text:
Before the days of CGI animation, if a director needed a monster, he was left with two choices: Either dress someone (or something) up in a suit or use 3-D stop motion animation. In many cases, like when the monster has lots of moving parts, the first option is not workable, and for a generation no one had mastered the second option better than Ray Harryhausen. Anyone who loves vintage sci-fi will recognize the contribution he made to the field and so he really needs a write-up here.
Ray got his inspiration from watching the original King Kong in 1933, which featured the animated ape himself along with several prehistoric creatures. The stop motion animation scenes were done by Willis O'Brien. Harryhausen eventually met O'Brien who became his mentor and friend, launching him into the film business by working several films together in the 1950's. He then carried the torch for a few decades more.
My first look at his work was trailers for the Sinbad movies in the 70's and I was hooked. I later saw Jason and the Argonauts on TV (thanks to my Dad) and it became for me the one film I always associated with Ray's work. Talos, Harpies, the Hydra, etc. It didn't matter that the stop motion animation was obvious - the look of the characters themselves (which Ray created himself) combined with the way they interacted with the live action was quite enough to leave an impression on my memory. The skeleton army battle is, I believe, still unparalleled. Add to that the rich story lines of Greek mythology and you have the making of a classic.
Below is a list of some films that Ray Harryhausen contributed to that have at least some connection to science fiction. I'm only including the ones that I've seen so far so I can say a few words on each film, but I will also try to include video of some of the stop motion scenes. I think most of these would be considered "B" material today.
20 Million Miles to Earth (1957) - There's not much to this story. A kid finds a space egg (from a crashed rocket returning from Venus) that hatches a monster which rapidly grows into a giant and terrorizes the town. Actually, it's more a monster film than science fiction.
First Men in the Moon (1964) - This one was based on an H.G. Wells story and it has a real science fiction feel to it. In fact, Nigel Kneale was involved in the screenplay. It has a playful side as we watch the typical trio (scientist, hero, and lady) travel to the moon with some anti-gravity device and find a giant bug-like civilization living underground. When I watched it in recent years, I knew I had seen it with my father as a kid because I remembered the animated characters. I would actually recommend this one to fans. It begins in a kind of lighthearted fashion and then gets downright scary (at least that's the intent). I think the trailer says it all:
One Million Years B.C. (1966) - This one is famous first for showing hours of Rachel Welch in a toga. It's supposed to depict life in cave man times, but it is quite comical because the cave people act like modern actors who want to say their lines but just can't talk. But I had to include it because it has some of the best Harryhausen dinosaur fights on film. The one below is a classic example. The shots from the perspective of the humans watching from below probably inspired Steven Spielberg during the making of Jurassic Park.
The Valley of Gwangi (1969) - I discovered this one late and I think it has some merit. In some ways it parallels the King Kong story. There is a valley in Mexico known to be forbidden by the locals although they don't know why. An expedition group finds it is a lost dinosaur haven and go in to bring back an Allosaur. They succeed but, as the locals had warned, it comes back to bite them literally as the dinosaur escapes into the city. A neat aspect of the film is it represents a crossing of two eras. It runs like an old Mexican Western with cow ranchers, horses, and rodeos, while at the same time being a traditional monster film. A great illustration of this is the landmark scene of the ranchers roping the Allosaurus like it was a wild bull, which you can watch below. Ray later said the matching of the real ropes to the animated ones was difficult to achieve. The film also has a neat scene of the dino roaming it's way through an old Cathedral.
Of all the sci-fi films I watched with my Dad growing up, I remember he had a particular fondness for Logan's Run. That is not uncommon as many consider it a classic of the genre. Although it was loosely based on a book written in the 60's, it departs dramatically from it, and from what I've read, it appears this is a rare case where the film is better than the novel that inspired it. Some of the most powerful story elements were created just for the film.
The influence of the 60's pop culture is certainly there. Here was a society run by machines where sex and drugs were always available and no one was allowed to live past the age of 30. That last inconvenient detail was enforced by promoting a belief in reincarnation and executing people publicly in circus ring ceremonies called carousel while the crowd cries "Renew! Renew!". It had been designed as a means of population control, a problem which had contributed to the earth's demise. The whole concept both fascinated and gave me the creeps as a kid, which was kind of the point I guess.
In any society that depends on faith, there will be unbelievers. Such people would try to escape carousel and were therefore called runners. They were policed by Sandmen who would basically hunt them down and kill them (or put them to "sleep", thus the name). A crystal of sorts was embedded into a person's hand at birth which would start blinking on your 30th birthday. Logan was a Sandman whose crystal, due to a malfunction, starts blinking 4 years ahead of schedule, so he decides to be the first Sandman to run. His Sandman buddies now have to chase him. He meets up with a woman named Jessica who helps him connect up with a group of underground rebels seeking a place called Sanctuary, and the adventure takes off from there as they make discoveries about their world and ultimately go back to free the inhabitants of the dome city. The way the entire story is told is somehow quite compelling.
This is one of those films that is fun to re-watch because of its visuals. The costumes and sets are very well designed and effectively transport you to another time and place. In fact, you'll probably see here a very good example of how people in the 60's envisioned the future, which because of the artistic openness at the time is quite wild. For those who remember, you will notice some similarities with the original World of Tomorrow at Disneyland which was built around that time. Many people also comment favorably on the musical score by Jerry Goldsmith, a fixture in movie land who also wrote the theme songs for Star Trek: TNG and Voyager, and the score for the original Alien (among numerous other works). I have to agree there. The score is very unique, a mixture of synthesized digital sounds and sweeping orchestrated themes.
I have to mention one of my favorite characters, the silvery robot named Box (shown right), who only appears briefly and is voiced by the rich tones of Roscoe Lee Browne - "Fish, plankton, and seagreens, and protein from the sea!". You can view that (somewhat edited) sequence here. And for anyone interested, there's an early cameo by Farrah Fawcett (she wasn't a Major then ;).
Probably its weakest part is the "truck" ending where everything blows up and everyone escapes. No mention of how the population is supposed to survive on their own after being weaned for generations. It all seemed so rushed that perhaps the editors were pressured to keep the running length reasonable. If that's true, they should have cut out much of the encounter with the silly old man and spent more time on the conclusion. But that's just my opinion. The truth is that the ending is somewhat incidental since the real story is the journey that the two main characters make as they try to reach Sanctuary.
Steven Spielberg has directed a lot of films, including several of the science fiction persuasion, but the only sci-fi film that he both directed and wrote himself turned out to be arguably his best of the genre. Close Encounters of the Third Kind was released shortly after Star Wars in 1977. Although they were both about aliens and space, the two films could not have been more different. While Star Wars was a traditional heroes and villians adventure story set in another place and time, Encounters was a real life drama set squarely on present day planet earth. Star Wars was fun, Encounters was mysterious and awe-inspiring. Each film sought to achieve very different ends.
I consider CE3K (as it is known in some circles) to be one of the few classic sci-fi films of my own generation. There are so many good things to say about it. First, the story is introduced with an interweaving of mini-scenes that are designed primarily to feed a sense of anticipation that something amazing is happening. This is done very skillfully and its novelty at the time is less appreciated today because it has been borrowed so much since. As I recall, it was the first time I saw the use of the subtitled time and place data at the start of each scene as a dramatic mechanism. The acting is quite good, especially the interactions among Roy Neary's family members. What is striking about that thread is its depiction of a dysfunctional American family on the brink of divorce that seems so on target that it's as if Spielberg is channeling his own childhood (his own parents divorced when he was young). You rarely see that type of honesty in a major film production, but I do believe it was more common in the 60's and 70's. There is a lot of great cinematography, both in the landscapes and the glowing space ships that are placed upon them. The special effects still hold up today. And it had a great musical score as well that accented the other-worldly feel throughout. The orchestrated main title really illustrates this. And thanks to the time period, there was also a great disco version floating around, much better than the Meco track. It was hard to find but I located it here on youtube.
Close Encounters had a much deeper effect on my young imagination than any other film. Even though I don't believe we've been visited by aliens, it certainly was meant to tap into that belief held by surprisingly many people. But I was definitely caught up in the idea of it all and the "little guy caught in a big event" feeling conveyed by the film. I still remember many vivid dreams that were inspired by scenes like the gathering of witnesses on the night highway looking out over the city lights as they blacked out, while the alien lights in the sky escaped into the clouds above and then all goes quiet.
As an L.A. resident, I'd spent many weekends admiring the city lights from the mountains so that really hit home. Or the famous abduction scene of the little boy taken in the night from a little country house in the middle of a wide open farmland, or Dillon and Dreyfuss crazily trying to scale a mountain as military helicopters search them out overhead and dusk sets in.
The film is also unique in that although the government (in this case the United Nations) is involved and trying to keep it all from the public eye, you are allowed to go on the journey of discovery with the top officials in parallel with the main characters. You realize they are trying to solve the same puzzle and reacting to it with the same sense of wonder as anyone would, just with better resources at their disposal. You are at first led to believe hints that the aliens and the governments are antagonists, when in fact they are not. The only antagonist is doubt, as the characters fight all manner of obstacles trying to keep them from following their intuitions, their "faith" so to speak. As corny as that sounds, somehow the drama plays out convincingly, and I would have to say surprisingly that the climax, which amounts to revelation, is visually stunning but nowhere near as emotionally powerful as all the anticipation that led up to it. The attraction to this film for me is not so much in the story but in the child-like wonder that it is able to evoke even in the adult mind.


text:
ACCEPTED

#### According to
International Plant Names Index

#### Published in
null

#### Original name
Impatiens jurpioides Shimizu

### Remarks
null

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Whitford/St. Holmes is the first album by the hard rock collaboration of the American musicians Brad Whitford and Derek St. Holmes (of Aerosmith and Ted Nugent respectively), released in 1981.

