text:
Q: Difference Encoding using Protobuf-net Is there a way to serialize an object with Protobuf-net such that a call like the one below, will update only the values in the dataBlob which changed?
var dataBlob = <previous values>;
testTypeModel.DeserializeWithLengthPrefix(stream, dataBlob, typeof(DataBlob), PrefixStyle.Base128, 0, null);

For example:
var dataBlob = new DataBlob { a = 6, b = "Hello World" }
var newDataBlob = new DataBlob { a = 6, b = null }

//Expected data on the wire
var wireBlob = new DataBlob { b = null };

DeserializeWithLengthPrefix(wireBlob, dataBlob, typeof(DataBlob), PrefixStyle.Base128, 0, null);

Assert.AreEqual(newBlob, dataBlob);

A: If you can track which fields have changed: sure, you can use conditional serialization to achieve this. The most basic way would be, for property Foo,  to provide a bool ShouldSerializeFoo() method (a pre-existing convention that protobuf-net supports). The Merge / Deserialize methods (depending on the API used) support passing in a preexisting instance.
Note that lists are always additive.
However, protobuf-net will make no attempt to track changes itself.


text:
The Future of Special Operations Forces
Testimony by Linda Robinson
Testimony by CFR fellows and experts before Congress.
In her testimony before the House Committee on Armed Services Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities, Linda Robinson details how U.S. Special Operations Forces can be restructured to better confront global challenges.
"Chairman Thornberry, Ranking Member Langevin, and members of the subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to appear before this distinguished panel. The purpose of my testimony is to provide thoughts on the future of U.S. Special Operations Forces to include recent initiatives being considered by U.S. Special Operations Command and the Department of Defense..."
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Each Friday, I look at what is happening in President-Elect Joe Biden's transition to the White House. This week: Biden faces substantial obstacles in his bid to remake U.S. foreign policy after four years of America First.
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Conference Call with Anita L. Barkin January 14, 2021 Academic and Higher Education Webinars and Conference Calls
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How Can Corporate Leaders Do More to Defend Democracy?
In the wake of the assault on the U.S. Capitol, corporate leaders have taken a strong stand for democratic institutions. How does this fit into trends of corporate activism, and what comes next?
In Brief by David J. Scheffer January 15, 2021
After Trump, Is American Democracy Doomed by Populism?
The Trump presidency has demonstrated the appeal of populist authoritarianism to many Americans. The way the country responds to the attack on the U.S. Capitol will indicate how long this movement lasts.
In Brief by Yascha Mounk January 14, 2021

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Thread: Sebastian Gorka resigns from White House
JohnDoe2
PARADISE (San Diego)
Sebastian Gorka resigns from White House
By Eric Bradner, Jim Acosta and Kaitlan Collins, CNN
Updated 8:37 PM ET, Fri August 25, 2017
(CNN)Sebastian Gorka has resigned from his position as a top counterterrorism adviser to President Donald Trump, a White House official tells CNN.
Gorka was also a member of the White House's Strategic Initiatives Group, which he described as a focal point for task forces collaborating with people outside government. His resignation adds to a long list of high-profile departures from the White House, including chief strategist Steve Bannon, chief of staff Reince Priebus and press secretary Sean Spicer.
The Federalist first reported Gorka's resignation.
Gorka was one of Trump's most prominent cheerleaders, frequently hitting the radio airwaves to defend the President's policies and public statements. Gorka's work for Trump goes back as far as 2015, as federal election commission filings showed that Gorka was paid $8,000 that October to be a policy consultant for the Trump campaign.
But a CNN K-File review of Gorka's public comments throughout the presidential campaign shows that even after his work for Trump, the former Breitbart national security editor offered stinging critiques of his future boss's rhetoric on key foreign policy issues from terrorism to Russia and China.
Gorka, a US citizen who was born in Britain and has Hungarian parents, was known for his dire warnings of Islamic terrorism while at Breitbart.
Though his role at the White House was always nebulous, he emerged as a top spokesman for the Trump administration, frequently appearing on CNN and other networks.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/25/politics/gorka/index.html
NO AMNESTY
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GeorgiaPeach
Breaking: Sebastian Gorka Resigns From Trump Administration
AUGUST 25, 2017 By Mollie Hemingway
Sebastian Gorka is resigning his post as Deputy Assistant to President Trump, multiple sources familiar with the situation have told The Federalist.
In a blunt resignation letter, the national security and counterterrorism expert expressed dissatisfaction with the current state of the Trump administration. "[G]iven recent events, it is clear to me that forces that do not support the MAGA promise are – for now – ascendant within the White House," Gorka wrote. "As a result, the best and most effective way I can support you, Mr. President, is from outside the People's House."
Gorka's letter expressed unhappiness with the direction the Trump administration's foreign policy has taken, as signaled by the president's recent speech on Afghanistan:
"Regrettably, outside of yourself, the individuals who most embodied and represented the policies that will 'Make America Great Again,' have been internally countered, systematically removed, or undermined in recent months. This was made patently obvious as I read the text of your speech on Afghanistan this week…
"The fact that those who drafted and approved the speech removed any mention of Radical Islam or radical Islamic terrorism proves that a crucial element of your presidential campaign has been lost…
"Just as worrying, when discussing our future actions in the region, the speech listed operational objectives without ever defining the strategic victory conditions we are fighting for. This omission should seriously disturb any national security professional, and any American who is unsatisfied with the last 16 years of disastrous policy decisions which have led to thousands of Americans killed and trillions of taxpayer dollars spent in ways that have not brought security or victory."
During his time in the Trump administration, Gorka focused on issues such as countering the Muslim Brotherhood, the crisis in Qatar, supporting efforts to draft a new long-term national security strategy, and combatting China's economic warfare.
Before coming to the White House, Gorka was the Major General Matthew C. Horner Chair at Marine Corps University and also contributed to Breitbart News.
Gorka's tenure at the White House was marked by unusually vociferous attacks against him and his family by left-leaning media organizations and the Democratic Party. This includes personal attacks against his wife, mother, and son.
A source close to the White House said of his decision, "This was more or less going to be a done deal when Bannon submitted his resignation. Not because he didn't have a protector, but because there is no point in having your life ruined every day if you're not going to get much accomplished." The same source said that what did change after Bannon left was that anti-Bannon factions began erecting bureaucratic road blocks to undermine Gorka internally.
The Forward has written dozens of attack pieces against Gorka, including several attempting to align him with Nazism. Most recently that publication retracted a story about his son's schoolwork. Gorka strenuously objected to allegations he had ties to Nazi groups in his family's home country of Hungary, where he had previously been involved in national politics. Even detractors eventually acknowledged the Nazi accusations were unfair smears.
In his letter, Gorka made clear that he believes in the promise of the Trump presidency despite being concerned about its present direction.
"Your presidency will prove to be one of the most significant events in modern American politics. November the 8th was the result of decades during which the political and media elites felt that they knew better than the people who elect them into office. They do not, and the MAGA platform allowed their voices to be heard," he wrote, adding, "Millions of people believe in, and have chosen, you and your vision of Making America Great Again. They will help eventually rebalance this temporary reality."
http://thefederalist.com/2017/08/25/...dministration/
But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.
posylady
I wonder what he was threatened with.
nntrixie
Originally Posted by posylady
Something, for sure.
VIDEO: Sebastian Gorka Brutalizes Naive Jake Tapper (Refugee E.O.)
By GeorgiaPeach in forum General Discussion
Dr. Sebastian Gorka: 11 Years After 9/11 - What Went Wrong With American Policy
LightSquared CEO resigns amid revelations of company's proximity to Obama White House
By Newmexican in forum Other Topics News and Issues
Board Member Resigns Over White House Changes to Privacy Rep
By jp_48504 in forum Other Topics News and Issues
White House Chief of Staff Resigns
By butterbean in forum Other Topics News and Issues
esigns, sebastian gorka, white house


text:
Q: Scrolling to a div inside a container with overflow-y in Angular In an angular app I have two bootstrap columns - the left col contains a scrollable div with overflow-y: auto; - the right col is a set of links that are essentially bookmarks that jump to the sections within the left scrollable container.
As far as I can see I'm facing two challenges:
1 - Setting up Angular to recognise I wish to scroll to page section when routing is enabled.
This I've over come by using router options and fragments
const routerOptions: ExtraOptions = {
   useHash: false,
   scrollPositionRestoration: 'enabled',
   anchorScrolling: 'enabled',
   scrollOffset: [0, 64]
 };

imports: [
      ...
      RouterModule.forRoot(appRoutes, routerOptions),
      ...
]

And the link:
Link

2 - Getting a fragment / anchor to be scrolled into place when it's inside an overflow
From what I've read on SO and other blogs I can see a varying array of ways to do this but most of them use JQuery (which I want to avoid as I'm using pure Angular) and none of these methods seem to compliment the route system in Angular.
I don't know if this makes a difference but my links come AFTER my overflow-ed div as shown below:

      Section 1
      Section 1
      Section 3

I feel like I'm along the right lines here there's just something I'm missing, or maybe I'm overcomplicating things and there's a simpler way I'm not aware of?

