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No 'opportunity to be wrong': Officials manage voter expectations for election night
Election officials have until noon Saturday after election day this year to file the first set of unofficial results.
Jeffrey Schweers
Capital Bureau
With more people voting by mail this year than ever because of the coronavirus pandemic, don't expect Election Night to be Results Night, warned two county election supervisors during a 90-minute chat with the media today.
Conducted by Common Cause, with the help of researchers from the Strategies 360 polling group, hosted the discussion with Leon County Supervisor of Elections Mark Earley and Marion County Supervisor of Elections Wesley Wilcox.
The theme of the briefing was "managing expectations" and the need for an accurate and transparent count.
"Even though we report election results Tuesday night, it is not the final official count," said Wilcox, also president-elect of the Florida Supervisors of Elections.
Supervisors have until noon Saturday this year to file the first set of unofficial results, added Earley, the association's vice president.
During the August primary, both supervisors received a huge dump of mail-in ballots on election day, which meant mobilizing extra workers to open envelopes and match signatures.
"I've got to expect that trend to continue," Wilcox said. "I am prepared. I added more people to that side."
All supervisors have the same goal: To be done by 11 p.m., he said. "But we have to give it time. We want to make sure everything we produce is 100% accurate. We don't have an opportunity to be wrong."
With a surge in mail-in ballots, supervisors can expect their staff to log serious overtime, Earley said. And voters should expect results to be delayed: "Given social distancing, pandemic and other complicated factors, we may not get signatures verified until the next morning," he said.
Ben Winston of Strategies 360 also discussed some of the findings of a nationwide poll conducted with the Voting Rights Lab and The Leadership Conference.
"Few voters think the election will go smoothly," Winston said. They worry the coronavirus will create long lines and unsafe conditions, and confusion over absentee voting. They worry about partisan attempts to manipulate the vote, an irreparable shift in the country, and the losing party refusing to accept the results, he said.
Media coverage plays a huge role in influencing the public's perception of elections, with 91% turning to news media for information, Winston said. "The clearly take their cues from this coverage that they see and hear from you all," he added.
One of the biggest challenges is that nearly half the voters don't know that it will take longer this year to count all the ballots than in past years — or why. And because of that, they have an unrealistic expectation of when results will be finalized, he said.
Most expect results in three days, while a third expect results in 24 hours, Winston said.
They have no idea how long it takes to actually count all the ballots, not just from the election day, but early voting, overseas and mail-in ballots, he went on, nor do they understand there is a "cure" process for signature discrepancies, or that there will likely be court challenges to the results of several races.
"In a close race, voters lose confidence that results are accurate," he said. Also, voters sometimes interpret coverage of isolated incidents like a machine malfunction or missing ballots as indicative of widespread problems.
"This crushes confidence in the election," Winston said.
Florida is known for its close election results, where "1.5 percent of the vote is a landslide," Wilcox said.
But the state also is known for creating a legal foundation for conducting recounts, put in place after the fiasco of the 2000 presidential election that wound up with the U.S. Supreme Court declaring George Bush the winner.
"In 2018, we did recounts in three contests, three machines and two manual. The system worked very well," Wilcox said. "It was painful then, but has made our system much stronger and more resilient and more prepared for that eventuality."
The state is also known for legal challenges of election procedures and results. Last week, voter advocates sued the state to extend the voter registration deadline after the online system crashed for several hours the day of the deadline.
The hearings dragged out all week, and ultimately the court rejected their request.
More:Federal judge won't extend voter registration in Florida, criticizes state over failures
"Court challenges keep me awake at night," said Earley, who submitted an affidavit in that case. In it, he said he believed extending the deadline would only add to voter confusion and contribute to a lack of confidence in the system.
"Our election is being attacked, not necessarily by hackers trying to get in," Earley said.
While the state and counties are prepared to keep those attacks at bay, he said, "it's the disinformation and misinformation, coupled with lawsuits … (that) adds to voter uncertainty. Shifting sands is not helpful to the process or voter confidence."
The election supervisors and their staff have a lot to deal with, especially with the coronavirus pandemic forcing them to practice social distancing, he said.
"We don't want anything that gets in way of getting our job done, by putting new requirements in that are not in (state law), or changing deadlines, or anything else into a highly integrated work process," Earley said. "Let us do our jobs, let us get votes counted and see how it all comes to pass."
Contact Jeff Schweers at jschweers@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @jeffschweers.
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Cycling in Paris
By Adrien Mory, December 4, 2010
Cyclist in Paris Image courtesy Flickr
In the 90's, when the first bicycle lanes were set up, riding in the streets of Paris was considered particularly risky. Since then, things have changed. The French capital is making a major effort to promote cycling in a city where motorists' driving habits are seen as dangerous, aggressive and far from civilized.
Commuting everyday on my Vespa, from the Parisian suburbs to the central business district, has given me the perfect chance to observe the increasing popularity of the bicycle in the French capital. In the 90's, when the first bicycle lanes were set up, riding in the streets of Paris was considered particularly risky. Since then, things have changed significantly.
As in most European cities, a lot has been done to reduce car traffic and pollution with the promotion of public transport, new tram and bus lanes being built, parking costs increased… and alternative sustainable transport modes have been promoted. In spite of strikes, the Parisian public transport system is pretty good compared to other cities. Now more efforts are being made to promote the bicycle, in a city where driving habits are seen as dangerous, aggressive and far from civilized.