History
In 1981, Whitford left Aerosmith. He teamed up with St. Holmes, who had previously played with Ted Nugent, to form "Whitford/St. Holmes", together with Dave Hewitt and Steve Pace who were later replaced by bass guitarist Chase Chitty and the drummer Larue Riccio (Baby and the Pacifiers). They toured the southeastern United States and performed before small audiences.

In 1981, they recorded this album. It was followed by a tour but neither the album nor the tour had any big success. In 1983, Whitford reunited with Joe Perry to play live at several shows with his band The Joe Perry Project. In 1984, both Whitford and Perry returned to Aerosmith to record Done with Mirrors, released in 1985 on Geffen Records. St. Holmes worked with Nugent again sporadically in the following years.

Their second album, Reunion, was sold during their November 2015 Reunion Tour. It was officially released in 2016 by Mailboat Records.

Track listing
 "I Need Love" – 3:18
 "Whiskey Woman" – 3:51
 "Hold On" – 2:59
 "Sharpshooter" – 5:30
 "Every Morning" – 4:39
 "Action" – 3:45
 "Shy Away" – 4:12
 "Does It Really Matter?" – 4:26
 "Spanish Boy" – 4:09
 "Mystery Girl" – 3:22

Personnel
Brad Whitford – lead guitar
Derek St. Holmes – lead vocals, guitar
Dave Hewitt – bass guitar
Steve Pace – drums
Production
George Pappas – engineering
Tom Allom – producer

Appearances in other media
"Sharpshooter" was re-released on the Aerosmith compilation album Pandora's Box in 1991.

References

1981 debut albums
Brad Whitford albums
Derek St. Holmes albums
CBS Records albums
Albums produced by Tom Allom

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Medxnote is an app designed to allow for secure communication between medical professionals in hospitals and other healthcare institutions. It was designed to replace unsecure communication channels such as text messaging and outdated pager technology. Not only does it provide secure communication but also provides enterprise support and full audit trail security.
Medxnote wanted to improve the on-boarding experience for over 10000 healthcare Users. It was necessary that the app provided the least about of friction for the Users as well as the hospital where they worked. The app has the capability of sending messages on one-to-one and one-to-group basis in a secure manner (being HIPPA compliant). It also has the capability of sending different message types on both mobile and desktop. All of these considerations and priorities had to be considered in Design process.
Graphic Mint started the project by conducting in-depth workshops to determine the focus and functionality of the User Experience (UX) and User Interface (UI). These were conducted key stakeholders to ensure all requirements and needs were met. They also helped ensure the highest standards of Usability, Interaction and Visual Design were achieved in the project. Following the workshops Graphic Mint conducted an Expert Review which prioritised issues and identified possible solutions in detailed UX documentation. This included low-fidelity wireframing, User-flow diagramming and Visual Design mockups.
The Expert Review and associated deliverables have enabled Medxnote to create a solid strategy for the future of their digital product. The information and suggestions provided ensure the Users needs are met, as well as those of the hospitals and Medxnote. The safe and secure messaging system ensures healthcare workers can communicate efficiently and quickly as they go about their important work.


text:
Monica Lewinsky pokes fun at the Irish accent during a trip to Dublin
We never have been good with the "th" ...
Frances Mulraney
@FrancesMulraney
Contributing editor at Vanity Fair, Monica Lewinsky speaks onstage at Day 1 of the Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit 2018 at The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on October 9, 2018, in Beverly Hills, California. Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images
Monica Lewinsky is in Dublin to deliver the keynote speech at an HR conference and apparently, she already has our accent nailed.
Welcome to Dublin, Monica Lewinsky! As well as enjoying our delicious Irish butter, the 45-year-old has been using her time in the Irish capital to brush up on her Irish accent and she reckons that she's pretty much there already.
The anti-bullying activist joked on Twitter how the "h" had already been eradicated from her speech after "t" because really and truly, most of Ireland just don't believe in it.
Read more: POLL: Should Bill Clinton apologize to Monica Lewinsky?
been in dublin for only 24 hours and i've already dropped my "h's" when i say "thanks"... #tanx
— Monica Lewinsky (@MonicaLewinsky) February 27, 2019
Lewinsky, a social activist and public speaker, is in Dublin this week as she delivered the keynote speech at a human resources conference The Talent Summit on Wednesday evening.
An anti-bullying activist, consultant, and Contributing Editor to Vanity Fair, she has become an advocate for a safer and more compassionate social media environment, drawing from her unique experiences at the epicenter of the Clinton affair media frenzy back in 1998.
"Ms Lewinski's story reflects the juxtaposition between technology and humanity," said Talent Summit founder Robert Mac Giolla Phádraig.
"As the world of technology catapulted her into a world of intense scrutiny, bringing the uninvited attention of the world upon her for all the wrong reasons, it was the compassion of those around her, coupled with personal resilience, that brought her back from the edge.
Read more: 13-year-old Irish boy creates powerful video against cyberbullying
'I am probably the only person over 40 who doesn't want to be 22 again,' @MonicaLewinsky told a Dublin audience (via @IrishTimesLife) https://t.co/E99N868r8b
— Irish Times Life (@IrishTimesLife) February 28, 2019
"Reflecting the theme of this year's Talent Summit, it's the human element that has enabled Monica to lead change through her social activism and create a global anti-cyberbullying revolution.
"Never before has technology played a bigger role in the workplace."
Lewinsky addressed her emergence as an anti-bully advocate during her talk stating: "We have words now for what happened me then.
"Today we call it cyber-bullying, slut-shaming and online harassment. I have been asked the question a lot: 'Why now, why did I stick my head up over the parapet again? Because it was time. It was time to stop and to take back my narrative.
"You can survive shame. You can insist on a different ending to your story."
During her half-hour speech, Lewinsky also showed off her Irish research comparing the number of clicks that various articles received to the population of different Irish counties as she addressed the topic of clickbait.
All we can say is that we're very jealous of her breakfast this morning.
a new codeword puzzle, slice of toasty irish bread smothered w/ melted irish butter. #WinningAllTheThings pic.twitter.com/7thilCag0M
What is your favorite trait of the Irish accent? Let us know in the comments section, below.
Related: Dublin

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
No election until Brexit is delayed
Labour will block poll unless PM gets extension
Francis Elliott, Political Editor
September 6 2019, 12:00pm, The Times
The prime minister had pressed for a general election before October 31ALASTAIR GRANT/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Boris Johnson's prospects of securing an election are fading after Jeremy Corbyn and the SNP agreed to block any poll until the prime minister has secured an extension to the Brexit deadline.
Mr Johnson has insisted that he would rather "be dead in a ditch" than ask the European Union to delay Brexit — even though he will, from today, be legally compelled to do so after a vote by MPs.
Emily Thornberry, the shadow foreign secretary, this morning reiterated Labour's opposition to an October election.
When asked if Labour would still vote against an early election on Monday after a bill designed to avoid a no-deal Brexit has royal assent, Ms Thornberry said: "Yes."
She told Radio 4's Today programme that Mr Johnson had…


text:
module OKKO

  class DefaultUnavailable < RuntimeError
    def initialize message
      super %{Not prompting for "#{message}" because we're running with '--defaults'.}
    end
  end

  class PromptUnavailable < RuntimeError
    def initialize message
      super %{Can't prompt for "#{message}" because STDIN isn't a terminal.}
    end
  end

  module Prompt
    # Make these helpers directly callable, and private when included.
    module_function

    def suggest_value_for typo, choices
      if (possible_matches = choices.similar_to(typo.to_s)).empty?
        nil # nothing to suggest
      elsif possible_matches.length == 1
        confirm "#{"Did you mean".colorize('grey')} '#{possible_matches.first}'#{"?".colorize('grey')}" do
          possible_matches.first
        end or false
      else
        LogHelpers.log "Similar: #{possible_matches.map {|d| "'#{d}'" }.join(', ')}"
        get_value("Did you mean any of those".colorize('grey'), :default => possible_matches.first)
      end
    end

    def confirm message, opts = {}, &block
      answer = get_value(message,
        :message => message,
        :confirmation => true,
        :default => (opts[:default] || 'y')
      ).starts_with?('y')

      if block.nil?
        answer
      elsif answer
        block.call
      elsif opts[:otherwise]
        LogHelpers.log opts[:otherwise]
      end
    end

    def get_value message, opts = {}, &block
      if opts[:choices] && opts[:choice_descriptions]
        raise ArgumentError, "You can't use the :choices and :choice_descriptions options together."
      elsif opts[:choice_descriptions]
        opts[:choices] = opts[:choice_descriptions].keys
      end
      if opts[:choices] && opts[:choices].any? {|c| !c.is_a?(String) }
        raise ArgumentError, "Choices must be passed as strings."
      end
      opts.defaults! :prompt => '? '
      prompt_and_read_value prompt_message(message, opts), opts.merge(:ask => !Base.task.opt(:defaults)), &block
    end

    def prompt_message message, opts
      if opts[:choices] && opts[:choice_descriptions].nil?
        "#{message.chomp '?'} (#{opts[:choices] * ','})"
      else
        message.chomp '?'
      end + (opts[:default] ? " [#{opts[:default]}]" : '')
    end

    def log_choice_descriptions descriptions
      unless descriptions.nil?
        max_length = descriptions.keys.map(&:length).max
        LogHelpers.log "There are #{descriptions.length} choices:"
        descriptions.each_pair {|choice,description|
          LogHelpers.log "#{choice.ljust(max_length)} - #{description}"
        }
      end
    end

    def prompt_and_read_value message, opts, &block
      if !opts[:default] && !opts[:ask]
        raise DefaultUnavailable.new(message)
      elsif opts[:ask] && !$stdin.tty?
        raise PromptUnavailable.new(message)
      else
        log_choice_descriptions opts[:choice_descriptions]
        LogHelpers.log message, :newline => false

        if opts[:default] && !opts[:ask]
          puts '.'
          opts[:default]
        else
          read_value_from_prompt message, opts, &block
        end
      end
    end

    def read_value_from_prompt message, opts, &block
      value = nil

      value = read_from_prompt(opts[:prompt].end_with(' '), opts[:choices]).try(:chomp)
      value = opts[:default].to_s if value.blank? && !(opts[:default] && opts[:default].to_s.empty?)

