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Ten more ways SOA made a difference in 2007
From planes to trains to phones to hotels, SOA played a key role in advancing many businesses in 2007.
By Joe McKendrick for Service Oriented | December 27, 2007 -- 08:57 GMT (00:57 PST) | Topic: Enterprise Software
From planes to trains to phones to hotels, SOA played a key role in advancing many businesses in 2007. I culled several more working examples of where SOA made a difference over the past year from my SOA in Action Website over at ebizQ, which tracks SOA success stories. More 2007 SOA success stories are posted here.
To keep planes flying. United Airlines employed SOA techniques to take the next step with its previously service-enabled mainframes to move to an even more open-standards-based middleware architecture. Over the years, United had built an extensive J2EE-based middleware layer to integrate its large assortment of IBM and Unisys mainframes. The main thrust of the new effort was development of an SOA-enabled system called EasyFIDS, which is a flight information system to track the current status of flights. EasyFIDs is able to relay information about flight status, in real time, to multiple endpoints, including airport monitors, crews at different airports, the Federal Aviation Administration, and most importantly, passengers themselves, who may or may not already have checked in. This calls for a system capable of communicating with a variety of endpoints.
To keep more planes flying. As was the case with United, Scandinavian Airlines International (SAS) embarked on a year-long project to move its operations from home-grown mainframe applications to three new distributed systems that provide real-time messaging. The airline is employing SOA via an enterprise service bus (ESB) messaging backbone that will serve as an intermediate layer of middleware that lets the company map data from disparate systems, route messages, ensure that services are delivered in the correct order and enforce security rules. It is estimated that the migration project will lower IT maintenance costs by $250,000 per month after it goes live -- a potential savings of $3 million a year.
To keeps the trains running. A railroad company set out to build an SOA that could handle 5.8 millions messages a day for 1,500 trading partners, as well as track more than seven million pieces of equipment. Railinc, a wholly owned subsidiary of the American Association of Railroads, chose to move to SOA to ensure that the right information is sent out to its 1,500 customers. The company moved from its existing legacy EDI system to an SOA-based system. Information can now be accessed anywhere via a PC with a Web browser.
To keep the lines of telecommunications open. BT, the UK-based telecom giant, began its SOA in earnest about three years ago. As a result of the SOA, the company has been able to close down close to 800 systems, and plans to close down another 700 to 900 systems over the coming 12 months. BT's SOA proponents have been able to evolve the company's focus from maintaining operations to concentrating on the customer experience. BT intends to be fully SOA enabled by 2009, Glass said. BT's SOA deployment now covers up to 3,500 core systems, built on 14 platforms. When fully complete by 2009, the transition will make it much easier for BT to build and introduce new products and services for customers by reusing common components – say, customer identification and revenue collection – allowing BT to focus development resources just on new functionality.
To keep hotel services running. Marriott is employing services-based applications that can be assembled quickly to respond to changes in the hotel market. The SOA is also intended to provide easier paths to integration with partners, such as Web sites that provide online hotel bookings. The reuse of services would save development costs and get new value out of existing systems.
To keep more hotel services running. Seaport Hotel implemented SOA as part of its new strategy to advance a unified communications platform that enhances the customer experience. Seaport Hotel's in-room "Seaportal" application is built using SOA principles to attain a true IP convergence features. The hotel pulled together VoIP, unified communications, SOA, Web services and external information sources — all with a touch-screen interface for the hotel's guests.
To consolidate legacy systems. Farm Credit Services of America (FCSAmerica) employed a shared-services CRM system to replaced a tangle of point-to-point connections with a single integration point. The SOA even has a name -- the "Pinwheel." FCSAmerica's Pinwheel brought together customer data coming out of managed in silos such as a mainframe-based loan accounting system, a third-party CRM system, a custom loan origination system written in Visual Basic, and a Web-based system dealer origination system written in Java.
To alleviate double data-entry. Semiconductor testing manufacturer FormFactor Inc. turned to SOA to move away from its outmoded processes that required hand typing information from a legacy manufacturing execution system and then copying the data into its ERP system. The company didn't just decide to drop an SOA into the middle of this configuration. Rather, the company's IT director took a hard look at its business process management before seeing where SOA would fit. SOA would become the enabler for business process automation.
To alleviate manual data entry. Southern States, an agricultural coop, put SOA best practices in place to provide automated updating of price lists across the cooperative's 1,200 retail stores. Previously, pricing data was stored in Oracle's OneWorld ERP application, a homegrown point-of-sale application and an online catalog and had to be manually updated by store employees. It is estimated that the ability to uniformly update prices has recouped about $1.4 million a year in lost revenues.
To unchain stovepiped systems. Albert Heijn (AH), a big retailer based in the Netherlands, lacked visibility into its supply chain, and was forced to rely on fixed replenishment schedules that were based on local demand forecasts. The company turned to a SOA-based approach to bridge its previously separated technology environments. Now, each of the chain's 720 stores connects to a central broker at AH's headquarters, which in turn connects to back-office applications. AH can now bridge previously separated application-to-application and B2B environments within a single infrastructure that also controls the supply chain. Information on each retail sale streams all the way back to suppliers. All point-of-sale data is automatically aggregated with sales data from across all stores and delivered to a centralized replenishment application. Decision makers now get replenished data every half hour to help with supply chain decisions.
Developer Cloud Big Data Analytics Innovation Tech and Work Collaboration
More from Joe McKendrick
Advice for technologists on promoting AI ethics
Filling stadiums with serverless computing
Serverless: applications only when you need them - no more, no less
Fewer people seek AI jobs: is the market cooling off, or too hot to handle?
Microsoft and Adobe's ties keep getting tighter.
Microsoft blocks major Windows 10 update for Surface Book 2 after bug makes GPU vanish
It is the latest machine that Microsoft has blocked from receiving the Windows 10 May 2019 update after the upgrade had unintended consequences.
Border Force resolves IT security outage at passport gates
The outage had left passengers waiting in long queues.
An IT security salesman told me his software doesn't work
A random encounter with a professional reveals the inherent issues with IT security.
Facebook just released this new open source JavaScript engine
Facebook releases Hermes to improve app performance on low-end Android phones.
Australian Taxation Office portals and online services are down once again
Some of the ATO's services, including its portals and myGov online functions, are currently unavailable or experiencing slowness.


Manchester United defender Eric Bailly has emerged as a reported target for Premier League rivals Tottenham Hotspur, having also previously been the subject of rumoured interest from Arsenal.
Bailly was recently one of 10 players named in a media report claiming that United could experience a 'mass exodus' if under fire manager Jose Mourinho remains in charge beyond the end of the season, with the Ivorian apparently uncertain of any future he may have.
A £30m signing in the summer of 2016, Bailly was sacrificed just 19 minutes into United's 3-2 comeback win over Newcastle at the weekend that many interpreted as a sign that the boss no longer has any faith in him.
Should the 24-year-old wish to move on, the latest gossip claims he will have at least one top suitor elsewhere in England. In turn, that could even re-open the Toby Alderweireld links for United after failing to land the Belgian during the summer.
According to the Daily Star, Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino is a 'big admirer' of Bailly and is described as 'keen' to strike a deal when the transfer window opens in January.
One major detail overlooked by the Star's report is that Pochettino and Bailly have previous after briefly spending time together at Espanyol. Bailly was just a teenager when he joined the Spanish club in 2011 but Pochettino was manager there at the time.
It is said that Bailly has become 'increasingly disillusioned' with life at United. And while the story acknowledges a potential unwillingness from United to sell an asset to a direct rival, it is pointed out that it may aid them in 'luring' Alderweireld in the opposite direction.


Join us on Wednesday, October 8th for our monthly business meeting at Seasons 52 with our panel of political experts. Our panel will discuss the upcoming 2014 general election. Confirmed speakers to be announced soon! All members and non-members are welcome! Bring your friends, siblings, spouses, co-workers, and anyone else who'd like to come! No cost to attend.
Free to attend! RSVP via Eventbrite.


