text:
/* eslint-disable qunit/no-commented-tests, ember/no-settled-after-test-helper */
import { module, test, skip } from 'qunit';
import { setupRenderingTest } from 'ember-qunit';
import { click, render, settled, focus, triggerEvent, fillIn, waitFor } from '@ember/test-helpers';
import hbs from 'htmlbars-inline-precompile';

module('Integration | Component | paper-autocomplete', function(hooks) {
  setupRenderingTest(hooks);

  /* test('either `onSearchTextChange` or `onSelectionChange` functions are provided provided', function(assert) {
    assert.expect(4);

    assert.throws(() => {
      this.render(hbs`
        {{#paper-autocomplete options=countries selected=selected as |opt|}}
          {{opt}}
        {{/paper-autocomplete}}
        `);
    }, 'requires at least one of the `onSelectionChange` or `onSearchTextChange` functions to be provided.');

    assert.ok(() => {
      this.render(hbs`
        {{#paper-autocomplete
            options=countries
            selected=selected
            onSelectionChange=(action (mut selected)) as |opt|}}
          {{opt}}
        {{/paper-autocomplete}}
        `);
    }, 'does not throw when on `onSelectionChange` is provided');

    assert.ok(() => {
      this.render(hbs`
        {{#paper-autocomplete
            options=countries
            searchText=searchText
            onSearchTextChange=(action (mut searchText)) as |opt|}}
          {{opt}}
        {{/paper-autocomplete}}
        `);
    }, 'does not throw when on `onSearchTextChange` is provided');

    assert.ok(() => {
      this.render(hbs`
        {{#paper-autocomplete
            options=countries
            searchText=searchText
            onSearchTextChange=(action (mut searchText))
            selected=selected
            onSelectionChange=(action (mut selected)) as |opt|}}
          {{opt}}
        {{/paper-autocomplete}}
        `);
    }, 'does not throw when both `onSearchTextChange` and `onSelectionChange` are provided');
  });*/

  test('opens on click', async function(assert) {
    assert.expect(1);
    this.set('items', ['Ember', 'Paper', 'One', 'Two', 'Three', 'Four', 'Five', 'Six', 'Seven', 'Eight', 'Nine', 'Ten', 'Eleven', 'Twelve']);
    await render(hbs`
      {{#paper-autocomplete
        placeholder="Item"
        options=items
        searchText=searchText
        onSearchTextChange=(action (mut searchText))
        selected=selectedItem
        onSelectionChange=(action (mut selectedItem))
        as |item|
      }}
        {{item}}
      {{/paper-autocomplete}}
    `);

    await settled();

    await focus('md-autocomplete-wrap input');

    assert.dom('.md-autocomplete-suggestions').exists('opened menu');
  });

  test('backdrop removed if select closed', async function(assert) {
    assert.expect(2);
    this.set('items', ['Ember', 'Paper', 'One', 'Two', 'Three', 'Four', 'Five', 'Six', 'Seven', 'Eight', 'Nine', 'Ten', 'Eleven', 'Twelve']);
    await render(hbs`

      {{#paper-autocomplete
      placeholder="Item"
      options=items
      searchText=searchText
      onSearchTextChange=(action (mut searchText))
      selected=selectedItem
      onSelectionChange=(action (mut selectedItem))
      as |item|
    }}
      {{item}}
    {{/paper-autocomplete}}`);

    await settled();

    await focus('md-autocomplete-wrap input');

    assert.dom('.md-autocomplete-suggestions').exists('opened menu');

    await click('#other-div');

    assert.dom('.md-autocomplete-suggestions').doesNotExist('backdrop removed');
  });

  test('should render only enough items to fill the menu + 3', async function(assert) {
    assert.expect(2);
    this.set('items', ['Ember', 'Paper', 'One', 'Two', 'Three', 'Four', 'Five', 'Six', 'Seven', 'Eight', 'Nine', 'Ten', 'Eleven', 'Twelve']);
    await render(hbs`
      {{#paper-autocomplete
        placeholder="Item"
        options=items
        searchText=searchText
        onSearchTextChange=(action (mut searchText))
        selected=selectedItem
        onSelectionChange=(action (mut selectedItem))
        as |item|
      }}
        {{item}}
      {{/paper-autocomplete}}
    `);