      error = if opts[:choices] && !opts[:choices].include?(value)
        "That's not a valid choice"
      elsif block_given? && !yield(value)
        opts[:retry] || "That wasn't valid"
      elsif value.blank? && !(opts[:default] && opts[:default].empty?)
        "That was blank"
      elsif !opts[:confirmation] && %w[y yes].include?(value) && !confirm("Wait, do you mean the literal value '#{value}'?", :default => 'n')
        "Thought so :) Hit enter for the [default]"
      end

      if error
        LogHelpers.log "#{error.end_with('.')} #{message}", :newline => false
        read_value_from_prompt message, opts, &block
      else
        value
      end
    end

    begin
      require 'readline'
      def read_from_prompt prompt, choices = nil
        using_libedit = !Readline.respond_to?(:vi_editing_mode)
        Readline.completion_append_character = nil

        Readline.completion_proc = if !choices.nil?
          L{|str| choices.select {|i| i.starts_with? choice } }
        else
          L{|str|
            Dir["#{str}*"].map {|path|
              path.end_with(if File.directory?(path)
                using_libedit ? '' : '/' # libedit adds its own trailing slash to dirs
              else
                ' ' # Add a trailing space to files
              end)
            }
          }
        end

        # This is required in addition to the call in bin/okko.rb for
        # interrupts to work during Readline calls.
        Base.exit_on_interrupt!

        Readline.readline(prompt, true).try(:strip)
      end
    rescue LoadError
      def read_from_prompt prompt, choices = nil
        print prompt
        $stdin.gets.try(:strip)
      end
    end
  end
end


text:
Veterans Day Ceremony At The State Cemetery
Evansville, Wyoming - The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month is known as Armistice Day. Now it's celebrated as Veterans Day. An observance at the Wyoming Veterans Cemetery brought patriots and veterans dating back to WWII together to honor fallen soldiers, veterans, and those who still wear the uniform.
Dozens of flags honoring branches of military lined the drive up to the chapel for Saturday's observance of Veterans Day.
"It was a beautiful event, and to be able to honor our veterans, it's just wonderful and they did a great job," said Representative Chuck Gray.
The chapel, packed to capacity as the ceremony honors Armistice Day, being held on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. Some veterans holding back tears remembering fellow soldiers they fought with during their service.
"I remember the ones that didn't come home. I was a dental assistant and medical and I went out on a lot of - We called them medivacs. Pulled people out of hot areas and stuff," said "Rotor" Medina with the Vietnam Vets Motorcycle Club. Medina also served in the Army from '70-'72. 'The young people going now - That flag. It's worth it," Medina added.
The keynote speaker, Lt. Col. Fred Catchpole served as a marine, active and reserve, for 22 years. He says this day is about more than just thanking the veterans.
"I think it's important that we as veterans also than our spouses, our children, our parents because they're just as much a part of this and they endure a lot of the same stresses and hardships that we do."
State legislator Pat Sweeney also made an appearance, giving thanks to veterans for the opportunities they fought for.
"These folks served so I could get a higher education. And I have been ever so appreciative of that ever since," Sweeney said.
The ceremony ended with recognition of veterans from all conflicts dating back to World War II, followed by a gun salute and cannon fire.


The Muslim Jama 'ah which strives to raise the word of Truth and carries out the instructions of Allah, enjoins good and forbids evil, fights to protect the Religion of Allah, strives hard to establish the Islamic Caliphate, and aims to bring people to the worship of their Lord, is specially in need of knowledge to guide it and outline its course of action.
Those who want to be reliant on Allah must learn what reliance is, for otherwise they will omit to adopt the necessary means and tools of success and fall into error, while at the same time delude themselves that they are reliant on Allah, such as a man who goes out to fight without weapons, claiming to be relying on Allah's assistance.
Those who seek to be patient and enduring should take knowledge as their vehicle to this aim; otherwise, they will be humiliated, thinking that their suffering is a kind of endurance.
It is for this reason that knowledge and the Ulama who possess it assume great importance in Islam to the extent that it has been said that a single alim is more formidable against the devil than a thousand devout persons. This is also the reason why Imam 'Ali bin Abee Talib divided people into three categories: an Allah-fearing alim, a learner seeking salvation and unruly masses who follow any call or banner.
Adherents of the Muslim Jama'ah who work for Islam can either be of the first type or the second, but woe to them if they are of the third.
The knowledge we need has been concentrated by the scholars into two areas: knowledge of Allah, and knowledge of His instructions.
The second type of knowledge is an obligation of two types: obligation of individual responsibility (Fard 'Ain) which every Muslim is required to undertake to validate his worship, his dealings, and his belief; and an obligation of collective responsibility (Fard Kifaayah) which all those qualified to undertake it will be deemed sinners if they fail to do so. This type includes Hadeeth sciences, transmitters of the Hadeeth, inheritance and source methodology in Islamic jurisprudence (Usool al-Fiqh al-Islami).
So, what is the type of knowledge that the Muslim Jama'ah needs? And how much should it drink from its nourishing well?
All members of the Jama 'ah are required to possess sufficient 'knowledge of Allah' to enable them to obey Him, undertake His commands and shun disobeying Him. They should compete with one another to acquire this knowledge, for those who know the most are the closest to Allah. Then they should acquire the knowledge whereby their 'Aqeedah, as well as their worship and dealings with others, is correct and acceptable to Him. This is an obligation of individual responsibility, each in accordance with what he requires for his faith and worldly affairs.
Every member who is responsible for carrying out a given task should acquire the required knowledge so as to discharge his duty in the best possible manner. Those entrusted with the responsibility for the treasury, for example, should learn everything concerning the appropriate and acceptable sources of income and its ways of expenditure. Likewise, those charged with the task of Hisbah ought to learn the relevant knowledge relating to their duties.
In addition, there should be a group of people whose duty is to acquire the knowledge considered an obligation of collective responsibility, especially that which relates to the role played by the Jama'ah and its functions. These are entrusted with insuring that the Jama'ah is always regulated in its moves by the Shari'ah.
Above all, the Jama'ah must not admit in its ranks those scholars whose 'knowledge of Allah' is so little, because, despite their knowledge of what is forbidden, they persist in practising it and may even issue a verdict deeming the prohibited, permissible. They also know full well the obligations, but they abandon them and license others to forsake them.
1	Surah Az-Zumar (39), Ayah 9.
2	Surah Ale-Imran (3), Ayah 164.
4	Surah Yusuf (12), Ayah 108.
6	Surah Az-Zumar (39), Ayah 9.
7	Surah Faatir (35), Ayah 28.
8	Surah Ar-Rum (30), Ayat 2-4.


text:
BUILD_FLAG ?=
IMAGE_NAME = syndicate-docker-gateways
NETWORK_NAME = syndicate-docker
DOCKERFILE = ./Dockerfile

