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Q: How to specify a default value for argument list processed by click? I have this line of code that is expected to grab all the file names passed to my Python script:
@click.argument("logs", nargs=-1, type=click.File('r'), required=1)

When no file names are passed, I want to default to -, that is, the standard input.  So, if I try:
@click.argument("logs", nargs=-1, type=click.File('r'), required=1, default="-")

click becomes unhappy and throws this error:

TypeError: nargs=-1 in combination with a default value is not supported.

Is there a workaround for this? I tried setting nargs=0 but that throws a different error:

IndexError: tuple index out of range

A: To default to stdin for a potentially empty list of files, you can define a custom argument class like:
Custom Class:
class FilesDefaultToStdin(click.Argument):
    def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
        kwargs['nargs'] = -1
        kwargs['type'] = click.File('r')
        super().__init__(*args, **kwargs)

    def full_process_value(self, ctx, value):
        return super().process_value(ctx, value or ('-', ))

Defining this behavior as a class provides for easy reuse.
To use the Custom Class:
@click.command()
@click.argument("logs", cls=FilesDefaultToStdin)
def main(logs):
    ...

How does this work?
This works because click is a well designed OO framework. The @click.argument() decorator usually instantiates a click.Argument object but allows this behavior to be over ridden with the cls parameter. So it is a relatively easy matter to inherit from click.Argument in our own class and over-ride the desired methods.
In this case, we override click.Argument.full_process_value().  In our full_process_value() we look for an empty argument list, and if empty, we add the - (stdin) argument to the list.
In addition, we auto assign the nargs=-1 and the type=click.File('r') arguments.

A: Since click had explicitly stated that they disabled this particular feature needed by the question, as reported on this issue on their project, a workaround will be needed and that can be easily implemented as part of the Python function (instead of some more pile on bash code as suggested by the comment on the other answer).
The workaround is simply drop the required argument and handle the missing logs using a statement (similar to what this commit did which referenced the linked issue):
import sys
import click

@click.command()
@click.argument("logs", nargs=-1, type=click.File('r'))
def main(logs):
    if not logs:
        logs = (sys.stdin,)
    print(logs)
    # do stuff with logs

if __name__ == '__main__':
    main()

Example execution
$ python fail.py
(<_io.TextIOWrapper name='<stdin>' mode='r' encoding='UTF-8'>,)
$ python fail.py -
(<_io.TextIOWrapper name='<stdin>' mode='r' encoding='UTF-8'>,)
$ python fail.py foo bar
(<_io.TextIOWrapper name='foo' mode='r' encoding='UTF-8'>, <_io.TextIOWrapper name='bar' mode='r' encoding='UTF-8'>)

A: The following code:
import click

@click.command()
@click.option('--logs', '-l', multiple=True, default='-')
def cli(logs):
    click.echo('\n'.join(logs))

Will produce the following:
$ myhello -l foo.log -l bar.log -l baz.log
foo.log
bar.log
baz.log
$ myhello
-

So if you just could call your program differently with repeated parameters instead that would the workaround you are looking for.

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text:
Demi Lovato will address her 2018 overdose in upcoming YouTube docuseries
thecaliforniasun 0	January 13, 2021 11:11 pm
Demi Lovato is ready to open up about the most difficult experience of her life.The singer, 28, suffered a near-fatal overdose in July 2018 and wil
TOWIE's Demi Sims confirms romance with Too Hot To Handle star Francesca Farago in Dubai
'So much that I've wanted to say': Demi Lovato opens up about overdose in new Youtube docuseries
The Bachelor's Demi Burnett tried to play it cool when Ruby Rose slid into her DMs: 'I almost died'
Demi Lovato is ready to open up about the most difficult experience of her life.
The singer, 28, suffered a near-fatal overdose in July 2018 and will address the incident in her upcoming YouTube docuseries, "Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil."
YouTube announced the Michael D. Ratner directed-project on Wednesday in a press release.
The first two episodes of the four-part documentary series will premiere for free Tuesday, March 23, only on Demi Lovato's YouTube Channel.
DEMI LOVATO LEANING ON FAITH FOLLOWING NEAR-FATAL OVERDOSE
The docuseries is a follow-up to her wildly popular 2017 YouTube Originals documentary, "Simply Complicated," which now has more than 35 million views on YouTube.
"It's been two years since I came face-to-face with the darkest point in my life, and now I'm ready to share my story with the world. For the first time, you'll be able to see my chronicle of struggle and ongoing healing from my point of view," Lovato said in a statement.
Demi Lovato suffered a near-fatal overdose in July 2018 at her Hollywood Hills home.
(OBB MEDIA)
"I'm grateful that I was able to take this journey to face my past head-on and finally share it with the world," she added.
The "Anyone" artist also said via Instagram on Wednesday, "Thank you to my family, friends, and fans for staying by my side over the years as I learn and grow. I'm so excited to finally share this story with you that I've held on to for the last 2 years."
DEMI LOVATO REVEALS SHE ALMOST QUIT MUSIC AFTER 'SCARY' OVERDOSE
In summer 2018, Lovato was found unresponsive in her Hollywood Hills home after an apparent overdose.
The former Disney star has been public about her struggles with addiction, bipolar disorder, self-harm, and bulimia and has served as an advocate for mental health awareness and funding.
World 535 address 2 Demi 5 docuseries 2 Lovato 2 overdose 2 upcoming 5 YouTube 8
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FraudBlog - Tag Archive for "fraudblog"
Published on December 20, 2011,	by admin in Industry News.
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text:
ExploreGreen
Malawi has just 5 wild lions left, while SA has more lions in captivity than wild ones. Take a stand for Africa's lions
2019-08-10 06:30 - Selene Brophy
The world is on a precipice of losing more than 1 million species. And it's quite unfathomable to believe that the Panthera Leo or wild lion - could soon be one of them.
But that's the reality. A stark legacy of the canned lion hunting industry is that there is a differentiation between a wild lion and a captive lion.
And as some 22 500 wild lions face ever increasing threats and habitat encroachment, lions in South Africa have never faced such intense animal welfare issues as they do today.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE FOR THE TRUTH ABOUT LION CUB PETTING.
A new report entitled State of the Lion: Fragility of a Flagship Species, by Amy Dickman and Amy Hinks from the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit at the University of Oxford, details how wild lions have vanished from 95% of their historic range.
READ: TL;DR landmark UN Climate Change report: Close to 1 million species at risk
It states in countries like Malawi, the approximate wild lion population is five, 30 in Nigeria, 25 in Angola, 22 in Rwanda and 20 in Niger. Countries with larger populations include Tanzania (8176), Kenya (1825), Mozambique (1295), South Africa (2070), Zimbabwe (1709) and Zambia (1095).
As the world celebrates World Lion Day, today on 10 August, Four Paws is urging the public to take a stand by committing to bring an end to the industries which are causing intense suffering for the lions in South Africa.
The aim is to raise awareness on the status of lions and educate communities around the dire situation lion populations find themselves in. There's only one way to stop the trade in lions: By removing all involvement with industries supporting it, says Four Paws.
This includes activities such as lion petting and walking with lion interactions, which both local and international tourists often take part in without realising the disastrous consequences.
"For far too long, these animals have been exploited and subject to severe animal cruelty. If you look at the most recent exposés regarding this industry, it's clear that welfare considerations of these animals are completely disregarded. We hope that on this day, people will stand up against the abuse and join us in taking hands to shut these atrocities down," says Four Paws country director Fiona Miles.
To this end, Four Paws is calling on the public to commit to the Lion Longevity Oath and end all support of activities and interaction with captivate lions and raise awareness of lion trade and canned lion hunting.
To raise your voice on behalf of captive lions or to see the Longevity Oath for Lions - click here.
Wild lion populations are decreasing, but the number of lions bred in captivity are soaring, "There are about 3 000 wild lions living in national parks and reserves in South Africa, but between 8 000 and 10 000 lions living in captivity – that in itself raises red flags" says Miles.
Often, these breeding facilities separate cubs from their mothers to hand rear them and habituate them to human interaction, before using animal interactions such as cub petting and walking with lions.
Once the lions are considered too old for these activities, they are likely to be used for canned hunting or killed for their bones, which are used in traditional medicine. The trade stimulates demand for lion bones and incentivises, illicit trade and poachers to target lions.
You have the power to end the lion trade.
"The only way to end these atrocities is to end your support of the various elements associated with the industry! By taking the oath, you will have an impact by reducing the demand for, and number of lions bred in captivity for these industries," explains Miles.
"The oath also stands as proof to the South African government that urgent change needs to be implemented."
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New Schengen visa changes to benefit South Africans who frequently travel to Europe PICS | Sable Dam hide floods in Kruger following heavy rains Use this tool to see in which country is your surname the most common + SA's favourite first names Travel to these destinations where the rand will be strongest for 2020 The 100 countries South Africans can visit without a visa in 2020