    await settled();

    await focus('md-autocomplete-wrap input');

    await settled();

    assert.dom('.md-autocomplete-suggestions').exists('opened menu');

    await waitFor('.md-autocomplete-suggestions li', { timeout: 2000 });

    assert.dom('.md-autocomplete-suggestions li').exists({ count: 8 }, 'only rendered 8 items');
  });

  skip('should filter list by search term', async function(assert) {
    assert.expect(3);
    this.set('items', ['Ember', 'Paper', 'One', 'Two', 'Three', 'Four', 'Five', 'Six', 'Seven', 'Eight', 'Nine', 'Ten', 'Eleven', 'Twelve']);
    await render(hbs`
      {{#paper-autocomplete
        placeholder="Item"
        options=items
        searchText=searchText
        onSearchTextChange=(action (mut searchText))
        selected=selectedItem
        onSelectionChange=(action (mut selectedItem))
        as |item|
      }}
        {{item}}
      {{/paper-autocomplete}}
    `);

    await settled();

    await focus('md-autocomplete-wrap input');

    await settled();

    assert.dom('.md-autocomplete-suggestions').exists('opened menu');

    await waitFor('.md-autocomplete-suggestions li', { timeout: 2000 });

    assert.dom('.md-autocomplete-suggestions li').exists({ count: 8 }, 'only rendered 8 items');

    await fillIn('md-autocomplete-wrap input', 'four');

    await settled();

    await waitFor('.md-autocomplete-suggestions li', { timeout: 2000 });

    assert.dom('.md-autocomplete-suggestions li').exists({ count: 1 }, 'only render searched item');
  });

  test('when has selection and gets focused, the dropdown is not shown', async function(assert) {
    assert.expect(1);

    this.set('items', ['Ember', 'Paper', 'One', 'Two']);
    this.set('selectedItem', 'Paper');
    await render(hbs`
      {{#paper-autocomplete
        placeholder="Item"
        options=items
        searchText=searchText
        onSearchTextChange=(action (mut searchText))
        selected=selectedItem
        onSelectionChange=(action (mut selectedItem))
        as |item|
      }}
        {{item}}
      {{/paper-autocomplete}}
    `);

    await settled();

    await focus('md-autocomplete-wrap input');

    assert.dom('.md-autocomplete-suggestions').doesNotExist('autocomplete-suggestions list must be closed when selected & focused in');
  });

  test('when has selection and searchText changed, the dropdown is shown with w/o selection', async function(assert) {
    assert.expect(3);

    this.set('items', ['Ember', 'Paper', 'One', 'Two']);
    this.set('selectedItem', 'Paper');
    await render(hbs`
      {{#paper-autocomplete
        placeholder="Item"
        options=items
        searchText=searchText
        onSearchTextChange=(action (mut searchText))
        selected=selectedItem
        onSelectionChange=(action (mut selectedItem))
        as |item|
      }}
        {{item}}
      {{/paper-autocomplete}}
    `);

    await settled();

    await focus('md-autocomplete-wrap input');

    assert.dom('.md-autocomplete-suggestions').doesNotExist('dropdown must be closed when selected & focused in');

    await fillIn('md-autocomplete-wrap input', 'Pape');

    assert.dom('.md-autocomplete-suggestions').exists('autocomplete-suggestions list is opened');

    assert.equal(this.selectedItem, undefined, 'selectedItem is undefined');
  });

  test('we can highlight search results for properties that aren\'t text', async function(assert) {
    assert.expect(2);