CONTAINER_NAME ?= GW

.PHONY: all clean build rebuild run

all: run

clean:
	@CONTAINERS="$(shell docker ps -a -q --filter=ancestor=$(IMAGE_NAME) | awk '{print $$1}')" ; if [ ! -z "$$CONTAINERS" ] ; then docker rm $$CONTAINERS ; fi
	@docker inspect -f '{{.Id}}' $(IMAGE_NAME) 2> /dev/null ; if [ $$? -eq 0 ] ; then docker rmi -f $(IMAGE_NAME) ; fi
	@DANGLINGS="$(shell docker images -f "dangling=true" -q)" ; if [ ! -z "$$DANGLINGS" ] ; then docker rmi $$DANGLINGS ; fi

base:
	$(MAKE) -C ../base build

build: base
	@docker inspect -f '{{.Id}}' $(IMAGE_NAME) 2> /dev/null ; if [ $$? -ne 0 ] ; then docker build $(BUILD_FLAG) -f $(DOCKERFILE) -t $(IMAGE_NAME) . ; fi

rebuild: clean build

run: build
	@docker run --net $(NETWORK_NAME) -ti --cap-add SYS_ADMIN --device /dev/fuse --privileged --name $(CONTAINER_NAME) $(IMAGE_NAME)


text:
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Türkçe | العَرَبِيَّة
OPTIONS FOR HERNIATED LUMBAR DISC SURGERY
MICRODISCECTOMY (MICROSURGERY)
FULL ENDOSCOPIC LUMBAR DISC HERNIA OPERATION – Additional Information
AFTER LUMBAR DISC HERNIA OPERATION
DOES LUMBAR DISC HERNIATION RECUR?
LUMBAR SPINAL CANAL STENOSIS
LUMBAR SPONDYLOLISTHESIS
WHAT IS CERVICAL DISC HERNIATION?
OPTIONS FOR CERVICAL HERNIATED DISC SURGERY
AFTER CERVICAL HERNIATED DISC SURGERY
CERVICAL SPINAL CANAL STENOSIS
BRAIN TUMOUR – QUESTIONS AND REPLIES
SURGICAL PROCESS IN BRAIN TUMOR SURGERY
My Speeches on TV Channels
Preparation, pre-operative and post-operative processes of brain tumor surgery
Questions and answers about brain tumor
Things you wonder about brain tumor
Spinal canal stenosis is the narrowing of the spinal canal (the passageway that houses the spinal cord) located just behind the vertebrae, which squeezes the spinal cord (at various levels) as well as the nerve roots.
Things you wonder about the postoperative period of cervical herniated disc surgery
Surgical options for cervical herniated disc
What is the road map to follow in the treatment of cervical disc herniation?
Cervical disc herniation is one of the problems frequently encountered in the practice of neurosurgery.
In its simplest definition, lumbar spondylolisthesis is a condition in which a vertebra slides over the vertebra below it, and as a result they squeeze the spinal cord as well as the nerve roots arising from it, and consequently cause symptoms in the patient.
Spinal canal stenosis is mostly seen in the lumbar and cervical regions. There are 5 vertebrae in the lumbar region, the spinal region that carries the most of the body's weight.
Lumbar disc hernia is one of the diseases that we most frequently encounter in the practice of neurosurgery. Our website contains information about many subjects that will shed light on your surgical decisions.
After herniated lumbar disc surgery
The process to be followed after herniated lumbar disc surgery
Full endoscopic herniated lumbar disc surgery
Full endoscopic herniated lumbar disc surgery is a surgical procedure with a very comfortable postoperative period that has become more actual in recent years. It enables patients to get up 2 hours after surgery because it involves an incision of 0.6-cm.
Microdiscectomy is a surgical procedure performed by using a surgical microscope, which is intended for the treatment of lumbar disc herniation.
What is the process to follow in the treatment of lumbar disc herniation?
HomeEditor2021-07-16T13:39:40+03:00
APPOINTMENT - ADDRESS
CONTRACTED HOSPITALS AND PRIVATE INSURANCE COMPANIES
Please call +90 546 288 66 66 to get an appointment. If you have any previous laboratory test results and/or imaging tests results regarding your disease, bring them along with you when coming to your appointment.
Address: 1071 Plaza A Blok 1443. Cadde No:25A/136 19. Kat Çukurambar-Ankara
Dear Patients,
After I decide to perform a surgical operation for your disorder and you approve my decision, we choose the hospital together with you. Afterwards, our patient consultant books your appointment for surgery, and then contacts the patient admission department of the relevant hospital for your preoperative tests. The results of your preoperative tests are reviewed and approved by the anesthetist, who will administer anesthesia to you. Many patients in a good general condition are hospitalized in the morning of the surgery day; and thus, the surgical process starts.
Contracts have been signed with the following hospitals.
AKAY HOSPITAL
BAYINDIR HOSPITAL
MEDICANA INTERNATIONAL ANKARA HOSPITAL
KORU HOSPITAL
LIV HOSPITAL
All our privately insured patients are charged in accordance with the prices determined by the Turkish Medical Association, which are ACCEPTED BY THEIR INSURANCE COMPANIES. In other words, our privately insured patients are treated within their own insurance limits. We have signed contracts with the two institutions listed below, on the institutional terms and conditions.
ISBANK'S EMPLOYEES AND THEIR DEPENDANT RELATIVES
PENSION FUND FOUNDATION OF THE RETIREES OF TURKISH ZIRAAT BANK AND HALK BANK
PROF. DR. HAKAN SABUNCUOGLU
Neurosurgery (also known as brain and nerve surgery) is the medical specialty concerned with the surgical treatment of disorders that affect the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nerves. With the development of neurosurgery technology in recent years, it has made a considerable progress in Turkey and the world. The use of microscope that has broken a new ground in the field of neurosurgery has been an indispensable part of surgical operations. Turkey is now in a highly respected position in the field of neurosurgery in Europe and the world. Brain surgery is a very wide field in terms of the issues it is concerned with. Most of our patients justifiably use the internet first, for searching on things they are curious about and try to get information about their diseases. However, the most important fact at this point is that THE INFORMATION ACCESSED SHOULD BE TRUE AND RELIABLE.
This website has been designed to give you information and enable you to reach me more easily in the internet. You will here find information about neurosurgery and get answers to your questions. All the information to be shared with you will be accompanied by the up-to-date literature, and will be supported with academic data. The website will be more updated in the course of time, and then you will be able to access more satisfying information.
What are the advantages of microsurgery in the treatment of cervical disc herniation?
What is the microsurgical procedure? What are its advantages?
What are the causes of a headache related to brain surgery?
Headaches can be caused by many factors. Daily temporal headaches are a problem that almost everyone experiences very often. What are the types of headaches induced by serious neurosurgical operations?
If you have a chronic headache problem, do not delay your medical examination!
Is it necessary to see a doctor for any headache? How can we understand which types of headache are serious or mild?
Causes of neck pain
What are the causes of neck pain? What should be done against frequently recurrent neck pains? When should one consult a doctor?
What is the straightening of cervical spine? How can it be identified?
What are the causes of straightening of cervical spine? Who are those who commonly suffer from it?
Do not let your cervical herniated disc derange you!
What should be done against cervical disc herniation that can be seen especially in desk-bound workers.
What should office workers do against neck pain?
What are the points to take into consideration to avoid neck pain in an office environment?
What should be done to avoid neck pain when driving?
Do you often have neck pain when driving? Do you suffer from neck pain more often especially during long journeys?
What should office workers do to avoid low back pain?
What should people, especially those working at desk jobs or those who lift heavy things, do against the risk of lumbar disc herniation? What are the symptoms of herniated lumbar disc? How is it treated?
Spinal canal stenosis
What are the causes and treatment procedures of spinal canal stenosis, and what should be done in the post-operative period?
Is there a risk of recurrence after herniated lumbar disc surgery?
What are the points to take into consideration after herniated lumbar disc surgery?
What should be done after herniated lumbar disc surgery?
How is low back pain treated?
What are the main treatment procedures in the treatment of low back pain? How is the process of decision-making on surgical and non-surgical procedures?
Do you suffer from low back pain? Be careful!
80% of people suffer from severe low back pain problems at least once in their lives.
DIAGNOSIS, HOSPITALIZATION AND SURGERY PROCESSES
LUMBAR DISC HERNIATION IN BRIEF – Graphical Description
FULL ENDOSCOPIC HERNIATED LUMBAR DISC SURGERY IN BRIEF – Graphical Description
FULL ENDOSCOPIC HERNIATED LUMBAR DISC SURGERY – Additional Information
CERVICAL DISC HERNIATION IN BRIEF – Graphic Description
DIET SECTION
NUTRITION BEFORE AND AFTER SPINE SURGERY
OSTEOPOROSIS RISK CAN BE REDUCED
AN IMPORTANT POWER THAT PROTECTS OUR BRAIN: ANTIOXIDANTS
EXERCISE SECTION
I was born in 1965 in Ankara. I graduated from TED Ankara College in 1983 and from Ankara University School of Medicine in 1991. I completed my specialty training in 2004. Between 2003-2004 and 2007-2008, I was Spetzler's Neuroresearch Fellow at the Barrow Neurological Institute in the USA. In 2007, I was selected as the second place winner of the Best Spinal Surgery Research Award organized by the Turkish Neurosurgical Society. I was promoted to the title of assistant professor in 2007 and associate professor in 2011. I have 24 articles published in international journals and 15 articles in national journals. I have also been the editor of a book and the chapter author of 15 books in various fields. I am a member of Turkish Neurosurgical Society, Turkish Spine Society, EANS (European Association of Neurosurgical Societies), and NASS (North American Spine Society). I am married and have one daughter.
1071 Plaza A Blok 1443. Cadde No:25A/136 19. Kat Çukurambar-Ankara
© 2010-2020 All rights reserved | Prof. Dr. Hakan Sabuncuoglu, Ankara | Terms of Use and Legal Notice


