February 13, 2016 6:00am-6:31am EST</div></div>
Coverage of breaking news and top stories.
Syria 11, Russia 8, Bashar Al-assad 5, John Kerry 4, Munich 3, Geneva 3, Iraq 3, Nato 3, Europe 3, The United States 2, U.n. 2, Islam 2, Afghanistan 2, France 2, London 2, Normandy 2, Lavrov 2, Unwaivering 1, United States Of America 1, Shia 1
Uploaded by TV Archive on February 13, 2016

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
You are here: Home / Irishisms / Books / Introducing Bríd Wade – Irish Artist and Writer
Introducing Bríd Wade – Irish Artist and Writer
June 30, 2014 by Irish American Mom 14 Comments
Today I am delighted to introduce you to Ireland's newest crime writer, Bríd Wade. Watchers, the first in a series of Dublin based crime novels, was released in 2013. Sleeping Dogs, the sequel, was released in June, 2014. Here is a little background into Bríd's inspiration for these Irish thrillers.
About Bríd (pronounced like Breed):
Born in Dublin, Ireland, Bríd's family hails from the inner city, making her a true blue 'Dub'. One of four sisters, she was educated by the Holy Faith Nuns in Larkhill, a school in the suburb of Whitehall. Always drawn to the arts, she studied piano at the Municipal School of Music in Dublin. Later she joined a band where she played the electronic organ and sang harmony with her sister. They were known as The Honeybees.
Bríd Wade
At nineteen, she met her future husband and travelled to Manchester, UK, for a year before returning to Ireland where they married and she settled down to become a stay-at-home mum to their three children. At that time Bríd began to paint and studied with Liam Belton, RHA, a renowned Irish artist. In 1984 she became Secretary of The North Dublin Craftworkers' Association, on whose behalf she ran the annual Christmas Craft Gift Fair in the city centre. This was the path to a new career within the exhibition industry which lasted until the Millennium.
In 2001, seeking a change of environment, Bríd moved to Kilkenny City and began to write. An avid armchair detective, she chose her favourite genre; crime fiction. Her aim was to create a character in a series of mystery stories based in modern Ireland. Matt Costello is that character. In 2006, she relocated to Inistioge, a picturesque village outside Kilkenny, where she continues to write and paint.
And now over to Bríd……
Bríd's Thoughts On 'The Arts':
Sometimes people scoff when 'the arts' come up in conversation; as if it's a club to which only the privileged have access. Certainly, there are those who would perpetuate that view, but it couldn't be further from the truth. Each of us is involved deeply with the arts in one form or another. Whether through music, drama, literature or the visual arts, they form a major part of all of our lives. To some they are extras; bonuses to add to busy lives, while to others, like me, they are a means of expression I couldn't live without.
Over the years I have been involved with drama, music, painting and, now, writing. At the age of fourteen I won a medal for the best actress at the Schools Drama Festival at the Gate Theatre, Dublin. It was the year my mother died. My father was so emotional and so, so proud – and convinced I was headed for the Abbey Theatre.
Bríd's artwork can be viewed on the Fine Art America website and on an Irish site called The Street Gallery.
Hideaway – A Sample of Bríd's Artwork
On Reading and Writing:
It might come as a surprise that I'm not a huge reader. Oh, yes! I've read many, many books in my lifetime, but now… Books have taken on a different aspect. It's a bit like working behind the scenes in movie land, or television. You can't help viewing the end product using 'inside knowledge'.
You recognize the means – or tools of the trade – used to achieve the aim. For me, reading a book now is a far cry from when I sat on the floor in front of a blazing fire at the age of eleven and read my first novel – my sister's Christmas gift to me, Huckleberry Finn. It was a magical journey into a whole new world and I loved every minute of it – just for the story; oblivious to the craftsmanship involved in creating it. Now, aware of how it all works, a book can be either a master class in writing from some great author or something I will abandon after the first few pages.
I'm an impatient personality, which may explain the way I write. Even when I'm actually constructing the story, if it takes too long to get to where I want to go, I'll gasp with irritation and chop it back until only the 'bones' remain. But then, detective crime fiction isn't known for long prosy narrative. So, setting the scene is as descriptive as it needs to be.
Generally, I write by the seat of my pants. I don't have a plan. What I do have is an idea and I build up characters around it. It may sound difficult but everybody does it. Haven't you ever heard half a story and put the rest of it together yourself? Chances are your conclusion was way off the mark (and there's a moral there) – but you created a whole story from a few facts. That's exactly what I do.
The Village Square, Inistioge – Bríd's New Home
Introducing The Matt Costello Mystery Series:
Someone once called me a prude because of my views on sex. To me, sex is the physical expression of love between two people. It's personal and private – not open to exploitation to pad a story. I view violence and foul language the same way. I can swear with the best, but it will be in private, among those who understand me, and violence is not acceptable in any form. So, I hear you ask, how can I write crime stories without sex, drugs, violence and bad language? Therein lies the reason behind the Matt Costello Mystery Series.
