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13 In a Row: Texas Sweeps Texas State to Claim Spot in NCAA Regionals
0 volleymob | December 01st, 2018 | Big 12, College - Women's Indoor, Division I Mid-Major, News
No. 5 Texas Volleyball defeated Texas State, 3-0 (25-14, 25-17, 25-14) at Gregory Gym on Friday night to advance to the program's 31st 2018 NCAA Sweet 16, and 13th in a row. Current Photo via Texas Athletics
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Texas def. Texas State 3-0 (25-14, 25-17, 25-14)
Texas moves to 22-4; Texas State ends the season at 27-7
Texas advances to the Sweet 16
Courtesy: Texas Athletics
AUSTIN, Texas – No. 5 Texas Volleyball defeated Texas State, 3-0 (25-14, 25-17, 25-14) at Gregory Gym on Friday night to advance to the program's 31st 2018 NCAA Sweet 16.
Point Texas for the Sweet 16 🤘 pic.twitter.com/VQcWsafhIY
— Texas Volleyball (@TexasVolleyball) December 1, 2018
Two Longhorns recorded double-digit kills, led by freshman Logan Eggleston with 16 kills on 23 swings (.609) followed by junior Micaya White with 11. Senior Yaasmeen Bedart-Ghani had eight kills (.636).
Freshman Sydney Petersen led Texas with 12 digs. Juniors Claire Hahn and White followed with eight and seven digs, respectively.
Senior Morgan Johnson and freshman Brionne Butler led the Longhorns with three blocks, while freshman Jhenna Gabriel led the Longhorns with 35 assists.
Texas had five service aces. White had three aces while Gabriel added one each.
Texas will play the winner of No. 12 Pittsburgh v. Michigan in the NCAA Regional Semifinal. On the other side of the bracket, BYU will face Utah in the second round to determine hosting rights.
-Texas has advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 for the 31st time all-time
-The Longhorns have made 13-straight Sweet 16 appearances
-Texas secures its 94th NCAA Tournament win (94-32, .744)
-The Longhorns won 10-straight matches at Gregory to close the 2018 home season
-Head Coach Jerritt has won 56 NCAA Tournament matches (He is 56-16, .778)
-Texas now leads the all-time series with Texas State, 42-9
-Texas hit .425 and held Texas State to a .113 mark
-The Longhorns have hit .400 or better in four matches this season
-Texas out blocked Texas State, 5-4
-The Longhorns are currently on a 12-game win streak
-Texas has swept 13 opponents this season
-White had double-digit kills for the 24th time this season
-Eggleston's .609 efficiency was a career high
-White's three service aces was a career high
-Petersen has double-digit digs in 20 matches this season
Courtesy: Texas State Athletics
AUSTIN, Texas – The Texas State volleyball team's historic 2018 season came to an abrupt end Friday night when the Bobcats dropped a 3-0 decision against No. 5-seeded Texas in a NCAA Second Round match at Gregory Gym.
"For me to say that we aren't disappointed would be incorrect," Texas State head coach Karen Chisum said. "We are disappointed but realistic."
Texas State knew it was facing a tough challenge against Texas (22-4) since the two teams met earlier in the season.
The Longhorns jumped out to an early 6-1 lead and were leading 9-2 before the Bobcats mounted a small rally to close to 9-5. That was as close as Texas State could get in the first set as the Longhorns scored five of the next six points in the set. Texas was leading 18-9 when the Bobcats scored three straight points to pull to within 19-11. But, once again, Texas came right back to close out the set with a 5-1 run and win the opening period, 25-14.
"We knew that Texas is a good team, obviously, and we wanted to go out there and fight our hardest," said senior Madison Daigle. "We were a little frazzled at the beginning, but we fought out on the court. It is difficult to lose the way we did because we didn't play to our potential. But, we never gave up."
The Longhorns took a commanding 21-7 lead in the third set, but Texas State refused to go away quietly as the Bobcats won seven of the next 10 points before Morgan Johnson's kill clinched the match for Texas, 25-14.
"When we trailed (21-7) in the third set, we got in the huddle after the game and told ourselves way to fight and not give up," Daigle said. "It is a tough loss, but we know that we lost to a really good team. However, it is difficult in knowing that we could have performed a lot better and taken them to five games."
The loss ends the season for Texas State (27-7), which won its first Sun Belt Conference regular season championship with a 15-1 league record and second Sun Belt Championship Tournament title. The Bobcats also had a historic victory a night earlier when they defeated Rice 3-1 for their first NCAA First Round victory in school history.
"I can't take away anything this group of young ladies have done for Texas State this year and this program," Chisum said. "We played hard all season long and they have earned everything they have got. Every season comes to an end with an L unless you are the national champion."
« Wisconsin Follows Williams, Loberg, Haggerty to 3-1 Win Over Pepperdine, On To Sweet 16
Oregon Earns First Sweet 16 Berth Since 2014 with 5-Set Win Over Baylor »
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54% of survey respondents say geeks are "extremely intelligent."
It's good to be a geek these days, according to a recent survey from Modis. Rather than being depicted as social misfits, geeks are now perceived by the general population as highly intelligent, resourceful professionals. Perhaps it's the continued mass adoption of tech devices by consumers, or the enthusiasm for pop culture vehicles such as "The Big Bang Theory" TV show. And it doesn't hurt that the very elite of technology high-achievers often end up, well, stinking rich. "The past year has seen a lot of very public coverage of high-profile, extremely successful 'rock star' technology executives," says Jack Cullen, president of Modis. "It would seem the high public profile of these tech celebrities has boosted public perception of geeks in the U.S. Geeks have essentially taken their place in the mainstream—and rightfully so." More than 1,000 Americans took part in the research.