text:
Del Monte Q4 earnings double to US$6.3m on stronger US margins
Sharanya Pillaihspillai@sph.com.sg@SharanyaBT
FOOD and beverage player Del Monte saw earnings more than double to US$6.3 million for the fourth quarter ended April, compared to a year ago.
This was aided in part by a higher gross margin of 15.9 per cent for Del Monte's US subsidiary DMFI (Del Monte Foods Inc), compared to 13.3 per cent in the same period last year.
The improved gross margin was driven by a strategic increase in retail list price, lower trade spend and the favourable impact of the divestiture of the low-margin Sager Creek vegetable business in September 2017.
Excluding one-off items, Del Monte would have registered a recurring net income of US$9.2 million, a turnaround from a net loss of US$2.9 million in the prior year period.
Meanwhile, Q4 sales dropped 13.3 per cent year-on-year to US$432.6 million, 13 per cent lower than the prior year's quarter. This was mainly due to the divestiture of the Sager Creek business and lower sales in the USA and the Philippines.
SEE ALSO: Higher wages, spiffy outfits fail to shift locals' mindset against F&B, retail jobs
Sales in the Philippine domestic market fell by 8.5 per cent, mainly in the general trade, beverage and culinary categories, driven by the transition to new distributors in the Philippines.
For the full year, Del Monte posted earnings of US$20.3 million, a turnaround from the US$36.5 million loss a year ago. Without one-off items, net income would have been US$15.8 million for the year, compared to US$12 million for the prior year.
Sales for FY2019 fell 11 per cent year-on-year to US$1.95 billion, 73 per cent of which was contributed by DMFI. The fall was led by the divestiture of Sager Creek, the lower volume of retail-branded products with promotion reduction and distribution losses. Del Monte also saw a decline in non-branded products.
The company's board has approved a final dividend of US$0.0052 per share, representing 50 per cent of FY2019 net profit.
Looking forward, the firm is maintaining its strategy of diversifying beyond the canned goods aisle, a declining category. It introduced four new innovative products in the growing categories of refrigerated produce and frozen to cater to demand for health and wellness.
"We are encouraged by the accelerated pace of innovation and new product launches, especially in the US, taking us into new categories and formats outside the can which is not growing. At the same time, we have proactively reduced costs within our control amid headwinds of rising tin prices," Del Monte's CEO Joselito Campos Jr said in a press release.
Shares of Del Monte closed flat at S$0.12 on Thursday.
Suntec Reit buys freehold Grade A office building in Adelaide for A$148.3m


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The Union Health Minister continued saying, India's recovery rate has reached 92.56 per cent as of today morning
ANI | General News November 09, 2020 Last Updated at 16:09 IST
Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan. (PTI)
Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan held a virtual meeting with Health Ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Punjab, Rajasthan, Telangana, and West Bengal to review the COVID-19 situation.
"The whole country worked together by following the same strategy together. We have seen a lot of phases in this journey of 10 months. The first case was reported in Kerala followed by various other developments," said Dr Harsh Vardhan while interacting with the Health Ministers.
"The entire country followed the bold manner in which the lockdown was imposed under the leadership of PM Modi. Later, the unlock process was also implemented effectively. When we analyse the performance of our country, it seems India has performed better than any of the big developed countries in the world," he added.
The Union Health Minister continued saying, India's recovery rate has reached 92.56 per cent as of today morning.
"There was a surge in cases one or two months back. India's active cases used to hover around one lakh. Now the number of active cases has come down. Out of the five lakh active cases in India currently, many people are on the road to recovery," said Dr Vardhan.
"We hope we can get the vaccine at any time after the new year starts. After that arrangements need to be made to disseminate vaccine among 20 to 30 crore people. We need to make a list for that, vaccine centres and vaccinations as well. The team of vaccinations need to be lined up and trained for the same," he added.
With 45,903 new COVID-19 infections reported in the last 24 hours, India's total cases surged to 85,53,657, said Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) on Monday. With 490 new deaths reported in the last 24 hours, the death toll has mounted to 1,26,611.


I've been reading snippets of Pliny the Elder's Natural History over the past few days, and I can't help but think that the ancient Roman and I would have been friends. I definitely feel as curious about the world as Pliny the Elder, but hopefully I am a little more practical (i.e. I wouldn't risk my life to observe the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius).
"There is, or at least there once existed, a picture of a horse by Apelles. It was painted for a competition in which he sought judgment not from men but from dumb animals. For, seeing that his rivals were getting the upper hand by devious means, he showed the pictures individually to some horses he had brought in, and they neighed only at Apelles' picture. As this frequently happened on subsequent occasions it proved to be a good test of the artist's skill." (Natural History XXXV:95).
Who here has read Natural History? Any likes or dislikes? If you haven't had a chance to get to know Pliny the Elder and his thoughts on art, I'd highly recommend those few chapters from Natural History. Pliny the Elder is witty, opinionated, and just all-around interesting.
1 Pancaste could really be labeled as Alexander the Great's ex-mistress. Pliny records that the ruler commissioned Apelles to paint Pancaste, and then Apelles ended up in love with his subject. In turn, Alexander gave Pancaste to Apelles, which Pliny noted was indicative of Alexander's magnanimity. (Natural History XXXV:86-87).


text:
By Michelle R. Davis — October 16, 2008 7 min read
District technology director Jared P. Mader is looking to pinch pennies and save dollars wherever he can. He's not clipping coupons or planning to turn the thermostat down as winter approaches, but he's getting creative about how to cut costs—large and small—from his IT budget.
Last year, he outsourced the building of two computer servers to a group of students in his 5,700-student Red Lion Area School District in Pennsylvania. The high school seniors taking a Cisco technology-certification class built two servers from the ground up, set up a network, and maintained it. It gave the students real-life experience in the field, and Mader estimates he saved several thousand dollars by employing the students rather than hiring a company to do the work.
Jared P. Mader used tech-savvy seniors, such as Jonah Caldwell, at left, to build two computer servers last school year.
Hector Emanuel for Education Week
Like many other district information-technology directors across the country, Mader is facing pressure to cut his technology budget without shortchanging services as a faltering economy, rising fuel and food prices, and other factors are putting the squeeze on school budgets.
"I think we're all in this same boat," Mader says of his fellow tech directors. "In a school district budget, there are so many things that are fixed items and not negotiable. It puts technology in the spotlight as one primary area to be able to save funding."
So what's a school IT director to do?
One of the best ways for districts to save money this school year will be to take advantage of the range of free, open-source technology options available. ("Understanding the Ins and Outs of 'Open Content' Licensing," this issue.) For example, in the 32,000-student Forsyth County schools in Cumming, Ga., Bailey F. Mitchell, the district's chief of technology and information, is saving $300,000 by replacing Microsoft Office with Open Office, free software available online that does much the same thing. "The Microsoft people are about to have a duck," he says. "It's a huge chunk of change [we're saving], it's compatible [with Microsoft products], and we're not paying for it."
Mitchell also reviewed all his district's software subscriptions to see whether some were duplicative or not being used. A middle school math-simulation program contained many of the same tools as a K-12 math program the district already had, so it was let go, saving $55,000.
Read the accompanying story,
IT Experts Turn to 'Virtualization' As a Money-Saving Approach
"You really cringe when it's a piece of instructional software you can't renew, because typically you try to support that at all costs," Mitchell says.
'Cost Us Nothing'
In Maryland's 132,000-student Prince George's County school system outside Washington, the IT department is still grappling with a $4 million, or 10 percent, cut in funding for the department for the 2007-08 school year. As a consequence, the department is not filling open jobs during this school year and not replacing some broken equipment, says Lisa Spencer, the district's director of technology, training, and support.
To cut costs, the district is also swapping its Microsoft Exchange e-mail for free Gmail from Google, saving more than a million dollars, she says. "When we go to Gmail, we'll have bigger mail capacity, and we don't need to concern ourselves with the cost of Microsoft products," she says.
1. Consider open-source technology options for everything from word processing to e-mail.
2. Review software subscriptions to make sure they are not duplicative.
3. Consider new technology practices such as virtualization to save hardware and energy costs.
4. Use environmentally friendly technological approaches to save money on everything from lighting to heating.
5. Examine the funds you receive from the federal E-rate program to make sure your district is receiving all the money it is entitled to.
6. Use existing district resources in new ways, such as having students build a computer server as part of a school project or tapping existing district foundation money for technology expenditures.
In a small district such as Pennsylvania's Red Lion schools, even a few thousand dollars can make a difference. Mader used an open-source product to build a portal for teachers and other staff members to be able to see their files at home. "We were looking at $4,000 for that, but I don't have $4,000 to spend on that," he says. "We looked around more and found open-source options. Now we have a fully functional service that cost us nothing."
Lenny J. Schad, the chief information officer for the 55,000-student Katy Independent School District in Texas, says the 2007-08 school year was the first time in his five-year tenure that he was asked to make significant cuts to his budget—roughly 10 percent from his general operating fund.
He's put off training and travel he had planned for his employees and is looking at local, free professional-development options. He's also exploring the use of virtual technology for a tactic called "virtualization," which allows him to divide the power of one host server to run 30 others. The annual savings his department will see from using that approach will be close to $400,000.
"It's a huge cost savings and a savings on power," he says.
In many districts, new technology projects are financed by bond issues approved by local voters.
Ed Zaiontz, the executive director of information services for the 40,000-student Round Rock Independent School District near Austin, Texas, says his district relies on bond money to pay for major technology initiatives, such as building a network connecting all schools and purchasing ceiling-mounted data projectors for every high school classroom. In 2006, voters approved a bond issue that included $23 million for technology initiatives, but Zaiontz says he worries that future support may waver if economic troubles persist.
Re-examining regular IT routines can also make a difference. For example, slight alterations to maintenance and "refresh" schedules could add up to significant savings.
Bob Moore, the executive director of information technology services for the 20,000-student Blue Valley public schools in Overland Park, Kan., says even though his district typically has supported technology funding, he's started thinking of ways to cut costs because of the prospect of tighter budgets down the road. Currently, the district replaces computers after four years and can spend $3 million a year just buying new machines. Now, Moore may replace them as needed or every five years.
"You can see very quickly a significant savings," he says. "It's really about questioning everything we do."
The trend toward methods of "green computing"—which encompasses everything from using computer technology to aid energy efficiency to buying recycled computer parts—can also save money, says Ann Flynn, the director of educational technology for the Alexandria, Va.-based National School Boards Association. ("GoinGreen," this issue.) Schools are using new technologies to centralize HVAC systems, for example, or shutting down all district computers nightly from a central location to save on energy costs.
"There are some places to look for resources where technology can be the underlying support," Flynn says.
In tandem with cutting costs, ed-tech leaders are also searching for new money and other resources to bolster whittled-down budgets. Some are exploring grants from big technology companies or foundations, but Flynn of the NSBA cautions that a reliance on grant money can backfire.
"The grant opportunity is always attractive to folks, but a lot of grants are for unique projects, and they're not generally designed for long-term sustainability for your IT programs," she says.
Some districts are setting up their own foundations specifically for technology or for general education spending, to which local residents and businesses can make contributions. Mader's Red Lion district has its own local education foundation that provides $20,000 in technology grants through the district each year, mostly for classroom-based projects.
"It's nice to have that option, and then typically we're not competing with everyone else in the country," Mader says.
Other districts are forming partnerships with local employers—sometimes technology companies—to help supplement IT projects. In Pennsylvania's 2,500-student Northern Lebanon district, a local bank last year donated $15,000 for textbooks for a technology program, and the superintendent has started a districtwide foundation for funding other programs, including technology.
But school district IT managers can also take a closer look at money they already have, says Scott Weston, the director of communications for Funds For Learning, a for-profit company that consults with schools on the federal E-rate program. The $2.25 billion-a-year program offers school districts discounts on some telephone, video, and technology costs, including long-distance telephone service and the Internet. Assistance is based on the number of students who qualify for the federal free and reduced-price lunch program.
What districts often don't realize is that sometimes it may take only a handful of extra students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunches to bump a district from an 80 percent E-rate discount to a 90 percent level, Weston says.
"Sometimes a district can pinpoint that they only need 10 more eligible students at a school to get to 90 percent," he says. And many students who qualify for subsidized meals don't sign up, so there are often plenty of additional candidates.
In addition, districts often pay their technology costs upfront and get reimbursed through the E-rate program later. The program does not stipulate the reimbursement must go back to the district's general fund, Weston says. "We know some tech directors who have been able to claim that reimbursed money and use it to fund IT projects," he says.
Money from other federal programs can also be applied to technology projects. The National Science Foundation, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and other grant sources have money available for technology projects.
Michelle R. Davis
Michelle R. Davis formerly wrote for Education Week.
A version of this article appeared in the October 20, 2008 edition of Digital Directions as Dollars & Sense
Students in Kelly Neuser's kindergarten class at Deer Run Elementary School in East Haven, Conn., use iPads during a reading exercise in December.
Christopher Capozziello for Digital Directions
IT Infrastructure Rethinking Testing in the Age of the iPad
Katie Ash, February 8, 2012
IT Infrastructure Battle for Whiteboard-Market Supremacy Heats Up
Ian Quillen, February 8, 2012
Kayla Boone, a sophomore at Oak Hills High School, in suburban Cincinatti, and her classmates use their cellphones to text answers to questions during an English class. The answers are displayed on a class whiteboard.
Pat McDonogh for Digital Directions
Law & Courts Districts Tackle Questions Surrounding BYOT Policy
Ian Quillen, October 17, 2011
IT Management IT Experts Turn to 'Virtualization' As a Money-Saving Approach
Michelle R. Davis, October 16, 2008
IT Infrastructure Open-Content Licensing
Katie Ash, July 23, 2008
IT Management Help Wanted: Finding the Right IT Worker
Michelle R. Davis, June 4, 2008
Education Funding Citing Supply Chain Issues, Inflation, USDA Boosts Funding for School Meals
The U.S. Department of Agriculture will boost reimbursements for school lunches as districts face COVID-related challenges.
Evie Blad
Second grader Amado Soto eats lunch socially distanced from his fellow students at Perez Elementary School in December.
Denise Cathey/The Brownsville Herald via AP
Education Funding More Federal Aid Is Coming for Schools Struggling to Buy Food Due to Supply-Chain Crisis
The $1.5 billion USDA infusion is the second in several months to help schools purchase food amid shortages and price increases.
Arianna Prothero
Education Funding School Districts Are Starting to Spend COVID Relief Funds. The Hard Part Is Deciding How
A new database shows districts' spending priorities for more than $122 billion in federal aid are all over the place.
Mark Lieberman
Education Funding The Political Spotlight on Schools' COVID Relief Money Isn't Going Away
Politicians and researchers are among those scrutinizing the use and oversight of billions in pandemic education aid.