In recent years we seem to be drowning in crime fiction drawn from Ireland's seedy underbelly – suggesting that drugs are a way of life, as is violence and verbal abuse. That's not my Ireland – never was. I grew up in a Corporation housing estate where there were diverse characters, including some bad ones, but, generally, the people were decent, honest, hardworking folk trying to do the best for their families. From my experience, things today remain the same.
I want to portray that Ireland. Yes, we have crime – awful, brain-numbing events sometimes, but it's not our way of life. Yes, I do use the odd outburst, but that is part of our culture. We have so many religious pleas here in difficult situations, like, 'Oh, dear God!', or 'Sweet Jesus!', or just plain 'God!' Sometimes they'll be accompanied by making the sign of the cross on our chests – and sometimes not – and they are said to register a grave or shocking situation, and to acknowledge a higher power.
Bríd's Next Door Neighbors In Inistioge, Co. Kilkenny
My hero, Matt Costello, is a gorgeous Irishman. He's a clean-cut, clever, ex-Garda Detective turned PI. His offices are in Fairview, Dublin, overlooking the park. He's strong, yet gentle, with considerable personal charm and a profound sense of fair play. Like any mature adult, he has scars and sometimes he doesn't have all the answers – but he's open minded and willing to learn.
His friend and business colleague, Dennis Hegarty, is a solicitor with a practice in the city centre. With a razor sharp mind, Dennis keeps an eye on the pitfalls surrounding Matt in his investigations – the biggest one Matt's empathetic and tenacious nature, which can lead him into trouble.
The character of Matt Costello is largely based on two men I've had the good fortune to know over the years. I've taken traits from both of them and melded them into one. As a result, I have a very close and affectionate relationship with Matt. He's almost real to me.
Watchers is the first in the series. Set between Dublin and Kilkenny, where I now live, Matt is on the hunt for a serial killer. In Kilkenny, where the remains have been found on a large private estate, he discovers that the land holds more than one secret. Before he's finished, Matt will uncover them and forever alter the lives of a few people.
Published as an ebook by Tirgearr Publishing, Watchers is available from Smashwords, Kobo, Nook and Amazon. The second book, Sleeping Dogs was released in June, 2014.
For further updates on Bríd's writing, life and artwork, you can follow her on Facebook.
A big thank you to Bríd for today's guest post and for introducing us to her detective hero, Matt Costello. Wishing Bríd every success with her writing and beautiful artwork.
Filed Under: Books, Entertainment Tagged With: Book Reviews, Books, Entertainment, Guest Posts, Irish Authors, Irish Writers, Publishing, Self-publishing, Writing
Kemberlee says
I always love learning new things about Brid. Great series. I can't wait to read book three!
Kemberlee – I heard from Bríd that book three is in the works. She has a total of six books planned for this series – so there will be plenty of good reading in the months and years ahead, thanks to Bríd.
All the best, and thanks for stopping by,
Mairead, I only know of five books. Maybe she's sneaking an extra in there. How great would that be?!
It sure would be wonderful. I hope Brid keeps writing and producing such great fiction.
Sinead says
Sounds like a great read. Thanks for introducing us to more new Irish writers.
Sinead – It's always lovely to find new authors and share their work here on Irish American Mom.
Thanks so much for checking out this post.
Peggy Miller Hopes says
I love mystery and crime novels, these sound like a couple that will be added to my collection. Thanks for the introduction.
I hope you enjoy this mystery, Peggy. It's always great to introduce new writers here on my blog.
brid wade says
Thank you for the opportunity to introduce myself to fans of mystery crime. I am, indeed, working on the sixth novel with Matt buzzing around, as usual, picking up information from which he will extract clues. I see him as a kind of equaliser, someone who restores the balance, who will right a wrong. Not every issue breaks the law. At times it's a heart or a spirit affected by a past misdeed or injustice. We all know of them. Over time they get swept away into vague memory, leaving the victims to pick up the threads of their lives as best they can.
I don't know how many novels the series will ultimately contain. I'm a bit like Matt. I live my life by the seat of my pants. Who knows what's ahead?
Thank you again, Mairead and your followers. It's lovely to meet you.
Brid Wade.
Six books, Brid? Awesome. I can't wait to see it.
Brid – Thanks so much for stopping by and updating us on your writing. Completing six novels is a wonderful accomplishment. Wishing you and Matt Costello every success in the years ahead.
My pleasure, Mairead. If anyone would care to joine me on Facebook, I'm always up for a chat. it's the Irish in me.
Sincere good wishes,
Brid.
Brid – I'll add the link for your Facebook page here, so that any readers who wish to follow can easily find you.
Excellent, Mairead. Thank you.
Leave a Reply to brid wade Cancel reply
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text:
package io.github.finaglecircuit