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Could desalination play a role in the future of the Colorado River?
As Colorado River supply dwindles, the U.S. and Mexico are looking to Israel and Jordan for ideas on how to help quench their own shared border.
By Sharon Udasin
Aerial image of the Yuma Desalting Plant.
Bureau of Reclamation
The interviews for this story took place from fall 2019 to spring 2020 as part of the author's Ted Scripps Fellowship at the University of Colorado Boulder's Center for Environmental Journalism. The story was supported by The Water Desk, an independent journalism initiative based at the University of Colorado Boulder's Center for Environmental Journalism.
This story was originally published on Ensia.com
Shattering the stillness of a frigid January moonlit sky, the sunrise's amber aura glimmers over the Tinajas Altas mountain range — giving way to a sandscape of semi-succulent shrubs.
The sun's increasingly insistent rays animate an otherwise desolate desert corridor that links the city of Yuma, Arizona, to the San Luis Port of Entry along the U.S.-Mexico border. White school buses shuttle Mexican agricultural workers to Arizonan farm acreage, home to America's heartland of winter leafy greens. Just a few miles west is the Colorado River, the region's historic lifeblood — a lifeblood so under threat that the Bureau of Reclamation declared its first federal shortage for the basin Aug. 16.
A little more than 7,500 miles due east, another arid expanse — the Arava Valley — slithers through similarly hostile environmental conditions along the border of Israel and Jordan, enlivened by the occasional kibbutz or solar field. A barricade of mountains divides the two countries until their forced meeting point at the Red Sea. The predominantly parched valley holds just occasional floodwaters, underscoring Israel and Jordan's shared need for an elusive natural resource: water. This need has, in recent decades, allowed for collaboration in an otherwise strained relationship.
"Water, by its very nature, is used to extinguish fires, not to ignite them," Munther Haddadin wrote in his 2002 book, "Diplomacy on the Jordan: International Conflict and Negotiated Resolution," while he was Jordan's chief water negotiator. Despite tensions in other areas of diplomacy, as well as ongoing criticism regarding Israel's water distribution to Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank, Israel and Jordan have largely been able to collaborate on this resource. Nearly two decades later, Oded Fixler, deputy director general of Israel's Ministry of Regional Cooperation, echoed Haddadin, saying, "Water is a means of cooperation and not a cause for dispute."
This diplomatic reality largely comes because of Israel's desalination operations, which make it possible for the salty Mediterranean Sea to provide around 80 percent of the country's drinking water. Such innovation has made it so Israel no longer faces the same water challenges that some other countries in the region do, and has also become a backbone for a fragile peace with Jordan.
San Diego County Water Authority.
"I wouldn't say desalination has improved relations with Jordan," said Alon Tal, now a member of the Israeli parliament for the Blue and White party, but chair of the Tel Aviv University Department of Public Policy at the time of interview. "It has saved bad relations from becoming no relations at all."
In North America, the countries that share the Colorado River Delta are experiencing a similar reality as their own diplomatic relationship is shaped by cross-border water exchanges. And like Israel and Jordan, the U.S. and Mexico are considering the role desalination might play in sharing this vital resource.
"There are a lot of obstacles to doing a joint investment with a water exchange," said Sharon Megdal, director of the University of Arizona Water Resources Research Center and editor of the 2012 book "Shared Borders, Shared Waters: Israeli-Palestinian and Colorado River Basin Water Challenges." "If they could do that in the Israel-Jordan-Palestine area, if we want to do it here, we should be able to. The political situation makes it so difficult to get things done in that region, yet they're doing it."
Bolstering resilience
The Colorado River traverses the U.S.–Mexico border and, due to withdrawals and diversions upstream, typically peters off just a couple miles south of the Morelos Dam. Straddling the two countries at the junction of the Canal Alimentador Central and the Colorado River, the dam controls water flow from the U.S. to its neighbor. While local residents dream of seeing the river flow along its historic route — from the Rocky Mountain headwaters to the Sea of Cortez — that's unlikely to happen without a big boost to the region's water supply through desalination and wastewater reuse.
Establishing a desalination facility jointly operated by the U.S. and Mexico could help "bolster resilience in the Colorado River Basin," according to the Binational Study of Water Desalination Opportunities in the Sea of Cortez. The April 2020 study is a product of the Minute 323 accord, a 2017 agreement focused on bolstering the Colorado River Basin. The study's authors explored the feasibility of a shared desalination plant in a region "home to some of the most prolific agricultural areas in the world" where limited resources threaten "economic vitality."
Looking at water projections for Arizona, Nevada and California, the authors estimated deficits — the difference between water demand and what the Colorado River can provide — of just under 1 million acre-feet of water per year by 2035. With similar calculations for Mexico, the researchers projected a deficit of 160,000 acre-feet of water per year by 2030 in Sonora and northern Baja California.
A desalination facility at the Sea of Cortez, also known as the Gulf of California — the body of water that the Colorado River historically drained into — would provide an additional 50,000 to 200,000 acre-feet of water per year. Funding for such a project would most likely come from a U.S. state or another American entity, which would then gain access to some of the water Mexico is entitled to under the Colorado River treaty — a fixed 1.5 million acre-feet annual supply of Colorado River water guaranteed to Mexico in 1944 by the Mexican Water Treaty — through the Imperial Dam, according to Tom Buschatzke, director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources. Mexico, in exchange, would be able to use the desalinated water that the facility would produce.
The Morelos Dam controls water flow from the U.S. to Mexico.
Sharon Udasin
In January 2020, Buschatzke, co-chair of the Binational Desalination Work Group that produced the study, expressed confidence that a Sea of Cortez facility would eventually materialize.
"We're going to end up with a project," Buschatzke said. "Too many folks in the U.S. need more water."
Decades of water exchanges
While today desalination is key to cross-border water exchanges between Israel and Jordan, such exchanges were playing a fundamental role in the stability between the two countries long before Israel launched its desalination program. Since the 1994 Israel-Jordan peace treaty, Israel has been storing a portion of its neighbor's Jordan River allocations in the Sea of Galilee. But the path toward partnership required sacrifices by both countries' government officials, who saw water as a mutual avenue to peace.
Two years prior to the agreement, Haddadin, who later became a minister of water and irrigation in Jordan, observed that "a new era of historic significance, an era of peace, was dawning on the Middle East," in his autobiographical account, "Diplomacy on the Jordan."
After Benjamin Netanyahu became Prime Minister in Israel in 1996, followed by King Abdullah II succeeding his father in Jordan in 1999, relations between the neighbors deteriorated — but despite that, Haddadin observed, water "continued to flow and proved to be an element of cooperation for the benefit of both sides."
In 1999, Haddadin explained, the region was so parched that the Israeli water commissioner slashed domestic irrigation but ensured that Jordan continued receiving its share until the Sea of Galilee reached "Red Line" levels. He credited the peace treaty's water allocations for saving "Jordan from devastating effects of drought" and praised Israel for honoring "most of her commitments to Jordan, at a time when she badly needed the water herself."
Political tensions notwithstanding, Israel and Jordan were for almost a decade promoting a newer exchange initiative — the Red Sea–Dead Sea Water Conveyance project — which would have created a desalination plant in southern Jordan while replenishing a dwindling Dead Sea with the residual brine. But both the COVID-19 pandemic and Israel's domestic political turmoil — four successive elections in two years — stalled the project, and Jordan reportedly decided to pull the plug on the project earlier this summer, according to The Times of Israel.
During construction of the Yuma Desalting Plant, redirected agricultural runoff from Arizona to a desert spot in Sonora created an "accidental wetland," the Ciénega de Santa Clara.
If the plan would have come to fruition, it would have enabled Jordan to sell Israel more than half of the potable water generated at the southern facility in exchange for an increase in its Sea of Galilee allocations along the northern border, where Jordan lacks resources for Syrian refugees. Israel had also agreed to boost water sales to the Palestinian Authority.
Instead, Jordan is evaluating building its own internal desalination plant in Aqaba, the report said.
But with or without the new project, the historic water exchanges between Israel and Jordan remain intact — and that is in large part due to a robust desalinated water supply.
Desalination is not a magical solution, however. The technology is expensive and energy intensive. Governments should only implement this alternative, Fixler warns, after ensuring they have taken measures like reducing water loss, updating regulations, setting reasonable prices and reusing water.
Yet as temperatures in the Middle East and elsewhere keep rising, Tal remains resolute about desalination's role in future water economies.
"Of course, we need to have more water," he said. "I'm an unapologetic technology enthusiast when it comes to water."
From adversary to partner
Crossing the border from the U.S. to Mexico at the San Luis Port of Entry is a rather unremarkable event — a nondescript vestibule, lacking any visible passport control, leads to a relatively quiet street that could be a continuation of the Arizona city of San Luis, aside from the Spanish-only signage. Mexican agricultural workers pass through each morning to cultivate Arizonan fields, while Americans head southbound to visit the dental and veterinary clinics of San Luis Río Colorado.
About 20 miles north is the Morelos Dam. Mexico and the U.S. jointly maintain and administer the dam through the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC).
Israel's desalination operations have been key to the country's water security and relations.
U.S. Embassy Jerusalem
Standing nearby, San Luis Río Colorado resident and conservationist Alejandra Calvo-Fonseca gestures nostalgically at the bathtub rings on the concrete piers of the Morelos Dam's spillway, recalling a brief moment in 2014 when the water supply was uncharacteristically abundant.
"All the gates were open," said Calvo-Fonseca, a biological monitoring coordinator for Mexican conservation group Pronatura Noroeste.
During that highly celebrated two-month "pulse flow" in 2014, the U.S. released 107,000 acre-feet of water into the Colorado River Delta as a condition of the Minute 319 accord in 2012. The Minute was an addendum to the Mexican Water Treaty of 1944, an agreement that, through its allocation of basin water to Mexico, has pushed the limits on the 15 million acre-feet per year of Colorado River water already earmarked for seven U.S. states.
Karl Flessa, a geoscientist at the University of Arizona, who has been researching the Colorado River Delta since 1992, credits Minute 319 for transforming the U.S. perception of Mexico "as a partner in the Colorado River rather than an adversary."
"Both Mexico and the states are going to work together at the same time to divvy up Colorado River water," Flessa said. "Mexico now has a seat at the table."
The 2017 Minute 323 agreement aimed to bolster the basin's co-management, letting Mexico continue to store water in Lake Mead in the same way Jordan does in Israel's Sea of Galilee. In addition to requiring a U.S. investment of $31.5 million in Mexican water projects, Minute 323 also cited several opportunities for water exchanges and created the Binational Desalination Work Group.
The Carlsbad Desalination Plant in San Diego opened in 2015 and meets around 10 percent of San Diego County's demand.
San Diego County Water Authority
Sally Spener, foreign affairs officer for the IBWC, said Minute 323 "transcends partisan politics."
"People worry that that could somehow bleed over and disrupt in some way our water relationship, but really that hasn't happened," Spener said. "We sort of operate in this sphere in which these other issues aren't impacting us on a regular basis."
Just a tool in the toolbox?
The Colorado River Basin is not entirely new to desalination. A largely defunct facility sits about two miles northeast of the Morelos Dam, in Arizona, just a stone's throw away from the river's pebbly banks.
Briefly operational in 1992 and 1993, the Yuma Desalting Plant was originally conceived in the 1970s as a way to treat saline agricultural runoff flowing from Arizona to Mexico. During construction, the U.S. set up the Main Outlet Drain Extension (MODE) canal to temporarily redirect agricultural runoff from Arizona's Wellton-Mohawk Irrigation and Drainage District to a desert spot in Sonora. But that drainage created an "accidental wetland," the Ciénega de Santa Clara.
Running the Yuma Desalting Plant at greater than one-third capacity would eliminate the wetland's lifeblood, replacing the habitat's saltwater resource with residual brine concentrate from desalination operations that would be too salty for some of the wetland's flora. After facing flood damage in 1993 the facility only underwent one pilot run in 2010–11.
"We are in a standby ready state," said Mike Norris, deputy area manager for the Bureau of Reclamation. "If there's ever a crisis then there would have to be a decision — do you preserve a wetland or deal with a water security issue?"
Located about an hour south of San Luis Río Colorado, the Ciénega de Santa Clara ecosystem is accessible via Sonora State Highway 40 — an empty rural road that runs parallel with the dry Colorado River channel. A sudden exit off the highway leads to a dusty trail of bumpy sandbars.
Where salty water first meets sand, the reservoir is just a couple inches deep. But a wooden dock stretches into a 15,000-acre marsh that hosts a lush habitat of white pelicans and predatory ospreys circulating above.
Juan Butron Mendez was in his mid-20s when the runoff suddenly began to flow into the Ciénega.
"We used to walk by foot from here to there — and we'd walk without needing to get into the water," Butron-Mendez, now nearly 70, recalls. "As time passed, the water kept rising and rising and rising."
Butron-Mendez, a farmer who also monitors birds for Pronatura, said he fears that the Ciénega's endangered avian species could disappear entirely if the U.S. chose to operate the Yuma Desalting Plant. The sudden deluge in the late 1970s, he explains, let fish populations reproduce and "gave life to so much vegetation."
With the fairly unanimous view that this unique biosphere should remain intact, experts on both sides of the border have been promoting other ways to ensure water security — some through augmentation projects and others through intensive conservation tactics.
John Fleck, director of the Water Resources Program at the University of New Mexico, favors the latter. He cites San Diego County as a cautionary tale. It's a region that implemented successful conservation measures to cope with drought — after having already made a pricey purchase commitment to the Carlsbad Desalination Plant.
"They conserved their way out of the mess, but they were stuck paying for the water," Fleck said.
While acknowledging the high cost of desalination, Jeremy Crutchfield, San Diego County Water Authority (SDCWA) water resources manager, stresses the importance of ensuring local supply development and conservation.
San Diego County water officials entered a public-private partnership with Poseidon Water, the Carlsbad plant's developer and manager, in 2012 following 15 years of research. The facility, which opened in 2015, meets around 10 percent of San Diego County's demand and has raised household water bills by about $5 a month, according to Crutchfield.
"A lot of that low-hanging fruit — the shower heads, the toilet replacements, the smart meters, the turf replacements — a lot of that has already been done," said Crutchfield. "We have to continue to develop and improve these opportunities, but we also have to meet what our ratepayers want."
A 2015 facility meets around 10% of San Diego County's demand and has raised household water bills by about $5 a month.
If the U.S. and Mexico do go ahead with a desalination facility along the Sea of Cortez, the cost of transporting water to distant farming zones would be "staggering" and construction would take about a decade, according to Flessa, the University of Arizona geoscientist.
"Let's stop talking about the fact that there's not enough water," said Flessa, who favors solutions such as shifting to higher value crops and advancing water reclamation. "Let's talk about how there's too much demand."
While acknowledging that desalination would likely play some role in the region's future, Flessa warns that it is hardly a "magic bullet."
Officials must make a choice, said University of Arizona's Megdal, about whether desalination is "just a tool in the toolbox," like conservation and water reuse, or if the technology is "somehow the savior."
"I don't see the reason to limit the consideration of desalination, which really is, at this point, a mainstream augmentation approach," said Megdal. "It remains to be seen how agreements could work between the U.S. and Mexico, to see if you could essentially do what is occurring between Israel and Jordan — jointly fund the installation of the technology connected with the sale of other water supplies."
Embracing the 'last resort'
Facing increasingly hostile environmental conditions across state and national lines, Western U.S. water policymakers are inching toward the innovative, yet costly, solutions that Israel and Jordan have already embraced. Both boundaries share the unignorable similarity of "a wealthy hegemonistic country next to a developing, poor country," stresses Tal, the Tel Aviv University professor turned parliament member.
"The lesson learned for Israelis is that it is in your self-interest to be benevolent," he said.
There are many key differences between these two distant desert regions, but the climatic and diplomatic struggles they share could steer them on a similar path of collaborative resource management.
Fixler, the Israeli Ministry of Regional Cooperation official, points to some divergences between the water sectors in Israel and the Western U.S. — stressing the fact that the U.S. relies on privatized, open markets.
Israeli regulations, meanwhile, decree that every resident must pay the same price for water, no matter the real cost of delivering it. Water extraction in Israel occurs wherever doing so is least expensive, regardless of the need for long-distance transport over changing elevations, such as the half-mile rise from the Mediterranean Sea to Jerusalem, Fixler explains.
"The tariff of the water keeps the sector a closed market," he said.
Israel also only began desalinating as a "last resort," according to Gidon Bromberg, Israel director of the cross-border environmental organization EcoPeace Middle East. Fresh water in Israel is so expensive, he explains, that it makes more sense financially to use desalinated water for environmental restoration, such as restoring river flow or refilling natural basins.
Bromberg expresses concern that Western states in the U.S., on the other hand, have not implemented sufficient efficiency improvements and that only a government subsidy would enable farmers to purchase desalinated water. Unlike Israel and Jordan, he argues, the Colorado River Delta region is very susceptible to changes in willingness to subsidize the resource — which, in a sense, "actually makes the Colorado system more vulnerable than the Israeli system."
Buschatzke, the Arizona Department of Water Resources director, recognizes the challenges of coordinating "multiple jurisdictions with multiple authorities" but touted desalination as a powerful tool for supply security.
"I do not believe that there can be enough conservation to close the gaps that we're seeing in the future," he said.
While there is no question in Buschatzke's mind that binational desalination would help the region, he said that the remaining debate centers on the end goal — whether the resource should be directed toward growth or toward replenishing the river flow. Either way, maintaining a strong binational partnership will be key.
"We need all hands on deck when it comes to managing the river," he said.
Ultimately, Buschatzke characterizes desalination as an instrument that could "help reduce conflict" in fragile border regions and "a bargaining chip to make people come together."
"Everybody needs water, everybody wants water, and it creates opportunities for people to come together and create solutions," he said.
Water Efficiency & Conservation
Colorado-based reporter
@sharonudasin
Filtering out the 'yuck factor' of wastewater in an arid U.S. West
See all by Sharon Udasin