text:
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text:
Updated 21 November, 2016 - 14:57 Natalia Klimczak
The Tecaxic-Calixtlahuaca Head: Evidence for Ancient Roman Transatlantic Voyages, a Viking Souvenir, or a Hoax?
A mysterious terracotta artifact known as the Tecaxic-Calixtlahuaca head was discovered in Mexico, but it looks exactly like well-known Roman artifacts. How did this enigmatic object arrive in Toluca Valley?
The head was found in a burial that dates to around the time Columbus arrived in the Americas. It is impossible to calculate if the grave was made just before the end of the pre-Columbian period or at the beginning of the post-Columbian era. Researchers suggest the grave is from between 1476 and 1510 AD, but the head discovered amongst the grave goods is a mystery.
It looks nothing like other artifacts from the site or the era. In fact, it looks like well-known artwork from the Roman Empire. However, the head was discovered in the Tecaxic-Calixtlahuaca area of the Toluca Valley, which is located about 65 kilometers (40 miles) north-west of Mexico City.
Discovering the 'Roman' Head
The artifact was unearthed during excavations in 1933. The work was led by an archaeologist named Jose Garcia Payon. His team discovered a grave and a grave offering under a pyramid. The structure had three intact floors, under which the offering was found. Among goods like turquoise, jet, rock crystal, gold, copper, bones, shells, and pieces of pottery, the terracotta head stood out. The artifact was so shocking that Payon decided to not publish anything about it until 1960. He was probably aware that many researchers would think his discovery a cheap hoax. Jose Garcia Payon's eventual release of information about the strange head led to a fevered debate.
Photo of Jose Garcia Payon. Source: ( INAH)
In 2001, Romeo H. Hristov (of the University of New Mexico) and Santiago Genoves T. (of the National Autonomous University of Mexico) published the first results of their research. The two specialists were fascinated with the unusual artifact and tried to solve the mystery of the terracotta head. They said the identification of the head as a Roman artifact was confirmed by Bernard Andreae, a director emeritus of the German Institute of Archaeology in Rome, Italy. The head was dated to the 2nd or 3rd century AD, but its style shows the 2nd century is more likely. Similar-looking heads suggest that the artifact came from the period of the Severan emperors, who ruled between 193 and 235 AD.
Strange Discovery Made in Mexican Cave, Including Mummified Macaw, Baby and Adult Remains
Padre Padilla, the Incorruptible: Body of Murdered Friar Remains Perfectly Preserved After Centuries
Ten Things the Ancients Did Better than Us
Busts of Severan Emperors. ( CC BY-SA 3.0 )
Although it all sounds very interesting, one must wonder about the state of the site where the artifact was discovered. Yet there is no information available about possible disturbances to the historical context of the site.
Summarizing the problem of the head, Romeo H. Hristov and Santiago Genovés T. presented a paper in 2001 which concludes:
"There are also some data of various kinds and levels of credibility that suggest the existence of a few sporadic, most probably accidental, transoceanic voyages before Columbus, which apparently had very limited -if any- cultural and biological impact. The find of an apparently Roman head in Tecaxic-Calixtlahuaca, Mexico, seems to support the occurrence of one such voyage across the middle Atlantic, possibly somewhere in the first centuries of the Christian era.
On the other hand, notwithstanding that the Canary Islands were discovered around 1334 A.D., the highly probable contacts between the ancient Mediterranean world and the Canaries were confirmed for first time only a decade and half ago. In 1987 a Roman trade post dated between the first century B.C. and the third century A.D. was discovered in the Lanzarote island (Atoche Peña et al. 1995), and the continuing archaeological research has proved in 2006 that not only the Romans but also the Punic seafarers reached the archipelago no later than the fourth century B.C. (Atoche Peña et al. 2009). The implications of these discoveries in the discussion of the possible Pre-Columbian Trans-Atlantic contacts are obvious, and it is not entirely unreasonable to expect in the near future that systematical archaeological studies in the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America and Brazil may provide more -and more conclusive- data related to some isolated cases of trans-Atlantic voyages before 1492."
Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl: A Tragic Romance of Aztec Legend
The Pyramids Route: Was Knowledge of the Pyramids Spread by Ancient Castaways?
Damnation of Memory and the Efforts to Erase the Condemned from History
Map of the Canary Islands. ( Public Domain )
Although their statement sounds reasonable, a thermoluminescence test done in 1995 showed that the terracotta head may have been made in the 9th century BC. Those results don't clear up the mystery of the figurine at all. Additionally, many researchers believe that the appearance of the Roman head is a hoax or a trick created by one of the archaeologists, Hugo Moedano, who might have explained his joke to Garcia Payon. It is possible Jose Garcia Payon had never planned to publish anything about it because it wasn't a part of the "real" discovery.
Romans in Mexico?
Another possible explanation is that the head is real, belonged to the burial, and was an import from Europe. If this is true, the main questions become when and who brought it to Central Mexico. There are suspicions that Romans could have traveled to the Americas, but there is not much evidence to support this. It could have also been brought by Vikings, who loved these kinds of ''souvenirs'' from different parts of the world, and it is more likely that they took it to the site in Mexico. However, none of the explanations have strong evidence to back them up, so the mystery of the Tecaxic-Calixtlahuaca head continues.
The Tecaxic-Calixtlahuaca head. ( Fair Use )
Top image: A photo of the Tecaxic-Calixtlahuaca head. ( Fair Use )
By Natalia Klimczak
The Roman head from Tecaxic-Calixtlahuaca, Mexico: a review of the evidence
By Romeo H. Hristov and Santiago Genovés T., available at:
http://www.unm.edu/~rhristov/calixtlahuaca.html
Calixtlahuaca-Tecaxic Roman Head by Robin Heyworth, available at:
http://uncoveredhistory.com/mexico/calixtlahuaca-tecaxic-roman-head/
Tecaxic-Calixtlahuaca head, A Roman artifact in Pre-Hispanic Mexico?
http://www.ancient-code.com/tecaxic-calixtlahuaca-head-a-roman-artifact-in-pre-hispanic-mexico/
The Calixtlahuaca Head, available at:
http://econ.ohio-state.edu/jhm/arch/calix.htm
Tecaxic-Calixtlahuaca
Jose Garcia Payon
Romeo H. Hristov
Christian era
Trans-Atlantic voyages
oopart
Natalia Klimczak is an historian, journalist and writer and is currently a Ph.D. Candidate at the Faculty of Languages, University of Gdansk. Natalia does research in Narratology, Historiography, History of Galicia (Spain) and Ancient History of Egypt, Rome and Celts. She... Read More
Bruce Nowakowski wrote on 5 September, 2020 - 20:48
The late era Romans had the North Sea fleet. This part of their navy had the same proving grounds as the later Vikings would have, the North Sea as well as the same ports of departure. Thus if the Vikings were capable of island hoping via Iceland and Greenland etc. so to could the Romans. Doesn't mean they did, it just means its plausible.
Laurent MARTIN-COEUR wrote on 22 November, 2016 - 20:30
If the 9th century BC datation is correct, it can hardly be roman ! A more believable origin would be phoenician, who were already great navigators at that time.
They were also doing terracotta artefacts for religious purposes, including some of bearded men quite similar to that one !
Anyway, that wouldn't even prove that there has been any direct contact between precolombian people and phoenicians, the artefact could very well have been lost at sea in a shipwreck and then transported to Mexico by sea current.
bether wrote on 21 November, 2016 - 23:41
Btw, I know the Chinese are not European or Northern African. I mention the calendar similarities to emphasize that people from all over the world traveled the world long before Columbus. It's not such a stretch to believe that non-Americans made it to America from all over the world prior to the Spanish.
While the discovery of the head and the mystery of how it arrived in Mexico are fascinating, I'm always surprised when people sound skeptical that Europeans or Northern Africans (Egyptians) were able to travel to North & South America. The evidence is all over the place. The Viking ruins in northern Canada, the inexplicable similarities between the Mayan and Chinese calendars, the fact that Pyramids in the exact same formation are found in both Egypt and Mexico. Why is it so surprising that Romans might have made it to Mexico too? While Columbus is credited with the "discovery" of America, all he really did was become the first to capitalize on its resources in a public and state-sponsored manner.
JDRIX wrote on 19 November, 2017 - 15:45
In regards to the Tucson finds, supposedly they were proven to be a hoax. The archaeologists from U of A, who had previously declared the artifacts as genuine, saved face by reverting to a time-honored Arizona custom. They blamed the hoax on either Mexicans or Mormons. In this case, it was blamed on both.