import java.time.Duration

import com.twitter.finagle.FailedFastException
import com.twitter.util.Await.result
import com.twitter.util.Duration.fromMilliseconds
import com.twitter.util.Future.sleep
import com.twitter.util.{Future, JavaTimer, Try}
import org.scalatest.{FunSpec, Matchers}

import scala.collection.mutable.ListBuffer

/**
  * Yes, we realise that this test uses Thread.sleeps, which sucks - but we're at the behest of an internal timer in the
  * Akka circuit breaker client which does incremental backoff.
  */
class AkkaCircuitBreakerTest extends FunSpec with Matchers {

  private val name = CircuitName("mysystem")
  private val timeout = Duration.ofMillis(10)
  private val downTime = Duration.ofMillis(50)
  private val config = CircuitConfig(name, timeout, downTime, 3)

  describe("failed calls errors lifecycle") {
    val states = new ListBuffer[CircuitStateChange]()
    val circuitBreaker = new AkkaCircuitBreaker(config).onCircuitStatusChange(states += _)

    val e = new RuntimeException("poo")

    it("first failure is propagated to the caller") {
      Try(result(circuitBreaker.withCircuit(Future.exception(e)))).throwable shouldEqual e
    }

    it("second failure is propagated to the caller") {
      Try(result(circuitBreaker.withCircuit(Future.exception(e)))).throwable shouldEqual e
    }

    it("third failure is propagated to the caller") {
      Try(result(circuitBreaker.withCircuit(Future.exception(e)))).throwable shouldEqual e
    }

    it("event is sent that the circuit is tripped on the third failure") {
      Thread.sleep(10)
      states.toList shouldEqual List(CircuitStateChange(name, CircuitStatus.Open))
      states.clear()
    }

    it("circuit is now has tripped - service is unavailable") {
      Try(respondWith(circuitBreaker, 0)).throwable shouldEqual CircuitBroken(name, "Open")
    }

    it("the circuit is half opened after the timeout") {
      Thread.sleep(downTime.toMillis + 1000)

      states.toList shouldEqual List(CircuitStateChange(name, CircuitStatus.HalfOpen))
      states.clear()

      respondWith(circuitBreaker, 0) shouldEqual "yay"
    }
    it("the circuit is closed") {
      Thread.sleep(downTime.toMillis)
      states.toList shouldEqual List(CircuitStateChange(name, CircuitStatus.Closed))
    }
  }

  describe("slow responses lifecycle") {
    val states = new ListBuffer[CircuitStateChange]()
    val circuitBreaker = new AkkaCircuitBreaker(config).onCircuitStatusChange(states += _)

    it("first slow response times out to the caller (and counts as a failure to the circuit") {
      Try(respondWith(circuitBreaker, 50)).throwable shouldEqual CircuitTimeout(name)
    }
    it("second slow response times out to the caller (and counts as a failure to the circuit") {
      Try(respondWith(circuitBreaker, 50)).throwable shouldEqual CircuitTimeout(name)
    }
    it("third slow response times out to the caller (and counts as a failure to the circuit") {
      Try(respondWith(circuitBreaker, 50)).throwable shouldEqual CircuitTimeout(name)
    }
    it("event is sent that the circuit is tripped on the third failure") {
      Thread.sleep(5)
      states.toList shouldEqual List(CircuitStateChange(name, CircuitStatus.Open))
      states.clear()
    }