A: I'm not sure you got a solution for it, but if I were you, I would have used a well organized npm module that can directly help you organize the breadcrumbs. If I understand the question correctly, you can use angular-crumbs.
You can organize your routing like this :
export const rootRouterConfig: Routes = [
    {path: '', redirectTo: 'home', pathMatch: 'full'},
    {path: 'home', ..., data: { breadcrumb: 'Home'}},
    {path: 'about', ..., data: { breadcrumb: 'About'}},
    {path: 'github', ..., data: { breadcrumb: 'GitHub'},
        children: [
            {path: '', ...},
            {path: ':org', ..., data: { breadcrumb: 'Repo List'},
                children: [
                    {path: '', ...},
                    {path: ':repo', ..., data: { breadcrumb: 'Repo'}}
                ]
        }]
    }
];

Then try to add the breadcrumb  selector in the component where your routes are destined to (when using bootstrap):
<breadcrumb #parent>

    <ng-template ngFor let-route [ngForOf]="parent.breadcrumbs">

        {{ route.displayName }}

{{ route.displayName }}

    </ng-template>

</breadcrumb>

There are other ways too, you can check here to implement.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


The focus issue this is a reference to the historical Jesus who was called Christ or the 'anointed one(gk.) i.e. the messiah. Since I know Greek it is saying the name of Christ to evoke magic; but this in not the point it shows he was an historical personage which some deny even though most scholar's believe Jesus did exist.
Note also, Joshua, that the author continually links the name, Jesus, with the title, Christ - by virtue of his reporting, he is specifically linking the character, Jesus, with the prophesied "Christ," hardly impersonal journalism.
He's clearly screaming at the top of his lungs, "I am Christian, and this is proof that my savior lived!" He could benefit from a few good journalism courses.
No way....this discovery of mine could not mean that.....Nah!! I need a cup of tea!!
A REAL Irishman would reverse that ratio!
I would sooner have a full bottle in front of me than a full frontal lobotomy!!
I'd rather have a half-empty bottle in front of me, than either of them - stay thirsty, my friend.
It might account for the strange "announcement" of a story that was broken five years ago (2008).
As for the rest ,I'm with SteveInco ,Strega & Archaeopteryx ... "Christ" is a title not a name .
Strange him not knowing that.


Is bus regulation the solution?
The Traffic Penalty Tribunal TRO library offers a fairly comprehensive library of current Traffic Regulation Orders that can offer details about various bus priority measures. This can include the length of bus lanes, types of vehicles allowed (bus, taxi, cycle).


I have Aspergers. I also have the part of my brain missing that joins the left and right hemispheres together, called the Corpus Callosum. I have a few other serious chronic and rare health conditions that I was born with. When I was two years old, my parents were told I would never learn to read or write, but I proved everyone wrong. I have completed school, finished TAFE, and I am now studying a Bachelor of Social Work at Victoria University. I have support from my personal 'I CAN Network' including my mum, my brother, the I CAN Network, university staff, some medical professionals, and my dog Scout. With persistence and resilience, I always try to think 'I CAN'. My mum is my biggest supporter and fighter for me, and with me.
Autism to me means just having a variety of people who do not conform to what is considered 'normal' in our society, but rather stand out and make the world interesting. It also means having something and somewhere to belong where you otherwise would not, if Autism did not exist. Individuals on the Autism Spectrum are just different from what is expected in society. We do not need to be changed or fixed, just made aware of, accepted and supported.
If I could tell one thing to my 10-year-old self it would be to not let people brush you off when you ask for support, awareness or understanding, just because you look fine.
In most settings I have been in throughout my life, instead of including me and aiming to support me, people have said that I CAN'T do things. I was told to leave school in Year 9 and go to TAFE as I would not be able to manage VCE, but I did. I am often treated with hesitation and told I will not be able to do things. I have learnt that I CAN do whatever I need to. I just sometimes need extra support, acceptance and understanding.
I overcome the negative culture and stigma that society places on Autism by asking questions or making comments that politely reflect assumptions back onto others. Our societal systems do not cater to invisible disability or 'different' circumstances that don't fit within our neat boxes. People on the Autism Spectrum battle these societal structures every day, but we do pick battles and we do battle them. Otherwise, we would be accepting what society expects us to accept: poor quality of life, low opportunity, and declining health and personal growth.
If I could tell one thing to my 10-year-old self, it would be to not let people brush you off when you ask for support, awareness or understanding, just because you look fine. Don't push people away or think you can do it all on your own, because that is one thing you can't do. No one can. We all need to work together to achieve more inclusive societies.
The inclusivity of our schools and workplaces really depends on the people within them. The systems, rules and regulations in each institution are the same. It depends whether the people working in them are willing to look outside of these rules and regulations sometimes to include humans on the Autism Spectrum. If Neurotypicals are willing to include, be aware of, and support people with Autism, then society, workplaces, schools and universities can be inclusive. If people with Autism are perceived as the problem, we will never achieve inclusivity because society is trying to change the unchangeable. There is a long way to go before many people adapt inclusive thinking in all aspects of our society.
Abbie is creating a world that benefits from embracing Autism through her work as a mentor at the I CAN Network. Although students on the Autism Spectrum are often under-supported and excluded in education, Abbie celebrates the individual strengths of the Autism Spectrum in our I CAN Schools mentoring program, ensuring that students on the Autism Spectrum are empowered and celebrated. Like Abbie, you can support the education and inclusion of people on the Autism Spectrum.


What is software testing and why testers should be certified: whether a question or a statement – it seems a reasonable point to ask?
Essentially, this imperative considers the functional needs of the business and non-functional needs of how a system is to operate and underpin an SLA.
2. Are we building the thing right? Yep, this looks very similar to the previous question, but it is one with a clearly different intent and outcome. So, what might the tester mean by this? If we consider that more money is spent on maintaining systems than the original cost of development, we can see that it makes good sense for the tester to be engaged to help ensure the thing is built right in the first place. It is the testers role to help build in maintainability for the long-term. This includes design, build and test asset management for future reuse.
Often not considered, the future of a system and how it is maintained and tested is key to business success – and the test team play a huge part in that.
3. Does it do it right? Too many systems are build that either don't do what the business needs or do it in such a manner that makes them difficult to use. In any case, we want something that is simple to use and which meet needs and works as planned on implementation. Your Test Team will build in quality initiatives throughout to secure sensible outcomes that offer the much sought-after return on investment and acceptance of the solution by the business.
Essentially, this imperative considers the 'usability' side of systems delivery. You might have succeeded with 'Are we building the right thing', but if you haven't considered how it will be used then at best success will be compromised, as worst failure the likely outcome.
Pretty much all Test Managers and Testers will use these key imperatives within their software testing strategy, planning, execution and reporting to provide assurance and inform decision-making about the relative welfare (or not) of a systems development or maintenance activity.
HR as a career path up the ladder (and about time, too).
What are the different types of software testing?
Information management and reporting for informed decision-making.
Clearly, there is much for the Test Manager and his or her team to consider in software testing to fulfil and provide information about the state of a system in each of the imperatives listed. It is also true to say that the skills to plan and execute these types of testing at the right time cannot be vested in one individual or group of individuals with either functional or non-functional skills. No, a blend is vital as some people will excel at functional testing whereas others will be more naturally inclined to the technically challenging non-functional testing arena.
To bring testing design and acceptance criteria into business analysis, systems specification and design.
Risk and mitigation before or when things are going pear-shaped.
The software tester is the conduit who makes things happen, by operating as the all-seeing independent witness and finding problems with analysis, specification and design – long before we've wasted money coding flawed solutions.
4.Getting coaching and mentoring from someone with the right qualifications and experience.
The first two of these methods will provide a baptism by fire, but they are most unlikely to provide a solid basis for software testing to build an individual's career or provide stakeholders with the confidence they need to accept new or modified systems as solutions to underpin their business.
Provides information that informs cogent decision-making.
What Software Testing Training to take?
There is no doubt that ISTQB Software Testing Certification and iSQI Software Testing Certification schemes have moved the software testing world on in terms of maturity, approach and success, but it is important that the right blend of training is provided based on career stage, software testing role and corporate need be considered. The following table plots the relevant certificated and practical training courses that are recommended by software tester role.
From the diagram, we can plot a route for certification that begins with ISTQB Foundation, and which leads on to a choice of 5 ISTQB Advanced Certifications, 4 Agile Certifications and multiple choices to build both individual and organisational capability.
Systems development is clearly a very expensive business that is manned by expensive teams to deliver solutions for business that will keep it ahead of the competition. The responsibility of the tester is both wide-reaching and key to success. Like professionals in other careers, such as Civil Engineering, Medicine and countless others we consider business critical, you would expect them to come with the right qualifications, right? That is, certified by their governing body to have reached a standard that you can rely on.
In my experience of systems delivery, I have seen many development and maintenance programmes deliver 80% of what is needed for 150% of the budgeted cost; and in almost all instances the common-factor has been the lack of a professional software testing team or one that has not been listened to and isolated from key decision points. Why, when one considers IT spend on systems development and the cost of failure to business, would you risk have uncertified people overseeing your business-critical programmes? It is not a matter of what software testing training costs, but what it costs not to do it.
Don't get left behind: Decent software testing that yields results needs investment in training.