    this.items = ['1', '2', '3', '4'];
    this.selectedItem = 1;
    await render(hbs`
      {{#paper-autocomplete
        placeholder="Item"
        options=items
        searchText=searchText
        onSearchTextChange=(action (mut searchText))
        selected=selectedItem
        onSelectionChange=(action (mut selectedItem))
        as |item autocomplete|
      }}
        {{paper-autocomplete-highlight
            label=item
            searchText=autocomplete.searchText
            flags="i"}}
      {{/paper-autocomplete}}
    `);

    await settled();

    await focus('md-autocomplete-wrap input');

    await fillIn('md-autocomplete-wrap input', '1');

    assert.dom('.md-autocomplete-suggestions').exists('autocomplete-suggestions list is opened');

    assert.equal(this.selectedItem, undefined, 'selectedItem is undefined');
  });

  test('dropdown can be customized using dropdownClass', async function(assert) {
    assert.expect(1);
    this.items = ['1', '2', '3'];
    await render(hbs`
      {{#paper-autocomplete
        dropdownClass="custom-dropdown-class"
        placeholder="Item"
        options=items
        selected=selectedItem
        onSelectionChange=(action (mut selectedItem))
        as |item|
      }}
        {{item}}
      {{/paper-autocomplete}}
    `);

    await settled();

    await focus('md-autocomplete-wrap input');

    assert.dom('.md-autocomplete-suggestions-container').hasClass('custom-dropdown-class', 'contains custom dropdownClass');
  });

  test('shows validation errors after being touched', async function(assert) {
    assert.expect(3);
    this.items = ['1', '2', '3', '4'];

    class DummyValidation {
      get errors() {
        return ['validation error!'];
      }
    }
    this.v = new DummyValidation();
    await render(hbs`
      {{#paper-autocomplete
        label="Fooo"
        options=items
        selected=selectedItem
        errors=v.errors
        onSelectionChange=(action (mut selectedItem))
        as |item|}}
        {{item}}
      {{/paper-autocomplete}}
    `);

    await settled();

    assert.dom('md-input-container').hasNoClass('md-input-invalid');

    await click('md-autocomplete input');
    await triggerEvent('md-autocomplete input', 'blur');

    assert.dom('md-input-container').hasClass('md-input-invalid');
    assert.dom('md-autocomplete .paper-input-error').hasText('validation error!');
  });

  test('it does not submit a form when clear is clicked', async function(assert) {
    assert.expect(3);

    this.set('selectedItem', '1');
    this.set('items', ['1', '2']);
    this.set('submitForm', () => {
      this.set('formSubmitted', true);
    });

    await render(hbs`
      {{#paper-form onSubmit=(action submitForm) as |form|}}
        {{form.autocomplete
          allowClear=true
          options=items
          selected=selectedItem
          onSelectionChange=(action (mut selectedItem))
        }}
      {{/paper-form}}
    `);

    assert.dom('form md-autocomplete button').hasAttribute('type', 'button', 'Clear has type="button"');
    await click('form md-autocomplete button');
    assert.notOk(this.selectedItem, 'The selected item is cleared');
    assert.notOk(this.formSubmitted, 'The outer form should not be submitted when the clear button is clicked');
  });
});


Sparklers are a hand-held firework that burns slowly, they can be made vertical, or be themed, such as Halloween bats and ghosts. Adults and children at UK local bonfire and firework displays, often use sparklers, when allowed, But mostly when celebrating the 5th they are used at home, They are also used on Independence Day, and Phool Jhadi and sometimes during the Diwali festivals.
A sparkler is made by a thin metal rod approximately 8 inches, 20 cm, It is dipped in a thick batter of slow-burning composition and then it is allowed to dry.
By taping 300 sparklers or more with tape, leaving one slightly extended to be used as a fuse. Can cause some very serious injuries. In 2008 there was 3 death from the Sparkler bombs, the blast can approach the power of a stick of dynamite.
The temperature of sparklers can reach up to 2,000°C, wow hot, Look at it this way, iron metal can melt at around 1510°C that is just (2750°F) and steel melts at around 1370°C. Crazy, I know. This is why you should always wear suitable gloves.
Since sparklers are a firework, You can be fined up to £5,000 or imprisoned if you buy or use fireworks illegally.
Always keep a bucket of sand or water for after you use your sparklers, as they can be very hot to touch for a while after they have been used, These can cause some significant burns.
If you own your firework shop, you would be surprised to know that you would need a licence to sell them.
The law is clear, like with all fireworks you cannot set off or throw them, yes this includes sparklers, in the street or other public places.
Sparklers are fun, But they are not just used for bonfire night, in fact, they can be used for birthdays, weddings and other such celebrations and festivals.
Did you know, 3 burning at the same time produce the same heat as a blowtorch, now that is seriously hot, again and they can cause some bad burns to anything.
They are not just vertical, They can come in many sizes, and shapes for occasions, such as love hearts, Halloween themed and many more. Did you find this post helpful? please share it with your friends, would you like more? join us on our Facebook group.