    it("circuit is now has tripped - service is unavailable") {
      Try(respondWith(circuitBreaker, 0)).throwable shouldEqual CircuitBroken(name, "Open")
    }

    it("the circuit is half opened after the timeout") {
      Thread.sleep(downTime.toMillis + 20)
      states.toList shouldEqual List(CircuitStateChange(name, CircuitStatus.HalfOpen))
      states.clear()
      respondWith(circuitBreaker, 0) shouldEqual "yay"
    }

    it("the circuit is closed") {
      states.toList shouldEqual List(CircuitStateChange(name, CircuitStatus.Closed))
    }
  }

  private def respondWith(circuitBreaker: CircuitBreaker, latency: Int): String = {
    result(circuitBreaker.withCircuit(sleep(fromMilliseconds(latency))(new JavaTimer()).map(_ => "yay")))
  }

  describe("fail fast - unexpected errors") {
    val states = new ListBuffer[CircuitStateChange]()
    val circuitBreaker = new AkkaCircuitBreaker(config).onCircuitStatusChange(states += _)
    it("Fail fast errors are converted into Circuit Down") {
      Try(result(circuitBreaker.withCircuit(throw new FailedFastException("")))).throwable shouldEqual CircuitBroken(name, "Down")
    }
  }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
| Comp sci students launch outsourcing service
Comp sci students launch outsourcing service
By Margaret Schroeder 04/01/15 12:01am
Instasource founders Josh Pearlstein (left) and Yagil Burowski (right).
Credit: Courtesy of Josh Pearlstein
With InstaSource, students can turn an idea into reality with the click of a mouse.
InstaSource is an on-demand service launched last week that provides technical and coding outsourcing for everyone. To submit a request, interested clients simply enter their email address on the website. The service will accommodate requests of any scale, such as an iPhone app for a restaurant, an online store for a small business or a short script for a data scientist.
"You can hit us up, and we'll take care of you," co-founder and Engineering sophomore Yagil Burowski said. "We will do edgy things ... As long as it's not evil or illegal, we'll get it done."
Although InstaSource provides coding and technical services to everyone, its target audience is entrepreneurs, people with ideas that have already begun fleshing them out. The InstaSource team believes entrepreneurs appreciate good service and are willing to pay for it.
"Penn is a very entrepreneurial place. People have ideas all the time ... Too often we hear people just not doing anything because they can't find a coder," Burowski said.
Burowski has observed from a family member's experience that it is very difficult for people with no technical experience to manage a website. Currently, the process of outsourcing technical work is inefficient and tedious. Finding the right coder requires careful research, soliciting help on a website and filling out paperwork. The customer then has to make sure the coders are qualified, select among the bidders and arrange payment.
There is also a significant risk for developers taking on a job, as freelancers have no guarantee that a customer will pay them when their work is finished. Developers may also have to field excessive customer complaints.
"We vet both sides of the process to make it simpler. We handle payment," co-founder and Engineering junior Josh Pearlstein said.
InstaSource protects its developers by pre-authorizing the payment amount agreed by the customer. This way, developers can move forward with their work with the security that they will be paid.
"We really simplify the process of finding somebody to do something for you. You just send an email, and we get it done. That's what we sell: that ease, that magical black box. Tell us what you want, and you get it," Burowski said.
The InstaSource interface — email — is simple and familiar to the customer, who does not have to learn how to navigate a new system. InstaSource has coders available at all times to take any job, and the company completely handles the matchmaking process between developers and clients.
Although the customer does not see it, there is a lot of work going on behind the InstaSource curtain. After a client submits a request, the InstaSource team decides whether or not to continue with the project. InstaSource then consults the growing database of available developers and decides who is best for the job. The team gets a quote from the developer, adds the InstaSource premium and handles all communication with the customer. When all parties are satisfied, the customer enters their credit card information on a secure link and the payment is pre-authorized, at which point the developer begins working.
The team recruits developers using online platforms as well as emails soliciting computer science students at Penn. InstaSource looks to work with freelancers with a lot of experience, especially for larger jobs, but finds that students are a good match for short scripting jobs.
Currently, InstaSource is a team of just two, but Burowski and Pearlstein say the company will grow as needed. For now the company's primary goal is to grow the supply side — the developers — and reach more customers. Specifically, InstaSource has marketed its service to MBAs at top universities.
"Our proposition is we can offer tools to your MBAs that will allow them to make their ideas reality and allow them to move fast. Right now, so many people either don't move at all or don't move fast enough with their ideas. That's what we solve," Burowski said.