text:
Genre: Fiction & Literature
3 Score: 3 (From 5 Ratings)
Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, 'and what is the use of a book,' thought Alice 'without pictures or conversation?'
More by Lewis Carroll
Through the Looking-Glass
The Game of Logic
50 Masterpieces you have to read before you die - Volume 1 (Beelzebub Classics)
Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Aldous Huxley, Jane Austen, Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, E. E. Cummings, Alexandre Dumas, Joseph Conrad, Lewis Carroll, Charles Dickens, Emily Brontë, Charlotte Brontë, Jack London, Arthur Conan Doyle, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Victor Hugo & E. M. Forster
Lewis Carroll & John Tenniel
A Tangled Tale
Phantasmagoria and Other Poems
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass
Lewis Carroll & Martin Gardner
Alice's Adventures Under Ground (Enhanced)
Songs From Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass
10 Children's Short Stories 1
Oldiees Publishing, Lewis Carroll, Madame Le prince de Beaumont, The Brothers Grimm, Charles Perrault, James Matthew Barrie & Hans Christian Andersen
Sylvie and Bruno
The Book Center 100 Masterpieces Collection
Lewis Carroll, Emily Brontë, Victor Hugo, Edgar Rice Burroughs, E. M. Forster, Joseph Conrad, Homer, Aldous Huxley, Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, Alexandre Dumas, E. E. Cummings & H.P. Lovecraft
100 Greatest Classic Books of All Time III
Jane Austen, Jules Verne, Jonathan Swift, Joseph Conrad, James Joyce, Kate Chopin, L. Frank Baum, L.M. Montgomery, Leo Tolstoy, Lewis Carroll, Louisa May Alcott, Mark Twain & Mary Shelley
The Complete Works of Lewis Carroll (Illustrated, Inline Footnotes)
Joseph Conrad, D. H. Lawrence, George Eliot, Leo Tolstoy, James Joyce, Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, Bram Stoker, Oscar Wilde, Louisa May Alcott, Honoré de Balzac, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Anne Brontë, Charlotte Brontë, Emily Brontë, Lewis Carroll, Willa Cather, Miguel de Cervantes, E. E. Cummings, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Daniel Defoe, Arthur Conan Doyle, Alexandre Dumas, Gustave Flaubert, Henry James & Hugo
Rhyme? And Reason?
Alice's Adventures In Wonderland (Illustrated By John Tenniel)
50 Classic Fantasy Books: Volume One
Lewis Carroll, Robert E. Howard, L. Frank Baum, George MacDonald & Edgar Rice Burroughs
The Complete Adventures of Alice in Wonderland
Joel Cockram & Lewis Carroll
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Read Aloud Edition
Lewis Carroll, Arthur Rackham & AudibleBooks
Alicewinks
Lewis Carroll, Mabel Lucie Attwell, Bessie Pease Gutmann, Gwynedd M. Hudson, A. E. Jackson, Maria L. Kirk, Peter Newell, Arthur Rackham, George Soper, Millicent Sowerby, Margaret W. Tarrant, W. H. Walker & Alice B. Woodward
Alice's Abenteuer im Wunderland
100 Books You Must Read Before You Die -
Lewis Carroll, Emily Brontë, Victor Hugo, Edgar Rice Burroughs, E. M. Forster, Joseph Conrad, Homer, Aldous Huxley, Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, Alexandre Dumas, E. E. Cummings, H.P. Lovecraft & House of Classics
Three Sunsets and Other Poems
The Ultimate Christmas Collection: 150+ authors & 400+ Christmas Novels, Stories, Poems, Carols & Legends
George Ade, Louisa May Alcott, Raymond MacDonald Alden, Cecil Frances Alexander, James Allen, Hans Christian Andersen, Alfred Austin, Mary Austin, Ralph Henry Barbour, L. Frank Baum, William Cox Bennett, William Blake, Edmund Bolton, Anne Brontë, Elbridge Brooks, Heywood Broun, Frances Browne, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Oliver Bell Bunce, Robert Burns, Ellis Parker Butler, William Wilfred Campbell, William Canton, Willa Cather, Thomas Chatterton, Anton Chekhov, G. K. Chesterton, John Clare, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Eliza Cook, Susan Coolidge, François Coppée, Richard Crashaw, F. Marion Crawford, Mary Stewart Cutting, Victor James Daley, Aubrey De Vere, Margaret Deland, Emily Dickinson, Charles Dickens, Mary Mapes Dodge, Alfred Domett, John Donne, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Arthur Conan Doyle, William Drummond, Henry Van Dyke, Juliana Horatia Ewing, Anne P. L. Field, Eugene Field, Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, Richard Watson Gilder, Washington Gladden, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Nikolai Gogol, The Brothers Grimm, Kenneth Grahame, Elizabeth Harrison, Thomas Hardy, Bret Harte, Frances Ridley Havergal, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Reginald Heber, Felicia Hemans, George Herbert, O. Henry, Oliver Herford, Robert Herrick, E. T. A. Hoffmann, Florence Holbrook, Thomas Hood, William Dean Howells, Ben Jonson, Washington Irving, John Keble, James Joyce, Rudyard Kipling, Selma Lagerlöf, Winifred Kirkland, Andrew Lang, Stephen Leacock, James Weber Linn, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, H. P. Lovecraft, James Russell Lowell, George MacDonald, Charles Mackay, William Topaz McGonagall, Alice Duer Miller, Emily Huntington Miller, Olive Thorne Miller, John Milton, S. Weir Mitchell, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Clement C. Moore, William Morris, Mary Noailles Murfree, Robert Fuller Murray, John Mason Neale, Thomas Nelson Page, Elia W. Peattie, Marjorie Pickthall, Beatrix Potter, Katharine Pyle, Arthur Quiller-Couch, James Whitcomb Riley, Mary Darby Robinson, Edward Payson Roe, Christina Rossetti, Damon Runyon, Saki, Walter Scott, Edmund Hamilton Sears, William Shakespeare, Nora Archibald Smith, Robert Southwell, Robert Louis Stevenson, Frank Stockton, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Algernon Charles Swinburne, John Addington Symonds, John Banister Tabb, Booth Tarkington, Nahum Tate, Sara Teasdale, Lord Alfred Tennyson, William Makepeace Thackeray, Edward Thring, Henry Timrod, Leo Tolstoy, Anthony Trollope, Thomas Tusser, Mark Twain, Katharine Tynan, Henry Vaughan, Isaac Watts, Charles Wesley, Anne Hollingsworth Wharton, Lucy Wheelock, John G. Whittier, Kate Douglas Wiggin, Ella Wheeler Wilcox, Oscar Wilde, John Strange Winter, George Wither, William Wordsworth, William Butler Yeats, Jane Austen, Lewis Carroll, George Orwell, Agatha Christie, F. Scott Fitzgerald, H.P. Lovecraft, Virginia Woolf & EDGAR ALLAN POE
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass
100 Eternal Masterpieces of Literature - volume 1
Charles Dickens, Anne Brontë, Charlotte Brontë, Emily Brontë, Jane Austen, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Lewis Carroll, Miguel de Cervantes, Joseph Conrad, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Arthur Conan Doyle, Alexandre Dumas, George Eliot, Aldous Huxley, Gustave Flaubert, Hugo, Homer, E. M. Forster, Louisa May Alcott, Honoré de Balzac, Henri Barbusse, Theodore Dreiser & Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Classic Starts®: Alice in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass


text:
Death Ship: The Ourang Medan Mystery
Rob Morphy November 29, 2011
Ominous tales of ghost ships like the Flying Dutchman and the Mary Celeste have been passed down from one generation of seafarer to the next for centuries, but as eerie as these haunted vessels are alleged to be there is another even more disturbing maritime phenomena that deals not with ships that have been abandoned, but those whose crew have mysteriously perished. Arguably the most disturbing of all these legends is the shocking case of the SS Ourang Medan.
According to widely circulated reports, in June of 1947 — or, according to alternate accounts, February of 1948 — multiple ships traversing the trade routes of the straits of Malacca, which is located between the sun drenched shores of Sumatra and Malaysia, claimed to have picked up a series of SOS distress signals. The unknown ship's message was as simple as it was disturbing:
"All officers including captain are dead, lying in chartroom and bridge. Possibly whole crew dead." This communication was followed by a burst of indecipherable Morse code, then a final, grim message: "I die." This cryptic proclamation was followed by tomb-like silence.
THE SILVER STAR COMES TO THE RESCUE:
The chilling distress call was picked up by two American ships as well as British and Dutch listening posts. The men manning these posts managed to triangulate the source of these broadcasts and deduced that they were likely emanating from a Dutch freighter known as the SS Ourang Medan, which was navigating the straits of Malacca.
A conscripted American merchant ship called the Silver Star was closest to the presumed location of the Ourang Medan. Originally christened "Santa Cecilia" by the Grace Line (W. R. Grace & Co.), the vessel had been renamed the Silver Star when the United States Maritime Commission "drafted" it in 1946.
Noting the terrified urgency in the message that came over the airwaves, the Captain and crew of the Silver Star wasted no time in changing their course in an effort to assist the apparently incapacitated ship. Within hours, the Silver Star caught sight of the Ourang Medan rising and falling in the choppy waters of the Malacca Strait.
As the merchant craft neared the ill-omened vessel, the crew noticed that there was no sign of life on the deck. The Americans attempted to hail the Dutch crew to no avail. That's when the Captain of the Silver Star decided to assemble a boarding party. As they left the safe haven of the Silver Star, these unfortunate souls had no idea that they were about to walk into a living nightmare.
As soon as they boarded the Ourang Medan, the men swiftly realized that the distress calls were not an exaggeration. The decks of the vessel were littered with the corpses of the Dutch crew; their eyes wide, their arms grasping at unseen assailants, their faces twisted into revolting visages of agony and horror. Even the ship's dog was dead; it's once intimidating snarl frozen into a ghastly grimace.
The boarding party found the Captain's remains on the bridge, while his officers' cadavers were strewn about the wheelhouse and chartroom. The communications officer was still at his post, as dead as the rest, his fingertips resting on the telegraph. All of the corpses, according to reports, bore the same terrified, wide-eyed expressions as the crew on deck.
Below deck, search party members found cadres of corpses in the boiler room, but almost as disturbing as this grim find was the fact that the American crew members claimed to have felt an extreme chill in the nadir of the hold, even though the temperature outside was a scorching 110°F. While the search team could see clear evidence that the crew of the Ourang Medan suffered profoundly at the moment of their deaths, they could find no overt evidence of injury or foul play on the swiftly decaying corpses. Nor could they spy any damage to the ship itself.
The Captain of the Silver Star decided that they would tether themselves to the Ourang Medan and tow it back to port, but as soon as the crew attached the tow line to the Dutch ship they noticed ominous billows of smoke pouring up from the lower decks, in specific the Number 4 hold.
The boarding party scarcely had a chance to cut the towline and make it back to the Silver Star before the Ourang Medan exploded with such tremendous force that it "lifted herself from the water and swiftly sank."
The crew watched the Dutch vessel disappear beneath the briny depths, no doubt breathing deep sighs of relief that the towline had not dragged them into the sea as well.
The watery grave that claimed the Ourang Medan effectively removed the freighter from the face of the Earth and forced it directly into the realm of myths and legends. This, of course, has made it one of the most enduring and intriguing maritime mysterious of the modern age, leaving us to ask the most basic question…
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE OURANG MEDAN?
While rumors about the Silver Star's grisly discovery circulated wildly along the trade routes of the East Indies, the first official account of the event would not be printed until May of 1952, in the form of the "Proceedings of the Merchant Marine Council," which was published by the United States Coast Guard. The testimony therein described the alarming state of the Dutch crewmen, even going so far as to state:
"Their frozen faces were upturned to the sun… staring, as if in fear… the mouths were gaping open and the eyes staring."
THE SHIP THAT NEVER WAS
The first problem with trying to ascertain what happened to this now infamous Dutch freighter is the fact that there doesn't seem to be any official records that it ever existed in the first place. We know that the Silver Star was real — although, by 1947, it had been reacquired by the Grace Line shipping company who dubbed the vessel "Santa Juana" — but there's no paper trail leading to the Ourang Medan.
Some researchers have speculated that if the Ourang Medan was a genuine ship that it likely hailed from Sumatra, which at the time was a colony of the Netherlands in what was referred to as a the Dutch East Indies. "Ourang" is Indonesian for "man" and "Medan" is the biggest city on the island of Sumatra, which would designate this enigmatic freighter the "Man from Medan." But, while the etymology of the name might give some clue as to its origin, there are no bureaucratic records of the Ourang Medan.
Author and historian Roy Bainton, who's done some of the most exhaustive and revealing investigation on the subject of the SS Ourang Medan, met dead end after dead end in his pursuit of the true story of the "death ship." First he went to the usual sources, but was unable to find any mention of the ship in Lloyd's Shipping registers or the Dictionary of Disasters at Sea, 1824-1962.
Then he contacted the United Kingdom Admiralty, the Registrar of Shipping and Seamen and the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich all of whom told him that the only place to check Dutch Shipping records was in Amsterdam. Bainton searched the Dutch records as well as the Maritime Authority in Singapore to no avail.
Just as he was about to give up his investigation and write the whole thing off as just an old sailors' yarn, Bainton was contacted by Professor Theodor Siersdorfer of Essen, Germany who had been pursuing the case for the better part of 50 years and was the first to reveal the names of the two American ships that had heard the Ourang Medan's SOS calls.
Siersdorfer also led Bainton to a 32 page German booklet written in 1954 by Otto Mielke, entitled"Das Totenschiffin der Südsee" or "Death Ship in the South Sea." Mielke seemed to know a lot about the Ourang Medan's route, cargo, tonnage and engine power and even, allegedly, the Captain's name. One is forced to wonder whether or not Mielke had contact with one of the Silver Stars' notoriously difficult to find crewmen.
Mielke's pamphlet was also the source of the June, 1947 date and added yet another compelling piece to the puzzle, which helped to reignited Bainton's interest in the project. This intriguing new bit of possible evidence was that the Number 4 hold of the Ourang Medan may have been filled with a pair of exceedingly lethal and highly illegal substances. According to Bainton:
"…there is a tantalizing, possible explanation as to her crew's demise and her disappearance from the records. Mielke mentions a mixed, lethal cargo on the Dutchman 'Zyankali' (potassium cyanide) and nitroglycerine."
Needless to say this would be a dangerous enough concoction in a laboratory with the highest safety protocols, but in a cargo hold on the rough seas it was a potential nightmare; one which might explain not only the inexplicable demise of the Dutch crew, but the subsequent explosion that claimed the freighter herself.
Even more terrifyingly, according to Bainton, is the conjecture that the Ourang Medan may have been smuggling nerve gas or even more insidious biological weapons manufactured by a sinister assembly of Japanese scientists whose experiments were so heinous that many of the atrocities perpetrated by the Nazi's in the name of science pale by comparison. This diabolical faction was unassumingly referred to as…
UNIT 731:
Known to nearby inhabitants as a "den of cannibals," Unit 731 was founded in 1932 by a brilliant, yet misguided, Japanese bacteriologist named Shirō Ishii.
The unit was designed to be a clandestine research and development department whose sole agenda was to create the most deadly forms of to chemical and biological weapons known to man and thus insure the victory of the Japan over any potential enemy.
Ishii established Unit 731 (code named "Tongo Unit") during the Second Sino-Japanese War, but didn't really make his terrible mark until he oversaw the construction of new research facilities in the Imperial Japanese Army occupied Pingfang district of Harbin, China. It was there that the scientists of his division conducted some of the most deplorable biological experiments known to mankind during World War II.
Even more inexcusable was the fact that this grotesque cabal used human beings — including women and infants — in their appalling experiments, which included everything from exposure to sub-zero temperatures to the vivisection of human guinea pigs to study the effects of toxic materials on living organs.
Nevertheless, General Douglas MacArthur, presumably in the interest of national defense, covertly granted immunity to Ishii and his staff in exchange for providing the U.S. with their biological warfare research, regardless of the unspeakable acts they had committed — the magnitude of which was reported by Bainton:
"Unit 731's brief was to find a chemical, gas or biological weapon to win the war. Hideous, inhumane experiments were carried out on helpless Australian, American, Russian, Chinese and British prisoners — some of the worst war crimes ever committed."