As one of the newest UIL sports, cheerleading will be competing at the Spirit State Championship in Fort Worth this afternoon.
The team has been practicing twice weekly since November, and, more recently, daily, to prepare for the competition that begins on Tuesday. Their goal is to place in finals since they weren't able to last year and to place in the top 10 in the individual performances.
"I hope that we all go out there and we do our best that we can do, and that'll show in whatever place we get," co-captain and senior Bryn Bittner said.
Of the 72 5A schools they will be competing against in Texas, 20 place in finals.Co-captain senior Emilee Gant said this competition is a great opportunity for them.
"I think it's a great way for us to actually be able to show off our skills and our talents since we don't get to compete except for once a year," Gant said.
All competing teams have put together gameday material to present to the judges. Wiggins brought a choreographer to their gym to prepare a band dance, revised fight song, and a crowd-involved cheer which incorporates props and signs. Bittner said she is excited for where the dances and their hard work will take them.


This is our fifth annual salary survey. As in previous years, it's likely to be the most popular item on our website, but this year, following feedback from clients and candidates, instead of grouping salaries by years of experience we've simply used 'junior,' 'mid' and 'senior' to reflect experience in the relevant role. Please also be aware that factors such as location, individual company's pay policies, technological change and, of course, personal performance, may all affect your final salary and benefits.


text:
Q: Keras on TF, how to get the loss values per example, without performing gradient descend? I'm interested in examining loss values per example, using a tf.keras.Model instance, with the following restrictions:

*

*Assuming I already called model.compile(), the information about the loss function is there - I don't want to explicitly define loss like in this example from the docs

*Without performing gradient descend (I am aware of the option of accessing the loss in tf.callback.Callbacks, but I don't want to perform GD)

Also, using a callback to get losses and then reloading the initial weights is not a valid solution, I want to avoid GD entirely.
So is there a way to achieve this? I would expect something that will look something like
model = tf.keras.Sequential([....])
model.compile(optimizer=..., loss=...)

single_loss_value = model.get_loss(single_x, single_y)
batch_loss_valujes = model.get_loss(x, y)

A: To get the loss of some samples you can use model.evaluate. There you can use x and y, as a single sample or a batch.
model = tf.keras.Sequential([....])
model.compile(optimizer=..., loss=...)