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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04-038: Who Were the Early Homesteaders?
By G.R. Clare, 1998 It's one thing to survey a few square miles of empty land and declare it open for settlement, but what if no one comes? What if no one believed promoters like the enthusiastic A.M. Bezanson who proclaimed that the Peace was "the paradise of the Northwest"? What if they discounted George Dawson's report of his trip along the Pouce Coupe River in 1879 in which he remarked that "the soil in the valleys is very deep and rich, while that on the plateau is similar but not so deep."? But they did come although in a modest trickle, and soon the Pouce Coupe Prairie was dotted with the cabins of homesteaders struggling to make it through the first, most difficult years on the raw land.
The homesteaders came from all over North America and Western Europe. Along with a large number of Canadians, there were the sons and daughters (or grandchildren) of pioneer families of the American Midwest. English, Irish, Scottish and other European settlers made up the balance of the mix — all willing to stake their future on 160 acres of unproven land in the far Northwest of Canada.
Of 113 settlers who came to the Pouce Coupe Prairie between March of 1912 and October of 1914 — and proved up their claims — 42 were Canadians. Most of these came from Ontario, Quebec or the Maritimes. There were 35 Americans among this early group and 17 of Scandinavian origin. Many of these Swedish and Norwegian homesteaders came by way of the United States, having previously taken up land there. British settlers made up less than 5% of the total number and the remainder of the first wave of homesteaders represented a number of countries — Russia, Germany, Luxembourg, France and Austria to name a few.
Hector Tremblay was indisputably the first white settler on the Pouce Coupe Prairie, although a few others like Jules DeWetter actually filed homestead claims before Tremblay did in May of 1912. Because Tremblay and his store had been there for almost a decade, he had a 90 day period in which to claim his farmstead before anyone else could file on it. When other settlers began arriving in numbers, the first stop they made was often Tremblay's stores for supplies and advice on likely places to look for land.
Mons Laknes, another early settler, walked 300 miles over the Edson Trail in the spring of 1914 with his brother Sigvald to take up land. Son of a Norwegian immigrant, Mons was working as a carpenter in Edmonton when he decided to try his hand at homesteading.
The Marion brothers from Quebec, Oscar and Alphonse, were among the very few settlers who entered the Peace from the west. From Prince George they travelled down the Parsnip and Peace Rivers, hauling boat and goods around the Peace River Canyon at Hudson Hope. They reached the Rolla Landing in late August of 1914, and by September were on their homesteads just north of the present city of Dawson Creek.
The demands of World War I brought new homesteading to a virtual halt for four years, but by then the Pouce Coupe Prairie was showing some signs of permanent settlement with schools and churches being built and some of the raw edges softening with time.
« 04-037: What Did They Think of Us?
04-039: A Year in the Life of an Early Farmer »


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Carlisle Companies to Announce Third Quarter 2022 Results on October 27, 2022
By: Carlisle Companies Incorporated via Business Wire
October 13, 2022 at 08:00 AM EDT
Carlisle Companies Incorporated (NYSE:CSL) will release third quarter 2022 results on Thursday, October 27, 2022, after the market close. A conference call to discuss these results has been scheduled for 5pm ET on Thursday, October 27, 2022. The call can be accessed via webcast, along with related materials, at www.carlisle.com/investors/events-and-presentations and via telephone as follows:
Domestic toll free: 844-200-6205
Conference ID: 776488
Please dial in or access the webcast at least 10 minutes prior to the start of the call. An audio replay will be available on the Company's website shortly after the completion of the call.
About Carlisle Companies Incorporated
Carlisle Companies Incorporated is a leading supplier of innovative Building Envelope products and energy-efficient solutions for customers creating sustainable buildings of the future. Through its construction materials businesses (CCM and CWT) and family of leading brands, Carlisle delivers innovative, labor-reducing and environmentally responsible products and solutions to customers through the Carlisle Experience. Over the life of a building, Carlisle's products help drive lower greenhouse gas emissions, improve energy savings for building owners and operators, and increase a building's resiliency to the elements. Driven by its strategic plan, Vision 2025, Carlisle is committed to generating superior shareholder returns and maintaining a balanced capital deployment approach, including investments in our businesses, strategic acquisitions, share repurchases and continued dividend increases. Carlisle also is a leading provider of products to the Aerospace, Medical Technologies and General Industrial markets through its Interconnect Technologies (CIT) and Fluid Technologies (CFT) business segments.
Jim Giannakouros, CFA
Vice President of Investor Relations
Carlisle Companies Incorporated
jgiannakouros@carlisle.com


It is the inherent nature of success to be both puzzling and elusive, and to withhold its rewards from all but a handful of those who pursue it.
It is by an intricate design of nature that success is a condition that must be attracted and not pursued. We achieve rewards and we make progress not by our intense pursuits, but by what we become, for it is what we are that finally determines the results we attract.
"To have more we must first become more" is the very essence of the philosophy of personal development, success and happiness addressed by Jim Rohn.
It is our personal philosophy that establishes our individual attitude. It is our attitude that determines both the quantity and the quality of our level of activity. That activity produces proportionate results, and the results provide the lifestyle we seek.
The results and the lifestyle are the effects—the conditions we inherit—but it is our personal philosophy, attitude and activity which are the ultimate cause of the effect.
To change the effect, we must alter the cause, and yet most people curse the effect but continue to nourish the cause.
Jim Rohn's words provide a source of hope, inspiration and answers for those in search of a better life. Let the words touch you. Let them inspire you. Let them affect your life.


Please Update Description A quiet rural retreat at the North Western corner of the island close to beaches, coastal walkways and the village of Oneroa. Cabins, Glamping Tents and an Apartment at very reasonable prices.
Check-in 2pm – 9pm. Bag drop available prior to check in. Checkout 11 am.
Sometimes a self check-in is required where instructions will be left at the main entrance.
If a cancellation/amendment is made within 5 days of arrival, loss of 100% of the booking price.
This property is entirely non-smoking.
The lodge is not suitable for children under 16, groups (more than 4) or pets.
We are situated alongside a kindergarten so some noise can be expected during school hours (8:45am-3pm weekdays, holidays excluded).
A torch is handy here.
Payment is accepted via Stripe, alternatively, direct deposit arrangements can be made by using the contact form.


text:
La  BMW Serie 2 Gran Tourer (sigla di progetto F46) è un'autovettura  monovolume compatta di fascia media prodotta dalla casa automobilistica tedesca BMW dal 2015 al 2022. Si tratta di una versione a passo allungato della contemporanea e più compatta Serie 2 Active Tourer.