As to why these hazardous materials were packed onto the Ourang Medan when they could have just flown it directly to a secretive laboratory, Bainton speculated that perhaps the U.S. government — or another world power — decided to use as slow and inconspicuous vessel as the Dutch freighter to transport such treacherous cargo for reasons of both safety and concealment:
"So how was this deadly cargo moved around the South China Sea and through the Straits of Malacca during this troubled period? Not by air; the prospect of a cargo plane crashing with several tons of deadly gas on board was too horrendous to consider. No, you hired an insignificant old tramp steamer, preferably with a low paid foreign crew, stowed the cargo in disguised oil drums and, like all serious smugglers, hoped for the best, and a blind eye from authority."
Bainton surmised that sea water could have entered the ship's hold, reacting with the perilous cargo to release poisonous gases, which then caused the crew to suffocate. At this point the onrushing salt water might have reacted with the nitroglycerin, creating the explosive effect that was said to cause the ship's ultimate demise. Bainton even went on to speculate as to why the United States would go to such extreme lengths to expunge from all records the very existence of the freighter:
"If we accept, due to the nature of her crew's deaths, that she was carrying deadly gas or chemicals and if indeed she was a Dutch vessel had this news broken it would have been a major embarrassment for any government involved, especially in the light of the Geneva Convention. Hence the dead ends faced by any researcher. The story exists because, like the gases, it escaped."
So are we to believe that this was the ultimate fate of the Ourang Medan and her crew? Was this merely a tragic accident that was the result of a combining dangerous chemicals with nitroglycerine on rough seas? If this is a genuine account of what transpired, then it seems like it's as valid a possibility as any, but that doesn't mean it's the only option that researchers have come up with. Perhaps the strangest I've encountered is that the unfortunate crew was the victim of…
THE PARANORMAL:
In 1953, Frank Edwards and Robert V. Hulse retold the basics of the legend for Fate Magazine and in his 1955 book "The case For the UFO," astronomer, author and noted "Philadelphia Experiment" researcher, Morris K. Jessup, hypothesized that the crew of the Ourang Medan may have been attacked by extraterrestrials for reasons unknown.
Other Fortean enthusiasts have theorized that the unlucky Dutch crew may have had a Scooby Doo-like run-in with vengeful wraiths of the sea or a ghost ship full of surly, undead pirates. The dubious proof, which supporters of the paranormal option use to confirm their theory, is the evident lack of a natural cause for the deaths as well as the purportedly petrified expressions etched onto the faces of the doomed sailors. Add to this the unnatural chill in the cargo hold and the assertion that some of the deceased sailors were reaching up towards what was assumed to be an unknown adversary and you have all the ingredients for a hoary seafarers' tale.
This is scant evidence indeed for a supposed interaction with either evil aliens or malevolent phantoms, but one can hardly blame yarn spinning mariners for trying to add a little spice to a story told around campfires on stony shorelines to wide-eyed children… or even novice deckhands. So, if we pressume for the moment that the paranormal is out then we must be dealing with…
NATURAL CAUSES:
Okay, assuming that the deaths aboard the Ourang Medan were caused by neither supernatural forces or atrocious weapons of war then could it be a chilling natural phenomenon or even a simple accident that claimed the lives of these Dutch sailors'? Mayhap an incident involving…
METHAN BUBBLES
Perhaps the most fear-provoking theory proffered by those who believe that the demise of the Dutch freighter was explicable by natural means is that the crew of the Ourang Medan was asphyxiated by clouds of noxious methane that gurgled up from a fissure on the sea floor and poisoned the sailors before eventually engulfing the ship.
As terrifying as the thought of random bursts of methane destroying vessels after killing the crew may be, this explanation seems farfetched as it does not account for the thunderous blast described by the crew of the Silver Star. So if it wasn't methane bubbles that were responsible for the tragedy, then perhaps it was a…
BOILER FIRE
Author Vincent Gaddis, in his 1965 book "Invisible Horizons," put forward the premise that an unobserved fire or failure in the ship's boiler system might have been responsible for the demise of the vessel.
He claimed that carbon monoxide could have leaked up causing the deaths of all aboard while the fire slowly grew; eventually igniting the fuel and causing the craft to explode.
While this is a sound theory, perhaps the truth is even simpler than a fire or maintenance error and all of this is nothing more than a…
A HOAX
Despite Bainton's proposition that the records may have been eradicated by a savvy group of governmental conspirators, the fact that there are no registration records for the Ourang Medan remains a troublesome detail.
Combine this with the reality that no survivors of the Silver Star have ever felt compelled to come forward and tell their harrowing tale and you've got all the earmarks of a good, old fashioned ghost story concocted by sailors to while away the long hours at sea.
That having been stated, the fact that the United States Coast Guard seems to have confirmed the tale, and that other noted nautical authors have invested so much time and so many resources in availing themselves of the truth, lends and aura of credibility to the whole proceeding.
When all is said and done, if anyone really knows what happened to the Ourang Medan and her crew then they're not talking, but whatever the truth is behind this unfathomable tragedy, it remains one of the most perplexing and downright scary maritime enigmas of the 20th Century… and while it might not be as famous as the plethora of other ghost ships said to sail the high seas, it is every bit a terrifying.
Tags death ship ghost ship ourang medan
Rob Morphy is a writer, illustrator and designer. He writes articles for Mysterious Universe and americanmonsters.com — the latter of which he's a co-creator and owner, illustrates for the T.V. show "Monsters and Mysteries in America" and is one of the hosts of the pop culture smash up podcast "The Earth's Mightiest Bastards".
You can follow Rob on
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Trying to find a silver lining in the PlayStation Network outage
Posted on April 29, 2011 by Gieson Cacho
It's been the toughest week in PlayStation's history. The hackers theft of players' personal information from the PlayStation Network ended up bringing down the service and the company's reputation among gamers. Amid this debacle, it's hard trying to find a silver lining, but I'll try to do so amid this disasterbacle or as the Twitterati call it — #apocalPS3
1. Hey, there'll be a "goodwill gesture" of some sort. Sony's working on what they'll offer gamers who have gotten their personal information stolen. Personally, I'd be happy with free credit monitoring for a few years. That will give me some relief and peace of mind. Barring that, I figure gamers may get a free game out of this. It may even be something that comes in a box. Sony has to do something huge to win back at least some of its customers. A survey by CouponCodes4U said that a fifth of PS3 owners are thinking of dumping the system for the Xbox 360. Bottom line: I don't expect Sony to go all Oprah's Favorite Things on its 77 million users, but whatever the "goodwill gesture" is, it needs to be overwhelming.
2. After this fiasco, PSN has to be the most secure service on the market, right? The ball is in Sony's court, and they can't afford another malicious intrusion. If anything like this happens again, you can expect the end of the brand. With that said, I'm sure the company is putting all its effort into network security. PSN's going to be so secure that Houdini couldn't even break out. *Crossing fingers*
3. For gamers, this is a learning experience, and they'll use prepaid cards rather than credit cards to buy content from now on. I was talking with a Twitter follower and he said he wasn't worried about his credit card information. I asked why? He said he never used one. He bought prepaid cards instead of giving Sony his credit card number. It's brilliant move. Sure, you may be inconvenienced by not being able to instantly gratify that gaming itch, but at least, your financial information will be safe by this small step. Heck, it may even lead to more responsible spending. I'll probably stocking up on PSN cards because despite this disasterbacle, there are still games I want to get on PSN.
4. The outage will make developers think twice about DRM, DLC or online play in general. Although the industry has been moving more toward digital distribution and online play, the service disruption shows the weakness of that effort. Games like Outland and Red Johnson's Chronicles can't go on sale. Meanwhile, titles that need to be connected to PSN for copyright protection such as Final Fight: Double Impact were unplayable. Both are huge inconveniences if you're fans of these games. Lastly, Mortal Kombat and Portal 2's online modes were crippled, making some pick up the Xbox 360 versions. Meanwhile, online heavy games such as SOCOM 4 were out of luck.
It's inevitable that digital distribution will dominate the market, but this incident may give developers and publishers some pause to how they make games given the frailty of networks. Look at Amazon, its cloud service went down taking a few sites along with it. There's a certain sense of security having a game in hand via disc or cart or card and knowing that it'll play even if you aren't connected to the Internet.
Now, with the week behind us, I'm hoping that Sony and PlayStation move past this unfortunate disaster and that the system stays controversy-free for the next month though that may be difficult. According to a New York Times report, security experts say credit card data may be compromised. Meanwhile, the oft-delayed Motorstorm Apocalypse may raise some eyebrows, especially when Mother Nature is causing havoc in the South and Japan.
Video Games debacle, Final Fight, outage, Outland, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Network, ps3, PSN, Red Johnson's Chronicles, silver lining, Sony
Gieson Cacho
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Celebrity Photos: Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Matthew Broderick, Diana Kruger, Chris Hemsworth
Celebrity Photos: Kristen Wiig, Vin Diesel, Elizabeth Hurley, Jennifer Love Hewitt