On a national level, thanks to regular prevention campaigns and increased police controls, the number of people killed on the road has been halved in the last 10 years and the French have progressively adopted a safer way of driving. This does not mean the average Parisian motorist has suddenly become polite and calm behind the wheel, but he is now more careful about his behavior because he risks losing his driving license more quickly than before.
Image courtesy Flickr Jeff Weston
The Vélib
The biggest effort to promote sustainable transport systems in Paris came in summer 2007 when the city mayor, Bertrand Delanoë, launched a bicycle-rental system called Vélib (Vélo + Liberté). Up to 20,000 bicycles, in 1,200 rental stations, were made available to Parisians and tourists alike. The subscription cost €29 per year or €1 per day and the rental was free if the bike was used for less than 30 minutes. Those prices have not changed since 2007.
The Vélib was pretty much an instant success, with 200,000 users in the first year, and daily use by between 15,000 and 100,000 cyclists, depending on weather conditions. With so many new cyclists on the road, a new form of co-existence with motorized transport was inevitable. The cycling community gained more of the road space and car drivers were now obliged to consider this new group carefully. Nevertheless, although there are now 400 kilometers of protected bike-lanes, the development of the bicycle-sharing system has not been without its share of problems: including vandalism, theft and accident damage.
Despite the fact that the Vélib is rather heavy (22 kilos!) and slow-moving, 80% of the bikes had to be replaced or repaired during the first year. Some bikes were found for sale in the markets of Africa and Eastern Europe or thrown into the River Seine. The system turned out to be much more costly than planned, both for the city council and for the advertising company, JC Decaux, which finances and manages the project (in return the company receives the exclusive-use contract for the city billboards). A few months after launching a similar bike-hire scheme in London, Mayor Boris Johnson joked about 'light-fingered Parisians', comparing the number of stolen bikes (three in London versus thousands in Paris), and praising the civic spirit of his fellow citizens. Vélib organizers however put the disparity down to resentful and angry youth, who are the main users of the system late at night, after public transport closes.
Three years after its inauguration and its exciting début, Vélib has become part of the Parisian way of life and represents a third of all bicycles in circulation. Tourists have also adopted it as a cool way to discover la plus belle ville du monde, following dedicated 'scenic routes'. Most of all, it has encouraged Parisians to repair their old bikes and get them back on the streets. Since 2007, the number of cyclists has increased by 10% per year on average. However the number of cars on the streets has not declined that much (as most of the new cyclists are, or were, public transport users) and Paris still has Europe's worst traffic jams. The growing use of bicycles remains mainly limited to Paris itself; for Greater Paris commuters (like me), the distances are long and the infrastructure inadequate.
Image courtesy Flickr Rui Pereira
The Paris cycling community
This growing community is far from homogeneous and includes a number of recognizable Parisian stereotypes:
The cycliste classique is stylish, elegant and takes loving care of his faithful 'mount'. He has been a cyclist for a long time. He respects the driving rules carefully and overtakes the slow Vélib user with superiority and condescension, perched high on his 'Holland' type bike. The suit, coat and hat are chosen to match his style, in predominantly dark colors.
The teenager on a Vélib respects no rules and rides on the pavement, simultaneously phoning or typing text messages to his mates, while shouting at passing car or scooter drivers. He once used to terrorize old ladies by riding his skateboard on the pavement; he has simply changed his mode of transport, but not his rebellious behavior.
Le bobo (for 'bourgeois-bohème', or trendy urban middleclass) lives in the popular areas of Eastern Paris. He supports all ecological trends and movements, repairing his old bike to make it look vintage and basic. He is often seen taking his kid to school on the back.
The fixie rider has adopted the ultimate NY courier messengers' cycle and even the traditional bag. Attracted by the pure and simple fixed-gear bike, he is part of a small but growing group. The 'fixie' has no breaks; it requires a training period and not too much slope. To be avoided from Montmartre.
The sportsman is dressed in the most up-to-date cycling equipment, as if he was going on Le Tour de France, (except that he carries his work clothes in a tiny backpack). He uses the journey from home to work to keep in shape and knows the way by heart, as he makes the same trip every day. The head is down, the gaze fixed straight ahead; he doesn't have any time for the magnificent façades he passes, but he keeps an eye on his chronometer. He curses at those damned traffic lights and sometimes runs the red light to keep up his rhythm.
Last but not least, la Parisienne has adopted le vélo as an appropriate way to commute to work, to take care of her body with style and to combine all her daytime activities. In the summer, when skirts and sleeves shorten, she is terribly sexy and she knows it. The 'head-turning' Parisian male just can't resist the view. American photographer (and former US prosecutor) Gil Garcetti has dedicated a whole book to this subject: Paris: Women and Bicycles (with a preface by Bertrand Delanoë, Mayor of Paris). One day, when he was on the Place de la Concorde, Garcetti took a photograph of an elegant woman riding her bicycle and he got the idea for this book. He is now trying to promote a bicycle scheme in Los Angeles.
On your next visit to Paris, forget the gregarious bus trip, avoid the grumpy taxi driver, escape the packed Metro and go for the bicycle experience as so many Parisians and tourists do. However, beginners should beware of leaving the protected bike lanes to cross large squares with circular traffic such as (crazy) Place de l'Etoile or La Concorde – the experience can be rather challenging: Sacrebleu! Some areas of the city, such as the banks of the Seine, the Canal Saint Martin, the Marais and Beaubourg districts are far more suitable. Paris has made some serious progress but has yet to equal bike-friendly Amsterdam in terms of cycling culture…
www.velib.paris.fr
Photo Adrien Mory