Caratteristiche

Questo modello nasce sul pianale a trazione anteriore della Mini, utilizzato in seguito anche per altri modelli BMW. I motori, sia a benzina che diesel, erano compresi fra 1.5 e 2 litri di cilindrata, con potenze comprese fra 95 e 192 CV. Nel 2018 si è avuto un restyling di mezza età.

Note

Voci correlate

BMW
BMW F45

Altri progetti

Collegamenti esterni

La Serie 2 Gran Tourer su www.press.bmwgroup.com

Serie 2 Gran Tourer

de:BMW 2er Gran Tourer

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


falling from outer space. broke out the glass to save myself from your face. faster and faster still. then my body disintegrates. feels like i'm knee deep in pills. just ask me why, because it's not for the thrill and another 48 hour day. you are who you are and it's breaking my heart, but you're saving my life until our next session starts. can't you see it's therapy for me? i knew from the start you'd be breaking my heart. can't you see it's (this is) therapy for me? you're swimming through my veins like a fish erasing my brain. and here i'll stay until they come and take me away.
General CommentThis seems to go inline with their song straightjacket weather in the fact that its about depression. Its about those times when a person is depressed and they know that fighting this person will only make things worse, but they have to do it. Its like they can only function when they fight with this person, although it is not good for them overall.
We do not have any tags for Knee Deep In Pills lyrics. Why not add your own?


text:
Barriers to Accessing Adult Vaccines
By: Dr. Wes Lum
Earlier this week, I had the honor of being a panelist at an "Adult Vaccines Save Lives" briefing on Capitol Hill to help launch the Adult Vaccine Access Coalition. The Coalition brings together leaders in health and public health to raise awareness and engage in advocacy on the importance of adult immunization. With the aging of the U.S. population, the public health impact of vaccine-preventable diseases and their complications in older adults is likely to grow.
Why Should We Vaccinate Older Adults?
The diminishing function of the aging immune system reduces the immune response to vaccination and underscores the need to develop more effective products for older adults. People age 65 years and older account for a disproportionate amount of morbidity and mortality from vaccine-preventable diseases, especially from influenza, pneumococcal disease, and shingles. Older adults who reside in long-term care and assisted living facilities are at risk for outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases, and in particular influenza, as they often have lower vaccine coverage levels than persons living in community settings.
The Relationship Between Chronic Conditions and Vaccinations
Adults with chronic conditions – such as asthma, COPD, diabetes, and heart disease – are more likely to develop complications from certain vaccine-preventable diseases, including long-term illness, hospitalization, and even death. The CDC estimates that among US adults each year there are approximately 40,000 cases and 4,000 deaths attributable to invasive pneumococcal disease, between 3,000 and 50,000 deaths are due to seasonal influenza, 9,000 cases of pertussis, approximately 3,000 cases of acute hepatitis B, and about one million cases of herpes zoster. The Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommends that older adults should receive annual influenza vaccination, one dose each of pneumococcal conjugate and pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine, and one dose of zoster and Tdap vaccines if they have not previously received them. Other vaccines, such as hepatitis A and B and meningococcal conjugate may also be needed, depending on the person's health and other factors. For many diverse elders, however, these necessary vaccines may be out of reach.
Barriers to Accessing Vaccinations
Several system barriers, including lack of proper health insurance and vaccination costs, limit access to adult vaccinations for diverse elders. For Asian Americans and Pacific Islander (AAPI) older adults, the number of those uninsured far exceeds the national rate. Seven out of the top 10 uninsured ethnic groups in the US are AAPIs.
Many AAPI older adults do not have Medicare, either, partly due to immigration. Without Medicare or private insurance which covers much of the costs associated with vaccinations, AAPI older adults may be unable to afford the vaccinations.
For those who do have Medicare, despite coverage of many adult vaccinations, the variation in coverage is of particular concern. As mentioned above, Tetanus and Shingles vaccines are recommended to all older adults by the ACIP, and yet, the Shingles vaccination is only covered by Medicare Part D. This can result in a financial barrier, as many Medicare Part D plans charge a co-payment or require the patient to pay for the vaccination upfront and bill the drug plan for repayment. As a prescription drug benefit, Part D was designed to be implemented by pharmacists. Due to this design, it is difficult for physicians to provide vaccines covered under Part D in their offices.
Other systems issues that create barriers for diverse elders to access needed vaccines include lacking or underuse of administrative systems (e.g. electronic medical records); concerns about reimbursement/ administration fees paid by health insurers, which can discourage providers from stocking all adult vaccines; and, lack of integration of vaccines into adult medical care.
Cultural and educational barriers also prevent AAPI elders from getting needed vaccines. Many people choose not to get vaccinated because they don't believe they need it; they may believe that they can prevent the disease or have skepticism about the vaccination's safety.
New immigrants are generally unfamiliar with the US healthcare system and have a limited knowledge of preventive medicine and disease monitoring. Additionally, providers may not be aware of barriers among AAPI immigrants, such as the elevated risk for Hepatitis B. Without in-language information available, older adults with limited-English proficiency (LEP) are unable to access the necessary information to make an informed decision about vaccinations. Additional cultural and language barriers may include confusion about how to use care when insured; perceived stigma; understanding who is at risk; and incorrect beliefs about preventive care.
Adult vaccine education, provision and coverage plans must reflect our nation's growing diversity, and strategies to increase adult vaccination should first look to the barriers faced by many older adults. To learn more about the federal initiatives to increase adult vaccinations, you can visit the National Adult Vaccination Program's website at www.navp.org. For more information about the Adult Vaccine Access Coalition, visit www.adultvaccinesnow.org.


Referrals are an important part of a healthy B2B sales pipeline. According to LinkedIn, 84% of B2B decision makers start the buying process off with a referral. Referred prospects also convert 30% better than leads generated through other marketing channels, and have a 16% higher customer lifetime value.
But starting a customer referral program from scratch can be daunting. Where do you begin when you're working with a small team or budget? And how do you get your customers to consistently submit referrals without annoying them?
Referral programs come in all shapes and sizes. You just need to find one that works for your business.
Below, we're sharing some of our favorite referral program examples and what makes them effective so you can apply these ideas to your own referral program.
That's right, even this search-engine giant has its own referral marketing program, rewarding business customers for each new user they sign up for Google Apps for Work. After joining the referral program, customers are provided with a personalized link to share with their network. Then, for each new Google Apps for Work account activated using that link, the advocate receives $15 directly deposited to their bank account.
It's important to reward your advocates for referring your product or service to their friends. This will strengthen your relationship with them, and incent them to refer you again and again. Personalized join links also make it easy for customers to promote the program to their peers and get the credit for any new business they bring you.
This online storage/file transfer service launched a referral program that rewards customers with product-based perks instead of monetary ones. Dropbox offers an extra 500 MB of free storage space to the customer who makes the referral, and to the newly referred user. As a result, the company saw its membership skyrocket by about 60% in 2010.
Incentives aren't limited to cash and gift cards. Product-based discounts, perks or upgrades can make your customers more invested in your brand and more engaged with your product. This will strengthen their loyalty—and likely result in them submitting more referrals.
Getting personal with your top advocates and offering them something of value before asking for a referral will inspire them to continually submit high-quality referral leads.
This accounting software's referral program offers both the new user and the referring customer a 10% discount—lasting for as long as both parties are paying subscribers. The discounts are also stackable, meaning that once a customer has referred 10 peers they can use the software for free. After that, they can ask to join FreeAgent's Evangelist programme, which allows customers to earn a 20% share of subsequent referral subscriptions.
Making the referral incentives last as long as both parties are customers can help prevent churn. Offering stackable rewards for more referrals will also motivate your customers to consistently submit new contacts.
This fraud detection and anti-money laundering software used an advocate marketing program to run an online "Referral Rally" contest that offered rewards for the top referrer at the end of each week. To ensure all of the leads submitted were high-quality, Verafin included "Referral Certification" challenges that educated advocates on Verafin's ideal referral persona, how to talk about the company to prospects, and how best to submit a referral. Once advocates completed each step, they received a special badge. After the month-long contest finished, the "Referral Rally" generated 117 high-quality B2B referral leads—almost three times the number they had originally hoped for.
Gamifying the referral process will engage your advocates and motivate them to send more referral leads your way. Educating them on your ideal prospects will also ensure that you're only receiving valuable leads you can act on—instead of low-quality referrals that will waste your sales team's time.
Tesla, the electric car company, has changed its referral program throughout the years to reflect its growing customer base. They originally offered customers $1,000 to refer a friend, but have since changed their strategy to give Tesla owners who refer multiple people to be eligible for even better prizes, such as an exclusive Powerwall 2 battery. Even better, the first person to refer 20 people in their region–North America, Europe, or Asia-Pacific–receives a free Model S or Model X. Other referral rewards included invitations to exclusive parties and the opportunity to purchase other special edition products not available to the public.
When it comes to rewards, the best are those that money can't buy. Whether they be special products, access to private events or the VIP treatment, these incentives need to make your customers feel truly valued if you want them to refer again. You can also use referrals to enter new markets in a cost-effective way by offering regionally-based incentives and contests.
Yep, we're going to include ourselves on this list, too. Using our advocate marketing program, Influitive VIP, we mobilized thousands of advocates to submit referrals and grew our company 650% in 2014. In 2015, we generated over a thousand referrals by running a variety of different campaigns and bringing together Sales, Marketing and CS.
You probably have tons of happy customers wanting to advocate for you and refer you to their networks. They're just waiting for you to make the first move. By creating a special program that prepares customers to give referrals and gives them an enjoyable referral experience, you can fill your pipeline with quality leads.
This blog was originally published on October 26th, 2015, and was updated on March 1st, 2017.
Find your referral technology match!
Before you can build the referral program of your dreams, you need to find the right technology. In this eBook, learn how to decide which tools your company needs to consistently generate a steady pipeline of high-quality referrals from your customers.
Small correction – for Tesla the reward wasn't actually a Model X, but the exclusive opportunity to purchase a founders edition Model X.
Hi! Thanks for letting us know. Turns out that owners of the original Model S who referred ten people had the option to buy the Model X for a lower price–but the first Model S owner in each region who referred 10 people did in fact get a free Model X.
I will update the article to clarify this. Thanks!
Thank you for sharing this wonderful referral program examples. Yes, it's extremely important to have a two-sided referral program that should reward both the existing customer, as well as the friends he/she refer.
Kayley, great article packed with wonderful ideas. What are your thoughts on internal team referral programs? The ideas above could also work well internally to motivate team members of a company to also refer new business. Some companies even offer a percentage of first year revenue generated on a new customer. Others have fun ongoing promotions to encourage their internal team. Thoughts?
Hi Joseph! Thanks for your comment. That is an awesome idea. I know that Procore gave templated email signatures with referral requests to their employees to help drum up extra referrals (check out their award-winning referral program in this eBook! http://influitive.wpengine.com/resources/10-award-winning-advocate-marketing-program-examples/).
We've also run a few internal employee referral programs, and we have found a lot of these elements are the same: you need to clearly articulate who you are looking for; make the process transparent, fun and rewarding; etc.
One other idea would be to equip employees with the tools they need to get more referrals–whether that's email templates, videos, scripts, individual landing pages, etc. Often, a customer submits a referral, and then will help a rep broker an intro so their contact is reached out to properly. In the case of employees, they may do (or want to do) more of that outreach on behalf of the rep, since they work at the company and should be able to speak to the product. However, they may need a bit of help on how to approach the contact–especially if they've never referred someone before.
What's out there software and advisement wise for running local B2C referral programs?


