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EPJ.org
National agreement in France
All issues Volume 4 (2018) EPJ Nuclear Sci. Technol., 4 (2018) 14 Full HTML
Special Issue on 4th International Workshop on Nuclear Data Covariances, October 2–6, 2017, Aix en Provence, France – CW2017
EPJ Nuclear Sci. Technol.
Applied Covariances
https://doi.org/10.1051/epjn/2018016
2 Uncertainty propagation ...
3 NDaST half ...
4 Results and analysis
5 Conclusions and further work
EPJ Nuclear Sci. Technol. 4, 14 (2018)
Regular Article
A comparison of uncertainty propagation techniques using NDaST: full, half or zero Monte Carlo?
James Dyrda, Ian Hill, Luca Fiorito, Oscar Cabellos and Nicolas Soppera*
OECD Nuclear Energy Agency, Boulogne-Billancourt, France
* e-mail: ndast@oecd-nea.org
Received in final form: 18 January 2018
Accepted: 4 May 2018
Uncertainty propagation to keff using a Total Monte Carlo sampling process is commonly used to solve the issues associated with non-linear dependencies and non-Gaussian nuclear parameter distributions. We suggest that in general, keff sensitivities to nuclear data perturbations are not problematic, and that they remain linear over a large range; the same cannot be said definitively for nuclear data parameters and their impact on final cross-sections and distributions. Instead of running hundreds or thousands of neutronics calculations, we therefore investigate the possibility to take those many cross-section file samples and perform 'cheap' sensitivity perturbation calculations. This is efficiently possible with the NEA Nuclear Data Sensitivity Tool (NDaST) and this process we name the half Monte Carlo method (HMM). We demonstrate that this is indeed possible with a test example of JEZEBEL (PMF001) drawn from the ICSBEP handbook, comparing keff directly calculated with SERPENT to those predicted with NDaST. Furthermore, we show that one may retain the normal NDaST benefits; a deeper analysis of the resultant effects in terms of reaction and energy breakdown, without the normal computational burden of Monte Carlo (results within minutes, rather than days). Finally, we assess the rationality of using either full or HMMs, by also using the covariance data to do simple linear 'sandwich formula' type propagation of uncertainty onto the selected benchmarks. This allows us to draw some broad conclusions about the relative merits of selecting a technique with either full, half or zero degree of Monte Carlo simulation
© J. Dyrda et al., published by EDP Sciences, 2018
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
The TENDL evaluated nuclear data library [1], produced by the nuclear data modelling code TALYS is produced according to the Total Monte Carlo (TMC) and Unified Monte Carlo methodologies [2,3]. As a result, many randomly sampled realisations of the nuclear data are generated − in some cases these are made available to users. For the TENDL-2014 release, processed files in ACE format, compatible with the neutronics codes such as MCNP, SERPENT, etc., are also provided.1
This conveniently allows us to test the supposition, that the difference in keff with each of these random files, relative to the 'zero-th' (nominal) file can be predicted by Nuclear Data Sensitivity Tool (NDaST) [4], within acceptable accuracy. These Δkeff values, corresponding to the uncertainties from the nuclear data evaluation, can be calculated using the relative perturbations automatically generated by the tool and the multi-group sensitivity profile retrieved from the DICE database [5]. Essentially the set of sensitivity vectors is a case specific, first-order model surrogate that replaces the neutronics solver.
The JEZEBEL (PMF001) case from the ICSBEP handbook [6] was used as the test example, for the random 239Pu files taken from the evaluators. Identical, processed libraries were then used for an equal number of direct SERPENT calculations, and the resulting values, and their statistical distributions were compared. Seven of the principal neutron reactions were used to generate the perturbations for NDaST:
(n,elastic) − MT = 2
(n,inelastic) − levels MT = 51–80, 91 (continuum) and sum MT = 4, are included in TENDL-2014
(n,2n) − MT = 16
(n,f) − MT = 18
(n,γ) − MT = 102
( ) nubar − MT = 452
(χ) chi − the prompt fission neutron spectra (PFNS) of secondary energies, tabulated for 97 different incoming neutron energies in TENDL-2014.
2 Uncertainty propagation methods
2.1 Total Monte Carlo (TMC)
The TMC methodology maintains to the best degree, the complete representation of all 'known uncertainties' in both the nuclear data evaluations and the resulting outcome of keff. Its results can be considered exact (to within statistical noise) for all high order responses and non-Gaussian parameter distributions. It also circumvents the need to analyse results using either evaluated multi-group covariances, or sensitivity co-efficients which must in turn be generated by a suitable code. These in turn must be well calculated (according to a group structure) and converged (when using a statistical estimator).
However, even advanced TMC processes [7,8] can be rather slow, i.e., requiring several hundreds or thousands of model solutions, and can obscure the detailed effects as a function of reaction and energy. This information can only be retained using post-regression analysis of the sampled parameters and the resulting correlation to keff. It is fair to conclude that the process is not generally accessible to most data users, firstly because of the paucity of random TMC evaluations at their disposal (TENDL being the main demonstrable option); and, because of the necessary computing power, without which the solution time could potentially run into several months or years per nuclide. Although TMC has been applied to core cycles studies [9], in general has been used to test that more simplified analyses are more-or-less accurate (and have concluded this is the case to within approximately 20% [10]).
2.2 Brute Force Monte Carlo (BFMC)
The methodology, on occasion known as Brute Force Monte Carlo (BFMC) [11] (not to be confused with Backward–Forward Monte Carlo), involves the user producing their own random library samples, based upon the covariance data representation within the evaluated file. It can therefore cope with non-linearity in the responses between cross-section changes and keff and does not require sensitivity data. It is therefore generally applicable to almost any code and data combination, since only the input information needs to be re-sampled and modified. However, it is still somewhat slow and can obscure details in terms of reactions and energy. In addition it necessitates a code capable of performing the sampling process in the manner required; several examples have been developed and demonstrated; NUDUNA (Areva), KIWI (LLNL), SANDY (SCK-CEN), SHARK-X (PSI), etc.
2.3 Linear propagation (sandwich formula) method
The TENDL-2014 239Pu evaluation file also contains reaction covariance data (C), representing the uncertainties and correlations between energies and reactions. These are processed using the NJOY2012 [12] code into BOXER format files for use within NDaST. In this way, in conjuction with the sensitivity profile (Sk), the uncertaintes can be linearly propagated to keff using the classical linear 'Sandwich' formula [13] method ( ). It requires no random libraries and is therefore convenient and quick to apply. Its other benefit is a more complete physical understanding of the resulting data, which is retained completely on a reaction and energy basis.
In practice, this method is widely used within the nuclear data and application communities − even for determination of bias estimation in criticality safety limits. Thus the testing of this 'Zero Monte Carlo' approach against the Full or Half MC, and the adequacy of the processed covariance representations, is of relevance. In the most ideal situation, one would wish to retain the accuracy of the Full MC approach, but with the speed, efficiency and knowledge offered from the Zero MC classical method. The availability of NDaST for application of a half Monte Carlo method (HMM) may be one way by which this can be somewhat attained.
3 NDaST half Monte Carlo method (HMM) development
Since the recent introduction of the automated file upload feature in NDaST, along with the removal of the limitation to one single perturbation per reaction-nuclide, the HMM has become possible. The computation feature, leveraged from the JANIS tool, allows the quick loading of a series of perturbations, taking several numerators (the random files) and one denominator (the original file). Also developed in conjunction was the visualisation of these random sets, for each reaction-nuclide or combination, along with calculation of associated statistical measures (mean, standard deviation, skewness, kurtosis, etc).
One important note should be mentioned concerning χ; this is represented in general as a number (in the region ∼10–30) of probability distributions for several incoming neutron energies (E), as a function of outgoing energy (E′). In generation of the perturbations solely as a function of E′ therefore, one needs to weight the contributions from each of the incoming E. In this manner, compatibility with the sensitivity data units which are a function only of E′ is ensured. An appropriate weighting for the case(s) under investigation is required, and in this work the 299-group JEZEBEL fission spectrum calculated with KENO/ABBN-93, as taken from the DICE database was applied.
Numerical verification work of the HMM was performed, but is not reported here. For example, tests of energy interpolation functions were made to ensure best accuracy is maintained; also tested was the difference between forming the requested multi-group pertubation bins, before or after the division operation, the latter being the preferred and adopted choice.
3.1 The SANDY nuclear data sampling tool
The SANDY tool [14], developed at SCK-CEN, is a numerical tool for nuclear data uncertainty quantification. It is based on Monte Carlo sampling of cross-section parameters, according to best-estimate values and covariances. It works on ENDF-6 format files, taking one single file and sampling from a normally distributed multivariate pdf to produce N random samples still in ENDF-6 format [15]. It therefore offers flexibility, retaining the identical point-wise structure as the initial input file.
SANDY was used to sample 450 random realisations of the TENDL-2014 library, using the data from covariance files MF31, MF33 and MF35. Although it is capable also of using MF32 and MF34, these were not requested in the present case. When forming the union covariance matrix for MF33, large negative eigenvalues were noted, resulting in a non-positive definite matrix. This was solved simply by deleting, and ignoring, the cross-reaction correlations. Furthermore, the χ covariance distributions were observed to not comply with the 'zero-sum' rule. Therefore in each of the output files, re-normalisation of the PFNS distribution to unity was performed. Both of the above limitations are considered to be problematic artefacts of this particular nuclear data evaluation.