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R.I. taxpayers irked by delay in refunds
Katherine Gregg
kgregg@providencejournal.com
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Here's the bottom line for irked, early filers who have not yet gotten their Rhode Island income-tax refunds: the state is running weeks behind.
But state tax officials attribute the delay to a stepped up effort to keep these refund dollars out of the hands of identity thieves that has identified 30,315 "potentially fraudulent returns" — valued at $31.2 million — so far this year.
"States across the country are experiencing much higher rates of fraud and identity theft and so we are taking added steps this year to get the right amount of money to the right people,'' Governor Raimondo's spokeswoman Marie Aberger said Monday, as the deadline arrived for the filing of tax returns.
As of Monday, the number of returns already filed was up 9 percent from the 466,853 filed by April 18, 2015 to the 508,838 in by the same date this year. But the number — and dollar value — of the refund checks issued so far is down.
By this point a year ago, the state had issued 359,784 refunds valued at $187.3 million for tax year 2014. This year: the state has issued only 305,262 refund checks, valued at $159.3 million.
Asked how much longer legitimate Rhode Island taxpayers will have to wait for their refunds, Department of Revenue spokesman Paul Grimaldi said: "The goal is to have the backlog cleared by the end of May."
"Here's the situation. We are several weeks behind,'' Governor Raimondo, who on Monday was in Washington, D.C., for a Building Trades Unions National Legislative Conference, acknowledged in an interview on WJAR-TV last week. "Here's the reason why ... We've put in place new fraud protection software and so it's taking longer.''
"I know that is frustrating. But look, every state around the country, even the federal government, is sending money to the wrong people. It's better to be safe than sorry,'' Raimondo said.
That was small comfort to Maritza Molina, of Central Falls, who came to the state tax office on Smith Hill on Monday, seeking an explanation for what she described as a two-month delay in getting an anticipated $1,254 refund.
"I want to know why,'' she said, as she waited in a line that, at any given time on Monday, was about 20 people deep.
The state's overall cash collections are down 1.7 percent at $6,391,400,936 through the end of March, compared to $6,503,906,519 at the same point a year ago, according to a recently released revenue report that reflects recent tax-cutting moves and revenue shifts. Effective July 1, 2015, for example, the sales tax no longer applies to electricity, natural gas, and heating fuels sold to commercial businesses.
But state tax officials said the state's cash-flow is not the issue. This time a year ago, they had detected 17,392 in potentially fraudulent tax returns, worth a potential $10.2 million. That dollar number has almost tripled.
In a May 2015 interview, Rhode Island's then-Tax Administrator David Sullivan said the "victims" would end up getting their refund, but the government was not always able to recover the money.
"We are proactively addressing and responding to fraud issues. Protecting taxpayer information and money is [a] primary goal,'' Grimaldi said, citing a series of recent news articles on the growing problem of taxpayer identity-theft. One in the online trade publication Taxnotes.com said, in part: "Refund delays have caused angst for taxpayers nationwide.''
On Twitter: @kathyprojo
Filed: 508,838
Refunds: 305,262
Value: $159.3 million
Potentially fraudulent: 30,315 valued at $31.2 million
Potentially fraudulent: 17,392*, valued at $10.2 million
*Could not be determined how many of these returns were ultimately found to be fraudulent.


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'Once a bearcat, always a bearcat': Hawley football team returns home after state championship win
by: Ashly Ibarra
HAWLEY, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) – The Hawley Football team returned home after winning their state championship and making school history. Local residents showed their support for the team by wearing maroon and white and showing off some school pride.
Hawley dominates Refugio for first state championship in school history
Abbi Siller, running back and outside linebacker, said when the team returned from Arlington, They were welcomed with open arms and celebration.
"Coming home with all the sirens and the honks, the fireworks, the fireworks were crazy. It makes you feel like you're really loved here," Siller expressed.
Hawley is happy to return to Class 2A Division I state championship game
Siller said as a senior, this is her last time playing football for the team. She is now planning on what comes next after graduation. She said she might play rugby in college, but Hawley will always hold a special place in her heart.
"Once a bearcat, always a bearcat," Siller said.
Sophomore Jaydon Tatum, left guard, said he is sad to see all the senior members of the team leave, but is eager about what the next football season will bring. For now, he said will enjoy a break from football season.
The Hawley Bearcats are proud to represent the Big Country in bringing home first state title in school history
"It's kind of sad because I want to go play more football, I wanna play more games, but that relief of we're done (and) were the best in the state. The relief is incredible," Tatum expressed.
Animals / 11 months ago
Tweets by @KTABTV


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Parramatta is considered one of the most historically significant places in Australia.
Long before European settlement, Indigenous people inhabited the Sydney area. The Darug people were known to have occupied the Sydney basin for more than 40,000 years. Made up of many small clans, the Darug followed seasonal food routes within strict territorial boundaries. One of these clans, the Burramattagal, lived at the head of the Parramatta River.
Many places and items remain in Parramatta that are important to the local Aboriginal community and to Aboriginal people in New South Wales.
In 1788, the first Europeans arrived in Rose Hill (now known as Parramatta). Governor Arthur Philip established Parramatta as a farming settlement to ensure the colony's survival. By the early 1800s, hospitals, schools, churches and other public buildings had all been established and Parramatta prospered as a convict town and centre of regional government.
Reflecting its rich history, Parramatta contains many significant heritage buildings and places. The centre of Parramatta is home to well known historical places such as Elizabeth Farm House, Experiment Farm Cottage and Old Government House.
There is also evidence of the history and growth of Parramatta including 19th and early 20th century houses, shops, factories, public institutions, bridges and other structures, as well as cemeteries, landscapes, parks and street trees.