Play this tiny pacman game on the desktop.
This is another game from chrismarks.com. It is also another classic game. He has a several more free games on his site.
This entry was posted on July 14, 2009 at 9:55 pm, and is filed under Widgets. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.


text:
Boudoir Testimonial: Anniversary Gift
September 23, 2015 / Natalie Sinisgalli Photography/ Natalie Sinisgalli
IMAGE & QUOTE POSTED WITH PERMISSION FROM CLIENT
"My experience on the shoot itself was amazing. I had so much fun and it was so much more than I expected it to be. Natalie made me feel absolutely beautiful. I can't put a price on the value of my book- It's one of the best gifts I was able to give my husband. He was in complete shock and could not believe I did this for him. He said it was amazing, and that he was so proud of me! Everyone at the studio is so fun-loving and sweet. They really made me feel so welcome and made this such a fun photo shoot. I will never forget my experience!" - Boudoir Client
It's such a treat when clients allow us to share a few images and the love notes they write to us after their shoot! I love that her husband was proud of her for doing this - knowing it was out of her comfort zone. I am proud of her too! Hair & Makeup on this shoot (and every boudoir shoot we do!) is by the ever-talented Special Occasion Hair Design. - Natalie
September 23, 2015 / Natalie Sinisgalli Photography/ Natalie Sinisgalli/ Comment
Testimonials, Boudoir, Client Spotlight, Woman Crush Wednesday
WCW, Woman Crush Wednesday, women's interest, nspWCW, boudoir, bridal boudoir, rochester boudoir photography
Boudoir Testimonial
An email from one of our lovely boudoir clients, shared with permission as always!
"I wanted to write and tell you how much I loved the photo shoot and the pictures. Every year I choose something out of my comfort zone to challenge myself. In the past it's been tap dancing lessons or cake decorating classes. This by far was WELL out of my comfort zone. I saw the ad for the boudoir photo shoot come up on my Facebook news feed a few times before I was brave enough to email for more information. I was nervous about it; I am far from a size 2 and wasn't sure how I would look in the pictures. I showed up the day of the shoot and was instantly put at ease. Chrissy did my hair and make up. It looked polished, but very natural, and I felt glamorous. After that I felt so ready for the photo session. Natalie was amazing!!!!! Her personality immediately put me at ease, and she knew just how to have me pose to get such great pictures. I loved how she would stop every so often to show me something she just shot so I could see for myself how great they were. I had a blast during my session and was a little sad it was over because it was so much fun. Later, when I saw the photos from the shoot, I couldn't believe it was me!!!! It was the biggest self-esteem boost of my life - I looked gorgeous!!! For someone who was so uncertain about the process beforehand, I couldn't wait to show people the end results. I can't thank Natalie and her studio for making me feel so special and so beautiful!"
Boudoir, Testimonials
boudoir, rochester boudoir photography, Testimonials
Boudoir Testimonial: "You deserve it."
Below is a testimonial from one of our incredible boudoir clients. Not only did she allow us to share images from her shoot on our blog and website, but she was kind enough to share her experience with us in her own words.... thanks, Ellyn!
"I was definitely nervous to make the call to book the shoot, but by the time I got off the phone with Whitney, I was feeling more excited than nervous. The nervousness did come back, however, when I went to go meet Natalie for my pre-shoot consult--I asked myself, "Why am I doing this? I don't deserve it!" But Natalie immediately put me at ease. After meeting her, I told my husband, "I want us to be friends!" The shoot ended up being an amazing experience. Watching Chrissy do my hair and makeup was like watching myself be photoshopped in real life--so surreal! I definitely found myself feeling more confident as the shoot went on, and by the end of it I didn't want to leave! All the women involved create a fantastically warm and comfortable environment. It's easy to talk yourself of out this luxurious experience: "I don't deserve it, I haven't worked hard enough, I'm not thin enough, I'm not pretty enough..." I think EVERY woman who has done a shoot like this has had those thoughts go through her head--which is exactly why every woman should do it! Take the opportunity to see yourself as your loved ones see you--strong and beautiful."
Hair & Makeup by: Special Occasion Hair Design Manicure by: sunless 2 go
boudoir, rochester boudoir photography, women's interest, Testimonials


text:
Q: Writing speed in Delta tables significantly increases after copying it in Databricks I am merging a PySpark dataframe into a Delta table. The output delta is partitioned by DATE. The following query takes 30s to run:
query = DeltaTable.forPath(spark, PATH_TO_THE_TABLE).alias(
            "actual"
        ).merge(
            spark_df.alias("sdf"),
            "actual.DATE >= current_date() - INTERVAL 1 DAYS
             AND (actual.feat1 = sdf.feat1)
             AND (actual.TIME = sdf.TIME)
             AND (actual.feat2 = sdf.feat2) "
            ,
        ).whenNotMatchedInsertAll()

After copying the content of the Delta to another location, the above query becomes 60 times faster (i.e. it takes 0.5s on the same cluster), when using the NEW_PATH instead of  PATH_TO_THE_TABLE. Here is the command to copy the delta:
(spark.read.format("delta").load(PATH_TO_THE_TABLE).write.format(
        "delta"
    )
.mode("overwrite").partitionBy(["DATE"]).save(NEW_PATH))

How can I make querying on the first delta as fast as on the new one? I understand that Delta has a versioning system and I suspect it is the reason it takes so much time. I tried to vacuum the Delta table (which lowered the query time to 20s) but I am still far from the 0.5s.
Stack:

*

*Python 3.7;

*Pyspark 3.0.1;

*Databricks Runtime 7.3 LTS

A: I see that you compare actual.DATE >= current_date() as this is most important part of your query please try to run periodically ZORDER sorting delta by thta filed:
OPTIMIZE actual ZORDER BY (actual.DATE)

You can also try totally vacuum delta:
VACUUM actual RETAIN 0 HOURS

to do that you need to set spark.databricks.delta.retentionDurationCheck.enabled false.
If you don't want benefits of delta (transaction, concurrent writes, timetravel history etc.) you can just use parquet.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Caban was invited to exhibit at the recently held Western Cape Funders Fair held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre and attracted a large amount of interest in both the Caban business model and the products and services of Group companies.
In opening the Fair, Western Cape Minister of Economic Opportunities Alan Winde stated that the key to unlocking the economic potential of the province (and country – ED) is to create an environment that is supportive of businesses and entrepreneurs, and by doing so, contributing to the growth of the economy.
The Western Cape Funding Fair is a partnership between the Department of Economic Development and Tourism and Deloitte, aimed at facilitating face–to-face contact between project promoters, entrepreneurs and various funding institutions within the region.
A well run conference and exhibition that certainly added value to the Western Cape business community. We look forward to participating again next year.


text:
McLaren MP4-12C Enters Production, 1,000 Cars to be Built this Year [with Video]
McLaren Automotive's brand new MP4-12C has reached another milestone with the start of production at the McLaren Technology Centre (MTC) in Woking, England. The British sports car maker said it plans to build up to 1,000 examples of the MP4-12Cs this year, with most cars to be manufactured in a bespoke new £40m McLaren Production Centre, which is due for completion in May on a site neighboring the MTC facility.
The MP4-12C was first presented to the public at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in southern England in July 2010, ahead of a North American debut at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in August of the same year.
It is powered by a mid-mounted 3.8 liter twin-turbocharged V8 with 600HP and 443 lb-ft, developed in-house by McLaren, and can complete the standard 0-100km/h (62mph) sprint in under 3.0 seconds and the quarter mile in around 11 seconds, while reaching a top speed in excess of 200mph or 322km.
Prices for the MP4-12C start at around €200,000 in mainland Europe, £168,500 in the UK and at $229,000 in the US.
Today, McLaren also released a new short film called 'Best of 2010', which features appearances from F1 racing stars Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button, visitors' reactions to the 12C at its debut events as well as new footage of the car winter testing at Dunsfold Aerodrome. Scroll down to watch it.
Posted in: McLaren,McLaren MP4-12C,McLaren Videos,New Cars,Reports,Video


text:
By default, the following types are supported by LoganSquare:

* any object using the `@JsonObject` annotation
* int and Integer
* long and Long
* float and Float
* double and Double
* boolean and Boolean
* String
* Date (if formatted using the ISO 8601 standard: `yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss.SSSZ`)

Additionally, the following collections are supported:

* List
* Set
* Queue
* Deque
* Map (with Strings as keys)
* Array (Not technically a Collection, but still supported. Note that Lists are preferred to arrays when possible.)