text:
'We'll all go down together': The marketing response of Australia's Outback destination to recent declines in performance
Carson, D. & Taylor, A., 2009, Marketing Innovations for Sustainable Destinations. Fyall, A., Kozak, L., Andreu, J., Gnoth, J. & Sibila Lebe, S. (eds.). Oxford, UK: Goodfellow Publishers Limited, p. 189-202 14 p.
"We'll all go down together" - Marketing responses to tourism decline in the Outback
Taylor, A. & Carson, D., 2009, In: Northern Institute Research Brief Series. 45, p. 1-10 10 p.
Well-being, school climate, and the social identity process: A latent growth model study of bullying perpetration and peer victimization
Turner, I. A., Reynolds, K. J. A., Lee, E., Subasic, E. A. & Bromhead, D. B., 2014, In: School Psychology Quarterly. 29, 3, p. 320-335 16 p.
Wellbeing intervention for chronic kidney disease (WICKD): A randomised controlled trial study protocol
Dingwall, K. M., Nagel, T., Hughes, J. T., Kavanagh, D. J., Cass, A., Howard, K., Sweet, M., Brown, S., Sajiv, C. & Majoni, S. W., 8 Jan 2019, In: BMC Psychology. 7, 1, p. 1-7 7 p., 2.
Well-being in Wounds Inventory (WOWI): Development of a valid and reliable measure of well-being in patients with wounds
Upton, D., Upton, P. & Alexander, R., 1 Mar 2016, In: Journal of Wound Care. 25, 3, p. 114-120 7 p.
Wellbeing of indigenous peoples in canada, aotearoa (New zealand) the united states: A systematic review
Gall, A., Anderson, K., Howard, K., Diaz, A., King, A., Willing, E., Connolly, M., Lindsay, D. & Garvey, G., 28 May 2021, In: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 18, 11, p. 1-31 31 p., 5832.
Well-quasi-orders in subclasses of bounded treewidth graphs
Fellows, M., Hermelin, D. & Rosamond, F., 2009, Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics). Berlin, Germany: Springer, p. - 12 p.
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference Paper published in Proceedings › peer-review
Well Quasi Orders in Subclasses of Bounded Treewidth Graphs and Their Algorithmic Applications
Fellows, M., Hermelin, D. & Rosamond, F., 2012, In: Algorithmica. 64, 1, p. 3-18 16 p.
'We make lines, follow this direction, then I look and go the other way'. Excerpts from an ethnography of the aesthetic imagination of the Pitjantjatjara
Eickelkamp, U., 2005, Rock Art and Aesthetics. Heyd, T. & Clegg, J. (eds.). Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing Limited, p. 143-158 16 p.
We need a comprehensive approach to health promotion
Jancey, J., Barnett, L., Smith, J., Binns, C. & Howat, P., 7 Apr 2016, In: Health Promotion Journal of Australia. 27, 1, p. 1-3 3 p.
We need to worry about Bella and Charlie: The impacts of pet cats on Australian wildlife
Legge, S., Woinarski, J. C. Z., Dickman, C. R., Murphy, B. P., Woolley, L. A. & Calver, M. C., Oct 2020, In: Wildlife Research. 47, 8, p. 523-539 17 p.
WenZher: Comprehensive vertical search for healthcare domain
Nie, L., Li, T., Akbari, M., Shen, J. & Chua, T. S., 1 Jan 2014, SIGIR 2014 - Proceedings of the 37th International ACM SIGIR Conference on Research and Development in Information Retrieval. QLD; Australia: Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), p. 1245-1246 2 p.
We're Still Here! Territory seniors population trends and futures
Taylor, A., Shalley, F. & Dyrting, S., 5 Dec 2019, Northern Institute Research Brief Series, RB01, p. 1-25 25 p.
Western Ground Parrot Pezoporus wallicus flaviventris
Comer, S., Burbidge, A. H. & Garnett, S. T., 2021, The Action Plan for Australian Birds 2020. Garnett, S. T. & Baker, G. B. (eds.). Melbourne: CSIRO Publishing, p. 437-440 4 p.
Western Hooded Plover Thinornis cucullatus tregellasi
Singor, M. J. C., Elson, S., Burbidge, A. H. & Garnett, S. T., 2021, The Action Plan for Australian Birds 2020. Garnett, S. T. & Baker, G. B. (eds.). Melbourne: CSIRO Publishing, p. 254-256 3 p.
Western Kermadec Petrel Pterodroma neglecta neglecta
Carlile, N., O'Dwyer, T., Wilson, M., Clarke, R. H., Baker, G. B., Garnett, S. T. & Brown, SM., 2021, The Action Plan for Australian Birds 2020. Garnett, S. T. & Baker, G. B. (eds.). Melbourne: CSIRO Publishing, p. 169-172 4 p.