These SANDY sampled files were also passed both through NDaST and used in direct calculation of PMF001 using the SERPENT code [16]. Since the samples are formed from the covariances, this will be referred to as the 'backwards' HMM. This is as opposed to the samples produced from TALYS using input modelling parameter uncertainties in a 'forwards' sense.
The results panel of the NDaST software is shown in Figure 1, where each random file is shown as a table row, and each reaction as a column. The value within the cell is the total Δkeff for that given combination; highlighting one or a number of cells shows the energy level detail as a series in the graph immediately below.
In Figure 2, the results of the Δkeff for each of the 988 random TENDL-2014 files are show, for both the direct method, using SERPENT as the Monte Carlo neutronics solver, and with the 'forwards' HMM method via NDaST. The bin widths are 200 pcm and vary from approximately −2000 pcm to +2500 pcm. The average difference between the two sets of values is only 13 pcm − on the same order as the statistical uncertainty in the Monte Carlo simulations. However, the offset is slightly greater on the 'tails', i.e., for the largest Δkeff values, with a maximum difference of 161 pcm. This is potentially a demonstration of a higher order dependency, where the linear sensitivity coefficients do not sufficiently well predict the perturbation effect.
The statistical distribution of the two sets of results (as calculated within MS Excel) are given in Table 1. The additional information available from NDaST, is the reaction-specific statistics, as shown in Figure 3. This can assist the user in better understanding the underlying processes, for instance the reasons for which a non-Gaussian distribution on keff is obtained; in the present case, fission cross-section and Chi both have a slightly negative mean and skewness to the distribution appears to have its main contribution from inelastic scatter.
NDaST output panel of Δkeff for PFNS for each random file as a function of energy.
Comparison of Δkeff for both NDaST-HMM and direct calculation with SERPENT.
Comparison of Δkeff distribution statistics for TENDL-2014 random files.
Comparison of Δkeff for NDaST-HMM by reaction, with distribution statistics.
4.1 Comparison with TALYS HMM
Tables 2 and 3 show the comparison of results between the NDaST 'forwards' HMM and the sandwich method. Specific values are highlighted (in bold in Tab. 3) to show where the reaction totals are inconstent, i.e., for inelastic, fission, nubar and Chi. One can see therefore that the HMM gives insight into why the totals of 808 and 929 pcm differ (Tab. 1). However, it is difficult, based on the limited knowledge of how the random files were generated with TALYS as to the reasons for this. These could be allotted to reasons such as methods of constraint, evaluator choice, software/processing effects or the limited ability of covariances to capture high order/non-Gaussian responses.
The greatest inconsistency may be noted for the results in Chi-values of 93 and 470 pcm for HMM and sandwich method respectively. This value alone may therefore account for the differences in the summed totals. As a secondary check, an energy-wise covariance matrix was reconstructed from the perturbations calculated by NDaST as part of the HMM. This was subsequently used with the sensitivities to propagate to keff, in a secondary application of the sandwich method. The result was an identical 93 pcm, as the one calculated by the forwards HMM, however the difference in the relative standard deviation between this reconstructed covariance, and the original processed by NJOY is clearly evident in Figure 4.
Sandwich formula uncertainty propagation results.
Forwards HMM (TALYS) uncertainty propagation results.
Relative standard deviation of 239Pu PFNS in original TENDL-2014 evaluation and reconstructed from random samples.
4.2 Comparison with SANDY HMM
The results in Table 4 show the difference between the SANDY generated random files − the 'backwards' HMM and the sandwich method. In this instance, one would expect a much better agreement, since SANDY uses the same file-contained covariances to re-generate its samples. This is generally the case, apart from the two cases highlighed (purple) − inelastic scatter and Chi. The inconsistency for the inelastic is most likely explained in how SANDY uses the covariance data associated with each of the several partial scattering levels, as opposed to the combined cross-section (MT4). It appears that in this case at least, the two approaches are not equivalent. These and the missing off-diagonal contributions result in a much lower total uncertainty of 652 pcm being obtained.
As before, the greatest difference is apparent for Chi − the 87 pcm uncertainty obtained is much closer to the 'forwards' HMM value from the TALYS random files. In this instance, because of the identical origin of the covariance data, we can almost certainly attribute the difference to the re-normalisation applied by SANDY. It does this to each of the random files when the integrated Chi probability distribution does not sum to unity. NJOY is understood to also apply some correction to covariances which do not conform to the zero-sum rule; documentation states that for the condition in equations (1) and (2) is applied. However this work seems to indicate some discrepancy between the two approaches or a processing/software mistake. Confirmation of the magnitude of the re-normalised variances was again found by reconstruction as above, this is shown as a third series in Figure 4. The effect is driven by the particularly high uncertainty above 2 Mev, coupled with JEZEBEL's sensitivity in this region (10% of fissions occur above 4 MeV and contribute 30% of the absolute χ sensitivity total) − this is also apparent in the energy-wise series shown in Figure 1. (1) (2)
One final consideration made, was as to which of the incoming energy (E) covariance tables is used by NJOY for processing by its ERRORR module. This is controlled in the input by stating the mean energy of fission (Ef mean parameter), which if not specified defaults to 2 MeV. NJOY selects only the covariance whose energy-span includes the Ef mean value. To investigate, we processed BOXER data at eight additional energies, from thermal to fast spectra as shown in Table 5. Also shown are the propagated errors in keff obtained from using each of them. The range of the relative standard deviations associated with each of these is apparent in Figure 5. To obtain the most representative value for the case, one should apply a weighted sum of each of the values in Table 5, according to the case fission spectrum. It is clear however, that although this would have an effect, it cannot explain the larger discrepancies obtained by the 'forwards' and 'backwards' HMMs compared to the sandwich method.
Backwards HMM (SANDY) uncertainty propagation results.
PFNS keff uncertainties from different Ef mean values, default Ef mean = 2 MeV.
Relative standard deviation of 239Pu PFNS in TENDL-2014 for different NJOY Ef mean input values.
This work has described the development of a HMM in the NDaST tool maintained by the NEA. It makes use of the existing JANIS computations function, automating it for use of an alternative uncertainty propagation method. This method is many times faster than the full TMC methodology, but retains most of its rigour and gives a deeper insight for analysts into the reaction/energy effects with no additional computational burden. It was tested just for the PMF001 case (JEZEBEL sphere) in both a 'forwards' and 'backwards' sense and compared to the classical liner sandwich formula method, noting several instances of disagreement. However, there was generally very little difference between the Δkeff values generated by the HMM and with full Monte Carlo via SERPENT. Thus the method seems applicable, for all but extreme perturbations, giving rise to several thousand pcm difference.
Particular care was shown to be necessary for the handling of the inelastic scattering cross-section and PFNS (Chi) covariances, where specific choices in processing can lead to dramatic differences in the end results. The application of re-normalisation to non-zero-sum MF35 within NJOY warrants further investigation, as the results do not seem to exhibit those expected/intended. It would also be insightful for the analysis described here to be repeated for further integral experiment cases. In particular, more demanding cases could be identified where the zero-th file gives a different keff value than the average of the random files, i.e., strong skewness. Using other nuclear data evaluations would also show any particular problem or amplified effect obtained from either the TENDL-2014 library or the very fast spectrum associated with this case. Extension to parameters beyond keff such as benchmark spectral indices would also be of interest, particularly with respect to the demonstrated susceptibility to changes in the PFNS.
Finally, the wider availability of a means to generate randomly sampled libraries would be of great benefit. As discussed, the TALYS tool is not the most accessible to users of nuclear data. However, the ability at least to do 'backwards' sampling and pass these to NDaST for HMM (alike to a BFMC method) would replace the need for covariance processing and any of the pitfalls involved. It is the intention in the near future, to make the SANDY tool used here freely available, possibly via the NEA Databank Computer Program Service. Close pairing of this to NDaST would enhance greatly the NEA services in nuclear data processing and application.
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Cite this article as: James Dyrda, Ian Hill, Luca Fiorito, Oscar Cabellos, Nicolas Soppera, A comparison of uncertainty propagation techniques using NDaST: full, half or zero Monte Carlo? EPJ Nuclear Sci. Technol. 4, 14 (2018)
In the text
Checking, processing and verification of nuclear data covariances
New features and improved uncertainty analysis in the NEA nuclear data sensitivity tool (NDaST)
EPJ Web of Conferences 146, 06026 (2017)
Propagation d'incertitudes en déterministe et en Monte Carlo
Données nucléaires : avancées et défis à relever, 04 (2014)
Uncertainty analysis of Lead cross sections on reactor safety for ELECTRA
SNA + MC 2013, 02401 (2014)
Propagation of nuclear data uncertainty: Exact or with covariances
EPJ Web of Conferences 8, 04003 (2010)
Editors-in-Chief: Gilles Moutiers and Anne Nicolas - Editorial board