###Support for Additional Types

Any Java object can be supported by LoganSquare, even if they don't fall into the above categories. To add support for your own types, you'll need to extend one of the built-in `TypeConverter` classes. You can register your custom type converters using one of the two following ways:

#### For global `TypeConverter`s (used in many places)

```java
LoganSquare.registerTypeConverter(Date.class, YourConverter.class)
```

#### For `TypeConverter`s that should only be used for certain variables

Hint: This method is especially useful for handling multiple Date formats!

```java
@JsonObject
public class ModelObject {
    @JsonField(typeConverter = YourConverter.class)
    public Date speciallyConvertedDate;
}
```

###Example `TypeConverter`s

####`TypeConverter` for a custom date format

```java
public class TimeOnlyDateConverter extends DateTypeConverter {

    private DateFormat mDateFormat;

    public DefaultDateConverter() {
        mDateFormat = new SimpleDateFormat("HH:mm");
    }

    public DateFormat getDateFormat() {
        return mDateFormat;
    }

}
```

####`TypeConverter` for an enum, where the JSON contains an int

```java
public enum TestEnum {
    VALUE_1, VALUE_2, VALUE_3
}

public class TimeOnlyDateConverter extends IntBasedTypeConverter<TestEnum> {
    @Override
    public TestEnum getFromInt(int i) {
        return TestEnum.values()[i];
    }

    public int convertToInt(TestEnum object) {
        return Arrays.asList(TestEnum.values()).indexOf(TestEnum.VALUE_1);
    }

}
```

####`TypeConverter` for an enum, where the JSON contains a String

```java
public enum TestEnum {
    VALUE_1, VALUE_2, VALUE_3
}

public class EnumConverter extends StringBasedTypeConverter<TestEnum> {
    @Override
    public TestEnum getFromString(String s) {
        TestEnum.valueOf(s);
    }

    public String convertToString(TestEnum object) {
        return object.toString();
    }

}
```

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


The Amelia Round Sterling Silver Leaf Textured Ring is the perfect statement ring for the modern woman who loves Nature & elegant design.
Made from eco friendly, tarnish resistant Argentium Sterling Silver, the Amelia Round Sterling Silver Leaf Textured Ring is inspired by fallen Autumn leaves.
Created using real leaves, each made to order Amelia ring has its' own distinct vein pattern & detail.
Designed for everyday wear the Amelia Ring is striking and comfortable to wear.


There's more to it than just money.
Finding a bank one can trust is a big endeavor. Let your customers know they can trust you the minute they see your display and pull into your parking lot.
Your efforts to reach your community are just a click away with financial content packages. View and purchase content created by our professional creative services team from our easy-to-use online store. Just shop, click, download and use.


This landmark text is the first introduction to concepts and issues in critical discourse analysis for educational researchers. The central premise is that critical discourse analysis must be conducted "systematically," which means conducting inquiry into the ways in which language form and function correlate with social practices. Bringing together the work of New Literacy Studies, situated literacy, critical discourse theory and analysis with theories of learning, the text is distinctive in providing not just useful analytic accounts of discourse in classroom and other settings, but going on to identify ways in which these forms of language are connected to theories of learning.
Contributions from two pioneers in the field–James Gee and Norman Fairclough–are combined with empirically grounded chapters that illustrate variations of their approaches to critical discourse analysis. Each chapter presents examples of systematical critical discourse analysis and its relevance in education settings, and provides detailed information on analytic procedures.
An Introduction to Critical Discourse Analysis in Education: *introduces key concepts in critical discourse analysis and answers some of the frequently asked questions; *situates critical discourse analysis within educational research; and *provides detailed analytic procedures, to demystify the process, allow researchers to have a conversation about issues of trustworthiness of interpretations and value to educational contexts, and enable replication of studies.
The new synthesis of theoretical and empirical studies in critical discourse analysis and education the book presents will interest newcomers to critical discourse analysis, as well as researchers and educators interested in discourse, identity, and learning. The descriptive, critical ethnographic and interpretive approaches to critical discourse analysis developed in each chapter make the book accessible yet theoretically rich. Pedagogical features make critical discourse analysis accessible to students. The text is cross-disciplinary, intended for courses in qualitative methodology, discourse analysis, critical discourse studies, and literacy education. It will appeal not only to education researchers but to a wide readership within literacy studies, linguistics, sociology, and other social sciences concerned with contemporary approaches to describing and explaining the role of language in learning and education.


text:
50 years later, US-China ties as fraught as ever
KEN MORITSUGU
BEIJING (AP) — At the height of the Cold War, U.S. President Richard Nixon flew into communist China's center of power for a visit that, over time, would transform U.S.-China relations and China's position in the world in ways that were unimaginable at the time.
The relationship between China and the United States was always going to be a challenge, and after half a century of ups and downs, is more fraught than ever. The Cold War is long over, but on both sides there are fears a new one could be beginning. Despite repeated Chinese disavowals, America worries that the democratic-led world that triumphed over the Soviet Union could be challenged by the authoritarian model of a powerful and still-rising China.
"The U.S.-China relationship has always been contentious but one of necessity," said Oriana Skylar Mastro, a China expert at Stanford University. "Perhaps 50 years ago the reasons were mainly economic. Now they are mainly in the security realm. But the relationship has never — and will never — be easy."
Nixon landed in Beijing on a gray winter morning 50 years ago on Monday. Billboards carried slogans such as "Down with American Imperialism," part of the upheaval under the Cultural Revolution that banished intellectuals and others to the countryside and subjected many to public humiliation and brutal and even deadly attacks in the name of class struggle.
Nixon's 1972 trip, which included meetings with Chairman Mao Zedong and a visit to the Great Wall, led to the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1979 and the parallel severing of formal ties with Taiwan, which the U.S. had recognized as the government of China after the communists took power in Beijing in 1949.
Premier Zhou Enlai's translator wrote in a memoir that, to the best of his recollection, Nixon said, "This hand stretches out across the Pacific Ocean in friendship" as he shook hands with Zhou at the airport.
Nixon's visit was a "pivotal event that ushered in China's turn outward and subsequent rise globally," said the University of Chicago's Dali Yang, the author of numerous books on Chinese politics and economics.
Two years after Mao's death in 1976, new leader Deng Xiaoping ushered in an era of partial economic liberalization, creating a mix of state-led capitalism and single-party rule that has endured to this day.
China's wealth has enabled a major expansion of its military, which the U.S. and its allies see as a threat. The Communist Party says it seeks only to defend its territory. That includes, however, trying to control islands also claimed by Japan in the East China Sea and by Southeast Asian nations in the South China Sea, home to crucial shipping lanes and natural resources.
The military has sent a growing number of warplanes on training missions toward Taiwan, a source of friction with the United States. China claims the self-governing island off its east coast as its territory. The U.S. supplies Taiwan with military equipment and warns China against any attempt to take it by force.
Still, Nixon's trip to China was touted afterward as the signature foreign policy achievement of an administration that ended in ignominy with Watergate.
Embarking on the process of bringing China back into the international fold was the right move, but the past half-century has yet to put relations on a stable track, said Rana Mitter, professor of Chinese history and modern politics at Oxford University.
Chinese officials and scholars see the Nixon visit as a time when the two countries sought communication and mutual understanding despite their differences. Though his trip to China gave the U.S. leverage in its Cold War rivalry with the Soviet Union, America now faces a new geopolitical landscape — with echoes of the past.
The Soviet Union is gone, but the Russian and Chinese leaders, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, are finding common cause as they push back against U.S. pressure over their authoritarian ways. The Vietnam War is over, but America once again finds its society divided, this time over the pandemic response and the last presidential election.
U.S. President Joe Biden has said he wants a more predictable relationship with China but major differences over trade and human rights make mutual understanding elusive. The prospect of long-term stability in ties raised by Nixon's visit seems to be ever farther out of reach.


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On December 12, 2018, the California State Water Resources Control Board ("SWRCB") adopted a plan designed to restore water flows on the San Joaquin River and its main tributaries – the Stanislaus, Tuolumne, and Merced Rivers. The plan establishes water quality control measures and flow requirements needed to provide protection of beneficial uses in the watershed.
The Bay Delta Plan is being updated through two separate processes. The first plan amendment is focused on San Joaquin River flows and southern Delta salinity. The second plan amendment is focused on the Sacramento River and its tributaries, Delta eastside tributaries, delta outflows, and interior Delta flows.
The plan is intended to stem the decline in native fish species, including the Chinook salmon. Populations of salmon returning to the San Joaquin basin have declined from 70,000 in 1984 to 10,000 in 2017. The plan sets a benchmark of 40% of unimpaired flow during the critical February to June migratory period. The plan allows for reduced river flows on tributaries where stakeholders reach agreements on flow and "non-flow" measures, such as habitat restoration projects.
The City and County of San Francisco joined a lawsuit on January 10, 2019 against the State's implementation of a plan to increase water flows to the lower San Joaquin River and southern Delta. While the lawsuit is a technicality to buy time while agencies work together to create an alternative plan, additional litigation over the plan is expected.


Alva Noto + Ryuichi Sakamoto - Summvs. Bleep.
This collaboration between these two composers, both leaders in their respective fields, has been developing for years. Their last four albums, vrioon, insen, revep, utp_, sees the legendary film composer Sakamoto's trademark emotive minimalist piano fuse together with the austere electronics of Alva Noto aka Carsten Nicolai. This profound synergy between the acoustic and the electronic creates a music that is as warm as it is cold, organic as much as it is synthetic, improvised as much as it is rehearsed. It is this tension between both musical poles which makes for a collaborative project that has produced some of the most beautiful music in the last decade.