text:
← Crime Shoots Up As Cops Shut Down
News Of Impending Maunder Minimum Has Global Warmists Raging Mad →
Iran Deal—Sort Of—Can The US Defy Netanyahu's Death Grip On Our Own Government?
The US made a deal with Iran about fabled nuclear bombs. One of the most heavily armed nuclear bomb powers on earth and the only one to use two of these on civilian populations has made a business deal with a nation that never invaded anyone and which has never nuked anyone. The US/Iran deal has angered the Zionist lobby in the US and there are doubts that this treaty will pass Congress which is entirely owned by Zionists. Iran expects the US/NATO sanctions to be dropped finally but I seriously doubt this will happen. The Zionists love using the EU and US to destroy the economy of anyone who they tag. So celebrations about this deal are premature at best.
As long as Palestinians are denied human rights 'Freedom Flotilla' will sail as yet another attempt at forcing the world to notice the totally illegal trapping of the Palestinians in a sealed off ghetto straight out of Nazi Germany's treatment of the Jews of Warsaw. Unlike the condemnation of the Warsaw Ghetto and its 'final solution' which is universally condemned as totally evil, this trapping of a huge population inside of a ghetto where water and food is restricted and which the neo-Nazi Israeli Jews periodically flatten in one-sided 'wars', is seldom mentioned much less condemned by US politicians and press.
This constant brutal repression of Muslims inside their own homelands runs right alongside US support of Saudi ISIS terrorists who fear nearly nothing from the US because they are doing dirty work for Israel, that is, destroying what remains of Syria and Iraq both of which once had leaders who supported the Palestinian cause. Ugly wars, extreme brutality has spread across the Muslim Sunni world which Iran being one of the more sane places these days.
Of the five ships loaded with humanitarian aid prepared for the voyage to Gaza from various destinations in Europe, four of them successfully departed. Three eventually turned around and sailed back to Greece in an effort to avoid a direct confrontation with Israeli naval forces. Another ship, the 'Marianne,' was intercepted and taken to the Israeli port of Ashdod after refusing to turn back in an effort to break the siege.
The boat I was due to join in Crete, which had planned to join us from Athens, had been allocated as one of those which was to try to break the siege. In other words, to continue if ordered to turn around by the Israeli Navy with a view to facing the Israeli Navy if necessary. In the end, our vessel never left the Greek port at Athens, the reasons for which at this point remain unclear. What we do know is that the local port authorities were determined not to let our boat leave, and while the official reasons for this are pretexts centered on the vessel's seaworthiness, claims have also been made suggesting the boat was sabotaged providing a basis for such pretexts.
Several things here: none of this made any news in the US media. Fake liberalism which is waved like a Rebel Flag likes to point out evil stuff others do such as say, Putin. He does anything at all, he is held up as a monster and evil. Discrimination of others due to religion, sex and race is declared totally evil by these same fake liberals who then turn around and support racism, sexism and religious suppression so long as Jews do all this to each other and anyone in their vicinity. This disgusting double standard is infuriating.
Donald Trump is attacked vociferously as a 'racist' for suggesting that letting an army of illegal Mexicans to freely move in and out of the US committing crimes while Israel has extremely strict border controls that don't let so much as a flea exit or enter and is extremely fast to seize or deport anyone who dares to approach even if that person is signaling blatantly that they are on a humanitarian mission.
Greece is collapsing internally and wants desperately to go bankrupt but the rest of the EU won't let this happen and note how Greece is quite capable of working for Zionists while unable to work for Greeks right now as the social situation there goes into blow-up mode. The Greek people are hamstrung by being part of the EU and they should not be surprised by any of this: the EU was designed by the Bilderberg Gang many years ago to be sneaked into place bit by bit in order to eliminate sovereignty of individual nations. Only now, in the last stages of this scheme, do the citizens of various EU countries noticing this final solution.
We are told by our media overlords that losing sovereignty is a wonderful thing except if one is a Jew, then total sovereignty based on one's tribal affiliation is good and everyone else is dirt under the boot of the Master Race. One reason right wing 'conservatives' in the South support Israel 100% is due to this Master Race business. The US media giants never allow any writers to mention the direct connection between Jews in the US who nearly uniformly vote for the Democrats, love getting support from right wing racists in the South so long as this furthers their adventures in copying the Nazis. This Nazi Zionism far from being condemned, is celebrated in Israel and the US as a good thing even as the same people celebrating this are furious about 'racism' in the US.
Iran nuclear deal live: Netanyahu says move creates 'a sure path to nuclear weapons' which definitely signals where our media and government will move: towards wrecking this treaty with Iran. Wiping out Iran is the Zionist goal, after all. And it is the Saudi goal, too.
Now on to good news: Pentagon to allow transgender people to serve in the US military. Like all real civil rights, sexual rights are getting better as the struggle for simple parity continues and this makes me very happy. The #1 reason I vote for 'liberals' is due to this sexual civil rights business. The right wing hates sexual rights for everyone and this is due to their main belief in this Middle Eastern god that hates women, gays and lots and lots of other humans and which claims it has killed off nearly everyone due to sex issues in the past.
My family and my own personal freedoms depends on liberals winning elections which is why I have attacked liberals in the 'mainstream' media and Congress for being hypocrites when it comes to civil rights and sexual rights. Understanding what is going on is important because the viper of Zionism is a danger to our civil rights since Zionists hate civil rights and really want privileges for their own selves while the rest of us have to obey whatever rules are set by Zionists including dual citizenship and of course, the elimination of controls on bribes which are used to circumvent the sovereignty of voters who can't control the votes in Congress since rich Jews get to own our own representatives.
There is real public support for a deal with Iran but zero support for this in the tiny community of rich Jews who fund our 'elections' and who all the candidates (except for the rich ones like Trump) go on bended knee begging for election money. George W. Bush Demands $100K Fee to Address Wounded Iraq War Vets is typical of today's political scams. Hillary and her clan of rip-off artists do the exact same thing. So much for patriotism! The claim is, if you pay the rich Clintons and rich Bushes to come to make a 'speech' many rich Jews will show up and throw in more money so it is a net 'profit'. This scam has to be terminated. No money for speeches! This will shut up a lot of grifters and no one wants to hear their speeches in the first place, least of all, the very rich guys who want to control our government for their own ends.
About Trump: the escaped Mexican drug lord openly claims he wants to murder Mr. Trump. The 'liberal' media thought this was funny. It is not 'funny'. It does make Trump's statements clearer and obviously he is right to talk about Mexican criminals and their activities inside of our own country. This is no laughing matter. And being outraged by the murder of black church leaders by a deranged white young man in the south while at the same time finding threats aimed at Presidential candidates by foreign criminals funny, is disgusting to me. Shame on anyone doing this!
Filed under .diplomacy, Politics
Tagged as Gaza, Iran, Israel, Mexico, NATO, Trump
16 responses to "Iran Deal—Sort Of—Can The US Defy Netanyahu's Death Grip On Our Own Government?"
Pontiff Holysh*t
Well, getting the "right" to become cannon fodder in undeclared wars for the Skull and Bones/Pentagon Death Machine doesn't necessarily seem like such a huge gain to me.
Petruchio
The silence from the media on this issue points out just how important it was and is to control the media first and THEN you go for control of the political process. You can thank Bill Clinton for that; he allowed the media mergers to continue. True, these mergers started under…you guessed it, Ronald Reagan. Personally, I don't think Reagan was the clueless dunce his critics project him to be. Reagan likely, imho, was, while not a genius or brilliant, had a certain amount of knowledge about his betrayal of the American People. Example: Reagan, imho, knew FULL WELL why he was getting $2 million for a couple of speeches in Japan right after leaving the White House.
JimmyJ
Raimondo has a piece calling Trump a "False Flag" candidate for the Democrats since he supported and is friends with Hillary. I think he means Trojan Horse.
original.antiwar.com/justin/2015/07/12/donald-trump-a-false-flag-candidate/
wellwell
Elaine, have you ever written about "A Clean Break"?:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Clean_Break:_A_New_Strategy_for_Securing_the_Realm
So much is explained by this twisted document, written in 1996. To protect its northern border with Lebanon, Israel must crush Hizbillah, which requires the destruction of Syria and Iraq and Iran, and the hijacking of foreign policy in the United States. In other words, the entire world must suffer so that a few miles of border are secured. This is the most immoral and arrogant document of my lifetime.
thank you for this explanation
Andy Lewis
Just can't let all this joo shit boo shit go, Kanye?
Seek help.
e sutton
Yo, Andy dawg!
Duh Joos. Dey be pullin' duh strings, gnome sane? Dare Afreekhan frens are all in a red hot frothy lather, workin' on waze ta torment YT. Hitler threw their asses out of Germany for a damn good reason. Others before him did likewise. As Peter, Paul, and Mary sang, "When will they ever learn?"
@EU was designed by the Bilderberg Gang many years ago to be sneaked into place bit by bit in order to eliminate sovereignty of individual nations
In fact the project is much older. It was the brainchild of the Count Richard Nikolaus von Coudenhove-Kalregi, an Austrian aristocrat of very cosmopolitan background (German, Greek, Japanese, and perhaps Jewish) and naturally a FreeMason. In 1922, he co-founded the Pan-European Union (PEU) with Archduke Otto von Habsburg, as "the only way of guarding against an eventual world hegemony by Russia". The movement was instantly supported by the Freemasonry and guess by who else. Yes, you did: "According to his autobiography, at the beginning of 1924 he came through Baron Louis de Rothschild in contact with Max Warburg who offered to finance his movement for the next 3 years giving him 60,000 gold marks; Warburg eventually remained sincerely interested in the movement for his entire life and served as an intermediate man as to bring him in contact with influential personalities in America such as banker Paul Warburg and financier Bernard Baruch accompanying him there." His father, the old Count was a personal friend of Theodore Herzl. What a coincidence!
His vision was grander than that: "His original vision was for a world divided into only five states: a United States of Europe that would link continental countries with French and Italian possessions in Africa; a Pan-American Union encompassing North and South Americas; the British Commonwealth circling the globe; the USSR spanning Eurasia; and a Pan-Asian Union whereby Japan and China would control most of the Pacific." He was heard to advocate a revival of Charlemagne's empire (with his friend Franz Joseph Otto Robert Maria Anton Karl Marx Heinrich Sixtus Xaver Felix Renatus Ludwig Gaetan Pius Ignatius of Austria, aka Otto von Habsburg).
The Bilderberg group was the brainchild of "Józef Hieronim Retinger (17 April 1888 – 12 June 1960) … a Polish political adviser {and MI6 agent}. He was a founder of the European Movement that would lead to the founding of the European Union and was involved in founding the Bilderberg Group."
He was dubbed "The Polish Coudenhove-Kalergi". Actually he dubbed himself The Eminence Grise (of Europe and of the Bilderberg). Naturally the Bilderberg had from the start their assortment of Rotschilds, Rockefellas and the like.
Notice that the reason of the existence of a EU was from the start and remains "opposition to Russia".
Thanks Seraphim.
Floridasandy
The combined Bush/ Clinton fund stole money from poor Haitians after a natural disaster. How low can you go, and how much money do you need really
I wouldn't be jumping for joy over the Iran deal. Their crazy leaders have professed death to America quite recently, even if their oppressed people don't want to harm anyone. They now get more money and who can say how that ended.
The world has gone insane, but locally Melbourne won a battle for freedom when hundreds of townspeople showed up to oppose a ms. Lopez initiative to ban the confederate flag down here. Southerners won't go gently into the night, even though we lost one huge battle for state rights. 😉
Freedom still means something down here, thank God.
Oh, and go trump. I don't think for one minute that those who expect a Clinton bush matchup like this development, even if they try to misinform the gullible. This conversation is now going in a direction they don't want to go!
The media has a file of pictures of Trump making ugly faces which they now use all the time.
They did this to Ross Perot, and to any other upstarts who might defy the Skull and Bones/Bilderberg machines.
My great…etc. grandfather, Henry Steele, was one of the founders of the Skull and Bones and he explained the role lightning plays in all this. Thanks a lot, granddaddy!
I imagine that Iran behind all the fine diplomatic words is well aware of the unreliability of any American deal lasting more than a day beyond the current president's term-end.
Talk talk is always better than war.
About Donald, he is making the early innings interesting.
There is zero diplomacy so far as anything in the Middle East is concerned…or Russia and China. We have deranged rulers waving the Big Club howling about how they must save us from billions and billions of angry people.
Dropping our club is not allowed. We must threaten and abuse everyone, not do business deals.
The role lightning plays in all this??? LIghtning?
ΩΩΩELAINE: You can't do black magic unless you first deal with lightning. They go together.
"The US/Iran deal has angered the Zionist lobby in the US…" Call me overly cynical, but I think this mild form of "defiance" could be just a false flag. I think the puppetmasters in DC realize that Israel–and US support for same– is getting some negative press and it is translating into some negativity in regards to Public Opinion. This Iran treaty 'defiance' could be just for show, designed to "prove" that Israel does NOT own the political whores and criminals in Washington DC. Just watch and listen. The media are bootlicking lackeys. If the media trumpets this defiance, like it is a big thing, you'll know this "standing up to the Israel lobbies" is a propaganda move. I suspect it is.
Please don't directly insult each other. Stick to topics. Thank you.