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Electric katana/longbow questions
Re: Electric katana/longbow questions
Postby TorgHacker » Sat Jan 05, 2019 12:08 pm
mica wrote: I was under the impression that for ords there is still a difference between disconnection and transformation.
So while they may disconnect when trying to fire a rifle in the LL or fix the boat with a wrench they were not actually transformed.
Example - the disconnected marines in the lifeboat are more in tune with the LL and beginning to wonder why they have an odd looking club in their hands but kind of recall that it is a gun, same thing for the mechanic with modern clothes and a wrench. At that point though they are simply disconnected core-earth.
They still presumably have some possibility and if they step into a hard point area will reconnect but are not instinctively fighting the new reality like storm knights so their gear will not actually flicker between realities.
Correct. In my (admittedly not technically official, because it's not on paper, but I'm the one most to blame for the reality rule details) 'understanding' of how this works is that there are two pipes provided by the Everlaw of Two that connects a person to their reality. The first is high bandwidth, and this provides Possibility Energy to do contradictions... (it is a lower bandwidth than reality-rated folks though).
When you're disconnected, the Everlaw of One has cut that pipe provided by the Everlaw of Two.
But there's a second connection that is extremely low bandwidth but still provides a connection to their home reality. It's not enough to allow an Ord (or a disconnected Storm Knight) to do contradictions when disconnected. But it's enough to allow Storm Knights to reconnect even outside their reality, and allows Ords to connect when they're inside theirs.
The phasing in and out does represent the conflict between the Everlaw of One attempting to transform the character and the Everlaw of Two to reconnect them. And eventually one of the two will win. There's no scenario where a Storm Knight disconnects and cannot reconnect. He either reconnects or transforms...one or the other.
Everlaw of Two: "Here's Possibility energy! Do that magic!"
Everlaw of One: "Do do do ... wait....none of that!" <snip>
Everlaw of Two: "Okay, I'll just plug you in again..."
Everlaw of One: "NO YOU WON'T"
Two: "YES I WILL"
One: "NO YOU WON'T"
<if the Storm Knight reconnects>
Two: "HA! SEE!?"
One: "... FINE. But I've got my eyes on you. Don't you be doing any silly stuff."
<if the Storm Knight transforms>
One: "THERE! All better! See? Aren't you glad that Core Earther isn't messing things up anymore?"
Two: "What Core Earther?"
Because Ords don't have that attempt, the Everlaw of One is content to just disconnect the Ord. No need to spend more energy than it needs to. Though 1 out of 20 times it accidentally is a bit too enthusiastic in cutting the Ord off.
The Meta-law of One is that the Everlaw of One is LAZY.
Their actual items etc will transform when they do and it is at that point they are stripped of their (trace) possibilities. That said, as they are in the LL their items will also be subject to natural transformation, same as any item left unattended. So a disconnected ord with an ak47 in his hand tramping through the LL may find that it transforms into a spear even though his clothes remain modern.
Correct. Though even his clothes will transform eventually too...and it won't take very long. At most 1 day in a Pure Zone, 1 week in a Dominant Zone.
Location: Auburn, WA
Postby Atama » Sat Jan 05, 2019 12:32 pm
Gargoyle wrote: Swords are similar to the bats/clubs. If the stats are the same I'd treat the machete saber and short sword as all Tech 8, but they're not. A short sword has +2 damage bonus and is Tech 8, fine. A saber and a katana has +3 damage bonus and are pretty much identical. So my house rule is they both should be a Tech axiom of 12. The saber gains no game mechanic advantage from being Tech 16, so I dislike that's how it is. It's even more expensive. They function all the same (and please don't point out to me how they are different in real life, I train with swords every day, I know...I'm talking about the basics of it and in the game..you're still cutting and poking people!), and so it just feels wrong that you can disconnect using a saber in Aysle but not a katana. Some people probably like that distinction, I don't.
Now I don't go through the equipment list and change it, I'm far too lazy for that. I go with the RAW values in play, so sabers at my table are still Tech 16. It's not a big deal IMO. But if there is a weapon not on the list, I don't inflate the tech level because of what you might see on a "How It's Made" video, I only make it higher if that helps its game mechanics somehow. It's still a house rule I suppose, but it's not one I have to use a lot.
That's fair, we all have house rules and yours has valid logic behind it. As long as it's clear that it's a house rule. I see all kinds of interesting house rules on the boards.
"You are a bad person, and should feel bad."
-TorgHacker (being tongue-in-cheek )
ShirtlessOBrien
Postby ShirtlessOBrien » Sat Jan 05, 2019 9:42 pm
TorgHacker wrote: They don't. Just to be clear. If someone wants to argue that they still provide a 'benefit' then pull out a water pistol and shoot them a few times.
Everlaw of Modesty: "Everlaw of One, we talked about this. I don't care if her underwear are nylon and hence a contradiction, leave them alone. Sicko".
Everlaw of One: "I'm a trans-universal cosmic law! I don't care who sees her bits, I have no sexuality, I just want to make all contradictions see-through and her brassiere is a contradiction!"
Everlaw of Modesty: "We are NOT that sort of game. Put them back."
World Laws of the Living Land: "I see someone has played cosm cards. All your clothes fall off and things are getting steamy in here".
Everlaw of Modesty: "Maybe we are that sort of game."
Postby Savioronedge » Sat Jan 05, 2019 10:44 pm
Maybe say, "no game mechanic benefit."
There is (at this time) no mechanical benefit to wearing undergarments. Unless you bought bullet proof clothes and defined them as underwear, in which case they are hiding behind your outerwear and no one will see them phasing in and out, nor what they are/were hiding.
Postby Spatula » Sat Jan 05, 2019 10:56 pm
Ords don't really get a better deal out of it - they may still have the contradictory equipment in a non-phasing state, but they can no longer even attempt to cause a contradiction (mind you, I dunno how that would interact with "passive" contradictions like armor). Using a rifle as a club isn't really any better than picking up a big stick and doing the same.
Daddy DM - More Ideas Than Time
TOCG - A Torg Eternity Character Generator
Postby Sword of Spirit » Sun Jan 06, 2019 2:05 am
TorgHacker wrote: Here's the thing. The only thing we _really_ care about is "You don't get the benefit of items contradictory to the reality you're in if you're disconnected".
And just having the thing not work if it has some sort of machine-like ability is really simple.
But the problem always was, "How do we explain how armor 'stops' working. Or swords? Essentially anything that was essentially a static object? We pretty much realized that NO explaination was going to be good...certainly not for everyone. Because it's nonsensical.
We had lengthy discussions on this. It wasn't a spur-of the moment idea. We did seriously think about having simple things just break, but that was a bit too permanent for what really was intended to be temporary. We thought about just having them 'not work' but then there would inevitably be those people who said, "But that doesn't make any sense? Why do they 'not work'? Why do some objects just work less well, and others stop working at all?
I know, because I was that person.
Ultimately we decided on the phasing _because_ it was the fallback position when nothing simpler occurred to the designers. There just is a disagreement between us and you about which is simpler.
It really was, in our opinion (and this was unanimous) the best of a bunch of poor options.
But (I haven't said this in awhile) your game has much different requirements than our product. We have to figure out a way to have this best presented to the masses...you just have to worry about yourself and your players.
But it's all just flavor text anyways. If you and your players prefer the "it just doesn't work" then go for it. We won't care. The only thing we really 'care' about (and even then...if you want to ignore this rule, go ahead!) is that people don't get benefits for contradictory stuff. How that happens is completely up to you.
We just provided an explanation that we thought most people would accept easiest.
Yep, totally understand from a design perspective. It might be easy for me to say "Nothing functions in ways the axioms don't allow. An object that would function above the axioms, instead basically functions like a hunk of whatever basic substance it is made out of (metal/stone/etc). This means many weapons (such as rifles) can only be used as improvised clubs. If an item should function just by being there, the object loses solidity or it phases out (in whole or in part) in whatever minimal way is necessary to prevent it from functioning. For example, armor looks the same, but it doesn't provide any protection--spears just pierce right through it like a hot knife through butter," but maybe not for a majority of the fanbase.
One thing to be aware of though is that outside of that one statement (and picture) in the rulebook I haven't seen any examples of phasing stuff, even for reality-rated characters. Instead, it's all been the "it's there, it just doesn't work" angle. The crazed stormer in the LL Day One didn't have his guns phase when he disconnected. In the novella with Aidan McCallister, no phasing when he disconnected either. So I guess the issue I want to point to is that everything basically says "stuff is there but it doesn't work right" except the one statement in the core rulebook, so maybe it's not the most efficient to try to make that the definitive statement, when nothing else in the whole game agrees with it, lol. (Even though I know that you guys had that concept planned as how it was supposed to be in design, and all the contradictory material is the sort of stuff that happens when there are several people working on several different parts of several different books at the same time.) Basically, I'm cool with being the only one doing it my way, but I'm a little concerned that the current state of published material actually works better to support that, and it's going against the flow to try to curb it back to the phasing mode that you almost have to hunt to find.
Anyway, I'm also tired and have probably just subjected people to my late night stream of consciousness.
Postby TorgHacker » Sun Jan 06, 2019 9:55 am
Spatula wrote: Ords don't really get a better deal out of it - they may still have the contradictory equipment in a non-phasing state, but they can no longer even attempt to cause a contradiction (mind you, I dunno how that would interact with "passive" contradictions like armor). Using a rifle as a club isn't really any better than picking up a big stick and doing the same.
Like I've said, thinking about this stuff too hard will make you go mad.
Matthew Surridge
Postby Matthew Surridge » Sun Jan 06, 2019 11:33 am
Weirdly, the 'phasing' is both simple and also difficult for me to get my head around. What about having unliving contradictory material flicker between realities, with the non-contradictory reality always being the effective stat for using an item? So an Ayslish knight in the Living Land disconnects, and their mail armour becomes, say, leather or hide, while their steel sword becomes bronze. And so long as they're disconnected, stats-wise they use the stuff as if it was Living Land stuff — but other Storm Knights see it as flickering between Living Land gear and Ayslish gear, indicating that it's not actually originally native to the reality. If the knight doesn't reconnect or transforms, the unliving stuff stays Living Land; otherwise it snaps back to normal.
(I mean, I figure you guys talked about this, I'm just wondering what the drawback is that's not occurring to me. Not simple enough?)
Humankind cannot bear very much reality
— T.S. Eliot, who didn't know the half of it
My Torg Eternity review, part one and part two
Postby TorgHacker » Sun Jan 06, 2019 11:35 am
Matthew Surridge wrote:
Basically this.
If Torg was a bit ... less granular and more general as far as weapons go, having them temporarily be 'lower tech' items, it'd work. So if say, ALL melee weapons of Tech 23 did X, and Tech 16 did X-1, and Tech 7 did X-2 damage, you could do that.
Or if ALL armor of Tech 23 was +3, and Tech 16 was +2, and Tech 7 was +1, you could do that.
But there's so much more variety in the game that would be messy. What if you're in Tech 17, or 18, or 19?
I didn't really push hard on making it that simple, but largely because there was no way we were going that simple.
But yeah, the biggest challenges were trying to suss out the 'most better' solution to:
1. When do you disconnect if you're just wearing or carrying contradictory stuff?
2. What happens to that passive stuff when you do disconnect?
It's fuzzy enough that I wouldn't say there was a 'best' solution, because YMMV. But we could say, "What, ultimately, is our goal here?" and choose the solution that emphasizes THAT.
Essentially the goal was mechanical simplicity. Hence, Surge on the Drama Deck and Schroedinger's Rifle when you're disconnected. Everything after that is rationalization after the fact.
Postby mica » Mon Jan 07, 2019 5:26 am
I have tended to use the principle that the item is useless if it is is above the axiom. So a wrench held by a disconnected ord in the LL is still a nice club and uses the appropriate stats of an LL club, same as using the butt end of an AK-47. If the disconnected ord tried to use it as a wrench to loosen a nut however, it would simply keep slipping off (and at some point they would try to use it as a hammer with predictable results). Kevlar armour however is just just a quickly rotting stuffed shirt and steel armour would be as much use as tin foil, rusting and becoming brittle while providing no protection.
The argument is highly anthropomorphic in that the Ever Laws tend to require observation to go into full effect. So the LL nut described above will happily remain firmly attacked to the bolt and keep that hawser holding up the dilapidated bridge while the dinos make their crossing but may well start to immediately rust once the characters check to see if they are up to the test of driving their jeep across. Think quantum mechanics where the instability state of the contradiction is a variable based on the level of interest by the observer.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