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UnDam the United Nations!
United Nations and Member Countries
Will climate agreements result in more dammed rivers?
The United Nations and member countries are still deciding: (1) whether to extend a program that approved more than 2,000 hydroelectric projects as carbon offsets; and (2) how dams should count toward emission reduction targets, measured by U.N. member countries as "Nationally Determined Contributions" (NDCs). The voices of river-dependent communities were strong during COP26 in Scotland in November. We're making progress but we still have work to do.
Tell the U.N. dams must not qualify as offsets or NDCs.
Why Aren't Dams a Climate Solution?
Methane: Dams & reservoirs emit massive amounts of methane, a greenhouse gas 86 times more potent in the near term than carbon dioxide.
Clean Alternatives: Solar & wind energy are cleaner, cheaper, and faster to build, offering far greater positive impact for limited climate funding.
Indigenous Rights, Human Rights: Dams have displaced millions of Indigenous people and other river-dependent communities. Dams eliminate traditional, healthy, local food sources. Dams destroy ancient, sustainable, low-carbon, place-based cultures.
Water Loss: Dam reservoirs have tremendous water losses to evaporation and seepage, increasing impacts of droughts.
Water Quality: Dam reservoirs can elevate water temperatures, reduce oxygen, and breed toxic algae which contain dangerous neurotoxins.
Extinction & Ecosystems: Dams destroy habitat, block fish passage, damage the food web, and cause extinction of native species.
Counterfeit Carbon Credits: Carbon offset credits from dams do not account for methane emissions and U.N. offset verifiers take dam builders at their word that dams are "additional." Nonetheless, fossil fuel companies can purchase these credits to avoid emission reductions.
Climate Resilience: Dams aren't climate resilient and they reduce the ability of communities and ecosystems to adapt to climate change.
The U.N. is focusing on methane emissions (a potent greenhouse gas) but has not yet agreed to account for methane emissions from dams and reservoirs. The U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People contains strong language, but the U.N. has not applied it to dam construction which has displaced Indigenous communities, eliminated traditional food sources, and submerged villages. Finally, the U.N. has not addressed the fact that dams are a leading cause of biodiversity loss in freshwater systems.
Please sign the petition to call on the U.N. and its member governments to stop incentivizing new dams and start measuring the methane from existing dams.
By signing this petition, you agree you may receive occasional email updates from its sponsors. You may unsubscribe at any time.
Water Climate Trust
To: United Nations and Member Countries
Please stop supporting new dams as a climate solution and account for methane emissions from existing dams.
During your negotiations, please adopt language to:
1. Exclude hydroelectric dams from all offset schemes including those in Article 6 of the Paris Agreement and any continuation of the Clean Development Mechanism (which approved more than 2,000 hydroelectric projects as carbon offsets).
2. Require that member countries fully account for methane emissions from dams and reservoirs when calculating Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
3. Exclude from NDCs all new hydroelectric dams and existing dams that violate the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Methane Emissions:
Dams and their reservoirs emit methane, a greenhouse gas 86 times more potent in the near term than carbon dioxide. As the latest IPCC report confirms, U.N. member countries cannot know if they achieve emission reduction targets until they account for methane emissions.
Rights of Indigenous Peoples:
Dams displace Indigenous communities, submerge ancestral territory, and eliminate healthy traditional food sources. Dams destroy ancient, sustainable, low-carbon, place-based cultures. Dam companies routinely do not seek free, prior and informed consent before flooding Indigenous communities. The dam building Industry has a history of murder, torture, and intimidation of Indigenous people.
Clean & Cost-effective Alternatives:
Solar and wind energy are cleaner, less expensive, and faster to build. The relative cost-effectiveness of solar and wind would be even more pronounced if the U.N. accounted for the externalized social, environmental, and intergenerational cost of dams.
Water Loss:
Dam reservoirs lose water to evaporation and underground seepage exacerbating water shortages and droughts. Some dams lose more water to evaporation than they deliver for water users.
Pollution and Water Quality:
Dam reservoirs exponentially increase the concentration of toxic algae which can poison humans and kill animals and fish. Dams elevate water temperature and reduce dissolved oxygen levels killing native fish.
Extinction & Ecosystems:
Dams cause species extinction and harm ecosystems by blocking access to spawning habitat upstream from dams, destroying downstream habitat, and supporting non-native species.
Carbon Sinks:
Dams limit the ability of rivers to carry carbon to the sea where it is absorbed and feeds plankton.
Unreliable Energy-Source:
Climate change has led to more frequent and severe draughts. Many countries that rely heavily on hydropower have suffered energy crises as their dams didn't function efficiently due to low river flows.
Counterfeit Carbon Credits:
Under the Clean Development Mechanism, dam builders did not account for methane emissions or verify claims of "additionality." This resulted in "Certified Emission Reductions" (CERs) that do not represent actual emission reductions. Nonetheless, fossil fuel companies and other polluters can purchase these CERs to avoid emission reductions.
Climate Adaptation:
Climate adaptation goals of the Paris Agreement would be better served by protecting free flowing rivers and the people who depend on them.
Free flowing rivers protect biodiversity, ecological resilience, and emotional resilience. Free flowing rivers provide food and sustainable economic livelihoods. Free flowing rivers sustain ancient place-based cultures which, unlike modern dominant cultures, provide for the needs of current generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.
Please adopt strong language to exclude hydroelectric dams from all carbon offset schemes, require U.N. member countries to fully account for methane emissions from dams, and exclude from NDCs all new hydroelectric dams and existing dams that violate the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Close friends of Sen. John McCain speak with FOX 4
Posted Aug 26 2018 09:26PM CDT
Video Posted Aug 26 2018 09:21PM CDT
A couple of John McCain's closest friends are remembering him fondly and recalling the trying times they shared as prisoners of war in Vietnam.
"John was just a decent human being. He loved his country. He loved the people of this country," said Colonel Orson Swindle, one of McCain's best friends.
Swindle, a retired Marine Colonel, spoke to FOX 4 by phone from his Colorado home. He was recently in Frisco celebrating the 45th anniversary of the POW's return to freedom from Vietnam.
Swindle was a Naval aviator who met McCain after McCain's plane was shot down and he was captured and imprisoned in 1967. Swindle talked about life lessons learned as a POW with McCain at the infamous "hello hole" called the Hanoi Hilton.
McCain was considered a propaganda tool. His father and grandfather were high ranking naval officers. The North Vietnamese offered to send him home, but McCain refused unless others captured before him were allowed to leave.
"As a group I think we were held longer than any other prisoners," said Swindle.
Routinely tortured, Swindle says McCain was inspiring and credits him with his survival of seven years imprisonment.
"One of the things, we were isolated and had to tap on walls to communicate," said Swindle.
In a 1973 memoir he wrote: "The most important thing for survival is communication with someone."
POWs used a code of taps enabling them to secretly communicate with each other.
Longtime North Texas Congressman Sam Johnson, another very close friend of McCain's, knew the code too.
In a statement he says, "We have lost a genuine American hero today. John and I were fellow POWs at the "Hanoi Hilton," and I can testify to the fact that he did everything he could to defend freedom and honor our Great Nation not just in that hell on earth, but beyond those bleak years... ...We are a grateful Nation for his service and sacrifice both in and out of uniform."
"We were hell bent determined, we were going to come out of this and that we were going to be positive about life from here on because we've had enough sadness and bitterness, hurt and pain," said Swindle.
Swindle says their imprisonment gave them purpose and McCain exemplified that. He was a patriot and dedicated public servant determined to see democracy and freedom flourish. He gives McCain tribute in their secret code as captives.
"G-B-U - J.S.M. God bless you! John Sidney McCain."


First Professionally Built Bike Park in Utah to Open In Park City!!
May 25th, 2011 Park City, UT- The Snyderville Basin Recreation District announces the celebration of its grand opening of the Basin Recreation Trailside Bike Park on June 18th, 2011 from 11:00am-5:00pm.
The Basin Recreation Trailside Park Bike Park (5715 Trailside Drive, Park City, UT) is the first professionally designed, and built bike park in the state of Utah. Free and open to the public, the new Bike Park was partially funded from Restaurant Arts and Parks tax, with the remainder funded from Basin Recreation's Capital Improvements budget. The Basin Recreation phase one Bike Park was designed and built by Progressive Trail Design; a professional trail/bike park development company. Progressive Trail Design has designed and built 19 other bike parks and trail systems for municipalities, state parks, national forests, residential developers, and private landowners.
The Snyderville Basin Special Recreation District is a special District formed by Summit County to plan for, construct and operate recreation facilities and programs in the Snyderville Basin (the un-incorporated area surrounding Park City). Basin Recreation is dedicated to providing quality parks, trails and recreational experiences and opportunities for residents and visitors of the Snyderville Basin.
One Response to "Basin Recreation's Trailside Bike Park Grand Opening June 18, 2011"
It was a great event on saturday with lots of cameras. Do you know where those pictures will be posted?
One comment about the trail, the run are too flat. its needs to be just a little steeper. otherwise it was allot of fun. Great for a family outing.


Could you use some interns? Learn how to choose between hiring a seminary student or college intern to help out at your church.
Transitions in the church sometimes lead to relational explosions that get people hurt. How do we best handle these situations without getting burned and without losing our faith?
Your job is to oversee the nuts and bolts of internal and external communication. Here are five practical steps for how to do that better.
We are Christ-followers before we are communicators. That means we are not exempt from the need to be spiritually fed.