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Elvis Presley's The Wonder Of You gives The King historic 13th Number 1 on the Official Albums Chart
Plus there are 14 new entries this week, including Lady Gaga, Michael Buble and Melanie C.
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By Rob Copsey
Almost 40 years after his untimely passing, Elvis Presley is still the king of the Official Chart as new album The Wonder Of You earns him a historic 13th Number 1 this week.
The second collection of orchestral re-workings of Elvis' hits with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (following last year's chart-topping, million selling If I Can Dream) shifted 63,500 to land straight in at Number 1.
The feat means Elvis has more Number 1 albums than any solo artist in the UK, overtaking Madonna's 12 chart-toppers. Click here to look at Elvis' complete Official Chart history. The Beatles hold the overall record for the most chart-topping albums in the UK, with 15 to their name.
MORE: See this week's Top 100 Official Albums Chart in full
Elvis also claims the largest span between Number 1 albums by the same artist, having scored his first Number 1 record 60 years ago with Elvis Presley Rock N' Roll in 1956.
New entries and high climbers
Michael Bublé settles for second place this week with his ninth studio album Nobody But Me, while Lady Gaga's Joanne finishes at 3.
Elsewhere in the Top 10, Leonard Cohen's 14th LP You Want It Darker debuts at 4, Status Quo's Aquostic II – That's A Fact lands at 7, and a new deluxe edition of Sia's This Is Acting sees it soar 35 places to 8. Korn's 12th record The Serenity Of Suffering (9) gives the band their first UK Top 10 album since 2002, and the cast recording of the new David Bowie musical Lazarus is new at 10.
The Trolls film soundtrack vaults 46 places to Number 11 this week, while Hacienda Classical – an album of orchestral re-workings of club classics – enters at 14, and Michael Buble's Christmas album re-enters at 16.
Further down, Jimmy Eat World's ninth album Integrity Blues lands at 21, The Pretty Reckless' Who You Selling For opens at 23, and Melanie C's seventh album Version Of Me is new at 25.
Finally, Danish singer Agnes Obel is at 30 with Citizen Of Glass, and The Pretenders' first album in eight years Alone bows at 40.
See this week's Top 100 Official Albums Chart in full
Look back at every Official Number 1 album of 2016 so far below:
Artists with the most Top 10 singles in the UK
Acts with the most Number 1 albums on the Official UK Chart
Acts with the most Number 1 singles in Ireland


The idea of "going green" for one person can mean anything from driving a hybrid car to simply recycling glass bottles. But Barbi Wheelden, a doctoral student in chemical engineering, is thinking more globally. She's seeking a way for manufacturers to use a more eco-friendly and biodegradable plastic in their packaging. Wheelden is using a component called polylactide, a bio-based plastic that comes from any crop with a starch, such as corn or sugar.
The last decade has witnessed remarkable advances in the design and development of aircraft materials required to meet future challenges. Aircraft makers have sought to improve safety and fuel economy through the use of lightweight, yet stronger and stiffer materials, and polymeric composites appear to be emerging as candidates to replace the traditional metal alloys. However, impact damage can structurally weaken these by substantial matrix micro-cracking, delamination and fiber-matrix debonding.
The Italian government has passed a decree law banning the sale of nonbiodegradable plastic bags, despite a legal challenge by the U.K. government, which claims Rome is breaching EU internal market rules. The European Commission has been postponing an EU-wide proposal on the handling of plastic shopping bags for several months. A nonbinding recommendation on what EU countries should do with plastic bags might be released by the end of June.
Looking for similar articles? Search here, keyword BAG BAN.
Machinery, ancillary and mold equipment companies are gearing up to show exciting new innovations at the PDM13 exhibition and conference in Telford, England.
Following the announcement of Materialise's rubber-like 3-D printing material, word has reached us that Shapeways, too, is pushing the bendy and stretchy with the introduction of the new, experimental Elasto Plastic material.
The global head of DuPont Performance Polymers offered her thoughts on the fast-growing Asian market and on several other topics in a wide-ranging interview at her company's booth at Chinaplas. Diane Gulyas, Wilmington, Del.-based president of the $4.2 billion Performance Polymers unit, commented on the current state of DuPont's polymers business, the impact of recent corporate cutbacks, market shifts in China and Asia, the status of some DuPont expansions and North America's reshoring trend, among other subjects.
Just think about your life. The smartphone on which you may be reading this column, the 3-D glasses through which you may have seen Star Trek and the waterproof boots that you wear on stormy days — they all use plastic. Even airplanes and cars are increasingly made from composite plastic materials. Now think about your work. Most product prototyping relies on plastic because it is cheap. This is not just about 3-D printers. To attain the look of stainless steel, one insider revealed, firms spray weighted plastic with chrome.
U.K. businesses will benefit from a funding injection to develop 3-D printing projects, business secretary Vince Cable has announced. The department stated that the aim is to help businesses develop 3-D printing technology across industries such as health care and energy. 3-D printing can be used to print anything from furniture to small-scale models, and can use recycled plastics.
Plastics industry bodies say the planned closure of Ford Motor Co. of Australia Ltd.'s Melbourne manufacturing operations in 2016 will result in job losses and potential closures for plastics manufacturers. Ford Australia President and CEO Bob Graziano said the fragmented marketplace and low model volumes mean manufacturing in Australia is "no longer viable." Australia sells about 1.1 million new vehicles annually and customers have access to more than 65 brands and 365 models.
The new EITI standard: What does it mean for oil and gas service companies?
Sydney was recently host to the sixth global EITI conference, where a reformed standard was unveiled. The crowd featured high-level representatives from government and big-name energy companies. But what about the service companies that make the operations of Big Oil possible? They may not be directly involved in implementation of the initiative, but can they at least benefit from the supposed "governance dividend" in their countries of operation, as a "free rider"?
The next time you listen to a live album, you could do more than just hear applause — you might be able to feel it. Artificial Muscle Inc., a subsidiary of Bayer MaterialScience LLC, is bringing electroactive polymer technology to phones, tablets and, most recently, headphones.
Different price directions for North American polystyrene and PVC are featured in this Material Insights video. We also report another downstream move by materials maker RTP Co., as well as news that China's Dalian Commodity Exchange will begin offering PP futures.
"I don't have the willpower to go on a diet, so this was the only way," says Yomaira Jaspe, a Venezuelan woman whose eating decisions are currently dictated by a plastic patch sewn onto her tongue. A new form of extreme diet, the supposed "miracle" tongue patch has become popular amongst Venezuelans since it became available in Caracas clinics last year. The fad is the latest weight-loss technique in a country where female physical appearance is so prized that breast implants are commonly proffered as 15th birthday presents.
The European Commission's recently published Strategy on Plastic Waste in the Environment, which launched a consultation on how to reduce the impact of plastic waste on the environment, has been welcomed by the waste to energy industry. In a statement, the Confederation of European Waste-to-Energy Plants gave its answers to all 26 of the questions posed by the green paper, and gave particular credence to moves towards ending the landfilling of plastic waste and ensuring that it is treated higher up the waste hierarchy.
Researchers at the University of Alicante have developed a procedure that removes printed ink on plastic films used in flexible packaging getting a product free from ink and suitable for recycling. This new technology developed and patented by the UA Waste, Pyrolysis and Combustion Research Group, allows the removal of printed ink through a physical-chemical treatment and retrieves the plastic film clean, increasing the added value of the recycled product, plus pigments obtained can be used in other applications.
With strong second- and third-generation leadership, South Elgin, Ill.-based Hoffer Plastics Co. is a muscular injection molder that continues to be an Illinois manufacturing success story in a highly competitive industry. In recent years, the company has performed exceptionally well. Last year revenues spiked at $75 million, according to William Hoffer, CEO and president.
With the recent rise of the maker movement and the advent of cheaper, easier-to-use 3-D printing technology, the sci-fi concept of a household device that can manufacture functional objects seems to be gaining reality. But for those who witnessed the technology's birth and growth, it has been a surprisingly long and winding road, one that has, however, recently reached a significant but mostly unnoticed milestone.
Encouraging design of products to ensure they can be recycled in an environmentally-sound and economically-viable way is crucial to improving recycling rates for the material, according to plastics recycling body Recoup. By following the guidance packaging producers should to ensure that they are compliant with the relevant legislation relating to the design of plastic packaging, to minimize recycling costs and to meet societal expectations around recycling.
A Colorado plastics processing company is significantly expanding capacity in response to growing demand for PVC- and silicone-free tubing and injection molded fittings for the medical and food markets. Eldon James is adding 10 injection molding machines and two extrusion lines to a consolidated 75,000-sq-ft facility in Denver, where the company's headquarters are located.
Lead-time reduction remains a critical factor in the development of new injection molded products. While there are many areas that can be addressed to reduce the time it takes to validate the mold and parts, the time from initial mold sampling until the parts are production-approved is one of the biggest windows of opportunity for improvement.