L & S Diversified was established with the goal to be faster, better, and stronger.
Time is money and faster is almost always better. We understand that deadlines are of utmost importance in our industry. To ensure our projects are delivered on-time and when needed, we have dedicated staff to schedule your project and assign adequate personnel to fulfill your needs.
Everyday we strive to do better and serve our clients better. L&S prides itself on providing not only exceptional quality in our work but being available and responsive to our clients at all times.
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Casa de Lava (català: Casa de lava; anglès: Down to Earth) és una pel·lícula portuguesa de 1995 dirigida per Pedro Costa. Està ambientada a les Illes de Cap Verd, que van ser una colònia portuguesa.

Característiques
Aquesta pel·lícula es caracteritza per la seva narrativa reduïda, i per les imatges del volcà de les illes del Cap Verd. El títol literalment significa "una casa de lava". La pel·lícula ha estat descrita per alguns crítics com un remake de la pel·lícula del 1943 de Jacques Tourneur que porta per nom Passejant amb un zombie.

La feina de Costa sovint s'ha comparat amb actualitzacions modernes de pel·lícules clàssiques de Hollywood, amb Jonathan Rosenbaum assenyalant aquella Joventut Colossal que pot ser vista com un remake de la pel·lícula del 1960 anomenada El sergent negre de John Ford.

Es va estrenar el 1994 al Festival de Cannes.

Trama
La pel·lícula explica la història de Mariana, una infermera que deixa Lisboa per acompanyar un treballador immigrant en coma en el viatge de tornada a la seva casa de Cap Verd. La infermera portuguesa es troba perduda i llavors descobreix que "haportat un home que està entre la vida i la mort."

Costa va fer la pel·lícula en un estil minimalista. El·lipses críptics, precisió cinematogràfica, abstraccions narratives i imatgeria persistent de persones i llocs. Apareix el Mont Fogo, el volcà actiu més alt de Cap Verd, com un símbol d'aquesta meditació malenconiosa entre l'amor i la soledat.

Referències

Pel·lícules del 1995
Pel·lícules en portuguès
Pel·lícules de Cap Verd

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


May the best you've ever seen be the worse you will ever see.
Its better to burn out than to fade away.
May you never forget what is worth remembering. Or remember what is best forgotten.
The future is not ours to know, and it may never be - so let us live and give our best and give it lavishly!
I'm a good enough person to forgive you, but not stupid enough to trust you again.
Dear Santa, I've been good all year. Okay, most of the time. Once in a while. Never mind, I'll buy my own stuff.
The only difference between a good girl and a bad girl is, that good girls are very selective who they're bad with.


La hija del Yeti, el monstruo de las nieves: Abbey Bominable ¡Congeladamente preciosa!
Monster High - Abbey Bominable. Las Monter High, son las hijas de los monstruos más legendarios de la historia y también las chicas más fashion del Instituto Monster High, con su ropa y accesorios de última moda. Cada personaje va acompañado de su diario y su fiel mascota. Monster High es la historia de seis adolescentes de moda, que se enfrentan entre sí y con gran sentido del humor.
Abbey es la nueva estudiante de intercambio de Monster High y viene de las montañas, donde no hay teléfonos móviles y se habla el yético. Le cuesta encajar en el instituto y todavía no habla bien el idioma monstruoso, por lo que todavía no ha hecho amigos. Su enorme fuerza y el dominio del snowboard son otras de sus señas de identidad, que le ayudarán a integrarse en Monster High.
Monster High Abbey Bominable Doll: The ghouls from Monster High are freakishly fabulous.
The kids from Monster High are the coolest ghouls in school with their fashions, accessories and scary cute pets.
And now there is a new ghoul at Monster High, Abbey Bominable who is making a scary good impression!
Abbey Bominable is the daughter of the Yeti and an exchange student from up north. Abbey would be lost in the snow without her best friend and pet, Shiver a sweet and loyal Wooly Mammoth. Abbey Bominable doll is fully articulated so she can be posed in many different ways and includes pet Wooly Mammoth Shiver, doll stand, brush, diary and accessory.
Otras MONSTER HIGH en el blog!