Future functional clothing will evolve with a changing environment. Surveillance technology, facial recognition and ubiquitous spam will create a need for physical firewalls to maintain anonymity, protect us from manipulation and corporate sway to keep our personal freedom. How can we move without being tracked and recognized? The only way to stay anonymous and disconnected might be by hiding. So reclaim your self!


text:
Q: Is there a directed angle symbol? Is there a symbol for an angle measured in counter clockwise direction? That would be a directed round arrow for ccw (or cw) direction added to $\angle$.
Something like this:

A: From an idea of @egreg's answer, How to write a character overlapping another character, with some little adjustments.
\documentclass[12pt]{article}
\usepackage{amssymb,mathabx}
\usepackage{scalerel}

\makeatletter
\DeclareRobustCommand{\roundarrowangle}[1]{% arrow strike
  {\vphantom{#1}\mathpalette\erel@as{#1}}%
}

\newcommand{\erel@as}[2]{%
  \ooalign{\hfil$\m@th#1\angle$\hfil\cr\hfil$\m@th#1#2$\hfil\cr}%
}
\makeatother
\usepackage{graphicx}
\newcommand{\rcarrow}{\rotatebox[origin=c]{-45}{$\mkern-4mu\scaleobj{.8}{\curvearrowleft}$}}

\begin{document}

$\roundarrowangle{\rcarrow}$

\end{document}

A: With tikz
\documentclass{standalone}
\usepackage{tikz}

\def\angle{\tikz[baseline=0mm]{\draw(30:1)--(0,0)--(1,0);\draw[->](-10:0.75)arc(-10:45:.75);}}
\begin{document}
This \angle\ is an angle.
\end{document}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Personal wedding portraits commissions hold great meaning and are very memorable and sentimental. Although many of my portraits commissions are held in private collections many more have recieved awards for their appeal. Selecting the right setting for the portrait in the best light and capturing the greatest expression that typifies the subject is often impossible to do in photos.
Often the portrait subject/subjects must sit for the artist to let the artist understand their nature and do many colour studies and sketches for the painting to be at its best. Then photos can then be used as a back stop for the collection of ideas and positions. All paintings are done in the highest professional quality materials and whether choosing oils,pastels or charcoal for the commission no painting will be sold unless the client is fully satisfied with the workmanship. So whether you are commissioning a picture for a wedding gift,corporate art,birthday, unique baby shower, family group,pet portrait or simply using it as a collectible or interior decorating idea to decorate your home you will have a portait to keep worthy of any gallery.
Cynthia Hargraves is a successful award winning, published, Master Pastellist and full time Australian Portrait Artist. Cynthia's works are held in many private collections both nationally and internationally. Commissioned portraits extend from Brisbane, Gold Coast and Queensland to Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, Tasmania, Adelaide and Perth, other rural areas of Australia as well as Worldwide. For more on Cynthia Hargraves Qualifications, Experience, Art exhibitions and Gallery information .


America – the greatest nation on earth – is currently facing unprecedented times of social unrest, and dare I say, this is just the beginning.
Regardless of who presides over the nation, we should always be aware of the so-called "shadow government" and their agenda. And mark my words: Our nation is in for times of massive unrest that were being plotted as early as 2015 and will continue until the "global agenda" pursued by George Soros and his allies is implemented. The coming out-of-control riots may lead to a call for Martial Law, as I will explain.
America has been preparing for massive social uprisings for a very long time (a quick research on the topic will reveal this truth). What I am about to tell you next might come as a surprise for some of you, but most of the things that we experience are being manufactured.
Never in my lifetime have I seen America so divided.
Our politicians and the mainstream media have been endlessly pitting various groups against one another for years, and everywhere you look, hearts are growing very cold.
"Today, it is infinitely easier to kill a million people than to control a million people".
After some extensive research on the matter, I am inclined to affirm that what we're currently experiencing is just the beginning, and the protests are rapidly turning into violent riots. Although many commentators are claiming that martial law will not be declared, we can never be sure of what is being planned for us.
Did you know that if martial law is declared, Trump will be prevented from taking office?
The current protests are spreading rapidly, and when there is an increase in both violence and numbers, this movement will inevitably grow into a national riot.
If needed, due to extensive clashes, martial law will be declared. Therefore, when this happens, Trump will not be able to take office because Obama will stay in power for however long is necessary until the "National State of Emergency" has passed (Bernstein), (AMBELLAS). There is a good chance that this has been the back-up plan for some liberals all along (as mentioned earlier, there's proof the protests are being staged) in order to further advance the globalist agenda that has been denied by our President-elect Trump.
Everything we own can become federal property (especially guns and food stockpiles, which will be the first to be confiscated).
Curfews will be the new normal, while groups of armed men and women will patrol the streets at all times.
Access to food, water and other resources will be rationed. If your life depends on a daily dose of medication, you should start storing it in advance.
There will be sky-high inflation, and with a national debt of almost $20 trillion, the stage is set to sky-rocket a new financial crisis that will make the 1930s Depression look like a walk in the park.
Everyone will be considered suspicious. A short chit-chat with your neighbor about the "wrong" things can put your life on the line.
1. First and foremost, talk with no one and trust no one.
A basic martial law survival kit would imply the following: electricity generator, water filters or even water generators (H2O Dynamo), weapons, food supplies for six months, first aid supplies, clothing for any type of weather, a flashlight, batteries, radio gear, and navigation equipment. Of course, you'll need these if you want to stay put. If you want to go outside and face the music…that's a different story.
3. Avoid getting in the way of law enforcement or the military.
Even though some would advise that we be resilient to any violations of your constitutional rights, which, by the way, will be justified under martial law, the best survival tactics are to keep your cool and think before you react. You can always choose to fight back. These two options – bugging in or bugging out – will cause you to probably face the hardest decision of your life.
4. Tune in and be up to date with the news.
It is crucial to stay informed and keep in touch with whomever you consider important. Every media outlet, as well as the Internet, will be controlled by the federal government, and you will not have access to any other information except what is being communicated by the state. Although this might be upsetting, you still need to know what is going to happen so you can be prepared for any situation.
5. Cautiously develop a survival network.
Establishing a survival network would be an excellent idea considering the fact that we can never know for how long martial law will be imposed. Consequently, setting up a diverse group of preppers will ensure your long-term survival. But make sure you keep a low profile so that you and your group will not be targeted as perpetrators.
6. Inspect and know your surroundings by heart.
You should be able to visualize your home turf even in your sleep. Ideally, you would also have a safe room. Make sure you have a blueprint of your area where you mark the closest escape routes, develop the quickest itinerary to a safe haven, and formulate the best and safest evacuation strategy.


I washed the beast today, made it all nice and clean, and painted some surface rust areas that were poking their head through on the underside of the car. Mostly rock scratches from driving around on winter roads. After a good cleaning I adjusted the clutch stop to be in the correct place, about 6mm past where the clutch is fully engaged. It could be closer, but I want to give it a test drive first. It was a bit long before, about 38mm past fully engaged, so the short throw should mean faster shifts... should :-P.


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A father and daughter live a perfect but mysterious existence in Forest Park, a beautiful nature reserve near Portland, Oregon, rarely making contact with the world. But when a small mistake tips them off to authorities, they are sent on an increasingly erratic journey in search of a place to call their own.
Studio: Bron Studios, First Look Media, Universal Pictures, Harrison Productions
Keyword: post traumatic stress disorder, based on novel or book, portland, oregon, oregon, usa, trauma, hiking, teenage girl, survivalist, veteran, hitchhiking, washington state, woman director, squatting, off the grid, survivalism, father daughter relationship, living off the grid, bee hive
Cast: Thomasin McKenzie, Ben Foster, Jeff Kober, Dale Dickey, Dana Millican, Alyssa McKay
Six months after the events depicted in The Matrix, Neo has proved to be a good omen for the free humans, as more and more humans are being freed...
When an insatiable great white shark terrorizes the townspeople of Amity Island, the police chief, an oceanographer and a grizzled shark hunter seek...
Heroin addict Mark Renton stumbles through bad ideas and sobriety attempts with his unreliable friends -- Sick Boy, Begbie, Spud and Tommy. He also...
Scout Finch, 6, and her older brother Jem live in sleepy Maycomb, Alabama, spending much of their time with their friend Dill and spying on their...
Young Dorothy finds herself in a magical world where she makes friends with a lion, a scarecrow and a tin man as they make their way along the yellow...
Buscapé was raised in a very violent environment. Despite the feeling that all odds were against him, he finds out that life can be seen with...
Bridget Jones's Diary
A chaotic Bridget Jones meets a snobbish lawyer, and he soon enters her world of imperfections.
In the film that launched the James Bond saga, Agent 007 battles mysterious Dr. No, a scientific genius bent on destroying the U.S. space program. As...
Agent 007 is back in the second installment of the James Bond series, this time battling a secret crime organization known as SPECTRE. Russians Rosa...
Special agent 007 comes face to face with one of the most notorious villains of all time, and now he must outwit and outgun the powerful tycoon to...
A mysterious spacecraft captures Russian and American space capsules and brings the two superpowers to the brink of war. James Bond investigates the...
James Bond tracks his archnemesis, Ernst Blofeld, to a mountaintop retreat where he is training an army of beautiful, lethal women. Along the way,...
Harry Potter has lived under the stairs at his aunt and uncle's house his whole life. But on his 11th birthday, he learns he's a powerful...
When Harry Potter's name emerges from the Goblet of Fire, he becomes a competitor in a grueling battle for glory among three wizarding...
Cool government operative James Bond searches for a stolen invention that can turn the sun's heat into a destructive weapon. He soon crosses paths...
A radio astronomer receives the first extraterrestrial radio signal ever picked up on Earth. As the world powers scramble to decipher the message and...
Photographer Robert Kincaid wanders into the life of housewife Francesca Johnson for four days in the 1960s.
Jack Torrance accepts a caretaker job at the Overlook Hotel, where he, along with his wife Wendy and their son Danny, must live isolated from the...
Young Scottish doctor, Nicholas Garrigan decides it's time for an adventure after he finishes his formal education, so he decides to try his luck in...
Dr. Henry Frankenstein attempts to create life by assembling a creature from body parts of the deceased. Aided by his loyal misshapen assistant,...