single_loss_value = model.evaluate(single_x, single_y)
batch_loss_values = model.evaluate(x, y)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Treasuries rallied, while the dollar fell after disappointing retail sales data in the world's largest economy added to speculation the Federal Reserve will be in no rush to raise interest rates this year. American stocks dropped. Oil climbed.
Yields on two-year U.S. notes, the coupon maturity most sensitive to Fed policy expectations, posted the biggest decline in two weeks. Meanwhile, those for 10-year bonds briefly fell below 1.5 percent as the dollar retreated. The S&P 500 Index slipped after hitting an all-time high. Trading volume with American equities sank to the lowest level since March. Norway's krone led the currencies of crude-exporting nations higher this week as oil had its best performance since April in the span.
Both global stocks and bonds rallied in the week, buoyed by optimism that central banks will support growth as the Fed takes a gradual approach in raising borrowing costs. Data showing sales at American retailers were little changed in July as wholesale prices unexpectedly sank by the most in almost a year reinforced that outlook. Futures traders now see 42 percent odds of a U.S. rate hike this year, down from 49 percent Thursday, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
Treasury 10-year note yields fell five basis points to 1.51 percent as of 4 p.m. in New York, according to Bloomberg Bond Trader data. Two-year yields dropped four basis points to 0.70 percent. The implied probability of a Fed hike next month is just 18 percent, according to futures data compiled by Bloomberg, down from 26 percent a week ago.
"We think the regime will persist so the policy rate can stay about flat over the policy horizon with just one rate increase," Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard said in an interview on Wharton Business Radio on Friday.
U.K. gilts extended a fourth weekly advance as the Bank of England restarted its stimulus program. The central bank has left its quantitative-easing shopping list broadly unchanged for next week, even after it failed to attract enough sellers of gilts due in more than 15 years to hit its purchase target at an operation on Tuesday.
Spain's government bonds also posted their fourth weekly advance, pushing yields to record lows, as developed-market central banks kept their stimulus taps open. Yields on Italian 10-year debt Friday stayed close to their lowest level in more than a year.
China's 10-year bonds yielded 2.66 percent, the lowest level since at least 2006, as weaker-than-expected credit expansion and industrial output reignited concerns over economic growth.
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index, which tracks the currency against a group of major peers, dropped 0.1 percent. The greenback lost 0.2 percent to $1.1161 per euro, and fell 0.7 percent to 101.25 yen.
Norway's krone extended this week's gain to 3.5 percent as the currencies of Mexico and Canada, which are also oil-exporting nations, rose 2.8 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively.
The pound fell for a second week amid the BOE's revamped bond purchases that left the U.K. currency as, once again, the year's worst performer. The pound is now back below $1.30 for as the easy money policies designed to shield the economy from the decision to quit the European Union take effect.
Brazil's real weakened after the central bank intervened amid comments by acting President Michel Temer that signaled he's worried over the currency's world-beating rally this year. The ruble pared its weekly gain as investors speculated a flare-up in tensions in Ukraine may lead to tougher sanctions against Russia.
The S&P 500 fell 0.1 percent to 2,184.05, after closing at an all-time high for the ninth time in a month. The Nasdaq Composite Index eked out a 0.1 percent increase to its fourth record in six days, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.2 percent. About 5.5 billion shares traded hands on U.S. exchanges Friday, the lowest in four months and 21 percent below the three-month average.
Banks dropped as Treasury yields declined, damping optimism for better earnings. Drugmakers weighed on the health-care group, while raw-materials fell the most in five weeks. Energy producers rose with crude oil for a second day, and Nordstrom Inc. jumped 8 percent to buoy retailers after its quarterly profit beat projections.
With the earnings season approaching its end, investors are turning their focus to economic data to gauge the vitality of U.S. growth and the Fed's next policy steps. In addition to July retail sales and producer prices, a report showed consumer confidence rose less than forecast in August, reflecting a pullback in views on personal finances among younger Americans.
MSCI's global stocks gauge climbed 1.3 percent since Aug. 5, while emerging-market shares posted their longest weekly advance since March 2014.
Commodity producers and automakers dragged the Stoxx Europe 600 Index down 0.2 percent, after it traded little changed for most of the day. The equity index, which erased its post-Brexit slump on Thursday, trimmed its weekly gain to 1.4 percent, with the volume of shares changing hands today about 39 percent lower than the 30-day average.
Oil climbed 2.3 percent to $44.49 in New York, extending its weekly rally to 6.4 percent. Saudi Arabia signaled it's prepared to discuss stabilizing markets at informal OPEC discussions next month after prices tumbled into a bear market.
Gold and silver erased gains. Nickel led a slump in industrial metals after several economic reports from China revived demand concerns in the world's top user of raw materials.