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Q: Using mysql_insert_id to insert a lot of data I want to use PHP and MySQL to insert data into a data table and its associated many-to-many table.  The auto-incrementing primary ID of the data table is used in the many-to-many table.  So, I need to know the ID's of the data table to insert into the many-to-many table.
My current thinking is that the best way to approach this is with a loop, which would first insert into the data table then use mysql_insert_id() to insert into the many-to-many table.  Is that the best way to go about this?
Additionally, do I need to be concerned about getting the wrong id with that function?  Many workers would be using this data script at the same time, so my concern is that an ID from one workers query would end up being returned in the call to mysql_insert_id() of another.  Is that a valid concern and if so how can I deal with it?

A: Calling mysql_insert_id() on a table with an auto_increment id is exactly the right approach.
As long as you call mysql_insert_id() straight after you call mysql_query() to insert the row, you don't need to worry about getting the wrong id. PHP and MySQL look after all that for you.

A: If you can just lock the table.
LOCK TABLE myTable FOR WRITE;
SELECT MAX(id) FROM myTable;
INSERT....
INSERT....
INSERT....
SELECT MAX(id) FROM myTable;
UNLOCK TABLES;

This will prevent anyone else from doing anything with myTable, but you will then have the min/max range for your ids.
-daniel

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Manchester United makes an offer to join Barcelona's jewel
Spanish press reports revealed that Manchester United has made an offer to sign a Barcelona player in the upcoming summer transfer season.
According to the Spanish newspaper "Mundo Deportivo", Manchester United made an offer to join Ilex Moriba from Barcelona at the end of this season.
The 18-year-old, Moriba, joined Barcelona's first team earlier this season.
Moriba was named to the new Paul Pogba title, as he has the strength and creativity of the Manchester United superstar.
The Spanish newspaper reported that Manchester United officials made an offer to sign the young player and transfer him to Old Trafford.
She indicated that Leipzig had also made an offer to obtain the services of the same player.
Moriba's current contract at the Camp Nou will end in 2022.
Moriba has a penalty clause in his current £ 89m contract.