A successful evening and sausages for sale tomorrow.
Thank you so much to all the parents who attended The Meet the Teacher evening yesterday. (Monday) It was great to hear your comments and get some feedback on how we doing concerning communication. Coming along to gatherings such as this is very important for us as a school. It gives us the opportunity to listen to your ideas, concerns and needs as well as giving the opportunity for the school to inform you of what is happeninig. I hope as we hold more evenings throughout the year we will continue to see our turn out of parents continue to grow.


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Q: Finding a closed subset in $\mathbb{R}^2$ such that its image is not closed in $\mathbb{R}$ I am trying to find an example of a subset $S\subset\mathbb{R}^2$ such that the image   $\pi_1$(S) is not closed in $\mathbb{R}$.
I define the image $\pi_1$ as:
$\pi_1 : \mathbb{R}^n \to \mathbb{R} $ given by $\pi_1(x) = x_1$
I've stared at this for far too long without coming up with anything remotely plausible, so I was wondering if anybody here could lend a hand.

A: David Mitra has answered the question in a comment (which I upvoted), but it might be useful for you if I indicate how one might approach the problem, rather than just "seeing" the answer. I'd think about how one might prove that $\pi_1(S)$ is closed; the proof will fail, but how it fails will give a hint about a counterexample.
So suppose I try to prove that $\pi_1(S)$ is closed. I consider an arbitrary convergent sequence $(x_n)$ of points in $S$, and I try to show that the limit, say $q$, is also in $\pi_1(S)$.  By assumption, there is, for each $n$, some $y_n$ such that $(x_n,y_n)\in S$ (because that's what it means for $x_n$ to be in $\pi_1(S)$). I want to find some $r$ such that $(q,r)\in S$, so that I can conclude that $q\in\pi_1(S)$. Since $q$ is the limit of the sequence $(x_n)$, it is natural to try to find $r$ as the limit of the sequence $(y_n)$. Then $(q,r)$, being the limit of a sequence of points $(x_n,y_n)$ in $S$, would also be in $S$ because $S$ is closed.  That would finish the proof. The only remaining issue to make sure the sequence $(y_n)$ has a limit; if it does, the limit serves as $r$ and the proof is done.  But OOPS! an arbitrary sequence $(y_n)$ of real numbers needn't  have a limit.
I could get by without a genuine limit; an accumulation point (i.e. limit of some subsequence) would also serve my purpose as $r$. Unfortunately, even that might not exist; the sequence $(y_n)$ might diverge to $\infty$ (or to $-\infty$, or oscillate between them) and then I don't see any usable $r$.  So this attempted proof that $\pi_1(S)$ is closed has failed.
Fortunately, the failure shows me the path to a counterexample.  $S$ must contain a sequence $(x_n,y_n)$ such that the $x_n$'s converge to some $q$ but the $y_n$'s diverge to $\infty$ (or to $-\infty$, or $\dots$).  There are lots of ways to do that. One of the simplest is to take $x_n=\frac1n$, converging to $0$, and $y_n=n$, diverging to $\infty$. A natural $S$ that contains these is the graph in David Mitra's comment.  Alternatively, one could take $S$ to be the set consisting of only the specific pairs $(\frac1n,n)$ that we're actually using.  There are lots of other counterexamples, but they're all based on the same idea. (And most of them look more complicated to me.)


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EUROPE GIVES THE THUMBS UP FOR FOX / BSKYB TAKOVER
The European Commission has given its unconditional approval to the £11.7 billion Twenty-First Century Fox takeover of Sky.
The Commission concluded the transaction would raise no competition concerns in Europe.
Under the proposals Sky, with interests in the UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria and Italy would combine with Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc (Fox), one of the six major Hollywood film studios (20th Century Fox), as well as a TV channel operator (Fox, National Geographic).
"The Commission found that the proposed transaction would lead to only a limited increase in Sky's existing share of the markets for the acquisition of TV content as well as in the market for the wholesale supply of TV channels in the relevant Member States," the Commission said in a statement.
It said concerns that Fox would be able to prevent or significantly limit access by Sky's competitors to its films and other TV content, as well as to its TV channels were unfounded because the parties' audience shares remain limited and pay-TV distributors would continue to have access to content from Fox's competitors and alternative channels with comparable programming and audiences in the relevant Member States.
Existing regulators in the UK, Germany and Austria would prevent Sky from shutting out its rivals.
Media regulator Ofcom is currently looking at any impact on plurality and broadcasting standards. It is due to report by May 16, 2017.
News source: broadbandtvnews.com
TWENTY FIRST CENTRUY


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The Best of Times; The Worst of Times
by	Rabbi Becher May 3, 2018 458 Views
For the Jewish people who came out of Egypt, the period between the Exodus and the Revelation at Mt. Sinai was one of continuous spiritual awakening. Their relationship with God grew stronger and closer. Miraculous events occurred daily. For the Jewish people in subsequent generations, this period continues to be one of the greatest of times of the year, in which we prepare ourselves for a renewal of our commitment to the Torah on Shavuot.
Jewish mystical tradition teaches that there are fifty levels of sanctity and opposing them, fifty levels of impurity. The Jewish people in Egypt (with some exceptions) had sunk to the forty-ninth level of impurity. Most of them believed in Egyptians deities and superstitions and were almost completely devoid of faith in God. It was only God's decision to save them from Egypt when He did, that prevented them from falling to the fiftieth and lowest level, from which they would never have been able to rise. The forty-nine day period from the Exodus until Shavuot was (and still remains) a time when the Jewish people are able to ascend through the levels of sanctity and knowledge to reach the level of Revelation of the Torah on the fiftieth day at Mt. Sinai. Accordingly, counting the Omer measures our readiness to accept the Torah.
In the first century of the Common Era, the Jewish people experienced a major tragedy during the period of counting the Omer. The greatest sage of the generation was Rabbi Akivah, who taught vast numbers of people. The Talmud relates that 24,000 (!) of Rabbi Akivah's students, who constituted the primary chain of Torah transmission, died as a result of an epidemic between Passover and Shavuot. It further states that the reason for this Divine punishment was that they did not treat one another with sufficient respect.
One of the greatest Jewish philosophers and Kabbalists, the Maharal of Prague, explains the Talmud's statement in this way: since the period from Passover to Shavuot is the time of preparation for receiving the Torah — and these students were the central transmitters of Torah — any flaw in the process of receiving and transmitting the Torah was judged by God with extreme gravity. The lack of proper respect for a colleague demonstrates deficient understanding of the intrinsic, infinite potential of the human soul. Had the students fully appreciated this hidden potential, had they looked at their colleagues beneath the surface, their respect for each other would have been tremendous.
Respect for a colleague with whom one studies Torah is also a reflection of the respect one has for the Torah itself and for the vast treasure hidden beneath its surface. During the counting of the Omer, one of our primary tasks is to develop respect and honor for the Torah and for those who are devoted to it. The students of Rabbi Akivah failed in this task and therefore could not be the primary transmitters of the Torah. They had to be replaced. Rabbi Akivah however, did not give up hope. He continued to teach, and ordained other students who eventually became the major authorities of the Mishnah, the central work of Jewish law.
To commemorate this tragedy, many Jewish communities observe customs associated with mourning. During the period of Sefirat Ha'omer (known simply to many as the period of Sefirah) marriages are not performed, people forgo haircuts, and men do not shave. Among the Jews of Europe (Ashkenazim), Sefirah was also a time of tremendous suffering during the Crusades, and therefore Ashkenazim are stricter about the mourning laws than the Jews of Spain, the Middle East and North Africa (Sephardim).
Lag B'Omer – The 33rd Day of the Omer
The term "Lag" is the abbreviation of the Hebrew letters lamed (L) and gimmel (G) whose numerical equivalents are 30 and 3 respectively. B'Omer means "the [counting of] the Omer."
Two significant events occurred on this date, and though separated by many years, they both contribute to its special status. On the thirty-third day of the counting of the Omer, the epidemic rampant among Rabbi Akivah's students abruptly ceased. Because the epidemic lasted thirty-three days, the common custom is to observe thirty- three days of mourning during the Omer period, ending on Lag B'Omer. It is also customary to mark the day with festive practices. The most colorful of these is a grand celebration on Mount Meron in Israel, at the grave of Rabbi Shimon bar (son of) Yochai.
The greatest scholar of the Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism) who ever lived, Rabbi Shimon died on Lag B'Omer, and on that day he revealed many of the deepest ideas of the Kabbalah to his students. They recorded his teachings in a book known as the Zohar, the Splendor. Ancient Jewish custom dictates that the anniversary of the death of a great scholar should be noted as a means of inspiring people with his lessons and teachings. For hundreds of years on Lag B'Omer, people have gone to the grave of Rabbi Shimon on Mount Meron in the Galilee region. There they celebrate by lighting bonfires to symbolize the light of Torah that Rabbi Shimon revealed, and by dancing, singing and studying Rabbi Shimon's teachings. Today it is common to see people all over Israel celebrating Lag B'Omer with bonfires and singing, while at Mt. Meron itself, hundreds of thousands participate in the festivities.
Tags : Emor, Lag B'Omer, Omer, sefirat ha'omer