text:
Bhabanipur bypoll: In her home turf, Mamata Banerjee is seen as indomitable
Jayatri Nag
, ET Bureau Last Updated: Sep 18, 2021, 01:00 PM IST
Banerjee knows the people of this constituency thoroughly. Her overwhelming presence is conspicuous even when her banners and posters are limited. People here call her "our daughter", and negate the presence of other political parties. She had got elected from here in 2011 and 2016.
For Banerjee, Bhabanipur is as important as Nandigram, which brought her to power in 2011 but from where she lost the election this year.
Bhabanipur is synonymous with Mamata Banerjee and the political career of the West Bengal chief minister.
It houses her residence at Kalighat and it is her home turf where her political career came to full bloom. The Trinamool Congress supremo is aiming to win from this constituency in Kolkata for a third time in the September 30 by-election, which is crucial for her to remain the CM as she is currently not a member of the legislative assembly.
For Banerjee, Bhabanipur is as important as Nandigram, which brought her to power in 2011 but from where she lost the election this year. Originally a Congress bastion, former chief minister Sidhartha Shankar Ray of the Congress had won from this constituency in 1957 and 1962. The Congress had retained the seat till 1972. In 2011, Trinamool leader Subrata Bakshi won this seat. But he vacated it for Banerjee, then the railway minister, who won the by-election that followed.
Talking to voters here, one can understand how Banerjee is the central theme of the constituency and how she is considered 'ghorer meye', the catchword used by the Trinamool Congress — daughter of the constituency and the person who has always stood by the people.
"Bhabanipur is indebted to Mamata Banerjee for everything. Every other household is grateful to her for providing employment to the residents. Roads are clean and pothole-free. All other services are at the doorstep, be it health service or Duare Sarkar," said Shankar Mitra, a 70-year-old retired government employee. "So, there is people's love and emotions for her … We have seen her grow up and grow as a politician."
Mithun Shahu, a non-teaching staff in a government school, said every citizen has benefited from the services provided by Banerjee's government. "Then, why will people think twice before voting for her. She has kept her promises in the true sense."
A comparison to Nandigram is automatically drawn. Banerjee has been betrayed in Nandigram, feels many voters here. "Mamata Banerjee was a victim of poll rigging done by (BJP's) Suvendu Adhikari in Nandigram. We want her to win with a 50,000-plus margin from Bhabnipur," said Trinamool 73 ward chairman Asit Saha.
In the assembly polls earlier this year, while Trinamool's Sobhabdeb Chattopadhyay won with a margin of 28,000-plus votes, the BJP got lead in three wards. A large presence of Marwari and Gujarati communities in these areas is seen as the reason for this.
Sunil Parekh, a Gujarati businessman with decades-old roots in Bengal, said: "Non-Bengali community has affinity towards the BJP. But when Mamata Banerjee is already in power, it is of no use voting against her."
With a substantial non-Bengali population in the constituency, estimated to be around 40%, Banerjee held special interactive sessions with the community representatives of Gujaratis, Marwaris and Sikhs. She went to the gurudwara on Harish Mukherjee Road on Wednesday and the Lakshmi Narayan Temple on Thursday.
Banerjee said she respects all religions. "When I go to a mosque, the BJP questions why am I going there. They make a video which goes viral. I went to Gurdwara. I covered my head and went. I do Kali puja. When I go to Gurdwara or do Kali Puja, the BJP doesn't object. I did Ganesh Puja too, they kept quiet."
BJP's candidate in the constituency is Priyanka Tibrewal, a young advocate who is the lead petitioner in the Calcutta High Court over alleged post-poll violence in the state. She is travelling to every nook and corner of the constituency, doing door to door campaigns. She has sought votes from Bengali and non-Bengali communities alike. According to Tibrewal, her "fight is for humanity and the people of Bengal".
In the assembly election held earlier this year, Trinamool's Chattopadhyay defeated actor Rudranil Ghosh of the BJP in Bhabanipur by a margin of 28,719 votes. He vacated the seat for Banerjee.
In 2016, Banerjee defeated Congress veteran Priyanranjan Dasmunshi's wife, Deepa, by 25,301 votes. Dasmunshi was once a mentor of Banerjee. Netaji kin Chandra Kumar Bose had fought with a BJP ticket at that time. In 2011, Banerjee got a lead of 54,213 votes over CPI-M's Nandini Mukherjee.
This time, the CPI-M has fielded Srijib Biswas in Bhabanipur.
bhabanipur bypollwest bengal electionmamata banerjeetmcbjpnandigram
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Q: In Rails, how to group by count of elements in array field? Given ActiveRecord Model Foo with a field a_of_i that is array of integers:
# Foo:
id, a_of_i
101, [1,2,3,4]
102, []
103, [11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16]
104,  [1, 2, 52, 53]

Is there an ActiveRecord query that will group by the count of the #elements in an array column, eg produce:
# Foo.some_query returns something like [[count, id], [count, id]...]
=> [ [6, 103], [4, 101], [4, 104], [0, 102] ]
# or perhaps, if easier:
=> { 6 => [103], 4 => [101,104], 0 => [102] }

A: Spoiler
Foo.select('id, cardinality(a_of_i)').pluck('cardinality(a_of_i)', :id)

Creating a table
CREATE TABLE foos(
  id   text,
  a_of_i integer[]
);

Fill table in ruby
Foo.create id: 101, a_of_i: [1,2,3,4]
Foo.create id: 102, a_of_i: []
Foo.create id: 103, a_of_i: [11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16]
Foo.create id: 104, a_of_i: [1, 2, 52, 53]

Thinking in sql
SELECT
  id,
  CARDINALITY( a_of_i )
FROM
  foos

With AR
Foo.select('id, cardinality(a_of_i)').pluck('cardinality(a_of_i)', :id)

Returns
[[4, 101], [0, 102], [6, 103], [4, 104]]


text:
Malaysian Indians
There appears to be a delibérate attempt to vilify persons of Indian origin in Malayasia.
There is no doubt that the Malaysian government has over the last nearly three decades has been isolating the Malaysians of Chinese and Indian origin. This has worsened after the islamisation drive by the government and the influx of fanatical wahabists in to a Malasia which was earlier an area of racial harmony.
Hindraf denies terror links, lodges complaint against PM
Kuala Lumpur: The Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf), a Malaysian rights outfit, has lodged a police complaint against Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi after allegations linking the group with Sri Lanka's Liberation Tigers for Tamil Eeelam (LTTE).
Hindraf's senior leader and legal advisor P. Uthayakumar asserted that the outfit had "zero links" with the LTTE or any other terrorist group.
"We do not support violence. We are a non-violent group," Uthayakumar was quoted as saying in The Star newspaper Sunday.
Uthayakumar, who lodged the report at the Jalan Travers police station Saturday, also named Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail, minister in the prime minister's office Mohamed Nazri Aziz, and Inspector General of Police Musa Hassan in the complaint.
The Hindraf's response came amidst reports that the government could invoke the stringent International Security Act (ISA) against top Hindraf leaders who organized a protest rally on Nov 25 to voice their grievances, claming to speak for the two million-plus, predominantly Tamil Hindu population of immigrants from India.
The rally was declared illegal and forcibly dispersed. Thirty-one people associated with the rally have been denied bail and are being persecuted on charges ranging from disturbing peace to attacking a policeman on duty with intent to murder.
The Badawi government has reacted strongly to the Hindraf's reported charge of religious discrimination and "ethnic cleansing" of the Indians, who account for eight percent of the country's 27 million population.
The government has said Hindraf was an "extremist" group, but has so far stopped short of calling it "terrorist", something that would invite invoking of draconian laws. Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak asked Hindraf leaders to "be prepared for the consequences", saying there was "no room for extremists and fanatics".
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It has been two years and the wait is over, get ready for BANDWIDTH. they are back with the same zeal and verve to belt out the best songs you grew up listening to: Queen, U2, Eagles, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The Doors, Deep Purple to R D Burman, Kishore Kumar, A R Rahman and more.
Singapore's most loved covers Rock Band playing their brand of 'Bollywood Rock'.