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Previous Designed for a sci-fi loving wealthy enthusiast – This 276 feet long helium-powered flying superyacht has ultra-luxurious interiors and even a swimming pool.
Next Hennessy introduces its first Cognac NFT collection priced at a cool $226,000.
This hideous looking Mercedes-Maybach-based armored SUV celebrates the Chinese Lunar New Year
What you're looking at is the latest creation from Latvian carmaker Dartz which is known for building some of the most outlandish armored SUVs. Remember the gold-plated SUV from the movie 'The Dictator'? Well, that's the vehicle that made Dartz famous around the world. The newest offering created by Dartz Black Alligator MMXX – the Black Tiger Lunar edition. The armored SUV decked out in bright orange and black celebrates the Chinese New Year, which according to the Chinese Zodiac is the Year of the Tiger. While the Dartz Black Alligator that was launched a few years back was based on the Mercedes-AMG GLS63, the newest edition uses the ultra-luxurious Mercedes-Maybach GLS600 as a base.
In terms of looks, the Black Tiger Lunar edition features an in-your-face styling that replaces Mercedes-Maybach GLS600's rounded body panels with a cheap-looking bodykit with straight lines and sharp edges. There's also a lot of naked carbon fiber. The turbine alloy wheels look equally hideous and are disproportionately small. There's not much information on the interior but it's just as flashy as the exterior and features alligator leather on various surfaces.
Most of the details revealed by the Latvian company are not very specific, especially in the case of specifications. Dartz claims the SUV approximately has the same curb weight as the 5,919-lbs donor car, which is questionable as armor-plating increases the overall weight considerably. The company said the armored SUV uses Sapphire glass sourced from the Bohemia region, which is twice as thin as normal glass but provides the same level of protection. The exact power figures were also not revealed; instead, Dartz just said that it has an additional "100-300 horsepower" over the Mercedes-Maybach which will help you "to escape villains before they can test your armor." In case you need something lighter, the company is also offering a non-armored version which should be quicker thanks to its lighter weight.
After being denied entry into a hotel for not having a fancy number plate on his luxury car – This Dubai man purchased the most expensive number plate for $9 million.
img src="" alt="" width="1170″ height="937″ class="alignnone size-full wp-image-274617″ />Hell hath no fury as a rich man scorned! Meet Abu Sabah, aka Balvinder...
Tokyo's hotel designs new pandemic-era dining experience with transparent lanterns for guests to enjoy a face mask-free dinner!
The Tokyo Lantern Dinner at the Hoshinoya ryokan in Otemachi, Tokyo provides transparent lanterns made from vinyl for dining guests to experience group dinners without...
Inside A Parisian Apartment With An Artistic Touch
Located in one of the most eclectic zones in the city of lights, Paris, is an amazing apartment easy to fall in love with. Inside this luxury dream lais a beautiful and...
A Multi-Million Dollar Penthouse In Paris, Boca do Lobo's New Project
In Paris, the city of lights and the home of iconic design is nestled a luxurious and eclectic 1450 square feet apartment. An apartment fit for the most creative minds...
Montblanc newest Meisterstück collection 'Around the World in Eighty Days' pays homage to the great literary adventure by French author Jules Verne
Who doesn't know about the bestselling novel, 'Around the World in Eighty Days' that tells the story of British gentleman Phileas Fogg's extraordinary trip around the...
The Supermarine is an audaciously aerodynamic motorbike with an organic, manta-ray design
The Supermarine's design has Bandit9 's name written all over it. The Vietnam-based custom bike shop has carved out a unique niche in the larger custom motorcycle scene...
A 206 feet long, $79 million superyacht of an American millionaire rear-ended and sank an oil tanker in the Bahamas.
An accident of any kind is unfortunate, be it a car or a boat. But when it's a massive 207 feet superyacht, the damage and despair are much more profound. In an...
Tiaras belonging to Napolean's wife Joséphine Bonaparte to go on sale for an estimated price of $690,000
If you wish to own a piece of royalty, here's a deal for you! We're talking about tiaras belonging to Napoleon's wife Joséphine de Beauharnais, Empress of France, which...
Chris Hemsworth has purchased a humungous oceanfront site in Tasmania, Australia that is almost twice the size of Central Park.
Rumor mills are abuzz that Chris Hemsworth may soon call Tasmania home. As they say, there is no smoke without fire; the Thor actor has given wagging tongues enough...
This versatile pen-tool lets you cut, engrave, drill, etch, solder, and even 3D print
They say the pen is mightier than the sword, and the 3Dsimo MultiPro is living proof of that. This pen-shaped tool is literally a designer's best friend, helping them...


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Company Costume Contest
Who can beat Bob Ross, though?!?
Update: Bob Ross got Best Overall, but I got Most Creative with Alice. :)
Farallon After Hours: Brenden Taylor Rocks On
Another article about one of my amazing coworkers.
Farallon newbie Brenden Taylor brought more than his 9 years of experience in subsurface and due diligence investigations when he joined Farallon's Irvine, California office in July. He also brought some serious music cred.
"I've been involved in music since I was 5 years old," Brenden says, "and I started playing drums at the age of 12. I got my first paid music job in high school and I was hooked." One class short of a bachelor's degree in music, Brenden reconsidered. "The life of a musician is difficult, and there wasn't much money in it. So, I changed majors to Geology, from rock to rocks."
After a few years, though, Brenden knew he needed to start playing again. "Music was too much a part of me to let go. I got an electric drum kit, and I practice on the patio so I can keep an eye on the kids while they play in the yard." Brenden is sharing his love of music with his children. "My youngest, who is 19 months old, loves to play on my drum kit, and my other children are learning to sing and play the piano."
Eventually, Brenden brought his wife into the family hobby. "Since she loves country music, I started to look for a country band that needed a drummer. That's how I found Kenny Charles, who had already recorded several albums and needed band members for live performances." Brenden plays with Kenny Charles at L.A. area venues like the Gaslamp and Willie Boy's Saloon, and DJ Brad Mercer plays their songs on KIX Hot Country Radio. "Our song 'Drunk Wedding Day' hit number one for a few weeks," Brenden says. Most recently, they were one of 20 bands selected from several hundred to play the main stage at the 2017 National Association of Music Merchants Show at the Anaheim Convention Center.
To find out more about Brenden's band, including upcoming performances, you can follow him on Facebook through Kenny Charles. To learn more about his other "rock" career, keep an eye on his Farallon page. We're glad to have all of Brenden's talents in the Farallon ensemble.
Still Life with Spider
Oh, small chunky spider in my bathroom, I thought we had an understanding. As long as we avoided one another politely, I was fine having an insectivore roommate. But your decision to take an early morning tour of the shower was a poor one, my friend.
My mom was accepted into the second stage of immunotherapy trials. The first stage demonstrated that the therapy (she says it's the same one Jimmy Carter received) works on pancreatic cancer; the second stage adds another drug that's supposed to make the pancreas more receptive to the first.
I don't want to be too optimistic, because everyone dies one day (I'm sorry, but it's true) and there's no such thing as a miracle drug. But anything's better that sitting in your house, sorting through your stuff, waiting to die. Mom's a fighter, so this gives her a goal and a reason to move forward. For that alone, I am unspeakably grateful.