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Electricity Authority of Cyprus
Home / EAC / EAC / Press Releases / Announcements / New electricity supply hours for thermal accumulators
New electricity supply hours for thermal accumulators
Electricity Authority Cyprus is continuously making every effort to upgrade its services, best serve its customers as well as to optimize the operation of its System with the main objective of saving energy and making more efficient use of its existing equipment and facilities.
After studying the fluctuation of electricity demand, EAC decided to differentiate the hours of electricity supply to the thermal accumulators during the period January 16th, 2021 – March 31st, 2021 operating on the basis of thermal energy storage pricing, code 56. It should be noted that, during the above period, some improvements may be made to the thermal accumulator supply program.
Care has been taken in the design of the study for both 10-hour thermal accumulators and 7-hour thermal accumulators.
Supply hours for the load group I (A02-13, Potteries / Bakeries) will remain those that apply today, throughout the year.
DELIVERY HOURS
Supply Between Hours
Supply
Supply Between Hours
Supply Duration
January 16th 2021
-March 31st 2021
10:35 -17:10
1hour and 45 min on average
20:45 - 8:00
8 hours average
Detailed table of the new electricity sypply hours for thermal accumulators
EAC customers can find out the exact delivery times for their load group, both from the EAC website http://www.eac.com.cy and from their local Customer Service Centers.
Press Officer: January 13, 2021


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Q: Find orthonormal $\{b_i\}$ such that $\mathcal{A} = \sum_i \sum_j \lambda_i \mu_j b_i b_j^T$ Suppose $\{b_i\}_{i = 1}^d \subset \mathbb{R}^n$ is an orthonormal set of vectors, $d \leq n$, and assume that a matrix $\mathcal{A} \in \mathbb{R}^{n \times n}$ has the following form:
$$\mathcal{A} = \sum_{i = 1}^d \sum_{j = 1}^d \lambda_i \mu_j \; b_i b_j^T = \sum_{i = 1}^d \sum_{j = 1}^d \lambda_i \mu_j \; b_i \otimes b_j$$
where $\lambda_i, \mu_j \in \mathbb{R}$.
Then the problem I am interested in is how one can recover the vectors $b_i$ (at least some set of orthonormal vectors, since such a decomposition might not be unique).
My question is whether this is a problem people have already looked at before. If not, here is an idea that I have:

ATTEMPT:
Notice that if $\{b_i\}$ is an orthonormal set, then any matrix of the
  form $b_i b_j^T$ will either have its columns or rows summing to $0$,
  meaning $\mathbf{1}_n^T b_i b_j^T \mathbf{1}_n = 0$, where
  $\mathbf{1}_n \in \mathbb{R}^n$ is a vector of ones.
If we find a unit vector $x \in \mathbb{R}^n$ where $x = b_k$ for some
  $k$, then:
$$\mathcal{A}xx^T = \mathcal{A}b_k b_k^T = \sum_{i = 1}^d \sum_{j = 1}^d \lambda_i \mu_j \; (b_i b_j^T)(b_k b_k^T) = \sum_{i = 1}^d \lambda_i \mu_k \; b_i b_k^T$$
which is a sum of matrices of the form mentioned above. Thus, a
  minmizer to the problem:
$$\text{minimize} \; \; \mathbf{1}_n^T \mathcal{A} x x^T \mathbf{1}_n$$ $$\text{subject to} \; \; \|x\| = 1$$
exists and is equal to $0$.
By solving this problem, we can find at least one of the $b_i$'s and
  maybe find the others somehow.
The potential problem that I see is that this problem might not be
  convex. And this is as far as I have gone so far.

A: If $\mathcal A$ is non-zero, your sum can be written as
$$
\mathcal A = \sum_{i = 1}^d \sum_{j = 1}^d \lambda_i \mu_j \; b_i b_j^T
\\=
\pmatrix{b_1 &b_2 & \cdots & b_d} \pmatrix{\lambda_1 \mu_1 & \lambda_1 \mu_2 & \cdots & \lambda_1 \mu_d\\
\lambda_2 \mu_1 & \lambda_2\mu_2 & \cdots & \lambda_2 \mu_d\\
\vdots & \vdots & \ddots & \vdots \\
\lambda_d \mu_1 & \lambda_d\mu_2 & \cdots & \lambda_d \mu_d}\pmatrix{b_1 &b_2 & \cdots & b_d}^T\\
= B \lambda \mu^T B^T = (B\lambda)(B\mu)^T
$$
Here, $B$ is the matrix with columns $b_i$, $\lambda,\mu$ are the column-vectors with entries $\lambda_i,\mu_i$, where we define $\mu_i = \lambda_i = 0$ for $i > d$.
It follows that $\mathcal A$ is necessarily a rank-1 matrix.
Suppose that the $(i,j)$ entry $a_{ij}$ of $\mathcal A$ are non-zero. One choice of $B,\lambda,\mu$ that works is as follows: take $b_1,b_2$ to be orthonormal vectors whose span contains $\operatorname{col}(\mathcal A) + \operatorname{col}(\mathcal A^T)$. Extend to an orthonormal basis.  Select $\lambda_1,\lambda_2$ so that $\lambda_1 b_1 + \lambda_2 b_2$ is the $j$th column of $\mathcal A$, and select $\mu_1,\mu_2$ so that $\mu_1 b_1 + \mu_2 b_2$ is the $i$th row of $\frac 1{a_{ij}}\mathcal A$. Extend the columns of $B$ to form an orthonormal set, and set the remaining entries of $\mu,\lambda$ to be zero.

The choices of $\mu,\lambda,B$ here are highly non-unique. For any $d \times d$ orthogonal matrix $U$, we find that
$$
\mathcal A = (BU)(U^T\lambda)(\mu^T U)(BU)^T
$$
is an alternative representation.


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Ana de Armas Reveals She's "a Little Bit of a Mess" Heading Into Her First Golden Globes
by Alyssa Ray | Sun., Jan. 5, 2020 4:28 PM
Ana de Armas Admits She's "A Little Bit of a Mess" at Golden Globes
The 2020 Golden Globes will be a busy night for Ana de Armas.
Not only is the Knives Out actress nominated for Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy, but she's also presenting at the awards show this evening. With this being de Armas' first Golden Globes, she candidly confesses to Giuliana Rancic that she's "a little bit of a mess."
"Can you tell?" the Cuban-Spanish actress quips on the red carpet.
"Not at all," the E! personality says in support.
This may be de Armas' first Golden Globes, but she already looks like a red carpet veteran. Donning a custom Ralph & Russo gown and Tiffany & Co jewelry, de Armas has dressed to impress.
And the Blade Runner 2049 actress is very happy to be at the Hollywood event. Per de Armas, after popping some champagne, she called her mom and dad in Havana to share the news of her nomination.
Golden Globes 2020 Red Carpet Fashion
"I called my mom and my dad—and they were still sleeping. It was so early in the morning," de Armas recalls. "They started crying. You know, it's a lot for them to take in. For me, myself it was so unexpected."
In fact, this nomination is "something so beyond any dream" for de Armas.
Before heading off into The Beverly Hilton, Rancic has de Armas give a shout in Spanish to her family. (As E! viewers surely know, the network broadcasts in 160 countries, including de Armas' home country of Cuba.)
We're sure those back home appreciate this gesture. Best of luck to de Armas!
Watch E!'s Live From the Red Carpet 2020 Golden Globes coverage today starting at 10AM. After the Golden Globes, recap the night's biggest moments by watching the E! After Party at 3PM followed by a repeat show of Live From the Red Carpet 2020 Golden Globes at 6:30PM only on E!
TAGS/ 2020 Golden Globes , Golden Globes , Awards , Giuliana Rancic , Red Carpet , Entertainment , Celebrities , Exclusives , Apple News , Top Stories


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Russian Journalist, Family Given Political Asylum In France
By North.Realities
Aleksei Malinovsky worked for the Novyye Kolyosa (New Wheels) newspaper in Russia's Kaliningrad exclave
Russian journalist Aleksei Malinovsky and his family have been granted political asylum in France, where they fled in September fearing for their safety after police raided their house and assaulted him.
Malinovsky worked for the Novyye Kolyosa (New Wheels) newspaper in Russia's Kaliningrad exclave, which is sandwiched between Lithuania and Poland.
The newspaper's publisher, Igor Rudnikov, who left Russia for the United States in March 2020 fearing persecution, told RFE/RL on December 2 that Malinovsky, his wife, and children had traveled to France in September, where they sought political asylum.
In October 2020, police broke down the door of Malinovsky's apartment, violently beat him in the presence of his children and wife, and searched the premises.
The newspaper's offices were also searched at the time. The searches were linked to a May 2020 article about alleged corruption involving the deputy chief of the Kaliningrad city police, Andrei Pershikov.
The paper, which focuses on investigative reports related to the questionable activities of the authorities and police in the region, has been published for more than 25 years under various titles.
The newspaper and its journalists have been under pressure recently over their investigative reports and had to change the publication's name several times and get reregistered because of moves by courts to close it.
Last year, the newspaper fully switched to an online platform after Russian media watchdog Roskomnadzor requested it be shut for a 10th time.
North.Realities
North.Realities is a regional news outlet of RFE/RL's Russian Service.


Government moves to ban letting fees may not benefit tenants as much as they think, industry experts say.
Housing Minister Phil Twyford today introduced legislation into Parliament which will ban the charging of letting fees to tenants.
Twyford, who describes letting fees as an "unjustifiable tax on renters", says the move could make a real difference to struggling families.
There are significant costs associated with moving to a new rental property, which many families are now forced to do every year, he says.
Twyford doesn't believe rents will rise in response to the ban – and neither does the NZ Property Investors Federation.
NZPIF executive officer Andrew King says a significant increase in rents in response to the ban seems unlikely but that they are, none the less, opposed to the ban.
"We believe tenants should have the flexibility to choose whether or not they pay letting fees, as they do now.
King says the potential impact of the ban, including cost savings, is hard to quantify.
"While about two thirds of private rental properties are managed by the property owner, who is not legally allowed to charge a letting fee, some landlords use letting agents to find tenants.
However, At Home Property Management's Gregory Young believes the ban could result in higher property management costs that will be passed on to tenants.
"Taking away a one-off letting fee will simply end up with extra costs being added to the weekly rent. And that is likely to result in tenants' paying more than they would have with a one-off fee.
The government's RTA review will look at changes intended to benefit tenants, like limiting rent increases to once a year and initiatives to improve security of tenure.
Twyford expects the resulting legislation to be introduced into Parliament by the end of the year.
One disturbing factor is the Government has not said what percentage of properties are managed. Sure Andrew King and a few others say two thirds are self managed but where is the evidence for this. MBIE knows the figure from the bond lodgements but they are not saying. Law changes need to be based on facts not guess work and assumptions.