Western Purple-crowned Fairy-wren Malurus coronatus coronatus
Skroblin, A., Teunissen, T., Peters, A., Greatwich, B., Legge, S. M., van Doorn, A., Burbidge, A. H. & Garnett, S. T., 2021, The Action Plan for Australian Birds 2020. Garnett, S. T. & Baker, G. B. (eds.). Melbourne: CSIRO Publishing, p. 501-504 4 p.
Western Thick-billed Grasswren Amytornis modestus indulkanna
Black, A. B. & Garnett, S. T., 2021, The Action Plan for Australian Birds 2020. Garnett, S. T. & Baker, G. B. (eds.). Melbourne: CSIRO Publishing, p. 573-576 4 p.
Westland Petrel Procellaria westlandica
Baker, G. B., Waugh, S. M. & Garnett, S. T., 2021, The Action Plan for Australian Birds 2020. Garnett, S. T. & Baker, G. B. (eds.). Melbourne: CSIRO Publishing, p. 190-192 3 p.
Wet and dry season heat loss in two tropical Australian reservoirs
Townsend, S., Boland K.T. & Luong-Van, J., 1997, In: Archiv fur Hydrobiologie. 139, 1, p. 51-68 575 p.
Wet and dry season heat loss in two tropical Australian resevoirs
Townsend, S., Boland, KT. & Luong-Van, J., 1997, In: Archiv fur Hydrobiologie. 139, 1, p. 51-68 18 p.
Wet Cough and Nasal Symptoms in Children: Can We Do Better?
AMUPCG, 26 Nov 2019, In: Frontiers in Pediatrics. 7, p. 1-7 7 p., 459.
Wet cough in children: Infective and inflammatory characteristics in broncho-alveolar lavage fluid
Wurzel, D., Marchant, J., Clark, J., Masters, I. B., Yerkovich, S., Upham, J. & Chang, A., Jun 2014, In: Pediatric Pulmonology. 49, 6, p. 561-568 8 p.
Wetland monitoring in the Australian tropics: saltwater intrusion processes – towards a calibrated hydrodynamic model
Miloshis, M. & Fairfield, C., 2015.
Wet Tropics Australian King-Parrot Alisterus scapularis minor
Williams, S. E., de la Fuente, A., Freeman, A. N. D., Craig, M. & Garnett, S. T., 2021, The Action Plan for Australian Birds 2020. Garnett, S. T. & Baker, G. B. (eds.). Melbourne: CSIRO Publishing, p. 467-469 3 p.
Wet Tropics Satin Bowerbird Ptilonorhynchus violaceus minor
Williams, S. E., de la Fuente, A., Frith, C. B., Frith, D. W., Chaplin, D. & Garnett, S. T., 2021, The Action Plan for Australian Birds 2020. Garnett, S. T. & Baker, G. B. (eds.). Melbourne: CSIRO Publishing, p. 489-491 3 p.
We won't find what we don't look for: Identifying barriers and enablers of chronic wet cough in Aboriginal children
Laird, P., Walker, R., Lane, M., Chang, A. & Schultz, A., Apr 2020, In: Respirology. 25, 4, p. 383-392 10 p.
We're here to listen and help them as well: a qualitative study of staff and Indigenous patient perceptions about participating in social and emotional wellbeing research at primary healthcare services
Farnbach, S., Gee, G., Eades, A. M., Evans, J. R., Fernando, J., Hammond, B., Simms, M., DeMasi, K., Hackett, M., Teixeira-Pinto, A., Glozier, N., Skinner, T., Askew, D. A., Gee, G., Cass, A. & Alex, B., Oct 2019, In: BMC Psychiatry. 19, 1, p. 1-12 12 p., 294.
We're Still Here! Territory seniors population trends and futures
Taylor, A., Dyrting, S. & Shalley, F., 2020, 1 ed. Darwin: Northern Institute. 25 p.
Research output: Book/Report › Commissioned report - ERA-eligible › peer-review
Whale Optimization Algorithm with Applications to Resource Allocation in Wireless Networks
Pham, Q. V., Mirjalili, S., Kumar, N., Alazab, M. & Hwang, W. J., Apr 2020, In: IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology. 69, 4, p. 4285-4297 13 p., 8993843.
What, no lectures! experiences from a blended tablet PC classroom
Tutty, J. & White, B., 2005, Proceedings of the Blended Learning in Science Teaching and Learning Symposium. Sydney: University of Sydney, p. - 7 p.
What are pregnant women told about models of maternity care in Australia? A retrospective study of women's reports
Stevens, G., Thompson, R., Kruske, S., Watson, B. M. & Miller, Y. D., 2014, In: Patient Education and Counseling. 97, 1, p. 114-121
What are the attitudes of health professionals regarding patient reported outcome measures (PROMs) in oncology practice? A mixed-method synthesis of the qualitative evidence
Nic Giolla Easpaig, B., Tran, Y., Bierbaum, M., Arnolda, G., Delaney, G. P., Liauw, W., Ward, R. L., Olver, I., Currow, D., Girgis, A., Durcinoska, I. & Braithwaite, J., 10 Feb 2020, In: BMC Health Services Research. 20, 1, p. 1-24 24 p., 102.