It never ceases to amaze me when I search the internet with regards to alkaline water and water ionizers. The web is filled with 92,000,000 different interpretations of what alkaline water is, and whether or not it is beneficial. I feel for consumers out there who are trying to make heads or tails of the industry and trying to decide whether or not a water ionizer and alkaline water itself is a worthy investment.
Many of us are not privy to "the finer things in life" because of one reason or another. It seems that those with the most amount of money to invest always have the advantage of having the latest, greatest, and most beneficial products and services at their disposal. Those who are well off often have the luxury of traveling off the beaten path to explore the very best of all things. Many of us are stuck in a relatively small world of goods and services. Think about it, most of the products and services that you use are likely ones that you have seen in some sort of mainstream media. Be it TV or your favorite magazine, products are pushed on us every day, and more often than not, we embrace these products in our everyday lives.
What if there is a whole other world out there of extremely effective and beneficial products and services that are flying under the mainstream radar. What if these products were so effective and so amazing that word of mouth praise outperforms any media marketing on earth? The products do exist and they are fantastic gadgets and devices that simply work and consequently do not need any marketing dollars behind them. The users of these products sing their praises from every treetop in the land. It is these effective and beneficial underground products and services that 90% of us never have the benefit of experiencing.
Alkaline water is one such amazing, fantastic and overwhelmingly special product. For all the "pros and cons" you may stumble across online. For all the doubt that effective marketers who are losing market share because of alkaline water are shoving into your consciousness. I urge you not to be swayed. This water is nothing short of a miracle and it has changed the lives of countless people all over the world. The science is tried and true, and there is a 60-day trial available from every major water ionizer company in the industry. You are only 60 days away from experiencing the special benefits that everyone is talking about under the mainstream radar. Take a leap of faith. Take the alkaline water challenge for 60 days and you will never look back. You have nothing to lose, but oh so much to gain.


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Kanaalbrug Minden is een kanaalbrug nabij de Duitse plaats Minden. De constructie bestaat uit twee parallelle bruggen die het Mittellandkanal over de Wezer heen laten gaan.

Oude brug
De oudste brug van de twee werd na een bouwtijd van 33 maanden in 1914 opgeleverd. Het is 370 meter lang en is gemaakt van beton. Het water in de brug is 24 meter breed en drie meter diep. De bogen waarop het kanaal rust liggen 50 meter uit elkaar boven het zomerbed van de rivier en biedt de binnenvaart op de Wezer voldoende ruimte. De brug ligt grotendeels in het winterbed van de rivier en de bogen laten een vrije doorstroom toe bij hoog water. Tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog werd de brug zwaar beschadigd door terugtrekkende troepen en het duurde tot februari 1949 voor alles weer hersteld was. Deze oude brug wordt niet meer gebruikt nadat de nieuwe brug voor het scheepvaartverkeer werd geopend in 1998.

Nieuwe brug
In 1993 begon men met het maken van plannen voor een nieuwe en bredere kanaalbrug. De nieuwe brug werd met 42 meter breder zodat schepen elkaar konden passeren. Verder nam de waterdiepte met een meter toe tot vier meter. De pijlers van de nieuwe brug staan gelijk met die van de oude om het water van de Wezer zo min mogelijk te hinderen. De brug is een combinatie van beton en staal. Na de oplevering in 1998 werd de toegang tot de oude kanaalbrug geblokkeerd.

De brug maakt deel uit van het "Wasserstraßenkreuz Minden".

Verbindingskanalen
Om van het Mittellandkanal per schip  naar de Wezer, of in omgekeerde richting, te varen zijn er tussen 1915 en 1919 twee verbindingskanalen aangelegd.  Het waterniveau van de Wezer is ongeveer 13 meter lager dan dat van het Mittellandkanal, zodat er sluizen nodig zijn om het hoogteverschil te overwinnen.
Aan de noordkant van de brug en aan de westkant van de rivier is het 1,2 km lange VKN (Verbindungskanal Nord) gegraven met daarin een grote sluis. Daar deze voor zeer grote schepen ongeschikt was geworden, is in 2017 naast de oude sluis (die voorlopig voor het schutten van kleinere schepen in bedrijf blijft) een nieuwe Weserschleuse gebouwd.

Analoog is aan de zuidkant van de brug en oostelijk van de Wezer het 1,3 km lange VKS gegraven, het Verbindungskanal Süd. Hierin bevinden zich twee sluizen. Een zijarm van dit kanaal is de industriehaven van de stad Minden.

Overige bouwwerken
Teneinde te voorkomen, dat door allerlei oorzaken het Mittellandkanal droogvalt, zijn in 1911-1914 twee grote pompinstallaties gebouwd, die water van elders het kanaal in pompen.

Aan de westkant van het VKN is dicht bij de nieuwe Weserschleuse een bezoekerscentrum met expositieruimtes gebouwd. Dit is geopend van april t/m oktober.

Foto's

Externe link
 Waser- und Schiffahrtsverwaltung des Bundes Wasserstraßenkreuz Minden

 Sinds 2017 bestaande website Informatiecentrum Wasserstraßenkreuz Minden

Brug in Duitsland
Kanaalbrug

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


CP3 continues to show how smart he is on the court as the best point guard in the NBA, now in his seventh season. And when out of uniform he continues to impress with his style. Here are his tips for looking sharp on any occasion.
Tip No. 4: Own the essentials: "If you are just starting to get into clothes and dressing nice, you have to get your essentials together. You have to have your white shirts, your blacks, your grays, khaki colors, and denim. Then you can mix and match.