Tree and animal species are symbols of Gods and Goddesses in Indian culture making ritual beliefs an important consideration as we seek to protect our rich biodiversity. Indeed, I have found ritual beliefs to be a major tool for conservation awareness during my entire journey with the greater adjutant stork in a small Assamese village called Dadara.
The greater adjutant stork (Hargila in Assamese) is a threatened bird and Assam is considered its last global strong hold. Hargila make their nesting colonies mainly in tall, privately owned trees. With about 500 birds in three villages, the area hosts the largest nesting colony of this species in the world. The global population of this bird is about 1,000 individuals. The key to the survival of this species is achieving the good wishes of the villagers towards this bird. This is our work.
On September 5, 2015 I was amazed to witness the villagers of Dadara incorporate Hargila into one of their most sacred religious festivals, Jonmastami (the birth of Lord Sri Krishna). This is a remarkable transformation. When we started this work in 2008, villagers complained about the bird and cut their nesting trees. Hargila population numbers therefore suffered. Through years of active community engagement, the villages have taken ownership of the species, and they are proud to live with Hargila. Population numbers of Hargila are now growing.
Tree owners used to cut nesting trees to get rid of the birds. The only solution I could think of at that moment was to give direct cash in exchange for not cutting trees on private land. If I did this, the whole effort could have failed; we didn't have any sustainable support for cash rewards. So, we had to think again. After a few visits we thought of a solution and a few words clicked: "awareness, education,ownership." I had asked myself why I didn't dislike my daughters when they made a mess as young children. Because they are my children…I have "ownership" of them. This was the solution, without any doubt!
To help people take ownership of the storks, we conducted conservation awareness campaigns in the villages with different target groups: men, women, school children, local police, and the local forest department. We organized cooking, crafts, and folk music competitions for the women who did not want to come out of their houses for discussions. We played a"web of life" game with them to make them understand the importance of each species in their surroundings. We also organized continuous pride campaigns with youth and school children to make them aware that they should be proud to live with this bird. We selected a local school in Dadara where the majority of tree owner's children get their education. By involving the school teachers in our work we were able to offer continual environmental education to the children.
He laughed and I saw the charm in his eyes.
Slowly, people started joining us. A group of youths joined us voluntarily to monitor the nests and rescue storks that had fallen from their nests. A group of women also came forward to join us to celebrate the breeding season of the bird exactly as they celebrate pregnancy of women of the village.
Most people imagine that the police are insensitive to wildlife conservation, but we know differently. The police are resource-rich in emergency situations and if they want to, they can be game changers for the conservation of greater adjutants. The Kamrup District Superintendent of Police, Partha Sarathi Mahanta, in particular, helped us in every possible way and made our mission his own. He alone released four rescued chicks that had been hand reared by a facility run by the Wildlife Trust of India. The released chicks were named Monalisa, Lulu, Saru and Rima (after the tree owner's daughters and wife) and this simple gesture generated even more warmth and support for the birds. I still remember one bird whom we named Christina, which attracted media.
Dadara proved that community driven conservation is the key to protect wildlife. There were 15 nesting trees of greater adjutants in the village in 2008 when I started my work. Last year we counted 171 nests. Kudos to the tree owners that from 2010, there was not a single tree cut down in the villages.
Encompassing the campaign into the village's ritual belief system has also played a large part in the effort to protect the species. The villagers have included the stork campaign in their holy book Geeta Bhagawat procession, which has increased awareness of the bird.
It's hard to believe that a few years back, village women ignored this bird. Now they pray to God for its safe future.
This was the result of the long works of the conservation team of Aaranyak, volunteers from a local school in Dadara and conservation workers in the area. This would not have been possible without the continuous support of the Conservation Leadership Programme. My friend Mridul, Simanta and Konseng were with me on 5 September at Dadara. When the village women group was offering prayers to God for the welfare of greater adjutant and for a successful breeding season ahead, they were stunned and speechless.
Mridul said, "It's time to go home Purnima ba (sister), let us make a report of this programme and let the whole world know about the efforts of the villagers of Dadara for saving this endangered bird." This shook me and I realized that yes, this community is amazing and needs loud applause from every corner of the world.
There are many miles to go, and we are walking together.