text:
In Maine, a push in Legislature could lead to a rewrite of the U.S. Constitution
Two resolutions mirroring a secretive group's model ask the state to join 28 others in calling for a convention – the first since 1787 – that could remake how the government works.
By Colin WoodardStaff Writer
A pair of resolutions under consideration by the Legislature that lift much of their wording from model bills written by a secretive, corporation-funded group could help lead to a radical rewriting of the U.S. Constitution.
The resolutions seek to add Maine to the list of states that have called for the convening of a constitutional convention for the first time since the Constitution was drafted in 1787. Maine would become the 29th state to endorse the most successful of the two measures, which would put the effort just five states short of the 34 required to convene a convention under Article V of the U.S. Constitution at which delegates could set about amending the document in any way they wished, regardless of the purported purpose for which they had convened. The other state legislatures passed their resolutions over the past four decades, and there is no time limit to reach the required number.
Related Headlines
Maine resolution would aid scheme to rewrite U.S. Constitution
Both of the bills were introduced by Rep. Nathan Wadsworth, R-Hiram, the Maine state co-chair of the American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC, an organization funded by corporations and conservative donors that allows businesses to write legislation and give it to state lawmakers to introduce at home. Each borrows much of its wording – often word for word – from ALEC's model bills.
"These proposals are nakedly political," said Arn Pearson, executive director of the Center for Media and Democracy, a Wisconsin-based nonprofit that tracks ALEC. "Republicans are at a high-water mark in their control of state legislatures, and they see this as an opportunity to make sweeping changes in how the government works."
Wadsworth, who last year introduced another ALEC-modeled bill to prevent municipalities from building their own broadband networks, did not respond to interview requests. His effort closely resembles one last year when other legislators introduced another ALEC bill to convene a constitutional convention.
TWO CONVENTION DRIVES
One of his current bills – H.P. 1251 – claims to limit the convention's proceedings to the passing of a balanced-budget provision and has been adopted by 28 state legislatures. It received a little-noticed public hearing Feb. 21 before the Legislature's Committee on State and Local Government, which is considering whether to endorse its passage by the full Legislature.
"For decades the American people have been demanding to restore our dysfunctional federal government by imploring Washington to manage their budget as most families do by balancing what they spend with what they earn," Wadsworth testified before the panel.
One other lawmaker, Rep. Paula Sutton, R-Warren, testified that although she is a fiscal hawk, she did not think the effort would work in practice. Three people emailed their opposition to the bill, one their support, and one Maine resident appeared in person in favor.
Wadsworth's other bill – H.P. 1232 – seeks to convene a convention that would be limited to enacting a constitutional amendment for congressional term limits. The same panel voted 7-5 to recommend it not pass, but because the vote was not a unanimous, the measure will likely receive a floor vote.
At that bill's Feb. 14 hearing, Wadsworth used almost identical language to promote it. "For decades the American people have been demanding to restore our dysfunctional federal government by imposing term limits on Congress," he testified. "Career politicians have dominated Congress for decades and it has prevented Congress from being what the Founders intended, the branch of government closest to the people."
Opponents of the effort expressed alarm that Maine lawmakers might pass the balanced-budget version, because it would put proponents within striking distance of actually enacting it.
Critics fear that, once convened, a convention – where most delegates would likely be appointed by Republican governors and lawmakers, and each state would presumably have an equal vote, regardless of population – would be used as a vehicle to do an end run around the three branches of government to remake the country on a laissez faire footing, with minimal federal regulations, spending or taxes.
At a mock convention held in Williamsburg, Virginia, in 2016 and attended by state Sen. Garrett Mason, R-Lisbon, and 149 other state legislators from all 50 states, delegates passed an amendment that allowed any federal law, regulation or executive order to be vetoed if disliked by three-fifths of the states, a metric that could allow the Clean Air Act, the Affordable Care Act or the national immigration system to be toppled by a group of states constituting just over a third of the nation's population.
Two other measures required a two-thirds majority in each House of Congress to increase the debt or impose taxes, but not to cut spending or taxes, a combination that would almost certainly result in a prompt dismantling of entitlements and social spending. The conventioneers – whose work has been touted by ALEC and other supporters of the Article V effort – also repealed the 16th Amendment, which allows the federal government to use income taxes for national priorities, rather than only in the states in which the taxes are collected, and rewrote the Commerce Clause "to its original meaning," limiting congressional regulation to trade between states.