Due to the success of Throwboy's new "Apple Forgot Me" video on YouTube, the company has discounted the Mac Finder icon pillow by 15 percent off.
The sale ends this Friday at 12 PM PST. In order to get the 15 percent off, you will have to use the discount code "applelove" when at the checkout page.
We just release a parody music video of Ed Sheeran's "Shape of You" titled "Apple Forgot Me." Since we've been getting so much love from the Apple community over this fun video, we wanted to hook you guys up with a special today! Use discount code "applelove" at checkout and get 15% off our famous Icon Pillow! Sale ends Friday 12am PST."
Throwboy's parody video of Ed Sheeran's "Shape of You" called "Apple Forgot Me" currently has over 22K views on YouTube.


text:
Moldovan Prime Minister meets with U.S. ambassador
foto: gov.md
Premier Pavel Filip has met with the U.S. Ambassador to Moldova, James Pettit, remarking that the year 2017 marks 25 of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
The Cabinet chief has underscored the U.S.A. is a strategic partner of Moldova, and its support is very valuable and important.
"We are very grateful for your backing. The support of the U.S.A. and the E.U. was crucial for stabilizing the economic-financial situation in 2016. The most important event was concluding the program, with the IMF, last year," Filip said.
Pavel Filip has underlined 2017 must become the year of sustainable economic development and of growing investing: "Our number one priority is implementing the Association Agreement with the E.U."
James Pettit has encouraged the Cabinet to continue its efforts in implementing the reforms aiming at enhancing the people's living standard.
The Ambassador has referred to the cooperation in economy and democracy strengthening, as last year the two Governments had inked two assistance accords to enhance trade and investment and, respectively, to insure a more efficient and responsible governance, totaling USD98.7 mn.
Being Moldova's strategic partner, the U.S.A. has provided assistance to this country in amount of $1.4 bn since 1992, including $45 mn in 2016.
James Pettit, Premier Pavel Filip, U.S. Ambassador to Moldovatoate TAG-urile
USAID launches high value agriculture project in Moldova. Prime Minister makes this prediction
Moldovan Prime Minister meets Davos World Economic Forum executive manager
USA, Sweden back opening center training IT specialists in Moldova
Last news POLITICS:
President-elect Maia Sandu revealed names of four other future presidential advisers
Moldova has the first female president
Preliminary results of presidential elections' second round
Moldovans cast their vote for president in elections' second round


text:
Now is not the time to be slugging low and middle income earners - Transcript, ABC Perth Breakfast
Posted by Andrew Leigh 56sc on April 12, 2018
ABC PERTH BREAKFAST
SUBJECT: National Disability Insurance Scheme; Income Taxes
PETER BELL: Dr Andrew Leigh is the Shadow Assistant Treasurer with the Labor Party. Good morning, Dr Leigh.
ANDREW LEIGH, SHADOW ASSISTANT TREASURER: Good morning, Peter. How are you?
BELL: Well, thank you. Why don't you support an increase to the Medicare levy across all income brackets?
LEIGH: Peter, we think there's a fairer way of ensuring that the national Disability Insurance Scheme is properly funded and that's to constrain the increase in the Medicare levy to those earning more than $87,000 and then to put back that budget repair levy on the top income earners, people earning over $180,000. You take that approach and 7 million Australians, including most of your listeners, don't get an income tax increase. We're able to fund the scheme – we actually raise more revenue over the course of the decade – and it's a good deal fairer.
PAULA KRUGER: So are you confident that with your budget repair levy and hitting people over $87,000 - is that enough to address the funding gap?
LEIGH: Absolutely. Both our approach and the Government's approach raise $8 billion over four years. Our approach raises significantly more over the course of the decade. I also think we need to be careful, Paula, about his notion that there's been a massive cost blow out. The Productivity Commission last October brought out a report on NDIS costs that confirmed the initial funding projections are correct and the scheme is being delivered on budget.
KRUGER: Now there have been accusations that the NDIS – when it was passed through parliament, there was so much unity. Everyone knew it was the right thing to do and yet when it comes to paying for it, we're all caught up in this discussion about how you're going to fund it. And there's even been accusations flying that people are playing politics with what is a very important issue. Now the Labor party has been accused of playing politics with this issue. What do you say to that?
LEIGH: It's true we increased the Medicare Levy by half a per cent, along with making other tough savings – including changing tax concessions for fringe benefits, import processing charges, tobacco excise indexation. But the idea that says if you increase the tax once, you must automatically agree to every other tax increase, I just don't think that stacks up. What we're doing now is saying we believe that the funding should come from those most able to afford it. We've had this period in which wages growth has been the slowest on record. Inequality is at a 75 year high. Now is not the time to be slugging low and middle income earners. We're just suggesting that the top marginal tax rate be where it was through most of Tony Abbott's prime ministership.
BELL: And is that the basis for the argument that the across all income brackets rise back in 2013 under the Gillard Government, that's why it was appropriate then but now Bill Shorten says that this proposal is a tax grab? Is that the same argument that you've just made?
LEIGH: I think it's a fairer way of doing things. You have to ask yourself, will income taxes go up for most of your listeners under Bill Shorten? The answer is no. Will they go up for most of your listeners under Malcolm Turnbull? Absolutely they will. Now, there are problems we need to tackle with the NDIS. The Productivity Commission pointed out the importance of lifting the staffing cap. We should also be letting NDIS participants see a draft version of their plan and fixing the problems with the IT system. All of those need to be managed, but Labor believes we don't have to slug most of your listeners with a tax rise in order to do it.
BELL: Thank you, Dr Andrew Leigh, Shadow Assistant Treasurer.
Authorised by Noah Carroll ALP Canberra
media what's new
Blake Cox commented 2018-04-13 01:28:26 +1000
http://www.youtube.com
http://www.youtube.com">Click here


text:
import {babelTransformPlugin} from '../../../modules'
import {getSettings} from '../../toolbox-settings'
import {isProduction} from '../../../utils'

export default function (plugins) {
  let {jsx, react} = getSettings()
  if (!react)
    return

  // Transform JSX into "React.createElement()" calls.
  if (jsx)
    plugins.push(babelTransformPlugin('react-jsx'))

  // Add display name attribute to React classes created by calling
  // "React.createClass()" or "createReactClass()".
  plugins.push(babelTransformPlugin('react-display-name'))

  // Plugins used during development only.
  if (!isProduction()) {
    // Add "__self" property to JSX elements which React will use to generate
    // runtime warnings.
    plugins.push(babelTransformPlugin('react-jsx-self'))

    // Add "__source" property to JSX elements containing the file and line
    // number used to enhance error messages.
    plugins.push(babelTransformPlugin('react-jsx-source'))
  }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


I have to admit. I was straight up scared to death to teach writers workshop and the thought of teaching first graders how to write an opinion story seemed nearly impossible over the summer. However, after our first two weeks into this unit, it is quickly becoming my favorite one yet! I know…I can't believe I just said that!
I love kicking off all my writing units reading about Stella! We love Janiel Wagstaff's books and how she walks us through the thought process that Stella goes through as she writes. After we read the book, we created a list (like Stella) of all the things we love, are passionate about, and things we think should change.
So, we had a dog show and I shared information about each dog and what made them special. I shared pictures, stories, and personality information so they could really get a feeling of each one. I was really hoping to actually bring them into the classroom, but one is still a puppy and wasn't quite ready to visit… maybe next year. After this, I gave each student a "Blue Ribbon" paper for them to write their opinion and reasons for awarding one of my dogs with an award. Y'all… for our very first opinion writings, they were AWESOME!!!! Take a look!
After we were finished, we highlighted in yellow our opinions and highlighted in orange our reasons. This was important for the next few lessons. Let's talk about why.
So it hit me, I gave them their yellow opinion sticky note. Encouraged them to write an opinion on the first line. When that didn't work, I helped them come up with an opinion and then highlighted their paper with yellow where I wanted them to write it down. Magically, it appeared! Then we did the same process with the orange sticky note and highlighter for their reasons to support their opinions. Yay!
Part of the reason I have found this unit so enjoyable are the amazing mentor text options! I literally could just sit and read these books and have discussions all day long!!! Feel free to use my Amazon list by clicking here!
To make my life a little easier (and possibly yours) I have created sticky notes to pull out text features or good structure, organization and conventions from the books. You can either print directly on sticky notes or just print on regular paper and use washi tape to put them in the book. Reuse these year after year! Click here for more info!
I also added a couple of printables for each book so that you can take a closer look at the characters' opinions and reasons for those opinions as well. There are also mentor text sentences that focus on specific skills or you can pull more and change the focus all together. Mentor texts are so fun to use because you can literally hit nearly all your ELA standards just by reading and analyzing. Click here to buy my Opinion Writing Mentor Text Growing Bundle! I'll be adding more to this pack as the month goes on so you can have tons of activities, lessons and text to analyze throughout your opinion unit.
Recently, our district started encouraging us to put together and build toolkits for each of our writing units. Basically it should have everything in it you would need to conference, teach small groups and meet the needs of your students all in one notebook. No pressure or anything. Eekkk!!! What a labor of love. I'm still not anywhere finished with mine, but I am so happy with what I have so far. I'll be sure to come back next week and share more about the toolkit!
Here are a few of the anchor charts we are currently using as we learn about opinion writing. We will be making more very soon!
Hey there! We use Lucy Calkins units of study.