← Eclipse Day is upon us. Is a dragon going to eat the sun?
I like this NASA video. Toward the end, it shows the moon crossing in front of the earth — kind a of a reverse view of what people in North and Central America will see today, weather permitting.
I have our official Griffith Observatory Solarama Solar Eclipse and Sunspot Viewer on my desk, waiting for today's Big Event. We had gone to the observatory for a different solar event the day we bought it, but total cloud cover made viewing impossible. That day would have been a complete bust but for one chance encounter. We met John Dobson, the Sidewalk Astronomer, telescope maker extraordinaire, creator of the Dobsonian telescope; for many, The Pied Piper of Astronomy.
A former monk — he was kicked out because he was spending too much time on his telescopes and teaching others to make their own — Dobson often set up on city sidewalks to give passersby a chance to see the glories of the universe. His Dobsonian design has made serious scopes affordable and portable for anybody willing to put in the time, patience and elbow-grease to make their own, including the endless yet delicate process of grinding a lens blank. He held workshops all over the country teaching people how to make their own telescopes, charging little more than the cost of materials. "Amateur Enthusiast" is an epic understatement, but Dobson dismissed his personal contributions to the field with self-deprecating humor.
One of the most influential personalities in amateur astronomy in the last half of the 20th century, John Dobson almost single-handedly revolutionized backyard astronomy.
He was born in Peking (Beijing), China, on September 14, 1915. His maternal grandfather was the founder of Peking University. His mother was a musician; his father taught Zoology at the University. In 1927, his family moved to San Francisco because of the political and social unrest in China.
Dobson got a degree in chemistry from UC Berkeley, and worked in various defense-related jobs. He was a self-described "belligerent atheist" until he went a service at the Vedanta center in San Francisco. In 1944, he joined the Vedanta Monastery in San Francisco, becoming a monk of the Ramakrishna Order, known for its intellectual rigor and public service. Because of his science background, he was assigned the task of reconciling the teachings of religion and science.
Dobson was transferred to the Vedanta Monastery in Sacramento in 1958. The first telescope he made at Sacramento was a 5-inch reflector; the mirror came from the cut-out bottom of a discarded gallon jug. One of his friends was so amazed by what he saw through the 5-inch telescope that he told Dobson "You've got to make something bigger!" and donated some salvaged portholes.
There were already members of the monastery who felt telescope making and sidewalk astronomy were not appropriate uses of a monk's time, so the portholes were smuggled into the monastery in fertilizer boxes, and Dobson screened his own sand for grinding and made his rouge out of garden supplies (ferrous sulphate and oxalic acid). The noisy job of grinding mirrors had to be done under water to deaden the sound. Since as a monk he had no money, he scrounged scrap materials to make mounts for the the mirrors. These early telescopes were built from old hose reels, lumber core cut-outs from doors, and scrap wood.
The Dobsonian telescope is a version of a Newtonian telescope, with a variation on an alt-azimuth mount. There are the fewest possible parts that will still allow it to move up and down, left and right.
He made more and larger telescopes, wanting to give as many people as possible an opportunity to see the Universe first-hand. He put discarded wagon wheels on his telescopes to wheel them around the residential neighborhood surrounding the monastery – delighting kids and adults with views of the night sky.
When we heard he had passed away on January 15, 2014, at the age of 98, we felt a personal loss for a man we met once, and spoke with for 20 minutes, because such a soul full of wonder had left us.
This entry was posted in Astronomy/Astrophysics, The Coffee Shop and tagged Dobsonian Telescope, John Dobson, NASA, Sidewalk Astronomy, Solar Eclipse, TCS, Tribute to a Soul Full of Wonder, Vincent Van Gogh. Bookmark the permalink.
This event has benefited me greatly in a most unusual way. In 1968/69 I was 10,000 miles from my parent's home in California. I was living with a bout four dozen fellows in a similar situation in a place we did not want to be. One of those guys was the maintenance guy for the two USAF forward air control aircraft based at our airport. The group of guys worked seven days a week, dawn to dusk with about half of us awake on guard duty overnight. Not much of a social life, but not boring, either.
I emailed the fellow I mentioned above about four years ago when I found a posting he made on a bulletin board I found while searching for something entirely different than what I found as a word in his post matched my search. I emailed him and we conversed for a while, then that faded away. For an unknown reason, I revisited that same site a few days ago and found his earlier post, sparking me to reestablish communications with him.
Turns out he is visiting his daughter in Michigan (he lives in Arizona) and they, with her children, are going to Tennessee to see the eclipse and will be staying in Lebanon, KY Sunday night. I live about 20 miles from the hotel they will be in. We exchanged phone numbers and began coordinating a meet up.
Last night, about 8:00pm, we got the chance to meet up after 40 years. I brought along a box of photos from my collection of pictures of the area and the people we worked with. I even had a few pictures of his beloved 'bird dogs' at the airport. He will return home after Labor Day. On the way home, he said he would head down our way for a followup visit.
This would not have been possible had the moon not crossed in alignment with the sun. What a special day!
Great story Terry – How terrific to get an impromptu reunion with an old friend!


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Yanagawa Dam is an earthfill dam located in Chiba Prefecture in Japan. The dam is used for flood control. The catchment area of the dam is 11.4 km2. The dam impounds about 16  ha of land when full and can store 1720 thousand cubic meters of water. The construction of the dam was started on 1989 and completed in 1998.

References

Dams in Chiba Prefecture
1998 establishments in Japan


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[ Trip Reports ]October 29, 2021 4:18 am ET
By João Machado
Trip Report: An Interesting Eurobusiness Flight With Airbaltic
Disclaimer: airBaltic provided the tickets for AirlineGeeks. Once I got an interview with the airBaltic's CEO in their headquarters in Riga - whose article you can see clicking here -, I got curious to know how would I get there. While the airline served the bread-and-butter destinations of Milan and Rome, during Summer they were serving Pisa seasonally - which, along with Florence, is the closest airport to my hometown. Ultimately, I got tickets from Pisa, even though they were…
[ Trip Reports ]October 18, 2021 6:05 pm ET
Poised for Success in Eastern Europe: How Martin Gauss Is…
The face I saw entering the plane was familiar. He put his belongings on his seat and went to the cockpit to greet the pilots. That's when I asked if he was who I thought I was — and the answer was yes. It was. Quite a coincidence, as I…
[ Trip Reports ]September 22, 2021 5:59 am ET
How AirBaltic Is Preparing For Next Summer
The lengthy, ongoing circumstances and challenges from the Covid-19 pandemic are evolving and continue to be at large as new scientific developments emerge. Simultaneously, the airline industry has been attempting to be constantly responsive and alert, adapting to overcome obstacles from the dilemma. Passenger travel demand continues to experience ebb…
[ Trip Reports ]May 26, 2021 6:00 am ET
AirBaltic Among Many European Carriers to Suspend Flights to Minsk
AirBaltic – Latvia's national flag carrier – is among the latest carriers in Europe to suspend its flights to Minsk after the recent international political incident involving Irish low-cost carrier Ryanair. One of the low-cost airline's planes was forced to divert and one of its passengers, who was a Belarusian…
airBaltic Resumes Flights, Plots Course to Cut Future Losses
While many major U.S. carriers have announced unique new routes in recent weeks, one European carrier is occupied with resuming flights from one of its major Baltic hubs. Latvia's national carrier, airBaltic, is continuing its recovery plan by officially announcing flight resumptions between Riga, Latvia and nine major European cities…
[ Trip Reports ]August 24, 2020 5:30 am ET
By Bulent Imat
airBaltic Defers Airbus A220 Deliveries
Latvian airline airBaltic announced on Thursday that they had agreed with Airbus to take delivery of 28 A220-300s by early 2024. In mid-April, the airline's outstanding Airbus A220 orders were postponed to 2023. With the new agreement, airBaltic gained an extra year to implement its fleet plans in the wake…
[ Trip Reports ]April 22, 2020 1:51 pm ET
By John McDermott
airBaltic Plans to Accelerate A220 Deliveries
Latvia's airBaltic has begun talks with Airbus to accelerate deliveries of Airbus A220 airplanes that the airline has on order. airBaltic currently has an order of 50 planes set to be delivered by 2025, but the delivery timeline could condense to just a couple of years. At a time when…
[ Trip Reports ]August 25, 2019 12:00 am ET
By Thomas Pallini
Photo: AirBaltic Celebrates Baltic Way Anniversary with Special Airbus A220…
AirBaltic on Thursday celebrated the 30th anniversary of the Baltic Way, one of the world's largest peaceful demonstrations that united the Baltic countries of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania against the Soviet Union in 1989, with an event at its hub in Riga. In commemoration of the event which saw the…