"If Maine passes this, then they have more than enough opportunities to get the rest on board, because there are six legislatures still out there that are fully controlled by the GOP," said Jay Riestenberg, a strategist at Common Cause, a Washington-based watchdog group. "And if they can pass it in a purple state like Maine, that would really add fuel to the fire, build the pressure on those other states and be really dangerous."
The Maine measures require a two-thirds majority to be approved, so they would require significant bipartisan support.
WARNING: 'RUNAWAY CONVENTION'
Many constitutional experts have expressed deep concerns about anyone ever convening a convention under Article V, primarily because the Constitution offers little guidance as to how the convention would be conducted, including how delegates would be selected and how one would limit the scope of proposed changes once the meeting was convened.
In 2014, the late, staunch conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia said he would never want to see an Article V convention held. "Whoa!" he explained. "Who knows what would come out of it?"
In a 1988 letter to conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly, retired Chief Justice Warren Burger also expressed opposition. "There is no effective way to limit or muzzle the actions of a constitutional convention," he wrote.
Richard H. Fallon Jr., a constitutional law professor at Harvard University and alumnus of Augusta's Cony High School, argued that state resolutions cannot place ironclad restraints on convention delegates. "The Constitution allows for the calling of conventions on a petition of enough states, but not limited conventions of enough states," he told the Portland Press Herald. "If the delegates decide they don't want to be bound by the (state) resolution, they are right that they can't be bound."
ALEC's director for international relations and federalism, Karla Jones, disagreed, arguing that if delegates passed amendments that were outside the scope of the states' instructions, they would be illegitimate and subject to rejection by Congress, states and courts.
A DEMOCRATIC DEFENDER
Both of Wadsworth's bills are co-sponsored by a Democrat, Rep. Stephen Stanley of Medway, who also introduced a similar bill in 2017 that called for a open-ended constitutional convention.
In an interview, Stanley repeatedly said that because the Founders had included such a provision in the Constitution, it ought to be used to address the country's problems.
"Our forefathers drafted the Constitution for a purpose down the road: If something happened you could call a convention and sit down and talk principles," he said. "And we states have lost a lot of power to the federal government and thus (a convention) provides the states an opportunity to put out what should be out there."
Asked whether he was concerned about the possibility of a "runaway convention," Stanley said he was. "That has been a concern, but just like anything else, you can make what you want to make out of it and do what you want to do – basically the convention can do whatever they want," he said. "There should be some discussion about some of this stuff (to ascertain) what the convention is going to do."
Asked how he had come to be a co-sponsor of multiple ALEC bills over the past year, Stanley didn't provide a clear answer. "I don't know – you're asked to sponsor a bill and you do it," he said.
While ALEC claims to be a nonpartisan professional association for state legislators, virtually all of its funding comes from its corporate members – which include major energy, drug, mining, telecommunications and chemical companies – or private donors. The organization does not disclose the identities of the more than 1,700 state legislators who are members, but documents leaked to Common Cause showed that in 2011 they included Mike Thibodeau, R-Winterport, who is now president of the Maine Senate, and state Sens. James Hamper, R-Oxford, and Brian Langley, R-Ellsworth. Sen. Andre Cushing, R-Newport, a longtime state co-chairman, sits on the organization's national board of directors.
Each state has a legislator and a private-sector representative who serve as co-chairs. An ALEC spokeswoman, Anna Tarnawski, confirmed that Wadsworth succeeded Cushing as Maine's legislative co-chair in December 2016, but would not say who the other co-chair is. In 2011, that position was occupied by Ann Robinson, a corporate lobbyist who served as Gov. Paul LePage's regulatory reform adviser while simultaneously representing her clients.
Colin Woodard can be contacted at:
Maine Political Report
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text: Q: Use multiple bibliographystyle? I am using IEEEtran as bibliographystyle which presents the citation as numbers. In some text I need to write the name of authors. However, IEEEtran can only use \cite{..} to give numbers. I would like to ask how can I use multiple bibliographystyle that don't make conflicts (i.e., give the ability to cite by numbers \cite{..} or author name \citep{..} in the text, having the same list of Biblography as numbers at the end of the document)