If you're a first-time home buyer about to start house hunting you'll need to know the basics of home buying.
Because this will be the first home you purchase you're prone to make mistakes, especially if you don't learn everything you can about the home buying process.
In this article we're going to show you everything you need to know about buying your first home.
What kind of mortgage to get, how to get a low rate, how to ensure you don't buy a home with problems and more.
It is important that you have a pre-approval letter in hand before you start your home search. Most sellers will not even accept an offer from a buyer that does not have a mortgage pre-approval letter. In fact, many real estate agents will not even start showing you homes before you get that pre-approval letter.
Pre-qualified is not the same thing as pre-approved. Pre-qualified just means a lender has pulled credit but has not verified any income, assets, or verified employment. Many agents and sellers will not accept a pre-qualification letter.
Getting pre-approved is free and can usually be done in a matter of minutes. You will need to send a mortgage lender a few documents to validate your income, assets, and credit.
First thing a lender will do is pull a copy of your credit report and FICO scores from all three major credit bureaus. Secondly, they will request the following documents.
Your credit rating is the most important factor in the mortgage rate you will receive. The lower your score is the higher your rate will be. Before you put in an offer on a home you need to ensure your credit score is being maximized.
There are a few things you can do now that will increase your credit score in as little as 30-45 days.
Pay down credit card balances – The amount of available credit you are using on your credit cards is called your credit utilization ratio and makes up 30% of your overall credit score. Only your payment history (35%) has a bigger impact on your score. Try to pay down your credit card balances below 15% of their limit.
Don't apply for new credit – Credit inquiries and new accounts each make up 10% of your score. You should wait on getting a new credit card or a new car until after you have closed on your home.
Contact creditors about collections and late payments – If you have any collection accounts on your report you can contact the collection agency and see if they will remove the delinquent account if you pay it off. This is known as a pay for delete. You can also call creditors to see if they will remove late payments as an act of goodwill. Sometimes it works.
Mortgage rates and closing costs can vary greatly from lender to lender. It's important to shop multiple lenders and get multiple quotes. This way you can make sure the rate you're receiving is competitive. You can also use loan offers from other lenders to help you negotiate better terms with your mortgage company.
Not all Realtors are created equal. In fact, each realtor will have his or her own strengths and weaknesses. Some are very busy but are great negotiators while others may dedicate more time and be a better option for first-time homebuyers.
You can talk to friends or family to see if they have any recommendations. Or you can hop on Trulia or Zillow and search real estate agents in your area and read customer reviews.
Buying your first home will take time, you will have tons of questions, you need a realtor with patience who can take the time to explain everything to you.
The old adage "Locations, Location, Location" is very true. It's good to know which area you want to be in, but you should remain open to surrounding neighborhoods. Sometimes prices can be quite high in the community you want to live in.
Know which features you want in a home. 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, formal dinning, media room, etc. Chances are you will have to compromise a little when buying your first home.
Right down all the features you want in order of importance. You can use the list later on see which home gives you the most important features you need.
When it comes to finding out how much house you can afford your debt-to-income ratio is the most important factor. You can figure out your DTI ratio by adding up all your monthly debt payments, such as credit card payments, student and personal loans, and your estimated mortgage payment.
Then divide that number by your gross monthly income before taxes. You will need a debt-to-income ratio of 41% or lower for most mortgage loans. However, a 36% DTI ratio is considered ideal.
Front-end ratio – This is your DTI ratio before adding your estimated mortgage payment. Most lenders will want to see a front-end ratio no higher than 28%.
Back-end ratio – This is your debt-to-income ratio after including your estimated mortgage payment into your monthly debt obligations. Lenders prefer a back-end ratio below 36%, sometimes a 41% ratio may be accepted.
Some first-time home buyers are unaware of all the additional monthly costs associated with a mortgage loan. In additional to your mortgage payment, property taxes, private mortgage insurance (PMI) and homeowners insurance is added to your monthly payment.
Use our home affordability calculator to find out how much you will qualify for. Our calculator includes PMI (if needed), property tax rate in your state, and homeowners insurance.
It may seem the house is in great shape or is so new you don't think there are any issues. But don't ever skip the home inspection, even brand new homes may have issues only a professional can spot.
Inspections cost between $300-$500 on average. It's well worth it. The alternative is finding out your home needs a new $10,000 roof or some other expensive repair. If anything is found that needs to be fixed you can ask the seller to make the repair before closing.
Mortgages are often quite complicated and require tons of paperwork. Not having all the documents or taking your time to respond to document requests from your mortgage lender can lead to delays in closing. To avoid this it's important to gather all of the documents needed for a mortgage and submit them early on.
It used to be the case that in order to qualify for a mortgage you needed flawless credit and at least 20% down. In an effort to increase homeownership the Government created the Federal Housing Administration starting insuring mortgages reducing the minimum guidelines and making them easier to qualify for.
FHA home loans are the mortgage loan most used by first-time home buyers. Why are they so popular?
For starters, FHA home loans allow for the lowest credit scores of all mortgage programs. Some lenders can accept a 580 credit score in some cases.
The biggest reason first-time home buyers don't buy a home is because of the large downpayment. Most conventional loans require a 5% – 20% down payment. However, FHA loans require just a 3.5% down payment if you have at least a 580 credit score. This allows more borrowers to buy their first home.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture created the USDA housing program to encourage homeownership in rural areas. There are several benefits of USDA loans including 100% financing. You do not need a down payment. Mortgage insurance rates are also lower than any other type of mortgage, just 0.35%.
In order to qualify you will need to buy a property in a designated USDA area. You can check the USDA eligibly map here.
One of the benefits of buying your first home is that their are many grants and down payment assistance programs for first-time buyers. You can apply for a first time home buyer program by searching on your local city or county website.
There are also HUD sponsored programs in all 50 states. You can search for available programs and grants in your state on the HUD website.