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Crime April 29, 2015
Dave Urbanski
Angry Sheriff Says People Inside Baltimore Church Did Something 'Hard to Believe' as Deputies Patrolled Street
"We're here solely to help the citizens of this city, to help restore some normalcy to this city, and that's the reception we get."
Sheriff Mike Lewis (Image source: Fox News)
People giving the middle finger to law enforcement during the unrest in Baltimore isn't necessarily an unusual sight — but from people inside a church?
That's exactly Maryland sheriff Mike Lewis told TheBlaze he saw Tuesday night.
Lewis traveled with deputies from Wicomico County after Gov. Larry Hogan requested law enforcement assistance in Baltimore.
He said he saw a group of black and white individuals standing behind the glass doors of Simmons Memorial Baptist Church, and "five or six" of them gave him the middle finger just before 11 p.m., well after the city-wide curfew had been imposed.
The sheriff said that one of the white individuals grabbed her crotch and mouthed the words "eat my 'P' effing pig" and that another one — who wore the medic band around each arm — raised both of her hands and gave him a double middle finger.
Lewis told TheBlaze that after he pulled out his cellphone to photograph what he was witnessing, most of the people in the doorway turned and "fled," but three remained, one holding up a black T-shirt over her face. Behind them read a sign, "Welcome to Simmons where you can 'Experience the Difference.'"
Lewis said he took the following photo seconds after the individuals were "flipping me the bird":
Photo courtesy Sheriff Mike Lewis
Lewis told TheBlaze the incident occurred just before he gave an interview to Fox News, standing in a street that he characterized as "ground zero." Lewis told reporter Leland Vittert he wasn't pleased with the reception he and other officers received as he looked up at "a Memorial Baptist Church."
"Those inside the church who are prohibited from coming outside the church have been giving us the finger the entire time we're here," Lewis told Fox News. "And it's shocking to see medic bands on their arms giving law enforcement the middle finger. We're here solely to help the citizens of this city, to help restore some normalcy to this city, and that's the reception we get."
But Lewis also pointed out that the majority of people in Baltimore have been "overwhelmingly supportive" over the two days he and his deputies have been there.
While Simmons Memorial Baptist Church wasn't visible on the Fox News video, a prominent store sign on the street was:
Image source: Fox News
And a Google Maps satellite view shows a similar-looking sign across the street from Simmons Memorial Baptist Church on 604 Cumberland Street:
Image source: Google Maps
Rev. Duane Simmons, pastor of Simmons Memorial Baptist Church, told TheBlaze on Wednesday he was home Tuesday night, but about 15 medics stayed the night at the church. Two caretakers affiliated with the church stayed as well and "would have never" given a sheriff the finger, he said.
And the pastor questioned why medics, who are there to help the community, would give law enforcement the finger, saying they wouldn't have the "ghetto gravitas" to do such a thing.
"It's hard to believe," Simmons said.
Of the violence in the city, Simmons told the Washington Post it's "heart-wrenching, but it is something that we have been anticipating."
"People are frustrated. It is like a rat who has been backed into a corner. These folks have had enough," the pastor said.
(H/T: The Gateway Pundit)
Follow Dave Urbanski (@DaveVUrbanski) on Twitter


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Tuesday, December 13, 2016 8:07am ET	by Newsdesk
music, news, pressparty, music news, london, united kingdom, uk, the 1975, matt healy, you me at six, newsdesk
You Me At Six singer says The 1975's Matt Healy is one of the most 'interesting' rock stars
You Me At Six's Josh Franceschi has lauded The 1975 frontman Matt Healy by proclaiming him as one of the most "interesting" rock stars around.
The singer told NME that he feels the band create "great" music that is backed by thoughtful presentation. He said: "I take a lot of pride in seeing British artists achieve well – not only in their country but internationally.
"We've really had that with the likes of The 1975, Foals, Bring Me The Horizon; they're a handful of bands who have taken the UK and put our music even further on the map. We'd love to follow in those footprints.
"[The 1975's] music is great, you can't deny their music or that they write great pop songs. I hope they won't mind me saying that – it's not an insult in the slightest. I feel like everything from the way that they present their band is interesting.
"Matt Healy is the closest thing we've had to an interesting rock star for a long time. He's not the sort of rock star would necessarily work on paper, but he has really resonated with a lot of people."
Follow us: @Pressparty on Twitter / Pressparty on Facebook.
Watch You Me At Six in action below:
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Many times I have found that what initially seemed to be a simple layoff was actually, after further investigation, a human rights violation. Also, there can be ongoing human rights violations when persons are merely marginalized at work as opposed to being laid off. Human Rights laws have a major impact on both employees and employers and both sides of the coin need to keep a lookout in order to protect their interests.
"Disability" is a very broad category in law which can potentially include stress, learning disabilities, temporary injuries, and physical disabilities. It is very common that persons have undiagnosed disabilities which have resulted in problems at work (for instance, dyslexia causing poor reviews for editing work). Very often employees are assessed against an inappropriate standard because of their different abilities and employers run into real issues with having an impartial assessment of employees' abilities given their disability.
If you have any type of disability, be it visible or invisible, it is unlawful for you to be discriminated against on this basis. Your employer must accommodate your disability to the point of undue hardship.
This includes not only where someone is from, the colour of their skin, but also mannerisms of particular cultures (for instance being 'overly emotional' or 'distant').
Marital and family status discrimination has expanded in recent years, moving from what was once protection of being married to now preventing significant interference with legitimate child or eldercare responsibilities. These child and elder care responsibilities are protected activities because of their importance to society and, therefore, discrimination or unfair treatment based on these duties is not allowed.
As Ontario has abandoned the idea of having mandatory retirement, age discrimination issues have become more and more common. Age discrimination is common and can include comments about not 'learning quickly' or not using technology well. Indirect discrimination is just as culpable as direct discrimination and must be watched out for by both employees and employers.
Gender and sexual orientation discrimination includes harassment which is the most common form of discrimination both based on gender and those identifying/identified with the LGBTQ community.
Human rights are enforceable in specialized human rights tribunals or the courts. However, these matters can be heard by the courts, if the discrimination is tied to another matter which can be tried in the courts, for instance termination of employment. In deciding if it is better to go to the Courts or a Tribunal make sure you get legal advice.
For both employers and employees often the largest issue in these types of cases is hard proof. For employees, it is very hard to prove that a decision to terminate, not to promote, etc, is based on a discriminatory reason. On the flip side, it is difficult for employers to disprove accusations of discrimination since it can be nearly impossible to disprove a negative.
Human Rights cases often are decided based on just a few, or even one, pieces of hard evidence.
Since hard evidence is so important, often the issue becomes about what documents are required to be given to the other side. If your employer has an email that describes a discriminatory practice you can be entitled to get a copy of it in some circumstances, however, the courts will not allow for 'fishing expeditions'.
For employers it is important to know what documents to give, what to deny, and then to attempt to move to dismiss a complaint that is without merit.
As Human Rights complaints become more and more important in our society they also become more complex. If you need assistance with a Human Rights related matter make sure to contact Monkhouse Law today.


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RealityTV
Watch Bobby Bones' 'Irresistible' Tribute to MC Hammer on the 'DWTS' Finale
By Anna Rumer - November 25, 2018 11:45 pm EST
You can't touch Bobby Bones' enthusiasm for the Dancing With the Stars Season 27 finale! He and pro partner Sharna Burgess secured their fate as Mirrorball trophy winners with a spirited cha cha to "U Can't Touch This" by MC Hammer during Monday's live show.
This is the second time the duo took on this performance, which they chose as their "repeat" requirement of the night from "Trios" week earlier in the season.
"I really think we should do this dance because I had so much fun with that dance," he told Burgess. "I'm not the best dancer in the competition, but what I hope I am is America's favorite dancer."
The judges loved the spirit behind the performance, if not the break from ballroom style, earning the duo a 24/30.
"Whatever you do is so totally, honestly you, that you're irresistible," judge Bruno Tonioli.
Bones and Burgess clinched their win with a second dance for the judges to score. For the freestyle dance, the two took on a remix of "The Greatest Show" by Panic at the Disco. Despite not having the highest scores, the duo won over America's hearts and snagged a win.
Prior to Monday's finale, Bones opened up about how coming into DWTS with no dance experience, as well as a demanding radio show, has shaped his thoughts about the season to Good Housekeeping.
"I think they [the judges' marks and critiques] are fair. I don't think they want me to win, frankly," he admitted to the magazine. "I think the judges want somebody who came in with more dance experience to win. But that's why the show isn't just about the judges — it's also about the people."
He clarified, "You know, I think to them I'm bit wild. I think the show hasn't had a winner like me ever, and I don't know what that means to them. So, I don't think they want me to win, but that's okay. I do respect all of their scores ... I do get mad at them during the show though, I do."
Both Bones and Burgess are a bit of an underdog, with the Australian pro also never having won the Mirrorball during her time on the show.
"She hasn't won, and no one expected me to win ... if we win, we're getting little Mirrorball tattoos," Bones added. "This Mirrorball is going to basically be my kid. I'm never going to let it get out of my sight. I'm going to love it, I'm going to cherish it, I'm going to let other people hold it but only if they look safe."
Best of luck to the pair on their second dance!
Photo Credit: ABC
Khloe Kardashian Was 'Melting' at These Minnie Mouse Photos With Daughter True
'Teen Mom' Star Mackenzie Standifer Slams 'Pathetic Piece of S—' Joking About Husband Ryan Edward's Addiction
'Little People, Big World' Star Amy Roloff Slams Critic's Remark About Granddaughter Ember's Hair
'OutDaughtered' Star Adam Busby Blasted by Social Media After He Goes to 'Buy More Ammo'
'Jersey Shore' Star Jenni 'JWoww' Farley Posts Adorable Snow Day Video With Son Greyson
'Teen Mom' Alum Farrah Abraham 'Concerned' for Amber Portwood Amid Her New Relationship
'The Doctors' Producers Sued Over Botched Implant Removal That Left Fitness Influencer Disfigured
'Dog the Bounty Hunter' Daughter Cecily Chapman Calls out Dad's Rumored Girlfriend for 'Ruining' Him


The Finance Durham fund, managed by Maven, has completed a £650,000 investment in biomass energy plant, SDS Inc Limited (SDS). SDS generates heat, gas and electricity from wood chippings, producing solid wood fuel briquettes, a cheaper alternative to the traditional seasoned hardwood used for wood burning fires and stoves. The investment will allow SDS to purchase additional machinery to improve efficiency and sell wood briquettes on a commercial scale for use in log burners.
Founded in 2017 by expert renewable energy engineers, Shane McDonald and Morgan Corkill, SDS operates a biomass renewable energy plant in Consett, County Durham. The plant takes wood chippings waste from timber yards and applies a process to produce electricity. The site also has four engines and turbines that export electricity to the grid.
Biomass energy production is a proven technology and currently represents 85% of the total UK renewable energy supply. Climate change and sustainability are central themes in Durham County Council's ambition to create a thriving, resilient and engaged low carbon community by 2020.
Demand is currently outweighing supply in the solid fuel market, with a 25% to 30% increase in demand for logs and wood burning stove fuel alternatives year-on-year proving hard to satisfy. Wood briquettes are easier to store, cheaper to buy and burn hotter and cleaner than traditional seasoned hardwood logs. Having designed and built 24 similar plants for clients via their installation and maintenance company, Calibrate, the management team have significant experience of installing, maintaining and operating biomass plants.