Though some changes had to be made to the annual Christmas in Lake Park celebration, attendance was just as strong this year as in the past. The community tradition raises money for several organizations in the community, such as the Lake Park Fire Department, Lake Park Historical Society and the Federated Women's Club.
Lake Park Fire Chief Brandon Ehret took a turn serving the garlic bread during the department's spaghetti fundraiser lunch.
Ryan Rowe, volunteer captain for the Lake Park Fire Department, served visitors a scoop full of spaghetti during the fundraiser lunch.
Once the noon hour drew near, plates and bags of goodies began steadily moving off the table during the Federated Women's bake sale.
Scheduling at the Lake Park Community Center put a time crunch on the event's traditional tree decorating contest, so the event was converted to a wreath/centerpiece display contest.
A table full of items for the Lake Park Historical Society's silent auction caught the attention of many a visitor Sunday.
Becky Schierholt, of the Lake Park Historical Society, operated a vintage music box to provide visitors with some holiday music. Several tined discs could be switched out in much the same way as a record player to play a variety of seasonal favorites.


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Fwd: SEP Newsletter: The David Miranda ruling and the attack on press freedom
Subject: SEP Newsletter: The David Miranda ruling and the attack on press freedom
The David Miranda ruling and the attack on press freedom
Coup in Ukraine: A warning to the international working
The political lessons of the UAW debacle in Tennessee
US and Japanese troops train for war against China
Socialist Equality Party
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* DONATE today!
Julie Hyland
To appreciate in full the deeply reactionary import of the ruling that David Miranda was detained lawfully at Heathrow airport last August, one need only cite some of the arguments marshalled by the High Court in London.
The formulations employed by Lord Justice Laws, Mr. Justice Ouseley and Mr. Justice Openshaw in their judgement last Wednesday go far beyond this one incident--itself an unprecedented assault on journalistic freedom. They point to the outlawing of any notion of a "free press." On the spurious grounds of "anti-terrorism" and "national security", no one is safe from the reach of a British state determined to cover up its crimes and legitimise those yet to come.
Miranda is the partner of Glenn Greenwald, a former Guardian journalist and close associate of National Security Agency (NSA) whistle-blower Edward Snowden. He had been in Berlin with filmmaker Laura Poitras, who collaborated with Greenwald on his disclosures of mass spying by the NSA and Britain's Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ). He was en route to Brazil when he was detained by the Metropolitan Police for nine hours and his laptop, phone and encrypted storage devices were seized under the Terrorism Act 2000. (Read more)
Further coverage on NSA spying can be found here.
Coup in Ukraine: A warning to the international working class
Peter Schwarz
The recent events in Ukraine are a warning to the international working class. Under conditions in which workers lack both a perspective and a party to enable them to intervene independently in political events, the situation in Ukraine has developed in an extremely reactionary direction. What had been unthinkable in Europe since the fall of Hitler's Third Reich in 1945 has come to pass: while the US and Germany ruthlessly and recklessly destabilized the country, fascists became the decisive force on the ground.
The crisis was sparked in November of last year by President Viktor Yanukovych's refusal to sign an Association Agreement with the European Union. This was unacceptable for Washington and Berlin. As Theo Sommer put it in Die Zeit, the issue at stake was "Where should the EU's eastern boundary, and the western boundary of the Russian sphere of influence, be situated?"
The US and Germany systematically supported the pro-EU opposition, which organized the demonstrations against Yanukovych. In addition to Yulia Tymoshenko's Fatherland and Vitali Klitschko's UDAR--two right-wing parties with close ties to the German CDU--the opposition also included the fascist Svoboda party of Oleh Tyahnybok.
The fact that Svoboda employs neo-fascist symbols, agitates against foreigners, Jews, Hungarians and Poles, maintains close relations with the French National Front and is compared to the ultra-right Greek Golden Dawn and Hungarian Jobbik by the World Jewish Congress, has not prevented the foreign ministers of the United States and Germany from publicly embracing Tyahnybok. (Read more)
Further coverage on Ukraine can be found here.
Jerry White
The defeat of the United Auto Workers in a union recognition vote at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee has provoked an outpouring of handwringing and despair from liberal and pseudo-left publications.
Over the last two weeks, the New York Times, the Nation, the American Prospect, In These Times, Labor Notes, Socialist Worker and other publications have characterized the 712-626 vote against recognizing the UAW as a defeat for the VW workers and for American labor more broadly.
According to their narrative, which echoes that of the union leadership, the UAW is a "progressive" organization whose loss is the result of antiunion Republicans playing upon the backwardness of southern workers and manipulating them to vote against their own interests.
This narrative is a reactionary fiction. (Read more)
Further coverage on auto worker issues can be found here.
Peter Symonds
A prominent article in the New York Times last weekend left no doubt about US-Japanese preparations for war or the intended target. Entitled "In Japan's drill with the US, a message for Beijing", the article covered US Marines training Japan's newly-formed amphibious force in "how to invade and retake an island captured by hostile forces."
While the joint exercise, codenamed Iron Fist, is an annual event, Marine Lieutenant Colonel John O'Neal declared that the Japanese troops came this year with "a new sense of purpose." The 250-strong unit--up from just 25 soldiers in 2006--arrived with "their own "Humvees, gear and paraphernalia for retaking islands--or, in Marine parlance, 'amphibious assault with the intent to seize objectives inland'." O'Neal explained that the month-long exercise at Camp Pendleton in southern California was the "largest and most involved operation so far."
The joint exercise was dressed up as defensive in character--a response to what the Times termed the shared "alarm" in US and Japanese military circles "over China's flexing of military muscle." In a speech earlier this month, Captain James Fanell, director of naval intelligence for the US Pacific Fleet, accused the Chinese military of preparing for "a short, sharp war to destroy Japanese forces in the East China Sea" followed by the seizure of the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu islands. (Read more)
Further coverage on US militarism can be found here.
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That is according to a study of the small, ancient and hardy plants - carried out over more than a decade.
What plants grow in the frozen, Antarctic desert?
"But we were really surprised when we saw how fast it was changing," Prof Robinson said.
"After a pilot study in 2000, we set up monitoring in 2003. When we returned in 2008, all these green moss beds had turned dark red, indicating they were severely stressed. It was a dramatic change.
"They change from green to red to grey if they get really stressed.
"The red pigments are the sunscreen and drought stress protective pigments they produce to protect themselves - antioxidant and UV screening compounds.
"Grey means they are dying."
Image caption Stressed Antarctic mosses turn from green to red as they produce compounds to protect themselves.
What is stressing and killing these mosses?
The scientists discovered evidence of a drying climate affecting the plants.
When their study started, the moss beds were dominated by a species called Schistidium antarctici, which can survive long periods under water. By 2013, many of the beds the team studied were being encroached by two other moss species that thrive in drier conditions and are less tolerant to being submerged.
"The ozone hole has pulled the polar jet stream further south, increasing its strength," explained Prof Robinson. "These winds isolate Antarctica and help to keep most of it cold as the rest of the world warms."
The researchers say this is the first study to show that the plants in East Antarctica are being affected by climate change and ozone depletion.
Antarctic mosses, the scientists point out, are the only plants that can survive in East Antarctica. "We like to think of them as miniature, old growth forests," said Prof Robinson.
Her co-author, Dr Melinda Waterman explained that by dating the mosses, the researchers could tell "they have been growing here for hundreds of years".
"As they grow, the mosses preserve a record of how dry or wet the environment is along their shoots - preserving a record of Antarctic coastal climate over the centuries," she explained.
Prof Robinson added: "[They might be only] 4-14 cm tall, but [the moss beds] are home to tiny animals and fungi and lichens and algal cells - think of them as a forest and at least 40% of it is suffering drought.
"The mosses are our sentinel for the whole ecosystem."


The royal calendar these past few months has undoubtedly been busier than most – and no one knows this more than Meghan Markle.
From her May wedding to Prince Harry and becoming a Duchess, to moving into several homes and of course embarking on her first ever long haul royal tour to Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga, it's safe to say she's been very busy.
It's hardly surprising therefore that when it was announced that the 37-year-old was expecting a baby with Prince Harry, due in Spring 2019, everyone expected the Duchess to take a much needed break – especially after the year she has had.
Meghan however has made it clear that she's not going to take a traditional maternity leave and will instead be working up until the very last minute, with the Duchess reportedly eager to continue her official visits and charity work.
In fact, there are even reports that she has a new project on the way.
While there are no set rules when it comes to royal maternity, it is probable that Meghan will follow after her sister-in-law Kate Middleton who took a four month maternity leave with Princess Charlotte, and an even longer one with Prince Louis.
Like Kate though, Meghan will be expected to come out of maternity leave on the odd occasion, with Kate coming out of maternity leave to make an appearance at Harry and Meghan's wedding as well as the Queen's birthday celebrations.
Congratulations again to Meghan and Harry!


The Texas Department of Transportation hosted an open house Feb. 11 at Georgetown High School to gather community input as part of the I-35 Williamson County Feasibility Study.
Residents from throughout the county attended the event and wereasked to submit feedback on ways to improve mobility on I-35 between just south of FM 1431 and just north of SH 130.
Project team members and TxDOT employees were available to answer questions.
Its a listening session, TxDOT spokeswoman Kelli Reyna said. We try to do open houses like this because we dont like surprises, and the public doesnt like surprises.
Participants were invited to fill out surveys and submit feedback directly onto maps of the 7mile segment of the highway.
Concepts identified through the feasibility study, which began in November 2013, will be incorporated into the I-35 Capital Area Implementation Plan, according to TxDOT documents. The plan will guide development of projects along the I-35 corridor throughout Williamson, Travis and Hays counties and is expected to be complete by mid-2015.
Its similar to the Travis County plan, Reyna said. As funding becomes available well have projects ready to go.
Georgetown residentLeo Wood said he applied to serve on the Georgetown Transportation Advisory Board and attended the open house to learn about plans for I-35.
A second open house will be heldfrom 58 p.m.Feb. 12 at the Allen R. Baca Senior Center, 301 W. Bagdad Ave.in Round Rock.
A virtual open house will also be available beginning Feb. 13 at www.mobility35.org.


text:
Cancer survivor and business owner celebrates 10th year anniversary of downtown restaurant
Doug and Pam Savage opened Savage's Pizza in October 2011. This year, the restaurant will celebrate its 10th anniversary in New Bern.
Savage's opened its first location at 2216 Trent Road where the business remained until 2015.
Ray Savage, father of Doug, said since his son was starting a new business, he wanted to start small.
"He needed to build up his clientele," Ray said. "Which is what he did," adding that he was happy to help his son with the start-up of the restaurant. He has lived in New Bern for 13 years.
In 2015, Doug and his wife purchased the 1,900-square-foot building at 303 Metcalf St.
More: Pizza to go: Savage's Wood-Burning Pizzeria plans move to Metcalf Street
"We wanted to be in a place where we were more visible," he said. "At the new location we get a lot of walk-ins which we didn't really get at the Trent Road location. We get traffic from visitors to Tryon Palace and other downtown locations who are just walking around."
According to a previous Sun Journal article, the Trent Road location experienced five break-ins. During one of those break-ins, their framed "first dollar made" was stolen.
In 2017, Doug was diagnosed with testicular cancer. He was hospitalized for nearly six months.
"It was probably scarier for my wife than for me," he said. "She was by my bedside for an entire year as I recuperated. It was rough."
Savage's Woodburning Pizzeria serves New York style pizza made from a genuine wood brick oven using Oak and Hickory wood for the flame. Salads are made fresh daily, such as the antipasto salad and mozzarella and tomato salad. They also serve calzones, strombolis, subs, wraps, and appetizers such as mozzarella sticks, chicken tenders, french fries and more.
Hours are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday. The restaurant is closed on Sunday and Monday.
For more information, call 252-672-0103 or visit savageswoodburningpizza.com.