text:
#ifndef PACKAGES_LIBRARIES_NACL_MOUNTS_DEV_DEVMOUNT_H_
#define PACKAGES_LIBRARIES_NACL_MOUNTS_DEV_DEVMOUNT_H_

#include <map>
#include <string>
#include "../base/BaseMount.h"
#include "../dev/Device.h"
#include "../util/macros.h"

// DevMount
class DevMount: public BaseMount {
 public:
  DevMount();
  virtual ~DevMount() {}

  int GetNode(const std::string& path, struct stat* st);

  int Stat(ino_t node, struct stat *buf);
  int Mkdir(const std::string& path, mode_t mode, struct stat *st);
  ssize_t Read(ino_t node, off_t offset, void *buf, size_t count);
  ssize_t Write(ino_t node, off_t offset, const void *buf, size_t count);
  int Isatty(ino_t node) { return 0; }
  int Getdents(ino_t, off_t, dirent*, unsigned int);

  bool IsReadReady(ino_t node);
  bool IsWriteReady(ino_t node);
  bool IsException(ino_t node);

 private:
  std::map<int, std::string> inode_to_path;
  std::map<int, Device*> inode_to_dev;
  std::map<std::string, int> path_to_inode;
  int max_inode;
  void Attach(std::string path, Device* device);

  DISALLOW_COPY_AND_ASSIGN(DevMount);
};

#endif  // PACKAGES_LIBRARIES_NACL_MOUNTS_DEV_DEVMOUNT_H_

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


We also have qualified beauty therapists available by appointment. Your beauty therapy plan will be arranged with the therapist on your first session. Here are a few treatments we offer.
Why not have a lovely 20 minute relaxation session, it will allow you to stop, de-stress, relax and replenish your energy to help you carry on with your day. Book in when you come in or speak to one of our volunteers.
Your first session will be either a hand massage or reiki session were we will establish the best treatments for you. An appointment will be made with our holistic team so you can discuss and plan your holistic sessions. After six sessions the team will review your progress before continuing.
All our holistic therapists are DBS checked (Police check), insured , Qualified or under supervision if still training.


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text:
Become a New Patient (713)-771-9771
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Fertility Services
What Causes Infertility?
Fertility Glossary
Complimentary Newsletters
Houston IVF
IVF FAQ
Preimplantation Genetics Diagnosis (PGD)
Customized Managment
Egg Sharing Program
High FSH IVF
Mini IVF
Family Balancing & Gender Selection
Egg Freezing Program
Become an Egg Donor or Surrogate Carrier
LGBT SERVICES
We provide professional and supportive services to LGBT couiples including medical, psychological, ethical and legal aspects. Our services include:
Intrauterine Insemination (IUI) or In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) using donor sperms in conjunction with ovulation induction.
IVF using one partner's eggs and donor sperms to create embryos, which will be transferred into the other partner's uterus.
Assist the gay couple to find the donor eggs and the surrogate to build their families.
Freeze eggs/sperms to preserve future fertility for the transgender couple.
All the above services involve "Third-Party Reproduction". It refers to involving someone other than the individual or couple that plans to raise the child in the process of reproduction. This includes using donated eggs, sperms, or embryos and gestational carrier arrangements. At this time, about one in five IVF cycles are performed via third-party reproduction. It can be socially, ethically, and legally complex.
We have been offering third-party reproduction services for years. The comprehensive nature of the screening and counseling for all parties is designed to meet the needs of all involved. There continues to be a broader understanding of the ethical, social, moral, and legal issues involved. Our practice also include gender selection which has been well accepted by the society with the full support by the legal system in the US. We work closely with psychologists, ethicists, attorneys, and lawmakers to enable the entire process to be completed as smoothly as possible and help LGBT couples to achieve their goals of parenthood.
Monday - Friday: 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Saturdays and Sundays: as needed.
Egg freezing and fertility (Fertility preservation)
Become an Egg Donor or Surrogate Mother
7500 Beechnut Street #308, Houston, TX 77074
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Know a hunter? We found fun Range Targets Stickers in fun UFO & Zombie & Alien motifs on Amazon!
Hurry and get the GearOZ Adhesive Range Targets Stickers-Multiple Targets Spots (25 pack) today for only $9.99 as low as $4.79 from Amazon when you clip the 20% off coupon!
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Neon Green Shooting Targets GearOZ splatter targets are inspired by the hunting sport.Hunting is an interesting sport,but most of them required hunting license in specify season. Before the opening season, many hunters need to practice shooting skill to catch the animal they desire during hunting season.To enhance the fun and create realistic shooting experience,we design hunting series and fantasy series to be your shooting targets. The bright neon green sticker makes your shots highly visible both indoor or outdoor.
The bright green bullet holes are visible in all light conditions without any help of binoculars or spotting scopes, great for people with reduced vision.
Their hearts,eyes,ears,legs,tails,noses etc,all could be your shooting targets.
Buy the GearOZ Adhesive Range Targets Stickers-Multiple Targets Spots for Shooting,High Visibility Green Animal Paper Targets-Raccoon Targets from Amazon.