What are the challenges for evaluating a palliative care service?
Senior, K. & Perkins, D., 2005, In: Australian Journal of Primary Health. 11, 3, p. 19-24 6 p.
What are the Changes and their Impacts? 1. Culture, Livelihoods and Conservation
Cunningham, A., 2009, Prepare for Impact!: When People and Environment Collide in the Tropics [Proceedings of the Charles Darwin Symposium, 11-12 May 2006]. Darwin, NT: Charles Darwin University Press, p. 79-83 5 p.
What are the effects of distance management on the retention of remote area nurses in Australia?
Weymouth, S., Davey, C., Wright, J., Nieuwoudt, L., Barclay, L., Belton, S., Svenson, S. & Bowell, L., 2007, In: Rural and Remote Health. 7, 3, p. 652-664 13 p.
What are the enablers of economic participation in remote and very remote Australia, and how can we identify them?
McRae-Williams, E., Guenther, J., Jacobsen, D. & Lovell, J., 2016, In: Learning Communities: International Journal of Learning in Social contexts. p. 6-25 21 p.
What are the qualities of an outstanding teacher?
Lierse, S., 2 Oct 2014
Research output: Other contribution - including Text-based ERA-eligible Creative Works › Other types of outputs
What are the support needs of men with multiple sclerosis, and are they being met?
Upton, D. & Taylor, C., 1 Jan 2015, In: International Journal of MS Care. 17, 1, p. 9-12 4 p.
What Axioms Inform Your Research? Dialogizing for Innovation in English Language and Literacy Pedagogy
Lian, A., 20 Jan 2020, In: Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research. 394, p. 440-448 9 p.
What birthweight percentile is associated with optimal perinatal mortality and childhood education outcomes?
McEwen, E. C., Guthridge, S. L., He, V. Y. F., McKenzie, J. W., Boulton, T. J. & Smith, R., Feb 2018, In: American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. 218, 2, p. S712-S724 13 p.
What brings me here? Integrating Evidence-Based and Critical-Reflective Approaches in Social Work Education
Pack, M., Dec 2013, In: Journal of Systemic Therapies. 32, 4, p. 65-78 14 p.
What Can Potential Interstate Migrants Find Out About Professional Opportunities in the NT on the NTG Web?
Golebiowska, K., Brown, M. & Carson, D., 2008, Research Briefs, 2008, 019, p. 1-13 13 p.
What can we deduce about the reproductive condition of spinifex hopping mice (Notomys alexis) from external examination?
Berris, K. K., Breed, W. G. & Carthew, S. M., 7 Feb 2019, In: Australian Mammalogy. 42, 1, p. 11-15 5 p.
What can we get from 1000 tokens? A case study of multilingual pos tagging for resource-poor languages
Duong, L., Cohn, T., Verspoor, K., Bird, S. & Cook, P., 1 Jan 2014, EMNLP 2014 - 2014 Conference on Empirical Methods in Natural Language Processing, Proceedings of the Conference. Doha, Qatar: Association for Computational Linguistics (ACL), p. 886-897 12 p.
What can we learn from untapped wildlife rescue databases? The Masked Lapwing as a case study
Pyke, G. H. & Szabo, J. K., 10 Apr 2018, In: Pacific Conservation Biology. 24, 2, p. 148-156 9 p.
What comes before? Understanding spatial reference in Iwaidja
Edmonds-Wathen, C., 2011, Proceedings of the International Commission on Mathematical Instruction (ICMI) Study 21 Conference: Mathematics Education and Language Diversity. Setati, M., Nkambule, T. & Goosen, L. (eds.). Brazil: International Commission on Mathematical Instruction (ICMI), p. 89-97 9 p.
What controls the distribution of tropical forest and savanna?
Murphy, B. & Bowman, D., Jul 2012, In: Ecology Letters. 15, 7, p. 748-758 11 p.
What core primary health care services should be available to Australians living in rural and remote communities?
Wakerman, J., Humphreys, J. & Thomas, S., 2014, In: BMC Family Practice. 15, p. 1-9 9 p., 143.
What determines adherence to treatment in cardiovascular disease prevention? Protocol for a mixed methods preference study
Jan, S., Usherwood, T., Brien, J., Peiris, D., Rose, J., Hayman, N., Howard, K., Redfern, J., Laba, T., Cass, A. & Patel, A., 2011, In: BMJ Open. 1, 2, p. 1-8 8 p., e000372.