In-reply-to: <991010082734.ZM31398@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> from Bart Schaefer at "Oct 10, 1999 8:27:34 am"
bar" with "> bar 2>&1" gives you "out" and "err" in both files.
The documentation needs to be fixed (patch to follow).
>clobber one or more of stdin/out/err with it.  So no fix is needed here.
of the shell's fds becoming visible to the user would never occur.
a shell not designed that way.


text:
Drawn to the Courageous
Accomplished playwright and Oscar winner Horton Foote talks about the 'awe' in his craft and characters
By Jay Jostyn Special to The Christian Science Monitor
He may not be a household name, but the stories he's created have touched film and theater audiences throughout the world.
Horton Foote is probably best known for his screenplays, especially for the two that earned him Oscars -- ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' in 1962 and ''Tender Mercies'' in 1983. But a quick glance at his resume reveals that the bulk of Mr. Foote's writing has been for the stage. During the course of a career that's spanned more than a half century, Foote has written more than 40 plays.
Currently, New York theatergoers are getting a hefty offering of Foote's work, thanks to the Signature Theatre Company. Each year this Off Off Broadway playhouse devotes its entire season to the work of a single American playwright, and this year, it's Foote's turn.
Since September, the Signature has staged four of Foote's plays, including two world premieres. The productions have been playing to sold-out houses and continue to receive consistently strong reviews.
In an interview, Foote talked about his craft and what is important to him in theater.
Are you always working on a play?
I'm always thinking. When I first began writing, I thought unless I had a pen in my hand and piece of paper, I wasn't working. But I soon learned that part of the writer's job is to think.
What is it that draws you to the characters you create?
The qualities of people that appeal to me are this sense of courage and desire to, sometimes in spite of terrific odds, keep going and try to work things out.... It's amazing what people can go through and endure and can come out on top somehow ... and I don't think they all do. I think some people fail, and that's part of the human equation. That's one of the great questions: why under given circumstances some people survive and some people don't, and that's a question that interests me very much.
Do you try to answer this question in your writing?
I try to answer it in my own life, but I don't try to proselytize in my writing. I want the audience to make judgments about it.
Most of your plays are set in a small town in Texas where you were raised. Did you choose this setting simply because you grew up there, or is there something implicitly dramatic about it?
I really believe in my case, and in the case of writers that I admire, that the material chooses them rather than they choose the material. I think it becomes something that asserts itself and demands that they write about, in a curious kind of way.
You once compared your craft to taking a journey. How did you mean that?
Some writers are very detailed and make specific outlines and don't vary very much from their outlines. I'm of the school that I like to take the journey into the unknown. I have a rough kind of road map, but I'm always amazed at what just comes to me and what's unplanned that's usable. Whether it's inspiration or whatever it is.... I keep myself ready for these unfoldments. I don't know a better word. It's kind of an unfolding that takes place, and sometimes I'm in awe of it.
Is it almost as if the characters are taking on a life of their own?
Yes, and telling me things, and I think, ''Oh my goodness,'' and ''Oh, I believe that.'' But I don't know where it's coming from. It's nothing that I've sat down and planned. When I have tried to do it minutely, I find myself changing.
While you may not outline the action, are there certain themes that you hope will emerge from your plays?
I don't choose a theme. I really try to base [my plays] on what I find to be truthful or meaningful about a given situation, and [I] try to look at it from all sides and try to find the essence of it. There's so much richness of life around that really what I try to do is to find some way to capture that. There are many playwrights I admire that are very didactic and have very thematic approaches to things and insist on that. I'm just not that kind of a writer.
You've observed the New York theater scene for more than 50 years. How do you feel about it currently?
I've seen New York theater go through many, many stages, and the enemy always has been, to me, commercialism. The so-called golden day of the theater, which I was here and part of, I found very stifling, because I found that only the most conventional plays got done. I think there's more experimenting going on now. I have great hopes for the theater. You just have to get away from the fact that the only stamp of approval is to have a play done in the so-called Broadway district.
So it doesn't concern you that your plays may not be considered commercially viable by Broadway standards?
You have to learn the lessons the poets have learned. T.S. Elliot -- when he had the Criterion Magazine, I think the most subscriptions he ever had were 1,500 subscribers, but it had an enormous influence. And his poems, and [Ezra] Pound's, they all the found a way to do their work. And that's all you can ask, is to be allowed to do your work.
Review 'Blessed Assurance' succeeds as a soaring new biography of playwright Horton Foote
Theater for the 99%
Difference Maker This theater director gets at the big issues of the day – with young actors


Commonwealth Games Federation president Mike Fennell on Friday accused besieged Delhi organisers of "blunders" and "inexperience" as the disaster-hit event lurched from one crisis to another.
Fennell, who has faced a daily barrage of criticism over the running of the 11-day showpiece, hit out at the farcical scenes which saw Australian 100m runner Sally Pearson stripped of her gold medal late Thursday.
Pearson was disqualified as 100m winner after a false start, but she was only informed that an appeal had been launched as she was preparing to receive the gold medal.
"There was a problem over communicating that appeals had been launched. There was a major communication blunder by the athletics officials," said Fennell.
"If there is a protest, then the athletes should be put on hold and told the reasons why. We received complaints about it. That treatment is unsatisfactory."
Last night Pearson found herself sitting on the same bus as English officials, who had just robbed her of a gold medal.
The sprinter and other Australians, including head athletics coach Eric Hollingsworth, were at the rear of the bus.
The English contingent were up the front.
The trip back to the athletes village started uncomfortably following the controversial women's 100m final at the Delhi Commonwealth Games.
Pearson won the race but lost the gold medal when disqualified because of an English protest.
So how did Pearson respond to the uneasy air in the bus?
"Sally decided that she wanted to go and talk to the English manager," Hollingsworth said on Friday.
"She went up to the manager, and said there was no hard feelings and all the best to the (English) girl that got (promoted to) the bronze medal.
"Now that is another example of how we do business in Australia.
"I can assure you, with all the emotions that were going through Sally, that was a big deal for her to do.
"But it's also part of the process of getting on with winning the gold medal in 100m hurdles later in the meet."
Hollingsworth said there was no chance of Pearson being sapped by the sprint experience ahead of her pet hurdle event, in which she won silver at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
"No chance, no chance," he said.
"This is Sally Pearson we're talking about, this isn't an ordinary athlete, this is a great athlete.
"She will certainly be ready for the hurdles."