We're known as specialist energy loss adjusters. We specialize in oil and gas, power generation and mining. Brian Steege opened the first office that's now part of Braemar Adjusting in 1975 in London, England. From there, offices were opened in Houston and Singapore. We continued to expand, opening our first Canadian office in Calgary in 2003. About that time, the Canadian oil and gas industry really started to expand—they worked out how, through in situ recovery techniques, they could economically increase the production from the Canadian oil sands. It meant that Canada's recoverable reserves jumped up to second in the world after the Saudis (now we're third to Venezuela). In 2008, we joined the Braemar Group and we've really been able to expand our global reach since. We now have 10 principle adjusting hub offices, and provide a combination of marine and energy surveying, loss adjusting and pre-risk engineering services from a global network of more than 40 offices. Before joining Braemar, we'd have to jump on a plane and go everywhere. Now we've actually got local guys who can attend an event for us or, at the very least, be our first responders.
So what is it that we do? We basically wait for things to blow up. We're the guys that no one wants to see, but if we do our job right, they were glad we were there at the end of the day. We explain the technical engineering side to the insurers and explain the insurance side to the energy companies, and then mediate the claims process so that everybody walks away happy.
We are constantly in a "building for tomorrow" phase in our business. In our Calgary office, for example, we're recruiting young Canadian engineers and insurance specialists into the business. What used to happen is loss adjusters from London or Houston got parachuted out to the colonies when there was a big loss. Our philosophy has always been to recruit and train good people in the locations where we're based, rather than just flying somebody in. We used to advertise for specialist loss adjusters, but we found it hard to find suitable candidates. But, when we started advertising for engineers, geologists, et cetera, then convinced them how interesting a career in insurance could be and committed to training them, the quality of our recruitment improved. That's why I think we're ahead of the curve. A lot of our competitors don't seem to be investing as much effort into recruiting new talent.
A recent big win for us was being chosen as the independent loss adjuster for the Ichthys Project, a major offshore and onshore LNG project in Western Australia. It's going to include a lot of complex infrastructure, including an 885-kilometre, 42-inch subsea pipeline, which is the fourth longest in the world. The insurers and the oil companies worked together to interview who they wanted to have as an independent loss adjuster for the construction project, which goes from now until 2016. We won that tender because of our experience in both the onshore and offshore energy space. But it's funny; we get pigeonholed around the world. Some people think of us as an offshore adjusting house only, whereas in Calgary, we're completely landlocked and what we specialize in is onshore losses for the oil sands. That's the difficulty we have—making sure people recognize our abilities in both onshore and offshore.


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Re: March 2010 DOG-Gone-Bathurst Weekend Away - AWESOME!!!!
Well That Went Well, to say the least!!!!!
Pics here www.hunterdog.org.au/Gallery/categories.php?cat_id=22 with a special mention to my good wife Frances below for sorting out a great venue.
Every time we do one of these people just SOOOOOOOO enjoy themselves. The great company helped along by brilliant weather, roads to live for and no hassles.
The pictures tell some of the story, but there sure was a lot more to it. Everything that could've gone wrong didn't! The one breakdown we had was as we left Bathurst on Sunday morning, only a 15 minute fix after we figured out it was a kinked fuel hose.
Did I mention the roads were magnificent? Easy or as hard as you liked to make it with lots of open curves through magic countryside - and we mixed it up a fair bit.
Ten bikes being 12 people with Paul having to do a runner to get home to the chick on the 1198 below (understandable I guess - looks like trouble but!), or was it a boring old engagement party or something like that? Dunno, but nice to have his cool machine along (next time bring the chick - but she would need a new set of leathers as the ones she has on look a little something ......., that would be little!).
I guess the only down side was for those that were gunna come but got nailed by health issues (3), work issues (1) and slept in after getting tanked the night before (1) !!! - and of course those others that wanted to come but somehow got confused about weddings and the like being more important than a weekend away on the Duke - or other such ridiculous notions (joke, OK!). So, to the rest of you, next time we get it together to do something like this if heaven is in your way, move it. Earth too!
To our fabulous companions that did get away thanks for your company and helping make it such a great weekend for all of us.
As for anything else well, "What Happens on tour Stays On Tour" Which is entirely the appropriate place for things like that elephant trunk joke!!!!!!!!!
Re: Dog-Gone Bathurst Weekend Away 20-21/03/10 - SUNNY SUNNY DAYS!!!
PS: Using Booragul as the home town gets the forecasts for Nobbys but the temperatures at Cooranbong which I find is the most accurate balance for the general Newcastle area.
I have copied and pasted below a part of the last newsletter (filed in Admin section of the forum) just to get the continuity of info here. And to help figure out an answer to John's question. Last time I stuck my head in the museum it was free, obviously things change! I had expected we would call in there anyway as from memory it was a fairly short (and sweet) experience to get enough of a hit. I'm a fan anyway, and am part way through reading Brockie's "How Good Is This" biography.
So yes, there should be enough time to get a look at the museum! The above schedule might appear conservative to some, but experience tells me it is realistic for group travel. If it rains and we go anyway, add about 1.5 hours to it!
For those that really can't decide until closer to the event (we know you're out there!) it turns out getting accommodation in the vicinity most shouldn't be a drama. So, if you're a last-minute-king, then you can check out the options that are listed here: http://hunterdog.org.au/DiscussionBoard/index.php?topic=623.msg1674#msg1674 and make your own arrangements. However it would be handy if we know you're coming so we can do a head count before leaving.
It is only $9 to get in and open from 9 till 4.30pm. Might have to go and have a look after a few laps of the circuit.
After the rollicking good breakfast this morning where everyone either is coming, or wanted to but had prior commitments (them's the breaks!), this is shaping up to be an excellent weekend away. And, as a bit of a jag, we have timed it to coincide with the celebration of all things Irish which received enthusiastic support from the about 20 people that rocked up this morning. We are expecting a minimum of 15 people now and have booked out the complete Jack Duggan pub where we will celebrate with the U2 show until the wee hours. Yes, that's right - Ducatisti may be a bit wrinkled in places but are young at heart. When Frances gave the choice of the quiet Park Hotel (a favourite with Ulysses clubs) against the nearby but maybe-a-bit-rowdy Irish pub down the road the shrieks of excitement from those present made it a 100% choice for a party weekend!
If it needs to be cancelled (delayed!) because of real rain (ie a couple of showers won't stop most from going) we are up for $15 a head cost if the weekend is canned, or your room cost if it is just you that doesn't come - otherwise a brilliant weekend will be had by all. There are some more details here http://www.visitnsw.com/town/Bathurst/Jack_Duggans_Irish_Pub/info.aspx and, if we do run out of rooms or you have another preference, you could check out nearby hotels by starting from here http://tinyurl.com/JackDugganPub.
So, if you want to come please confirm with Frances during the week.
ZU2 are a U2 tribute rock band that formed in Sydney, Australia in 2009. The band .... is the credo that ensures ZU2 their success as a fresh tribute band. ZU2 have a paramount and distinctly recognizable sound covering all generations of U2?s musical explorations from the early 1980s to their most recent release of their twelfth album No Line on the Horizon. With an engaging stage presence this all translates to an energetic, enjoyable and entertaining ZU2 experience.
I will be coming that weekend so far anyway. I am unavailable for breakfast as I am working shift on sunday.
Hope weather will be good and see you on the 20th at Freemans.
Frances has volunteered to organise the accomm if people are clear that they are coming and able to manage direct booking / deposits / whatever themselves as long as they give her an idea of numbers first. If you want to cancel due to rain / whatever dealing with any deposit etc needs to be your personal responsibility.
Obviously a KEY change is that the club ride will be on the Saturday. We will go via Yarramalong and Wisemans, Bell and Oberon. The day only riders would peel off at Kulnura and go to Wollombi for lunch. This is only 340km to Bathurst so we will have plenty of time for a bit of sight seeing and a lap of Mt Panorama during the afternoon (we lucked out on the way back from Turismo as the Bathurst 12 Hour was on, but I have checked and there is nothing on 'til Easter!). Plus of course we get to do the Bells Line and those really cool sweepers just after the Hartley turn-off to Oberon.
A critical omission in the route below is Bylong. The road has been tarred right through now which greatly shortens the trip (by 100km) and builds the interest. See http://www.mudgeeguardian.com.au/news/local/news/general/bylong-valley-way-now-an-important-state-road-link/1488485.aspx. Apparently they are in the process of tarring the Wollar road also which will add good variety in future - we must make a point of asking a local where that is up to. The earlier part of the return trip involves that brilliant twisty road over the old goldfields through Sofala. Also on return we will do Elderslie and Duckenfield, a route many of us are familiar with and far prefer to the highway.
Now I know quite a few people are interested in this weekend away. The critical first thing is to put your hand up with quantities in the next few days. We have the club breakfast on at the 16 footers on this coming Sunday 7/03/10 and later that day Frances expects to sort out the accommodation. So, please put a note up here, contact us via http://www.hunterdog.org.au/AboutUs.htm or come along on Sunday. After that well you will be taking your chances on available accommodation. OK? Look forward to hearing from you and getting away for another beauty!
Meet 8:30am at Freemans Waterhole Oaks for 9am departure (unless rain prevents). You will be going somewhere nice and in the company of friendly like minded people who love to ride their Ducatis, or they want to one day.
All are welcome and there is no club charge. We mostly adopt a ride practice of waiting at turns - this gives the faster riders a bit of a rest, and allows others to catch up at their own pace with no worries. We may sometimes use corner markers and / or tail riders depending on group size / destination / whatever, but the main thing is to ensure that everybody has a good time riding and in the company of others.