It's not a paint job, but a wrap. According to exoticvehiclewraps.com, a vehicle wrap can cost between $500 and $5,000, which can be much less than a paint job. It also helps the vehicle's resale value, says the site.
White is the SUV's original color.
"I'll keep it like this, maybe after the season I'll go back," Escobar said.


What's up knuckleheads? Long time no blogging, huh?
Life is good, just living the dream. So I was trolling old footage of the neighborhoods and ran into this old piece called Five Bostons from 1983 done by Chris Lydon. Great perspective as we watch the current Mayor's race….


Sports are not the only competitions we join, we also register for a lot of games and Olympiads of academic subjects. This is good because our students can compare themselves to students from other schools. All the registration fees and any travel expenses are paid by the school.
The mathematic teachers of the first and second form offer their students the opportunity to take part in the 'Kangoeroewedstrijd' (Kangaroo competition). This is a computing and puzzle contest for the student up to 14 years. For the students of the second grade there are the Junior Mathematics Olympiad and Olyfran, the French Olympiad. The students of the third grade can take part in the Mathematics Olympiad, a few scientific Olympiad (physics, biology and chemistry) and Olyfran. For the language courses there are regularly speaking and writing contests. An annual tradition is the Junior Journalist contest of the cultural organisation Davidsfonds.
Every year some of our students achieve really high scores at these contests or even make it to the top. That is simply an affirmation of the high level pursued at the Saint Aloysius College and put some heart into our teachers who give their best each day.


NOTE: If you have a discoveryeducation.com account, please access the "pyramid plunder" video to help reinforce this lesson. It is not necessary but fun to have.
I used this lesson to help reinforce our lesson on main idea and details. Students were able to use the interactive board to share answers with the class.
I am in Florida so the tips I am using reflect my state's tips for finding main idea and details and have been specifically chosen from our Sharpen Up! workbooks.
My students have the concept of the main idea but seem to have difficulties with mixing up details with the main idea. I am looking forward to utilizing this with them. Thanks for the lesson and I will also use your suggestion for the pyramid plunder on discoveryeducation.com.
My class is struggling with main idea and details. I am so excited to use this! Thanks so much for sharing!


Oops, I Craft My Pants: Twinchies Banner for YW!!
I made a banner as decoration for our Young Women's room at church! It was pretty plain in there, and the leaders agreed it needed a little spice. I had the idea on Thursday night at the Stake training meeting... So here it is, DONE! I used that watercolor texture I painted a few nights ago, along with another sheet of it... Cut it all up in 2" by 2" squares, then gluesticked em to twinchie bases made from recycled cereal boxes! I had the pre-cut letters, which was awfully convenient. I had to paint them with a a white acrylic wash to up the contrast, though. Add some sequins and BAM! Pizzazz!
It was really tough to get a good pic of the whole thing because it's so stinkin' long.