text:
Polluters allowed to emit 107 million tonnes
Under a new plan approved by the government Czech industries will be allowed a margin of air pollution emissions of up to almost 108 million tonnes per year as of January 1. Companies will receive permits, which are transferable in all 25 EU member countries, with the European Commission checking on the number of permits issued and monitoring the overall system. By the end of each year firms will be required to provide a total for the amount of pollutants actually released. The Environment Ministry demanded on Monday that permits for only up to 100 million tonnes be issued; as a result a hearing will now be held in Brussels to explain the compromise.
Boeing to leave Aero for symbolic sum of 2 crowns
The American company Boeing has decided to give up its share in the aircraft manufacturer Aero Vodochody for a symbolic amount of 2 crowns to the Czech state. The move proposed by the Finance Ministry was approved by the government on Wednesday. Both sides had been holding talks on a settlement since last winter and the contracts were completed only several weeks ago. Boeing first entered Aero in 1998 with a promise to help it enter foreign markets. However, it failed to keep the promise and the Czech government decided in February that the strategic partnership with Boeing would be terminated.
Armed men rob bank in Prague
Two armed men robbed a Prague branch of the Ceska sporitelna bank on Wednesday afternoon. No one was injured during the robbery in which the two men allegedly stole some 300,000 crowns - the equivalent of 10,000 euros. According to police statistics, the number of bank robberies in the first six months of this year increased almost tenfold compared to the same period in 2003.
Austrian police detain Czech woman wanted for murder
Austrian border police have detained a Czech woman wanted in Italy for murder. The 30-year-old Czech had been sentenced in Italy to 23 years in prison and was arrested on Tuesday as she was trying to cross the Austrian-Czech border. A court in the Austrian city of Linz will decide whether the woman will be extradited to Italy.
Social Democrats to use newspaper ads, internet banners in election campaign
The Czech new agency CTK has reported that the senior government Social Democrats are planning to use banners on popular internet portals and large print advertisements as part of their election campaign before November's regional and Senate elections. The party has already launched a massive billboard campaign coupled with huge concerts to take place in 14 cities with major Czech pop stars. The party says that the total cost of the campaign will be 30 million crowns (1 million euros) but has been reluctant to answer questions on the fees being paid out to the pop stars for their performances.
Government to improve condition of busiest motorway
The government says it wants to improve the condition of the country's busiest motorway, the D1, where the number of traffic accidents has risen sharply in recent months. The Transport Minister Milan Simonovsky is to submit a proposal in two weeks on how to solve the situation. The D1 has recently been the scene of serious accidents. The latest was on Tuesday when two lorries loaded with flammable material collided and caught fire, halting traffic for five hours on the motorway.
Czech-born supermodel starts fashion brand
The Czech-born supermodel Eva Herzigova unveiled her first clothing collection in Paris on Tuesday, joining the growing ranks of celebrities seeking to parlay their famous names into fashion brands. The blonde supermodel, who made her name with sexy advertising campaigns for Wonderbra and Guess jeans, launched her label with a swimwear line a year ago.
Thursday should be partly cloudy with occasional rain. Daytime temperatures are expected to range from 16 to 18 degrees Celsius.


Manufactured from silver aluminium, this double sided A2 A-frame features a snap open, front loading mechanism and UV-stabilised PVC covers to protect posters on display; posters behind the PVC covers can be easily changed or removed by unclipping the aluminium frame. This double sided A frame poster stand is durable and long lasting with four legs for stability.
Although suitable for outdoor use, we recommend that this a-board is not left outside in adverse weather conditions or over night.