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Q: need help with this query This will be in MySQL. Table consists of following fields:
Date, ID, blah, blahblah, blahblahblah

I believe the primary key needs to be Date & ID.
The query I want to run is for every Date, count all the IDs but only if this is the last date the ID shows up.
So if the ID shows up in the database on 9/9/16 but NOT on 9/10/16 then we would say that it disappeared and therefore add it to the total count for date 9/9/16.
If that same ID later reappears on 9/11/16, when we run the query again that ID will no longer be added to the count as of 9/9/16.  If on 9/12/16 that ID disappears again then it would be added to the count as of 9/11/16.
Here's some sample data.  I did not put any data in for the "blahs" since it is not relevant for the query (I believe):

Date,   ID, blah,   blahblah,   blahblahblah
9/8/2016,   1
9/8/2016,   2
9/8/2016,   3
9/8/2016,   4
9/8/2016,   5
9/8/2016,   6
9/8/2016,   7
9/8/2016,   8
9/9/2016,   1
9/9/2016,   2
9/9/2016,   3
9/9/2016,   4
9/9/2016,   5
9/9/2016,   9
9/9/2016,   10
9/9/2016,   11
9/10/2016,  2
9/10/2016,  4
9/10/2016,  6
9/10/2016,  11
9/10/2016,  12
9/10/2016,  13

The expected output run on 9/9/16 would be:

Date, Total IDs Last Day
9/8/16,3
9/9/16,8

The expected output run on 9/10/16 would be:

Date, Total IDs Last Day
9/8/16,2
9/9/16,4
9/10/16,6

Note that when the query is run on 9/10/16, the total for 9/8/16 is different from when it was run on 9/9/16 because an ID (number 6) disappeared but then re-appeared.

A: One option would be to use a not exists to filter out any rows that appear for a later date.
select date, count(*)
  from your_table a
 where not exists( select 1
                     from your_table b
                    where a.id = b.id
                      and b.date > a.date )
 group by date


The troubadour explanation is plausible for sure, and also romantic. In middle Dutch for gigen there is also another explanation. The word ghighen means namely pant, and also hiccup. Gack or gak however is in all considerable languages the sound of a goose (gakken or gacken).
It is of course possible, that your forefather had his own style when he sung a ballad. That is likely, because both ghighen and the gak have to do with making sound.
My own Giegelgak [the story, EG] is just mentioned after a giggling goose; in this case Wammes Waggel, and the similarity therefore is completely coincidental. But I agree with you, it is curious.


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Posts Tagged 'Duel'
Daniel O'Connell's last duel
Posted in Dublin History, Social History, tagged Daniel O'Connell, Dublin History, Duel, Duelling on April 12, 2013| 12 Comments »
It may come as a surprise to some, but Daniel O'Connell, who although in his political life deplored the use of violence, took part in and won a duel in Bishops' Court, County Kildare in 1815. His opponent was an experienced duellist by the name of John D'Esterre and it was widely regarded that O'Connell would lose. D'Esterre, a former royal marine was a crack shot of whom it was said he could snuff out a candle from nine yards with a pistol shot. It wasn't his first duel, himself having challenged an opponent in court to a duel only two years previous, though on that occasion, he backed down at the last minute and the duel did not take place.
The cause of the duel was a political speech made by O'Connell to the Catholic Board on 22nd January, 1815 in which he described the ascendancy-managed Dublin Corporation as beggarly. D'Esterre, at the time nearing bankruptcy took this as a personal insult and sent O'Connell a letter demanding a withdrawal of the statement. When this letter went unanswered, he sent a second letter which O'Connell responded to, asking D'Esterre if he wanted to challenge him, why hadn't he yet done so. D'Esterre set out to provoke O'Connell into a challenge, and at one stage ventured out onto the streets of Dublin looking for him, horsewhip in hand only to be forced into seeking refuge in a sympathetic home, such was the crowd that began to follow him around.
The Liberator, Daniel O'Connell
Days passed, and the bubbling tension between the two had become the talk of the town and finally a challenge was laid down by D'Esterre, and a letter sent to O'Connell's second. Jimmy Wren's "Crinan Dublin" names Sir Edward Stanley of 9 North Cumberland Street as D'Esterre's second and an Irish Press article from 1965 names Major MacNamara a protestant from Clare as O'Connell's.
The duel was to take place on Lord Ponsonby's demesne at Bishops' Court, Co. Kildare on the afternoon of the challenge and the weapons of choice were pistols, provided by a man named Dick Bennett, and both pistol's had notches on their butts to denote kills made by the weapon. Both parties were limited to one shot each, leading Stanley to retort "five and twenty shots will not suffice unless O'Connell apologises!" A light snow shower fell as a crowd gathered and the men took their places. D'Esterre shot first, but miscalculated and fired too low, and in doing so, missed. O'Connell returned fire, hitting and wounding D'Esterre in the groin, the bullet lodging in the base of his spine. D'Esterre fell, and the crowd roared. As much of a crack shot as D'Esterre was, O'Connell was a better one, having trained in case such an eventuality might come about.
An engraving of the duel that appeared in the Irish Magazine, March 1815
As they made their way back to Dublin, the news spread before them and the route home was lined with blazing bonfires. Although O'Connell boasted that he could have placed his shot wherever he wanted, he did not intend to kill D'Esterre, and was shaken to find that the man had bled to death two days later. D'Esterre, as was said was bordering on bankruptcy, and on his death, bailiffs moved in and seized anything of value from his home. Saddened by the outcome, O'Connell offered to half his income with D'Esterre's family but the offer was all-but-refused, however, an allowance for his daughter was accepted, which was paid regularly until O'Connell's death over thirty years later. He would never duel again, and from then on often wore a glove or wrapped a handkerchief around the hand that fired the fatal shot while attending church or passing the door of D'Esterre's widow.


Thank You For Attending Our Car Show & Swap Meet!
On Sunday September 10th we held a Car Show & Swap Meet and want to thank everyone who participated. Sponsors, exhibitors and attendees make these shows a success and we're glad you could join us for the event. We are donating the proceeds to Hurricane Relief, so thank you for your support! We're looking forward to seeing you next year! A special thanks to sponsor Vescio's Customizing.
If you or anyone you know is in the market for a classic car, please stop by our showroom or contact us. We can also sell YOUR car for you on consignment.
Please follow us on Facebook & Instagram to stay connected with Ellingson and be the first to know the next time we have a Car Show!


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NFL hires Runyan as VP of policy and rules administration
NEW YORK (AP) Former NFL tackle and congressman Jon Runyan has been hired as vice president of policy and rules administration, the league said on Tuesday.
Runyan, drafted by the Houston Oilers in the fourth round of the 1996 draft out of Michigan, played 207 games in his 14-year NFL career (1996-2009) with Houston/Tennessee, Philadelphia and San Diego and was selected to the Pro Bowl in 2002.
After his playing career, Runyan was elected to Congress from New Jersey, serving from 2011-2015.
In NFL football operations, Runyan will oversee club and game-related initiatives related to players. He will serve as Commissioner Roger Goodell's designee for on-field discipline as agreed upon by the NFL and players' union.
Runyan will work closely with various groups across the league, including the competition committee, player safety advisory panel, head coaches and team equipment managers.
''I am thrilled to once again be a part of the NFL family and give back to the game that gave me so much,'' Runyan said. ''I am looking forward to sharing the experiences and lessons I've learned on and off the field with fellow NFL personnel, and I am excited for this great opportunity.''
AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP-NFL