text:
Q: Random LinQ-SQL errors and sudden database closing There are 2 or 3 errors that are thrown sometimes in my ASP website. This usually happens when I go from a page to another very quickly. Usually, when I give it time, it does not
They are all related to the database connection and I try to figure out at what point or what triggers this behavior, specially when I cannot get the exact point/cause/scenario when this happens
So, my database context is handled like this:
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Web;
using System.Data.Linq.Mapping;
using System.Web.UI;

namespace Models
{
    public partial class MainDataContext
    {
        [Function(Name = "NEWID", IsComposable = true)]
        public Guid Random()
        { // to prove not used by our C# code...
            throw new NotImplementedException();
        }

        private static MainDataContext _DataContext;
        public static MainDataContext CurrentContext
        {
            get
            {
                Page page = HttpContext.Current.Handler as Page;

                if (page != null)
                {
                    _DataContext = ((FrontEndPage)page).DataContext;
                }
                if (_DataContext == null)
                    _DataContext = new MainDataContext();

                return _DataContext;
            }
        }
    }
}

This will be used in FrontEndPage, which will have the db member to be used for communicating with the database,
using System;

using System.Web.UI;
using Models;
using Managers;

public class FrontEndPage : System.Web.UI.Page
{
    protected MainDataContext db = new MainDataContext();
    public OrderManager OrderManager = new OrderManager();

    public void Page_PreInit(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {

    }

    public MainDataContext DataContext
    {
        get
        {
            return db;
        }
    }

    public MasterPage MyMaster { get; set; }

    public Meta Meta { get; set; }

    public String CurrentPage { get; set; }
}

And from this one I derive any class for any page that I need, like:
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Web;
using System.Web.UI;
using System.Web.UI.WebControls;
using Models;

public partial class Page_Default : FrontEndPage
{
    protected Models.Content contactContent;

    protected ShopItem shopItem;

    protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        contactContent = db.Contents.FirstOrDefault(a => a.FixedRef == "contact");
    }

    protected void btnTest_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        OrderManager.addItemToBasket(shopItem, "");
        db.SubmitChanges();
        Response.Redirect("/basket");
    }
}

Some of the errors that show up are:
The operation cannot be performed during a call to SubmitChanges
There is already an open DataReader associated with this Command which must be closed first.
ExecuteReader requires an open and available Connection. The connection's current state is open.
All this happens just as I navigate through pages. I press F5 and usually they disappear, the page shows up but then they come back at random, usually when I change from page to page fast. I guess this is related to the MainDataContext or the FrontEndPage classes, so I only added all the code for these two classes.
I will add more for the Page_Default one if needed but I wanna know if the way the database connection is created and kept is the problem for now.

A:    private static MainDataContext _DataContext;

Boom; death. Never ever do this. Ever. Data contexts:

*

*are not thread-safe; it will scale to exactly one concurrent user

*need to be abandoned as changes happen and/or are aborted - so: you're now showing inconsistent and old data to your one concurrent user

*will cause large GC problems as it tracks all the objects, slowly loading your entire database into memory (twice, because of change tracking) and keeping it there; so you're now very slowly showing inconsistent and old data to your one concurrent user

A data-context should only live for the duration of a single request.
By coincidence, I called out this exact scenario (as a bad thing) just a few moments ago to someone asking about bad performance due to garbage collection.