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Peruvian journalist says she is being harassed in the courts following reporting on religious community
By Paola Nalvarte
Peruvian investigative journalist Paola Ugaz is the target of a second lawsuit, this time for allegedly making false statements as a witness during the defamation trial against her colleague Pedro Salinas.
Paola Ugaz. (Twitter).
During the trial, Ugaz denied that she was a producer of the documentary "The Sodalitium Scandal" that was produced and made by Al Jazeera. The documentary alleges that members of the religious community committed sexual abuse and that a real estate company linked to the Sodalitium in Piura trafficked land.
Ugaz's statement led to the opening of a preliminary investigation by the public prosecutor's office based on the personal complaint filed by the then-general manager of the Inmobiliaria Miraflores Perú, Carlos Alberto Gómez de la Torre.
Ugaz said this real estate company is linked to the Sodalitium.
Gómez de la Torre assured the Knight Center that he is no longer general manager of the real estate company and that this complaint has been made on a personal basis.
"I'm not a member of the Sodalitium, so I do not act on behalf of this organization, nor does it motivate me to retaliate for the book ["Half Monks, Half Soldiers"] about abuses that Mrs. Ugaz published together with Mr. Salinas. The only thing that encourages me is the defense of my honor sullied by the false and defamatory report produced by Mrs. Ugaz," Gómez de la Torre said.
In his denunciation against Ugaz, Gómez de la Torre says that she was the producer of the Al Jazeera documentary.
Regarding the content of the documentary, Gómez de la Torre asserts that Ugaz produced a report that goes against his honor and that the people interviewed in that report about the Sodalitium say falsehoods. Additionally, he said he sent a series of notarized letters to the journalist to remove the documentary from the internet, but never received an answer.
Gómez de la Torre also said he sent notarized letters to the Peruvian journalist who conducted the journalistic investigation of the documentary, Daniel Yovera. In addition, he claimed to have sent notarized letters to the Peruvian producer Pacha Films, which edited the documentary, and also to the representatives of the Al Jazeera channel both in Peru and in the United Kingdom.
"I will continue with my fight step by step until the truth is known, the Al Jazeera report is removed [from the internet] and my good name is rectified. I'm not going to rest in it, for me, for my family and my future well-being, and I'll achieve it no matter what the effort is," the businessman said.
Yovera told the Knight Center that although he received notarized letters from the legal representative of the Sodalitium and its companies, these were in response to the numerous interview requests and the agenda of questions that he sent them in advance of filming, to get their answers and include them in the Al Jazeera documentary.
"I have not been sued so far," Yovera said.
This is not the first legal action against Ugaz.
The Archbishop of Piura, José Antonio Eguren, who belongs to the Sodalitium, sued Ugaz in late 2018 for aggravated defamation for having published seven tweets on her Twitter profile about him and his religious community. In these tweets, published in the context of Pope Francis' visit to Peru, Ugaz reported on the alleged sexual abuse and alleged land trafficking that the SVC allegedly committed.
Ugaz said that the recent suit against her and the more than 20 notarized letters she has received from people and companies linked to the Sodalitium seek to harass her judicially and emotionally and make her lose time. This year she plans to publish an investigation about the finances of the Sodalitium with publisher Planeta.
"I understand that an investigative journalist, a journalist in general, when he publishes something that is hard, that is difficult or that is revealing of a powerful organization, he is liable to receive demands, that is not detached from our work, but in this case I have not published anything. Here I have not published anything about them, nothing, nothing, nothing," the journalist explained.
"And I had that day that I went to Piura, that I was a witness for Pedro, the letter from Al Jazeera denying that I had been the producer, and Judge (Judith) Cueva told me that they no longer accepted evidence at that stage of Pedro's trial, and I remained with my letter. They never received it from me. I can't do anything else about it. I do not appear in the credits, I was not the producer, I do not have any employment relationship before or now with Al Jazeera, not anything," Ugaz said.
Diarmuid Jeffreys, manager of investigative programmes at Al Jazeera English, confirmed to the Knight Center that Ugaz was not a producer of the documentary in question.
The Knight Center has access to the letter signed by Jeffreys on Jan. 23, 2019 that was addressed to Judge Esthella Alva Pantaleón, who oversaw Eguren's case against Ugaz. In the letter, Jeffreys clarifies that Ugaz was not part of the production of the documentary and didn't have any involvement in it.
In an interview with the Knight Center, Carlos Rivera, Ugaz's defense attorney, alleged that this investigation by the Piura public prosecutor's office regarding the second lawsuit contains a series of irregularities.
"Without strong evidence, [the public prosecutor] has opened an investigation of a criminal nature for an offense against the administration of justice in the form of false testimony in court. Again, the penal system is the instrument, the club with which the journalist is hit," Rivera said.
Ugaz received a summons from the public prosecutor of Piura for June 18 without the complaint that motivated this investigation being attached, Rivera said. "It is a serious omission that I believe is intentional," the lawyer interpreted.
Another irregularity noted by Rivera is that the video of the Al Jazeera documentary allegedly is not among the evidence that supports this preliminary investigation. For Rivera it is irregular that the prosecutor admits a complaint without verifying the evidence that indicates the fault.
Ugaz's lawyer mentioned that the only evidence presented by Gómez de la Torre in his complaint are the comments made by the journalist in a radio interview about having collaborated in the production of the documentary, and an article by Salinas in which the journalist mentioned her as a producer.
Ugaz commented that it was "a levity" on her part to have commented at some point that she participated in the production of the documentary.
"What I do recognize is that it was a levity on my part to say that I was the producer, just for having helped Daniel Yovera with some data, some information about the Sodalitium, but I was not the producer," Ugaz said.
Rivera revealed that they have already started conversations with Al Jazeera so the organization could formally communicate to the prosecutor that Ugaz does not have any contractual or labor relationship with its journalistic company.
The journalist Yovera, who conducted the journalistic investigation of the documentary also denied that Ugaz was part of the production team hired by Al Jazeera.
"We are going to file a complaint with the internal control body of the public prosecutor's office because it appears to us that it is an abuse of authority on the part of the prosecutor to open a criminal investigation that could have serious consequences against Paola Ugaz," the journalist's lawyer said.
Regarding Archbishop Eguren's lawsuit, the religious leader recently ratified before the court the withdrawal of his defamation claim against Ugaz.
*The Knight Center unsuccessfully tried to communicate with the prosecutor in Piura, Peru regarding the lawsuit against Paola Ugaz.


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Harley-Davidson Enters eBike Market With Gorgeous Serial 1 Brand
The name pays homage to Harley-Davidson's first motorcycle, and the sleek looks do it justice.
By Rob Stumpf October 28, 2020
via Serial 1
Rob Stumpf View Rob Stumpf's Articles
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Motorcycle giant Harley-Davidson is straying from its path of loud V-Twin-powered cruisers to build a product that belongs in a poppin' but more subtle market: electric bicycles
On Monday, the Milwaukee-based motorcycle manufacturer announced its newest spin-off brand, Serial 1 Cycle Company, a play on "Serial Number One," the very first development platform on which its modern-day motorcycles are built on. And if that isn't enough to fire up the nostalgia lightbulb, Harley-Davidson made sure to build its very first example in a design that resembles the striking design from 1903.
The Serial 1's first product screams retro (which is cool in 2020, right?)—white tires, black rims, a swooping dark frame surrounded by chrome hardware, and even a classic oiled leather saddle supported by oversized springs. It's a complete call back to the Serial Number One that is shown off at the beginning of the promotional video above.
"When Harley-Davidson first put power to two wheels in 1903, it changed how the world moved, forever," said Aaron Frank, Brand Director for Serial 1 Cycle Company in a press release. "Inspired by the entrepreneurial vision of Harley-Davidson's founders, we hope to once again change how cyclists and the cycling-curious move around their world with a Serial 1 eBicycle."
It's not all about nostalgia. The 117-year-old motorcycle maker is nothing if it isn't an innovator, that's the whole reason it started the LiveWire electric motorcycle program to modernize its two-wheeled hogs. But sometimes, smaller is better. And such is the case when aiming to enter the growing world of urban mobility.
Market research firms like the Light Electric Vehicle Association predict that the United States is quickly on its way to becoming the world's hotspot for eBike adaption and anticipates that demand within the U.S. will "soon" grow to nearly five times that of 2019. And while other manufacturers like Trek, Ducati, and even BMW are already preparing to enter the market, it would only make sense for one of the U.S.'s most seasoned motorcycle manufacturer to enter the game.
Unfortunately, teaser shots are all we get for now. Harley-Davidson hasn't released any details on potential range, weight, pricing, or anything else pertinent to actually selling this eBike to consumers. It's unlikely that Serial 1 will stray from modern-day eBike pricing as well, so prepare for some potential sticker shock.
A countdown on its website suggests that more details could possibly be revealed on Nov. 16, so we perhaps won't have too much longer to wait before knowing just how much one of these bad boys will set you back.
Segway X260 Dirt eBike: 75-Mile Range, 0-31 in 4 Seconds, $5,000 Price Tag
The iconic Segway might be dead, but now there's a new toy for you to play with.
General Motors Wants to Pay You $10,000 to Name its New eBike Brand
Yes, the famous Detroit automaker is now getting into the eBike, last-mile mobility gig.
Is Harley-Davidson's Extended Warranty Worth the Extra Expense?
The pros and cons of Harley-Davidson's extended service plan
Struggling Harley-Davidson Halts Production Amid Pandemic
The coronavirus is another issue the motorcycle manufacturer can't afford.
Variable Valve Timing Patents Could Bring the Harley-Davidson V-Twin Into This Century


Everyone wants to have a lush and verdant lawn, so having Agape provide regular lawn maintenance is a no-brainer, but are you making sure your irrigation system is properly maintained as well?
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Meet the needs of the irrigation system that meets your lawn's needs. Call Agape at (919) 672-2509 today to enroll in your sprinkler system maintenance plan.