text:
Samsung will unveil the new Galaxy S10 and official details on its first foldable smartphone at an event on February 20th
Antonio Villas-Boas
The new Galaxy S10 flagship phone will be announced on February 20, when Samsung hosts its Unpacked 2019 event in San Francisco.
Samsung's own head of mobile DJ Koh told media earlier last year to expect "very significant" changes with the Galaxy S10.
Samsung is also said to be ready to announce more details about its foldable smartphone at the event.
Samsung sent out invitations on Thursday to its Unpacked 2019 event, which till take place on February 20. This annual event is where Samsung typically unveils its new flagship Galaxy S-series smartphones.
At this year's Unpacked event, we're expecting Samsung to reveal the Galaxy S10, just a few days before the major Mobile World Congress event, which will take place in Barcelona starting on February 25.
There's been considerable buzz surrounding the Galaxy S10, as leaks, rumors, and Samsung itself have hinted at a revamped smartphone that's chock-full of new technology and design. Samsung's own head of mobile, DJ Koh, told media earlier last year that we should expect "very significant" changes coming to the Galaxy S10.
Many rumors, and supposedly leaked photos, suggest that Galaxy S10 will sport a fresh new design over the last two Galaxy S models. It's said the Galaxy S10 will have narrower bezels and a hole-punch sized port hole on the top right of the screen for the selfie camera instead of a notch, which we've seen on countless Android devices since Apple's iPhone X popularized the design in 2017.
A render of the supposed Galaxy S10.
YouTube/91mobiles
Samsung is also rumored to release three or more different variants of the Galaxy S10, one of which is said to support the new 5G network that's rolling out slowly across certain cities across the US. 5G is the next and newest major wireless connectivity standard that the industry is saying will be faster than the current 4G LTE network that most of us currently use to stream data on our mobile devices.
Other rumors suggest the Galaxy S10 will have a fingerprint scanner underneath the display, as well as improved facial recognition that's similar to Apple's FaceID system, a triple camera lens system, and supposedly a new fast-charging brick that'll charge the Galaxy S10 faster than its predecessors and most other Android devices.
Samsung is also expected to use the event to reveal more details about its foldable smartphone, which could be called the Fold, Galaxy Fold, or Galaxy F, according to the Wall Street Journal.


text:
Town and Country Planning Act 1990
1990 c. 8
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Changes over time for: Part IV
Town and Country Planning Act 1990, Part IV is up to date with all changes known to be in force on or before 27 January 2023. There are changes that may be brought into force at a future date. Changes that have been made appear in the content and are referenced with annotations.
Revised legislation carried on this site may not be fully up to date. Changes and effects are recorded by our editorial team in lists which can be found in the 'Changes to Legislation' area. Where those effects have yet to be applied to the text of the legislation by the editorial team they are also listed alongside the legislation in the affected provisions. Use the 'more' link to open the changes and effects relevant to the provision you are viewing.
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Changes and effects yet to be applied to the whole Act associated Parts and Chapters:
Whole provisions yet to be inserted into this Act (including any effects on those provisions):
s. 69(1)(e) inserted by 2021 c. 30 Sch. 14 para. 3(3)(a)
s. 69(1)(cza) inserted by 2015 c. 7 Sch. 4 para. 8(2)
s. 70(3A) inserted by 2017 c. 20 Sch. 3 para. 2
s. 73(2B)-(2D) inserted by 2021 c. 30 Sch. 14 para. 3(5)
s. 74A(2A) inserted by 2021 c. 30 Sch. 14 para. 3(6)
s. 75ZA and cross-heading inserted by 2016 c. 22 s. 155
s. 83(1A)-(1C) amendment to earlier affecting provision 2004 c. 5, s. 45(2) by 2011 c. 20 Sch. 8 para. 14(4)(5) Sch. 25 Pt. 16
s. 83(1A)-(1C) inserted by 2004 c. 5 s. 45(2)
s. 83(2)-(2B) amendment to earlier affecting provision 2004 c. 5, s. 45(3) by 2011 c. 20 Sch. 8 para. 14(4)(5) Sch. 25 Pt. 16
s. 83(2)-(2B) substituted for s. 83(2) by 2004 c. 5 s. 45(3)
s. 83(4) inserted by 2004 c. 5 s. 45(4)
s. 84(5) inserted by 2021 c. 30 Sch. 14 para. 3(8)
s. 85(1A) inserted by 2004 c. 5 s. 45(6)
s. 88(3A) inserted by 2021 c. 30 Sch. 14 para. 3(9)
s. 90A and cross-heading inserted by 2021 c. 30 Sch. 14 para. 1
s. 93(5)(6) inserted by 2017 c. 20 Sch. 3 para. 6
s. 96A(3A) inserted by 2021 c. 30 Sch. 14 para. 3(10)
s. 97(7)(8) inserted by 2021 c. 30 Sch. 14 para. 3(11)
s. 106A(6A) inserted by 2021 c. 30 Sch. 14 para. 3(14)
s. 106ZA inserted by 2016 c. 22 s. 158(1)
s. 106ZB inserted by 2016 c. 22 s. 159(1)
s. 108(1A)(1B) inserted by 2015 c. 7 Sch. 4 para. 15(4)
s. 108(3A) inserted by 2004 c. 5 Sch. 6 para. 6
s. 108(3B)(ba) inserted by 2015 c. 7 Sch. 4 para. 15(6)
s. 108(3DA) inserted by 2015 c. 7 Sch. 4 para. 15(7)
s. 141(6) inserted by 2017 c. 20 Sch. 3 para. 7
s. 169(1)(a) words renumbered as s. 169(1)(a) by 2017 c. 20 s. 26(5)(a)
s. 169(1)(b) inserted by 2017 c. 20 s. 26(5)(b)
s. 170(8BA) inserted by 2017 c. 20 s. 26(6)
s. 196(1A) inserted by 2008 c. 29 Sch. 10 para. 8(2)
s. 303(10A) inserted by 2015 c. 7 Sch. 4 para. 19(3)
s. 303(12) inserted by 2015 c. 7 Sch. 4 para. 19(4)
s. 333(3AA) inserted by 2021 c. 30 Sch. 14 para. 3(15)
s. 333(3ZB) inserted by 2016 c. 22 s. 159(2)
Sch. 4B para. 11(3)-(5) inserted by 2017 c. 20 s. 7
Sch. 7 para. 12(1)-(1C) amendment to earlier affecting provision 2004 c. 5 s. 45(9) by 2011 c. 20 Sch. 8 para. 14(7)
Sch. 7 para. 12(1)-(1C) substituted for Sch. 7 para. 12(1) by 2004 c. 5 s. 45(9)
Sch. 7A inserted by 2021 c. 30 Sch. 14 para. 2
Sch. 9A inserted by 2016 c. 22 Sch. 13
Sch. 13 para. 24A inserted by 2017 c. 20 s. 26(7)
F1Part IVE+W
F1Sch. 16 Pt. IV repealed (27.7.1992) by Planning and Compensation Act 1991 (c. 34, SIF 123:1), ss. 32, 84(6), Sch. 7 para. 57(5), Sch. 19 Pt.I (with s. 84(5)); S.I. 1992/1630, art. 2, Schs. 1, 2 (with art. 3(1))
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We were very pleased to be asked to create a new website for Southeast Flood Defence.
Having already worked with them on other projects SEFD asked us to create this new site as they were confident of not only the design and usability we could provide but also of the ongoing customer service they would receive too.
In this case we designed the logo as well as the site and will be providing artwork for company stationery too - thanks SEFD.
If you require graphic design and/or website services please get in touch to find out how we can help you.
And of course for information on how to protect your home or business in the south east with flood defence and mitigation then contact SEFD www.southeastflooddefence.com.