text:
Q: React native paypal wrapper crash on pressing back button paypal(price,bookingId){

    PayPal.initialize(PayPal.SANDBOX, "ARFiHtTEV2P17X4Hdei6M4vqoLx_UVGAvELcTpNprLC4hNklLmNq7cl_z5OqhRGoBzzVRmS9sG-RfhXx");
    PayPal.pay({
            price: price.toString(),
            currency: 'USD',
            description: 'Payment for fuel delivery app',
          })
          .then(confirm => {
            var pid = confirm.response.id
            this.paypalpaymentapi(price,bookingId,pid)
          })
          .catch(error => Alert.alert(error))
}

Above code is for paypal payment in react native.Now the problem in above code is that when PayPal.initialize is called and after that when I press back button from initialized paypal then my app crashes and it gives me error that

class castexception can't cast from readablenativemap to String.

How can I resolve this issue ?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Ottawa-Chinese Section at Beechwood.
One of the first things visitors will see when entering the southeast corner of Beechwood Cemetery is a pagoda honouring the ancestors of Ottawa's Chinese community.
Built-in 1995, the red, green and gold structure, standing on four pillars surrounded by flowers and trees, is one of the distinctive landmarks of Canada's national cemetery, an island of tranquillity in a city of one million people. It is designed according to Chinese religious principles, and surrounding the circle in which it lies are the graves of over 4,000 Chinese-Canadians, with room to grow for generations.
They date from the first influx of former railway workers to third- and fourth-generation members of Ottawa's now-thriving Chinese-Canadian community. Many of the cemetery's early occupants were male and buried alone. They had been recruited by agents in China to work on the Canadian Pacific Railway, and when the epic job was done they'd come to the capital, where federal politicians had passed immigration legislation preventing them from bringing their families to Canada. Some Chinese had their bodies shipped back to their homeland after they died. Many died alone without money to make the trip, or even to finance a funeral, spurring members of the local Chinese community to come together and help.
In 1925, funds were raised to designate an area at Beechwood a Chinese section. However, the first burial did take place in 1903. Twelve years later, civilian transportation across the Pacific Ocean was cut off with the outbreak of war between China and Japan, and another 50 lots were set aside.