text:
Home Premiere Service Could Kill the Movie Theater Experience
The new Home Premiere service, which will allow movie viewers to watch new films for $30 each in the comfort of their own home, may well make lots of money for movie studios—but it could prove fatal to theaters, says Edward Jay Epstein.
Edward Jay Epstein
Updated Jul. 13, 2017 2:28PM ET / Published Apr. 03, 2011 8:13PM ET
Warner Bros., Fox, Sony and Universal are teaming up to bring new release films to your home in high def 2 months after they've been relseased in theaters. Credit: Photo Illustration,Sami Sarkis
Warner Bros., Sony, Universal, and Fox's plan to carve a new video-on-demand window from what had been the theatrical window is an opportunity for the movie studios. But it also might well destroy the exhibition system that created Hollywood—and the movie experience that goes with it.
With the Home Premiere service, which costs $30 per film, couch potatoes can get a new movie beamed into their homes from cable or DirecTV just eight weeks after it opens in the multiplexes. Now home audiences can see a movie in high definition, in the comfort of their home, at least three months before it is available on Netflix, the vending machines of Redbox, or at video stores.
The math for the movie studios, at first glance, looks appealing. The average ticket price in 2010 was $7.89. The studio's share is between 40 percent and 50 percent, depending on its deal with the theaters. (Under some contracts, the studio's cut decreases after two weeks.) So at best, studios wind up with $3.95 per ticket sold. But for every Home Premiere viewing, they get $21, after giving DirecTV or the participating cable companies their cut. Even if people watch a Home Premiere movie in groups, studios can afford to kill off five ticket sales at the box office per home viewing and still make money. According to estimate of a Warner Bros. executive familiar with the research, the studios expect this service to skim off no more than 5 percent of the theater audience. As the Warner Bros. executive calculated it, "We cannot help but make money."
No doubt the studios will harvest money from this new service, and even draw away part of the Netflix audience, but what is conspicuously absent from the equation is what the theaters might lose. Virtually every modern theater is in a leased premise, with fixed overhead and a payroll to meet. The theater makes most of its money not from the proceeds of movie tickets but from popcorn sales and ads to the herds of moviegoers. The concessions have an 80 percent profit margin; advertising, 90 percent. Together, these two operations, which studios do not get a penny from, provide 75 percent of the multiplexes' operating income. If they lose only a small fraction of their audience, this income diminishes accordingly. So how seriously would a 5 percent drop in attendance hurt them? A former senior studio executive who was also responsible for that studio's movie theater investments pointed out that in 2000-02 just a 3 percent to 5 percent drop in tickets sold pushed almost half of all the theaters in the U.S. to file for bankruptcy. "A 10 percent drop in ticket sales, and the attendant decline in concessions income and advertising income, will close over two-thirds of the American movie theaters—and they will never re-open," the former executive added.
The studios' assumption that Home Premiere will not hurt theaters is nothing more than "I-can-have-my-popcorn-and-eat-it-too" wishful thinking.
If so, the studios, which now are run mainly by former TV executives, are undertaking a highly risky business. They are offering the public the possibility of watching new movies at home without the hassle and expense of hiring a babysitter, driving to a megaplex, and buying food at the concessions stand. True, such an offer may appeal to only a small part of the moviegoing audience, but the studios' assumption that it will not hurt theaters is nothing more than "I-can-have-my-popcorn-and-eat-it-too" wishful thinking. At this stage, no one can predict whether such defections will reach the critical 5 percent to 10 percent level. If it does, Home Service could kill the exhibition system responsible for Hollywood—and the traditional American movie experience.
Edward Jay Epstein is the author of The Hollywood Economist: The Hidden Financial Reality Behind the Movies, which is also available as an iPad app.


text:
Issue 62 - 11th June 2007
Government & Legislation: The Last Week
Today (11 June 2007) the Government has published the figures for homelessness in England for the first quarter of 2007. They show that there were 17,230 acceptances under Housing Act 1996 Part 7, during the January - March quarter, 17 per cent lower than in the same period in 2006, and the lowest quarterly value since the early 1980s. For the full figures click here
To coincide with the release of the figures, the Government has announced that 27 local authorities and partnerships would receive investment from a £500,000 fund for their plans to reduce youth homelessness ranging from crash pads for teenagers to supported lodgings and a text message service offering housing options. For the details click here
On 6 June 2007 the findings of the latest English House Condition Survey were released. The Survey found that while over the past 9 years the number of non-decent homes had fallen from over 9 million to about 6 million, 41% of homes in the private sector were still failing the decent homes standard. For the details click here
On 5 June 2007 the House of Commons debated Social Housing and the National Mobility Scheme following the demise of the Government's scheme - Move UK - and the difficulties arising from the ending of the HOMES national mobility scheme. For the Hansard report click here and scroll down
On the same day, a Westminster Hall debate focused on the issues surrounding implementation of new controls on houses in multiple occupation. For the Hansard report click here and scroll down
Last Week's Cases
Omar v Birmingham CC, Court of Appeal, 7 June 2007 (Noted on LAWTEL). The council owed the appellant the main homelessness duty in s193 Housing Act 1996. It made an offer of council accommodation. When that was refused, it said that its duty had been discharged. The appellant took the point that the offer letter did not include the words required by s193(7A) i.e. it did not state that it was "a final offer for the purposes of subsection (7)". The Court of Appeal held that the precise rubric need not be used provided that the offer letter actually conveyed the point that it was a final offer of suitable accommodation. Alternatively, the offer could be construed as being made under s193(5) and the failure to accept it had brought the duty to an end.
Segal v Pasram [2007] All ER (D) 35 (Jun), Chancery Division, 7 June 2007. A husband and wife jointly bought a home. In 1999 the husband transferred his share to his wife for £1000 on terms that she would not pursue a claim for ancillary relief against him in her intended divorce proceedings. In 2000 he was made bankrupt. The trustee in bankruptcy successfully applied to set aside the transaction. The High Court decided that the couple had owned the house in equal shares and that the transfer had been at an undervalue. The benefit of the husband's half-interest passed to the trustee.
Seminars this week
14 June 2007: Private Law Possession Proceedings and Public Law Defences: How do they work? (repeat). Garden Court Chambers evening seminar. Click Here to book a place. This is a free seminar
17 June 2007: How to run a Housing Judicial Review: A HLPA Intermediate training Seminar. For details click here
21 June 2007: Eligibility for Social Welfare Assistance (repeat) Garden Court Chambers evening seminar. Click Here to book a place.


Easter is just around the corner. Have you purchased you Easter lily yet? If not, be sure to choose an Easter lily with lots of unopened buds for longer bloom enjoyment.
The popular Easter lily is the Christian symbol of purity, innocence, and chastity. But this particular lily has been popular for eons. In the Semitic world, it is the symbol of motherhood. It was the flower of Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, and was later the flower of Roman Goddess's Diana and Venus.
To keep the plant looking its best longer, keep the plants out of direct sunlight or warm drafts. Remove the lily flowers as soon as they wither and clip any leaf ends that may brown.
It is somewhat sad to see it used only as a potted plant because it also makes a gorgeous garden plant. Do not throw out your Easter lily when it is done blooming. Instead, after your lily finishes flowering, keep it watered until the leaves turn yellow. Then, about Memorial Day you can plant your lily bulb outdoors and watch it bloom again later this summer.
Today, the lily sold as the Easter lily is most likely the Lilium candidum, known by the common name of Madonna lily. The Madonna Lily bulb should be planted close to the surface of the soil, which is different from most other lilies. This year it should send up a new shoot later this summer and bloom before frost. One of my college friends planted their Easter lilies outside their church and they were in full bloom during their late summer wedding.
The bulb should overwinter here and bloom in July in subsequent years. In the garden, the flowering stem carries as many as 15 or more pure white fragrant flowers 5 inches in diameter, reaching a height of 48 inches or more.
There are many other types of true lilies available for the garden ranging in colors of white, orange, scarlet, rose, pink, or yellow. True lilies are different from day lilies in leaf and flower arrangement. True lilies have leaves going up a single stem with flowers at the top, whereas day lilies have long leaves and flower stalks coming from large clumps. Because of their singular and striking habit, true lilies are excellent as single specimens or in solid masses.
Lilies do well in full sun or partial shade. Provide fertile soil and mulch to keep the root zone cool. Drainage is very important for this species. Typically the bulbs are planted in the fall. Most lily bulbs are planted with 4 to 6 inches of soil above the top of the bulb.
Finally, should you remove the flower's yellow stamens or not? Removing the yellow stamens inside the bloom is simply a matter of choice and aesthetics. Removal does not make the flower last longer. The only reason to remove it is for looks since as the pollen falls from the stamen it can stain the flower.
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