After ditching a full-time career and moving to a small hobby farm to enjoy a slower pace and a healthier lifestyle, isn't everything supposed to be idyllic or "peaches and cream" as they say in the South?
This entry was posted in Adventure, cover reveal, fiction, giveaway, mamabear and tagged Along the Bumpy Road of Rural Life, book release, cover reveal, giveaway, I.T. Geek to Farm Girl Freak, S.A. Molteni on October 24, 2015 by britbear.
Ward de'Ath used to the think that nothing could be more terrible than death. Now he realizes there are worse things. Like his never-ending hunger for blood. Even if he conquers the unbearable cravings that drive him headlong toward destruction,he's a wanted man with a bleak future.
But Ward's dark trials keep mounting. A malevolent evil is rising in the land, threatening to unleash horror upon the world. The only way Ward can defeat it, and have the chance to marry Celia, is by accepting his fate and becoming the one thing he swore he would never become..
This entry was posted in cover reveal, fantasy, YA Bound Book Tours, young adult and tagged cover reveal, fantasy, series, Ward Against Destruction, ya on August 19, 2015 by britbear.
Prince Mako Delmar lives life at breakneck speed – adventurous, a daredevil, reckless. He loves a good adrenaline rush, especially when it involves ditching his royal bodyguards.
He expects a holiday chock full of thrills when he travels to South Africa and comes face-to-face with the ultimate in high adventure – breaching Great White Sharks. What he doesn't count on is crossing paths with the lovely American heiress, Harlow Karnes, whose beauty and charm pit Mako against his friends and distract him from the things he loves most. But he soon learns that people are not always what they seem.
After a series of unexpected events, Mako is forced to reconsider his impulsive lifestyle, but is it too late?
Ebook and paperback publication date for Breach is May 30th.
Visit author Heidi Peltier's website at http://heidipeltier.wix.com/squalo for ordering information.
This entry was posted in adult, cover reveal, fiction and tagged books, cover reveal, Delmar Shark Chronicles, fiction, Heidi Peltier, read, Shark on May 26, 2015 by britbear.
Since the dawn of time, Brudair, otherwise known as the Sandman to the world, has faithfully lived out his purpose, faithfully performed his duties. He has never questioned his lot among the immortals, until now, until her. Sarah Serenity Tillman, a consummate beauty both inside and out, is a high school senior five months from her graduation. She has great plans, dreams of leaving the small town of her childhood behind her forever. But destiny has other plans, and it's the Sandman's job to make sure those plans are fulfilled.
The tall muscular Sandman, known as Dair to his friends, dressed in black, wrapped in shadows, is more than a myth. And he has a job to do. His very existence makes him a creature of the night, because dreams, (yes the legends got that part right), were indeed his specialty. But his purpose was more than just weaving dreams for sleeping children. No, his dreams were made to influence, made to ensure that certain special individuals, those individuals who would change the course of history, actually accepted their chosen destiny.
Little does Serenity know that she is Dair's next assignment. And the dream that he weaves for her, if she follows its influence, will change the course of, not only her life, but possibly the whole of history as well. But she isn't the only one being influenced. The beauty inside of her was weighing on the Sandman, lighting up the darkness that was his constant companion. Her light was warmth, it was life, and he didn't understand how he had survived the previous millennia without it.
The Sandman was indeed greater than anything humans had ever imagined, and his purpose was vital to the course of history. So what happens when the weaver of dreams gets so distracted by a mere human that he ignores his own duties in the immortal realm? How can an immortal who was never meant to have a mate, join a young woman in her destiny without irrevocably changing the lives of millions and potentially altering history in a way the Creator never intended?.
Buy Dream of Me at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and KoboBooks.
Sometime later she woke to a dark room. She didn't remember turning off the light but then her aunt could have done it. There was something strange about the darkness that surrounded her. Like a blanket being wrapped around her shoulders, the darkness seemed to envelop her. She pushed herself up until she was sitting and blinked several times, attempting to get her eyes to adjust to the lack of light, but it was no use. She was about to stand up when a chill ran down her back. It was one of those feelings she got when she knew someone was staring at her, even though she couldn't see them. Serenity licked her lips nervously and swallowed down the lump that had developed in her throat before she spoke.
"Yes." A deep, rich voice threatened to lull her to sleep with one tiny word. She shook herself, pushing away the drowsiness.
"Can I see you?" she asked and felt her heart beat speed up at the prospect of finally seeing the object of her obsession for the past few days.
Getting frustrated, Serenity ground her teeth together as she spoke. "Why are you here?" Perhaps, that came out a little more rudely than she intended, but she wanted answers.
Whoa, did not see that coming.
Quinn is an award winning author who lives in beautiful Western Arkansas with her husband, two son (and one on the way!), Nora the Doberman, and Phoebe the Cat (who thinks she is a ninja in disguise). She is the author of twelve novels, including the USA Today bestseller, Fate and Fury. Quinn is beyond thankful that she has been blessed to be able to write full time and hopes the readers know how much all of their support means to her. Some of her hobbies include reading, exercising, crochet, and spending time with family and friends. She gives all credit of her success to God because he gave her the creative spirit and vivid imagination it takes to write.
This entry was posted in Book Tour, cover reveal, Excerpt, fantasy, fiction, mamabear, paranormal, romance, YA Bound Book Tours and tagged Dream of Me, paranormal, Quinn Loftus, romance, sandman, Supernatural, ya, young adult on May 8, 2015 by britbear.
Introducing a new publication by Angela Carling – The Secret Keeper, in this cover reveal.
In The Secret Keeper by Angela Carling, when Seventeen year old Winter Merrill was driven to make a bargain with the mysterious Secret Keeper, she knew there were rules. The most important one, the next time you have a secret, you will not be able to tell it….even if you try. What she didn't know is that her next secret if not told, would destroy her life and the life of Liam, the only boy she ever loved. Can Winter find a way out of the dark bargain that binds her tongue or will her deal with the Secret Keeper bring devastating consequences unimaginable even to her?
Angela Carling was raised in Palm Springs California, but lives Arizona with her husband, three kids and five felines. After years of denial she finally admitted that she is a hopeless romantic which led her to write her first Young Adult book Unbreakable Love. Since then she's published three more books, Shackled, Becoming Bryn and The Secret Keeper. Shackled won the silver IPGA award in 2012 and has been optioned as a screenplay. She always eats the frosting off her cake and leaves the rest, and can be caught singing in public bathrooms for the acoustics. When she's not writing YA novels, she's mentoring teen writers, making pizza with her family or dreaming of taking a nap, not necessarily in that order.
This entry was posted in cover reveal, fiction, mamabear, romance, young adult and tagged Angela Carling, cover reveal, romance, The Secret Keeper, young adult on May 5, 2015 by britbear.


At one time Calgary was known for mega-space office deals as large resource companies casually took 100,000-square-foot footprints or more in the city's downtown towers.
Today, after four years of negative absorption, it is small space that is now leading demand, according to a survey by Avison Young.
"One of the biggest changes is the dominance of deals being completed for space under 5,000 square feet," the commercial real estate agency noted in a second quarter report on Calgary's office market.
"This, combined with the volume of sublease space on the market from larger tenancies, strongly underlines the presumption that the average tenant in Calgary has shrunk significantly in size," the report added.
The rejigging of space to accommodate smaller offices is proving expensive for landlords, but the pay off could come in easier renewals, Avison Young noted.
Calgary's current office vacancy rate is 23.5 per cent, with the downtown vacancy rate at 26 per cent, according to Avison Young. It is nudging 20 per cent in the Beltline and much of the suburban markets.
Large blocks of office space – defined as 100,000 square feet downtown or 30,000 square feet in the Beltline – represent 35 per cent of the vacant space city-wide.
However, the second quarter reported negative absorption with 231,000 square feet more being shoved back onto the market than was leased up. In the past five year, absorption has been negative by 1.2 million square feet annually, while new construction has added more than 10 million square feet of new office space.
But the market may be in sight, with Calgary's unemployment rate dropping, the office vacancy rate is not increasing and lease rates are holding firm.
As well, the two new office buildings recently completed – the 160,000-square-foot Hexagon Calgary Campus and the 28,000-square foot Mount Royal West – were both fully leased at completion.
Avison Young said a realistic prediction is for positive absorption of 200,000 square feet in the last year of this year, rising to 600,000 square feet in 2019.


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CryptocurrencyInvestingBanksReal Estate
Finance ·Apple
Apple Is Worth Over $900 Billion. But It Won't Be the World's First Trillion-Dollar Company
BYLucinda Shen
November 8, 2017, 11:09 PM UTC
In the race to a trillion, Apple is closer than ever.
Buoyed by strong earnings and optimism surrounding the iPhone X, the market value of the tech giant has closed above $900 billion for the first time: $904 billion as of Wednesday. That valuation beat out even Microsoft's climb toward a trillion dollars during the dot-com boom.
Despite the hype, Apple would not be the first publicly traded company to reach a trillion dollars in market value. That distinction belongs to oil and gas producer PetroChina, which briefly topped $1 trillion on the Shanghai Stock Exchange in 2007.
Apple also would not be the most valuable company in the world. Most experts believe that distinction belongs to state-owned oil giant Aramco, which the Saudis believe could make a $2 trillion IPO.
However, the iPhone maker is the biggest public company in the world. As investors look forward to how sales of the iPhone X fare (figures that won't show up until 2018), it is a mere 11% push away from the much discussed $1 trillion valuation.
In recent months, analysts and investors have speculated which tech giant would be the first to grow into a trillion dollar company. Names including fast-growing e-commerce giant Amazon, and dark horse Tesla have been thrown into the mix. But Apple is by far the closest, currently commanding a market value about $175 billion above the world's second largest public company, Google parent Alphabet.
Still, stocks can be volatile, and the optimism surrounding the iPhone X and iPhone 8 could turn to disappointment if sales of the new offerings fail to live up to expectations. Further weakening in the company's China sales may also be cause for concern.
And unlike Microsoft in late 1999 – which hit an inflation-adjusted $896 billion – Apple has more than just domestic competition to worry about. China has become an incubator for homegrown tech giants, which have been quickly leveraging the spending power of the world's largest middle class population.
Last year, Alibaba didn't even rank among the top 10 largest companies by market capitalization and digital giant Tencent just barely made the list. They are now at No. 6 and No. 7, respectively.
Apple shares have gained roughly 60% in the past year, Alphabet is up 32%, and Amazon is up 47%. Shares of Alibaba have risen 94% while Tencent has soared 85% in the same time.


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Tagged MoD
UK decides an extra £1.3bn is a small price to pay for nuclear holocaust
Wrenfoe
Despite running over its £2.5bn budget, the Ministry of Defence insisted that its plan to destroy 'all life as we know it' provides excellent value for money. A spokesman said: 'Where else could we get a cost-efficient collapse of civilisation, [read...]
MOD promises endless supplies of Invictus Games competitors
tonymc81
A spokesman told a reporter that the MOD was confident that whether the team needed armless, legless or shell shocked athletes there would be no reduction in the pool of talent available to selectors. [read...]
Government commandeers Robot Wars
dominic_mcg
On the day the BBC revealed that it was scrapping the flagship show for geeky, nerds who never leave the house, Robot Wars, Boris Johnson has told the Andrew Marr Programme that the government intends to use the House Robots to fight the enemy in Syria. [read...]
Royal navy: 'Don't worry, sir, they all do that at first. It'll settle down.
Naval plumbers have assured the MoD that the sinking Queen Elizabeth is just a result of 'teething problems' and a dodgy U-bend. The Lord Admiral was told: 'Don't worry, sir, we'll look at it at the first service'. [read...]
British Armed Forces to be replaced by the A-Team
Ludicity
As part of budget cuts, the entire Ministry of Defence is to be dismantled and replaced by four soldiers of fortune sent to prison for a crime they didn't commit. [read...]