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Non-disclosure clauses in sexism and sexual harassment cases
calendar 28 February 2021
With the #metoo movement and the exposure of the many cases on sexism and sexual harassment, it has come to light that a number of those who were exposed to sexism and sexual harassment have signed non-disclosure clauses. This has been substantially criticized. Therefore, we have chosen to take a closer look at what the law says about the use of non-disclosure clauses in those situations.
On a first note, it's important to emphasize that there can be many good reasons to enter into severance agreements and that severance agreements as a default includes a mutual confidentiality clause. What is special about the cases that now have been brought to light is that the non-disclosure clauses seem to have the purpose of broadening or targeting the duty of confidentiality towards the harassed party regarding the violation itself. This is in contradiction to a traditional severance agreement where the focus of the confidentiality clause primarily is on the terms of the agreement, and possibly also reiterates the general duty of confidentiality which would otherwise have applied, irrespective of the agreement.
The question in sexual harassment cases therefore is if it's legal to enter into non-disclosure clauses with the sole purpose of silencing the harassed party regarding the violation. Another question is whether the severance agreement prevents the harassed party from filing a sexual harassment case later. We will not be discussing that in this newsletter.
Enforcement of non-disclosure clauses
Settlements are often reached between two parties who disagree on the facts of a case. In sexual harassment cases, it's often word against word between the harasser and the harassed. A public statement on the sexual harassment can, if it cannot be proven, be defamatory, allowing the harasser to raise a claim against the harassed. Therefore, when a settlement is reached, both parties have a mutual interest in concluding the settlement, as they both avoid the risk and costs of a case.
A settlement reached directly between the parties involved, following legal advice on both sides, in the interests of both parties, with a balanced and reasonable outcome, to a full and final decision, will be binding upon both parties to a large extent. This also applies if the case is a matter of public interest. This is illustrated by a Danish case from 2016, where three employees in the Port of Aarhus had entered into a severance agreement in connection with a termination "for a full and final settlement on any issues between the parties". Subsequently, the Public Prosecutor's Office filed a lawsuit against the Port of Aarhus for having read the employees' text messages in violation of the rules on secret of correspondence. The question was whether the Public Prosecutor's Office was prevented from commencing public prosecution due to the severance agreement. When the parties entered into an agreement, the employees and their trade union were aware that the text messages had been read, and on that basis the Danish high court found that the Public Prosecutor's Office was prevented from prosecuting the matter.
The same logic cannot be applied when discussing a severance agreement between the company and the employee who was subject to the harassment. Here, the company cannot submit claims for compensation and does therefore not have the same interest in keeping the case closed. Instead, the company's interest is more often - roughly speaking - to avoid mentioning of the matter in general, within the company or in public.
If a severance agreement imposes a duty of confidentiality on an employee regarding a matter where the employee would not usually be subject to confidentiality as part of the employment, the question of whether such a duty of confidentiality can even be enforced arises. So does the question of what the consequence of the breach of confidentiality is.
In this particular situation, the sole purpose of the non-disclosure clause is to ensure that the harassed employee does not tell the outside world about the harassment which took place. In a situation where the harassed employee would not otherwise violate their ordinary duty of confidentiality by speaking publicly about the offense. In a situation where you're talking about matters in the public interest and which may violate the general moral perception. In that situation, it becomes relevant to look at whether such a non-disclosure clause will be disregarded in accordance with the so-called Danish Code from 1683 and its Section 5-1-2 on law and honor.
Section 5-1-2 of Danish Code has been applied in several cases concerning agreements on illegal work. In a construction case from 2014, where illegal work had been agreed, the Danish Supreme Court concluded, with reference to Section 5-1-2, that the agreement was invalid as it was contrary to common moral perception, regardless of whether the other legal norms had been violated. It's also interesting that the Danish Supreme Court stated that Section 5-1-2 can be applied when the agreement violates the interests of others or society, even though neither party wants the agreement set aside.
There are several things that make agreements on illegal work and non-disclosure clauses in sexual harassment cases comparable. And if you look to other comparable areas, then the area of consumer agreements is also an fitting, where the Danish Consumer Ombudsman has stated that non-disclosure clauses are invalid as they are "unreasonable and contrary to honest business practice because they deprive the consumer of central rights such as freedom of speech and access to enforcement authorities and legal assistance". It's therefore not unlikely that the Danish courts would override extensive non-disclosure clauses used in severance agreements with reference to Danish Code or the general provisions on invalidity in the Danish Contracts Act.
At the same time, it's important to emphasize that if the harassed employee chooses to go public with the case and cannot prove what has happened, the harassed employee risks a case of defamation. It's known that HK, among others, now recommend that its members enter into so-called anonymity clauses, where the identity of the harasser and the company is not revealed, but still allows the harassed employee to share their story. Although that approach seems pragmatic, it has some shortcomings. On the one hand, it would be unclear what the consequences of breaching the clause should be, and on the other hand, it would be difficult for an employee to shed light on their story without revealing the identity of the company, and ultimately the harasser. The risk of breaching the contract and facing a possible case defamation therefore does not seem to be resolved with this approach.
A closer look at the use of penalties
As it will often be unclear what consequences a breach of a non-disclosure clause will have, it's particularly interesting to look at whether it's lawful to insert an agreement on penalty payment in the clause, which some agreements in cases on sexual harassment have had.
In a case from 2004, a company had inserted a section on penalty payment in the employment contract in case of violation of the loyalty clause, which, among other things, concerns the duty of confidentiality. The penalty amounted to DKK 50,000.00 in case of a breach. In the case, the Danish Eastern High Court found that the company could not demand the penalty from the employee but instead was limited to raising claims under section 4 of the Salaried Employees Act, which gives the right to half a month's salary in the event of material breach. The section on the penalty payment was therefore not enforceable.
The case has been subject to discussion by some authors but so far, it's the only one of its kind, and the conclusion of the case is clear. Penalty payments in relation to employees' confidentiality will probably not be enforceable.
Particularly in relation to public employers, it's worth mentioning another case, from 2013. In this case, a municipality had inserted a penalty payment in a non-disclosure clause as part of a severance agreement. As part of the municipal supervision, the case was submitted to the Ministry of the Domestic and Health affairs, which was the relevant authority back then. After reviewing of the case, the Ministry stated that the non-disclosure clause, with regards to the part that went beyond what already followed from the Public Employees Act, was in breach of the Public Administration Act. The municipality could not, by agreement, extend the duty of confidentiality for the municipality's employees and former employees. It was therefore also illegal from the Ministry's point of view to impose a penalty for violation of the part of the non-disclosure clause that went beyond what already followed from the Act. Public employers are therefore subject to more wide-ranging protection against agreements on penalty payments in connection with non-disclosure clauses.
And, finally, it can be considered whether a penalty upon the employee is compatible with the Danish Act on Equal Treatment. Pursuant to the Danish Act on Equal Treatment, an employee can be awarded compensation if the employer exposes him or her to unfavorable treatment due to the person in question having raised an allegation of sexual harassment. And it must therefore be considered whether the imposition of an extended confidentiality and a penalty in itself is contrary to the Act, which then would trigger a right to compensation for the employee. This issue remains unresolved.
Companies should generally have a strategy and procedures in place on how cases concerning sexism and sexual harassment can be avoided, and how to handle such cases internally, should they arise.
Companies should be reluctant to enter into severance agreements and settlements aimed at settling any case between the harasser and the harassed employee, to which the company is not a direct party. And for the same reason, companies should be reluctant to impose confidentiality on employees that goes beyond the ordinary duty of confidentiality and the terms of the severance agreement itself.
In cases where the company enters into a settlement that aims to settle a claim of sexism or sexual harassment, it's important that the settlement includes all parties relevant to the case, that it's clear that the settlement settles the case, that the agreement is balanced for all parties and that all parties have received legal advice on the content of the agreement before it's signed.


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DFDS orders two new ro-ro ships at Jinling yard
Denmark's DFDS has placed an order for a pair of large ro-ro ships at China's Jinling shipyard.
The latest order is in addition to an earlier order made in October last year for two similar ro-ro ships, bringing the shipowner's orderbook of the 6,700-lane metre vessels at Jinling shipyard to four.
The first two of the four new ro-ro ships are scheduled to be delivered in early-2019, and the latest two new ones in early-2020, for operations across the North Sea.
"The ships form part of our newbuilding programme that underpins our ability to deliver the transport capacity required by our customers and our continuous pursuit of efficiency improvements," said Niels Smedegaard, ceo of DFDS.
The ro-ro ships are being constructed in accordance to the new IMO EEDI (Energy Efficiency Design Index) regulations, and they will reduce energy consumption and emissions by more than 25% per transported trailer compared to current standards.
"As the ships are also being built with a scrubber and equipped with ballast water treatment system and a number of energy-enhancing initiatives, they represent a whole new generation of environmentally friendly ro-ro ships," Smedegaard said.
In addition to the four newbuilds at Jinling shipyard, DFDS' newbuilding programme so far includes two ro-ro ships under construction in Flensburg, Germany.
Lee Hong Liang
Published in EuropeAsiaContainersShipbuilding & ShipyardsNews Emails


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'Dumping the Pump' to Promote Public Transit
Coast RTA, in the Myrtle Beach, S.C. area, is one of more than 150 transit systems offering promos and giveaways to encourage the use of public transit. Coast RTA
Across the country, more than 150 transit systems are promoting ridership and thanking customers as part of the 13th annual National Dump the Pump Day, an initiative by the American Public Transportation Association.
On Thursday, residents in Lubbock, Texas; Greensboro, North Carolina and Franklin, Tennessee rode public buses for free. In Cincinnati, bus and streetcar riders could stop by main transit hubs for goodie bags and giveaways. And in Santa Fe, transit riders passing through the South Capitol Transit Station grabbed free coffee and doughnuts before heading on their morning commutes.
Across the country, more than 150 transit systems promoted ridership and thanked customers as part of the 13th annual National Dump the Pump Day, an initiative by the American Public Transportation Association that "highlights public transportation as a convenient travel option that also helps people save money."
According to the APTA's June Transit Savings Report, a two-person household can save an average of more than $10,160 annually by downsizing to one car and using public transit. Access to public transportation has also been shown to benefit the environment, boost economic output in a community and increase chances of escaping poverty,
APTA started the national day in 2006, after consumers were shocked—and then outraged—when gas prices spiked to $3 per gallon. Gas prices have since decreased —though they're on the rise at the moment—but dozens of transit agencies still participate in the promotion each year. Many see it as a way to thank their existing riders while touting the benefits of public transportation for would-be customers.
"We're thanking transit riders for choosing transit and leaving their car at home, especially during the summer when gas prices are higher," Tim Nazanin, communications manager for Chicago's Regional Transportation Authority, told Route Fifty. "It's just a good way to have a conversation with people about transit being a good option."
During morning rush hour, RTA offered free coffee and mini doughnuts to commuters at three transit locations who showed a Ventra Card, the Ventra mobile app or Metra ticket. Thursday night, RTA partnered with the Chicago White Sox to encourage the use of public transit to travel to the game versus the Oakland Athletics, where the first 10,000 fans to enter the park received a transit-themed T-shirt.
But most of the participating transit systems are smaller. The promotion doesn't always lead to a sizable uptick in ridership, but that's secondary to showing appreciation for regular commuters, said Michelle Cantey, spokeswoman for Coast Regional Transportation Authority in the Myrtle Beach, South Carolina area.
"Any opportunity in which we can participate to show appreciation or build awareness for the local community in supporting public transportation, we're happy to participate," Cantey told Route Fifty. "It isn't so much about a one-day ridership boost as it is about building that long-term loyalty."
Coast RTA manages 20 buses on 10 fixed routes plus an entertainment shuttle, which service two counties and the 60-mile strand of the greater Myrtle Beach area. The transit agency must balance service in a high-traffic tourist area with providing viable options to rural, agricultural communities that depend on public transportation to get to work. That includes six routes that travel into the country to pick up passengers and transport them to a connector or directly to the beach by early morning. Most of those riders work in the hospitality industry, Cantey said.
"We frequently have people in the rural areas tell us that they wouldn't have a job if they couldn't take the bus," she said.
To celebrate Dump the Pump Day, Coast RTA planned to distribute transit facts to passengers at its transfer centers, hand out "I support public transportation!" stickers and provide Coast RTA coloring books to younger riders. Certain bus seats had Dump the Pump flyers hidden beneath them, entitling the passenger to a bus pass ranging in value from $3 to $20.
"It's just anything we can do to to basically say 'thank you for choosing to ride,'" Cantey said.
Other participating systems included:
Riverside Transit Agency, Riverside, California: RTA's street team provided giveaways and a limited number of free day passes and a Google Home Mini at Riverside City Hall.
Chattanooga Area Regional Transportation, Chattanooga, Tennessee: Free bus rides, plus giveaways of reusable tote bags, some of which contained bus passes.
Metro McAllen, McAllen, Texas: McAllen Central Station housed a free photo booth where riders could snap photos, which were placed in a Dump the Pump frame. Riders could also meet the Metro McAllen mascot and receive free snow cones.
Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, Atlanta: Last weekend, the transit agency hosted its sixth annual Dump the Pump Scavenger Hunt. Five winning teams received prizes, with members of the first-place team taking home a $425 Visa gift card.
Capital Area Transit, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: CAT co-sponsored a selfie contest with prizes and giveaways at the Harrisburg Transfer Center in conjunction with Commuter Services of PA.
Free transit rides: Available in Abingdon, Maryland; Altoona, Pennsylvania; Berlin, New Hampshire; Clarksville, Tennessee; Columbia, South Carolina; Elkton, Maryland; Escambia, Florida; Flagstaff, Arizona; Las Cruces, New Mexico; Longview, Texas; Midland, Texas; Port Richey, Florida and Stockton, California.
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Q: SlidingMenu Left and Right - Can you make different sizes? I am trying to setup dual slidingmenus (using the popular one by jfeinstein10).
I want the left slideout to be "shorter" than the right (which should take up 95% of the screen on my app). Normally I use this:
sMenu.setBehindOffsetRes(R.dimen.slidingmenu_offset);
Simple question:
But that sets the size for both.  Can I do it separately?