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Villas-Boas hinted at corruption in Premier League
The Ferguson influence story is going to run and run, and I thought it was a good time to delve back into the archives to examine some words of the Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas from earlier this year:
"'It would be brilliant to be able to talk about this, but I paid a very high fine last season and I don't want to do it again.....In this country, it is impossible to respond to it"
It is extremely worrying that the referee selection process for Premier League games is so biased and completely hidden from public view. Chris Foy has an interesting record of bad decisions against Villas-Boas, and his appointment for Tottenham's trip to Old Trafford appeared to be yet another interesting coincidence. Strangely these interesting coincidences seem to be so regular that it makes it very hard to ignore the way referees are influenced by Ferguson's intimidation, as Jeff Winter, an ex-PL referee, points out:
"I'm not a psychologist so I don't know how that has affected referees' performances in the past or what impact it will have in the future when it comes to debatable decisions. But it is fair to say that it can't be a healthy situation when he gives referees so much stick and human nature is bound to be a factor so his criticism could rebound on him."
One must remember that after Tottenham won at Old Trafford Chris Foy was bizarrely relegated to League 2 for his next game, the FA told us this was not a punishment, but it simply couldn't be anything else. Of note Foy, after presiding over a United defeat at the Emirates, did not referee a Manchester United game again for another year. Another random coincidence?
Events speak for themselves and the grim picture of bias in Premier League refereeing is becoming clearer by the week. The facts are clear. The process of referee selection is biased and hidden from public view. The FA selectively enforce the rules in a manner that allows certain clubs to remain immune from prosecution while others are routinely silenced for openly speaking the truth. The system is bent, and this is sad for football in this country.
Pardew spot on as Ferguson shows his nasty colours
The fallout from the Manchester United - Newcastle game continues. Alan Pardew said some very reasonable things in very reasonable fashion including:
"I think Mike Dean might feel slightly disappointed he didn't do something about it, I think the pressure that was on him was tough for a referee to take......Sometimes when you reflect on a game you think you might have acted differently. You do that as a manager and I think he might have done that as a referee......But it's an emotional game and apparently they had a cordial discussion. I've had a few of those myself and sometimes I've ended up in the stands as a result of that cordial discussion.......I think there were a lot of things the FA could look at. But it seems they are looking at none."
Pardew's words are understated and entirely reasonable given what was obvious to anyone that saw the appalling aggression with Ferguson showed towards the match officials. Unsurprisingly 'Sir' Alex has responded in typically aggressive fashion. As always Ferguson took zero responsibility for intimidating the officials and tried to attack Pardew. It was fascinating that Ferguson hints at 'help he gave' to Pardew, it appears Ferguson will use his power to make Pardew's life difficult in football circles from now on, standing up to Ferguson's bullying has severe consequences it appears.
Interestingly Arsene Wenger has made some very cryptic comments which hint at what many of us have known for a while, it has become clear that the rules are selectively enforced, that Manchester United can do what they want and that the system is corrupt. The FA are either scared or corrupt, neither being good for the future of football, with their 'respect' campaign being an utter shambles, discipline will always be non-existent if rules are not consistently enforced.
'Sir' Alex Ferguson is a cowardly bully who cannot bear to look at his own ugly behaviour in the mirror. A key part of his success has been down to his, his players' and his clubs' systematic manipulation of referees and officials. The intimidation is clear, it is unpunished and it influences results. The referee selection process is also dodgy, hidden from public view and arguably subject to huge bias. The PGMOL, Mike Riley and the Premier League seem to have a lot to hide.
In Alex Ferguson's eyes it is all someone else's fault, the disgusting abuse and intimidation that he and his players have been guilty of over the years is just someone else's problem, it is just because of his club's profile, is he so stupid that he expects us to buy this? Does he really think he is harshly treated by the media? What utter cods wallop His aggressive reaction smacks of his guilt, he knows that the momentum against his nasty tactics is building. I suspect Ferguson's legacy will not be one of great football, it will be one of the nasty side of human nature and of a corrupt bully being exposed for what he is.
Ferguson intimidating his way to another title
How much longer can the pathetic footballing authorities allow this to go on? The disgraceful abuse and intimidation dished out to the match officials yesterday at Old Trafford was typical of the bully who has built his success on fear. Even Gary Lineker commented on Ferguson's disgusting behaviour yesterday, although MOTD stopped short of really dealing with the issue properly.
Alex Ferguson, his managerial staff and his players have done this for years and will continue to do so until the authorities clamp down on it, unfortunately there is precious little chance of that happening given the weakness and clear vested interests in football's governing bodies. Yesterday the officials had to back away from the abuse as the physical element of the intimidation was obvious.
The bottom line is that officials are afraid of Ferguson and Manchester United. This means that Manchester United continue to get the rub of the green with the big decisions and the small decisions, and anyone who understands statistics will tell you that this adds up over the course of a season, it most definitely doesn't even out. It is like having a weighted coin, even if the odds of a heads being tossed are 60% versus 40% for tails this quickly leads to some very significant differences. The penalty statistics, the lack of ref cards and other evidence all points to a clear systematic bias in favour of Manchester United as a result of this systematic intimidation of officials.
I have no respect for the scum bag that is Alex Ferguson. He is a pathetic coward and a bully. His success has been built on his unpleasant personality traits and on scaring people into doing what he wants them to do. This is not a human being we should look up to and respect, this is not someone who is a good example to our children, this man is an appalling human being and it is about time that the FA stood up to him.
Massive problems but keep your heads
Last night was a night that summed up many of the manager's and the club's failings. Great credit to League 2 side Bradford for a true battling performance and congratulations to their supporters. We played a strong side but in truth we were not at the races for much of the first half and most of the second, although Vermaelen equalised late on, we could not make our complete domination in extra time count and narrowly went out on penalties, two of our spot kicks rather unfortunately cannoning back of the inside of the post.
I have to say that I am slightly ashamed and embarrassed at the way many of our own supporters are behaving and reacting. Fine, criticise the manager, criticise the board, criticise the players, but there is a way of doing this without sinking to offensive abuse and mocking. We also should be supporting these players when they are on the field and the negative support of some fans at home games is actually having a real detrimental effect on performances.
I know our squad is weak and several players are not good enough. However I do not buy the lack of effort or the mentality issue, we simply aren't good enough, there's no need to claim some of our average failing players are not trying when they appear to be putting in a lot of effort. Gervinho is the perfect case in point, he is a frustrating player no doubt, but last night he was probably our most dangerous player going forward, yet in the eyes of some supporters he was to blame for everything including third world famine.
The manager has certainly lost the plot in recent years. The 4-3-3 system, the way we play it, is an abject disaster area. Again last night we had no pace and width in attacking areas. I barely noticed Podolski in his left sided berth, surely he must play centrally? Gervinho is not a centre forward, while there was no one on the right flank in the first half. Ramsey was anonymous, Cazorla only came to life later in the game, again we had numerous central players in midfield and attack, and no proper width.
The lack of depth in the centre forward position was again demonstrated. Chamakh's movement did show us what we had been missing to a degree, alas his poor finishing did not. Gervinho was far more at home on the left and it begged the obvious question - why as Podolski playing wide and Gervinho centrally, again?
Sacking Arsene now mid season with no replacement lined up would be utterly stupid. Change for the sake of it without any serious plan for what will happen afterwards is the stuff of idiots. Arsene needs to sort this mess out and if he doesn't then he has to go in the summer. We need better players in certain areas and we need to stop playing numerous central players in the same team without having any attacking width. I would be fully in favour of switching back to a 4-4-2, or perhaps a 4-4-1-1 with Santi off the centre forward. Arsene needs to remember the importance of width and bring in some quality in January.
Diving and our pathetic biased xenophobic media
I have absolutely no problem with anyone criticising Santi Cazorla's dive yesterday against West Brom. There was minimal contact and it was not a penalty. Reid did get nowhere near the ball and try to kick him though. It was also rather evident that despite being a dive, there are far worse dives every week which are routinely ignored by out pathetic media.
The problem I do have is the ridiculous overreaction whenever an Arsenal player is caught out diving and it has to be said it doesn't happen very often as we get few penalties compared to regular cheats like Manchester United, and we don't dive as much as many other sides. The reaction to Cazorla's dive in the media shows quite beautifully how morally bankrupt, inconsistent and hypocritical many of the morons covering football in this country are. Interestingly last week many of our esteemed footballing pundits were trying to justify Gareth Bale's diving as he was simply 'anticipating' contact, funny how this logic is not applied to Arsenal players.
Gareth Bale is a terrible cheat, he does it week in week out and has already 4 bookings to his name for diving this season. Yet the media have never hounded or ganged up on the cheating Welshman as they have pathetically bullied Eduardo and Cazorla. This inconsistency gives their game away. For example take Bale's pathetic dive at the Emirates last season, the media largely ignored this clear act of cheating.
The media have never been honest or objective on diving. We have seen ritual cheating ignored from many domestic cheats like Rooney, Owen, Gerrard and Young. There is clearly a xenophobic element to it. However this is not the whole explanation, some clubs get away with it, look at Cristiano Ronaldo and Van Nistelrooy, two of the worst cheats I have ever seen, but as they played for Manu the media largely let it go and never hounded these serial cheats.
Interestingly Alex Ferguson's stupid comments on the matter help perpetuate this myth that it is just foreign players that are to blame, the fact that he has had several of the worst home-grown cheats in his squad make his logic seem utterly retarded (Beckham, Owen, Rooney, Young etc). I agree to a degree with Kun Ageuro, referees are generally a bit biased against foreigners when it comes to diving, they are also a bit biased to certain clubs such as Manu. The penalty statistics prove this pro-Manu bias clearly.
Overall diving is a serious problem in world football that is being ignored as the governing bodies, which include the Premier League and the FA. If football were not a corrupt sport then we would have introduced video technology, we would have reduced refereeing bias and error in doing so, and we could have introduced retrospective punishment for diving and violent tackling. Alas as things are at the moment, we have a corrupt sport in which a clear bias exists in refereeing, as well as a pathetic biased mainstream media which simply perpetuates common myths and preconceptions in a lazy manner.
Back at the races
This was just what the doctor ordered after the terrible display at home to Swansea. Although the victory was clouded in a smidgeon of controversy, nothing could really take away from the fact that West Brom were distinctly second best to an Arsenal side that had rediscovered a bit of attacking zest. Steve Clarke may have tried to blame the defeat on the ref but this was merely to distract from the fact that West Brom were hammered, they managed only 2 shots on goal in the entire match.
The penalty that did not turn the game should never have been, Reid took a swing at Cazorla but made little if no contact, with Cazorla throwing himself down, not a penalty in a million years. The second half spot kick was stonewall, Oxlade-Chamberlain was hacked down by Brunt, the claims that a foul was committed in the build up were weak, Oxlade-Chamberlain's pressing was perfectly legitimate. Arteta showed a lot of character to step up and dispatch both spot kicks after the Fulham disaster. The referee Jones was dire, so many wrong decisions, so many soft free kicks and very lenient in dealing with a lot of rather nasty cynical West Brom fouls.
The back four were decent, Arteta and Wilshere were particularly impressive in front of them, dictating the play and breaking it up as needed, while the work rate and pace of Oxlade-Chamberlain and Gervinho on the flanks really made a difference. We had that bit more width and pace on the field, Giroud led the line well too, and some of the dynamic attacking play was very encouraging. It was also heartening to see some more direct play with longer balls seeking out our wide forwards, the way we mixed it up with short and long play made it much less predictable than in previous home games, we must continue in this vein.
Unsurprisingly we did not miss Theo today, and there is no way we would have got the work rate out of him that we got from the likes of Gervinho and Oxlade. That eleven is starting to emerge as our first eleven and hopefully we can now build on this much better performance. If we need anything in the window it is some more pace and width in midfield and in attacking areas. It would be good to see Chamakh and Arshavin out, and to bring in a couple of younger pacier fresher faces instead. Well done the Gunners.
Twitter 'muppets'
"Still out with loads of gooner in shadow of Emirates. Those who go home and away are voice on future of Arsenal. Not 606 or twitter muppets"
These are the words of Tim Payton, a board member of the AST (Arsenal Supporters Trust), taken from Twitter last night. If these were the words of an individual Gooner who was nothing to do with the AST then it would be one thing, but they are an absolute disgrace for someone who is the official 'spokesperson' for the AST.
There are so many deeply disturbing elements to the views of Tim Payton. All Arsenal fans should have a say, who is anyone to judge who has more right than others? The arrogance and condescending nature of Payton's comments are utterly deplorable.
I will not rant on because Tim Payton's words tell the story beautifully, they tell the story of someone who is clearly not fit to be representing the AST, a man who seems to have a massively inflated opinion of himself and his own views, a man who has embarrassed himself massively with his comments and his complete failure to apologise to the massive number of loyal Gooners who he has shown such contempt for.
As a Fanshare member I shall be writing to the AST to express my opinion on their spokesperson's arrogant and senseless comments. Tim Payton should do the right thing, he should either apologise properly to those supporters who has has offended, or he should resign from the AST. The choice is yours Tim, show some backbone and moral fibre for once, do the right thing.
Tired, predictable and recurrent
As a one off today would have been just that, but in the context of the season so far and recent seasons, we are seeing a worrying trend, a sad demise, a great manager reaching the end of the road and a team that is failing on many levels on a repeated basis. Recent performances against Swansea, Villa, Everton, Manu, Schalke, Fulham and Norwich have been concerning, to say the least.
We lack quality and certain attributes in the squad, however the players we have are still not as bad as recent performances would suggest. The most worrying thing in my eyes is that Arsene is not managing the players well. Our formation and tactics are tired and predictable. Teams have worked us out, we lack an attacking cutting edge, we are poorly organised in terms of the team's whole defensive shape and we are tactically naive. The sum of our parts is mediocre, and this is not good enough given the size of the club and our expenditure in terms of wages.
I am not angry, I am just sad at what we have become and how our manager has lost the plot. There is little more to say. The end of the road is not a pleasant place to be, I have massive respect for the manager but it is obvious that he does not have long left at the helm. Finally great credit to Swansea who are an excellent side and thoroughly deserved the win today.
Villas-Boas hinted at corruption in Premier League...
Pardew spot on as Ferguson shows his nasty colours...