A: EDITED:
Guys, i can see you still vote up this answer, but has been outdated even since Navigation Drawer was released. For now, you can use Material Design guidelines to do this. Just keep yourself in trend, don't be lazy.
OLD ONE:
Actually you may use all_sides branch to do it as well.
for set behind view use
getSlidingMenu().setMenu(resID, side)

E.G. BaseActivity:
SlidingMenu sm = getSlidingMenu();
sm.setMenu(R.layout.menu_frame_two, SlidingMode.RIGHT);
sm.setShadowDrawable(R.drawable.shadowright, SlidingMode.RIGHT);
sm.setBehindWidthRes(R.dimen.slidingmenu_width_right, SlidingMode.RIGHT);
sm.setBehindWidthRes(R.dimen.slidingmenu_width_left, SlidingMode.LEFT);
sm.setMode(SlidingMode.LEFT_RIGHT);

xml /values/dimen.xml:
<!-- SlidingMenu right width-->
<dimen name="slidingmenu_width_right">150dp</dimen>
<!-- SlidingMenu left width-->
<dimen name="slidingmenu_width_left">60dp</dimen>

A: Not without subclassing his sliding menu. You also cannot apply a animation/transformation that is different for either side. It is a frustrating limitation of the library.


It's a quiet start on radar this morning despite a thin veil of upper level clouds moving overhead. It should be thin enough to allow for filtered sunshine throughout the day today, and a beautiful sunrise!
Due to the clouds and onshore wind at the end of the day yesterday increasing a bit of humidity, we're not as chilly this morning. Temperatures are starting out in the mid 50s for most. You may still want a light jacket for the early morning commute, before 7am. Otherwise, temperatures warm very fast today to near 70° by 9am, and most will be able to get away without the extra layer. Highs will top out in the upper 70s on the coast to low to mid 80s inland today even with that filtered sunshine.
Southerly warm and humid flow is taking over the Northern Gulf Coast as our area of high pressure is now shifted out east into the Atlantic. While coastal waters are still cool enough to keep temperatures in the 70s on the beaches and around the bays today, the added humidity to the air and the warmer temperatures over land will allow for some fair weather clouds to puff up this afternoon away from the coast. No rain showers will be found in any of today's clouds, however, our next system is not too far off.
We'll watch another area of low pressure develop out of the Plains today and tomorrow, sliding into the Panhandle Thursday night into Friday morning. There's a decent chance we could see some severe weather develop along another squall line feature developing off a cold front with this system. Gusty winds and a few tornadoes could be possible embedded in this line of storms that passes through, so we'll need to be weather aware Thursday night into Friday morning. The storms should clear out by midday Friday, and a chilly northerly wind will blow through the rest of the day as highs on Friday struggle to reach 70 degrees in the afternoon.
For today, mostly sunny skies with a few more clouds inland in the afternoon. Highs today reach the upper 70s on the beaches to low to mid 80s inland. Your 7 Day Forecast has another mainly quiet day tomorrow but more cloud cover with rain chances moving in tomorrow night into Friday morning.


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Good for you two! Thanks for your obedience and heart for the things of our Father.
Actually Floyd, it is ME that is afraid of heights…she doesn't like closed in places. For her…riding in that balloon was wonderful, for me…it would have put me in the hospital! LOL… Thank you sir for your kind words of encouragement. It is wonderful to be serving a great God!


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CLICK TO WIN!
Opinion Child Watch "We Need a Change"
CBC Opposes Nomination of Judge Gorsuch and the Senate Should Too
Published on Thursday, 30 March 2017 14:07
Written by U.S. Congressman Cedric Richmond (D-La.)
By U.S. Congressman Cedric Richmond (D-La.)
Chairman, Congressional Black Caucus
On January 31, President Trump nominated Judge Neil Gorsuch for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. If confirmed, Gorsuch's lifelong appointment to the court would have serious consequences for all Americans, but especially African Americans and vulnerable communities. Judge Gorsuch has displayed hostility to the rights of minorities, women, people with disabilities, and workers, which is why the Congressional Black Caucus submitted testimony recently opposing his nomination. His judicial record on race and related matters and constitutional and equal rights litigation does not merit our support or the support of the Senate.
All interpreters of the law should be committed to fairness and justice, not a specific legal philosophy of judicial interpretation. Judge Gorsuch's commitment to "originalism," or, interpreting the Constitution in a way that's consistent with the intent of those who wrote it, often results in him ruling in favor of the big guy instead of the little guy, the strong instead of the weak, and the majority instead of minorities. From 2007 to 2016, Judge Gorsuch issued 14 published judgments related to employee discrimination cases. Nine of those decisions were in favor of the employer. We need a Supreme Court justice who will judge cases on the merits, not based on his or her personal philosophies.
For example, Judge Gorsuch believes that police officers should be granted qualified immunity, which prevents law enforcement and other government officials from being held accountable for the excessive use of force. In the case of Wilson v. City of Lafayette, Gorsuch decided that a police officer was entitled to qualified immunity from an excessive force claim arising from the use of a stun gun that ultimately killed a young man. In three other cases involving police accountability, Gorsuch ruled in favor of police searches of vehicles without a warrant, minimizing the Fourth Amendment protections against unauthorized search and seizure.
Judge Gorsuch's ruling in police accountability cases are particularly troubling given the increasing number of shooting deaths of so many unarmed African Americans by the police, and recent Department of Justice investigations that have found that police departments across the country have had a "pattern and practice" of racial discrimination.
In addition to his poor judicial record on police accountability, Judge Gorsuch has a poor judicial record on workers' rights. His record is one of supporting employers over employees, even in the case of employees with disabilities. In Hwang v. Kansas State University, Judge Gorsuch ruled that "showing up" for work is an essential job function and that the Rehabilitation Act should not be used as a safety net for employees who cannot work. This case focused on a professor employed by Kansas State University who was diagnosed with cancer, and, after treatments that weakened her immune system, requested an extension due to a flu outbreak on the campus. Judge Gorsuch denied her request and sided with the university, compromising her health and recovery.
He has a similar record when it comes to reproductive rights. In two cases, he sided with companies that wanted to deny women reproductive healthcare.
The judicial branch has the power to interpret the laws of the land, and thus, impacts every American's way of life. This is especially true for the highest court in the land. Because of the decisions rendered by the Supreme Court, African-Americans have been granted the opportunity to attend the school of their choice, women have been granted reproductive health rights, and workers have been granted safety and security from exploitative labor practices. Judge Gorsuch's record in each of these areas raises concerns. His commitment to "originalism" also raises concerns. The Constitution is a living and breathing document that is meant to evolve with our society and it should be interpreted as such.
As the Senate evaluates Judge Gorsuch's judicial record, it is imperative that Senators focus on consistency. Judge Gorsuch has consistently used the bench to protect corporations, and limit the rights of minorities, women, and workers. Consequently, the Congressional Black Caucus opposes his nomination and urges the Senate to do the same.
Congressman Richmond is the 25th Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, and represents the 2nd District of Louisiana. On Twitter, follow the caucus at @OfficialCBC and follow Congressman Richmond at @RepRichmond.
The Los Angeles Sentinel
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