text:
2022 – my photography year
2022, a year that has carried so much fun and successes for my photography. Here's a summary! Uganda Sound, smell, color. Feelings and memories that define a place. But of course, also the images you bring home, especially if you're a photographer! My big journey...
2022-12-30
Spring walk
The peacock butterfly has been awakened by the warm rays of the spring sun and flutters around in the April evening. On a birch, it shares abundantly flowing sap with ants and flies. As long as I keep my lens at a reasonable distance, it stays put. To smell the...
Christmas gift of the year – Honorable mention at TIFA 2022
My Christmas gift of the year turned out to be a Honorable Mention at Tokyo International Foto Awards 2022. The image Chilling was taken during my trip to Uganda in May. Meeting the chimpanzees in Kibale National Park was magical and also gave the opportunity to...
Golden monkeys in the bamboo forest
Half past five in the morning. Lake Chahafi holds a wonderful morning concert and through the canvas walls comes a mix sounds from frogs, birds and insects. After a steady breakfast we head off onto the bumpy roads. I the many small villages along the road life is...
5 silvers at New York Photography Awards
In New York Photography Awards 2022 I got 5 silver placements, an astounding success! The images was awarded in categories Fine Art-Landscape, Black&White-Wildlife (2) och Nature-Wildlife (2). The images are taken during travel to Iceland and Uganda, and during...
Mr Straw – Honorable mention at BIFA 2022
In the Budapest International Foto Awards 2022 competition, the image Mr Straw was awarded an Honorable mention. The baboon portrait was captured during a trip in Uganda.
Interview in Kamera & Bild 5-2022
I number 5-2022 av Kamera & Bild (Swedish photography magazine) there's an interview with me about my photography and my images. Focus is on the book In the twilight zone and those images, but there's also a sneak peek into the future. Cover and 14 pages in the...
Bronze at Swedish nature photography championships 2022
In the Swedish nature photography championships (SM i naturfotografi) 2022 I was awarded a bronze in the category Creative nature image for my image Furry nature. Another two images got a diploma with merit, which means that they are considered as competition image...
Niklas Storm awarded at Prix de la Photographie Paris 2022
Niklas Storm got three awards at Prix de la photographie Paris 2022: The book In the twilight zone got gold in Book/Nature. The image Evening Rain got bronze in Nature/Wildlife. The image Exploring the world got Honorable Mention in Nature/Wildlife. The book have...
Honorable Mention at MonoVisions
My picture Corgarff Castle was awarded an Honorable Mention by Monovisions Photography Awards 2022. It has previously been awarded an Honorable Mention at Budapest International Foto Awards 2021. The image is available for purchase at Galleri FOTOverket. Note, only...
Upcoming exhibitions – In the twilight zone
There's a number of upcoming exhibitions, all of them will show In the twilight zone in different formats. 28 juli - 10 augusti - Sommarsalong på Galleri Stenhallen, Borgholm - 10 pieces to be exhibited, plus books. I'm there parts of the first and last day. 14...
In the twilight zone – bronze in Tokyo
Christmas gift of the year, it turned out to be a bronze medal from Tokyo International Foto Awards 2021 for my book In the twilight zone. This means that the book now has a bronze from Tokyo and a silver from Budapest International Foto Awards 2021. In the book...
Niklas Storm awarded in Budapest
Niklas Storm gets two prizes at Budapest International Foto Awards 2021. The book In the twilight zone gets a silver in the cateogry Book/Nature and the image Corgarff Castle gets an honourable mention in Fine Art/Landscape.
Edsbruk – factory fragments
Edsbruk - factory fragments, the exhibition that was very well received when showed in Edsbruk now takes the next step, to Slottsgården in Vadstena. Edsbruk is an old paper mill. 6 photographers have documented the exciting buildings and the remains of the mill....
Niklas Storm releases the book In the twilight zone
Niklas Storm releases the book In the twilight zone I was department manager at a global corporation when the acquisition of a competitor was announced. We didn't anticipate the monster that was lurking behind the corner when a year of reorganizations, layoffs and...
In the twilight zone – exhibitions
A reorganization with unexpected consequences, a workshop with a huge impact on my photography, using the camera as a therapy tool, finding new ways of expressing myself through photography, photo competition successes - it all comes together in the photo project...
In the twilight zone – video
The first part of my big project, The twilight zone, has just been released! The video features photos, video and music created all by myself.
Exhibition July 4 – August 15 – Eds Bruk
Eds Bruk is an old mill where the paper mill was once the big employer. Now the factory has been closed and the buildings are falling into disrepair. It's a really exciting environment for photographers that I explored with some photo friends. Our pictures from the...
Exhibition May 1-23 – Foto i Romele
May 1-23 it's time for my next exhibition, this time in beautiful Österlen. Together with 21 other photographers I exhbit in Romele Konsthall south of Veberöd. I will show my Shanghai and thereabout... exhibition. More information can be found at Fototrion.se...
Niklas Storm gets two bronze medals in Tokyo International Foto Awards 2020
In the Tokyo International Foto Awards 2020 competition Niklas Storm was awarded bronze medals in Nature - Wildlife with Curious (den middle one) and Portfolio - Fine Art with the nine image from In the twilight zone. Fine Art print in limited edition can be bought...


text:
The Multi-layered Violence Of The Yellow Vests Movement
Chloé Meley explores the ways in which violence was and continues to be perpetrated during the Yellow Vests protests in France, which have garnered media attention over the past few weeks as an era-defining civil uprising.
By Chloé Meley
November 17th saw the birth of the movement, and the following weeks its triumphant, unimpeded ascent. Altercations between the riot police- the CRS- and the protesters have become more and more violent over the past few weeks, as the movement itself grows larger and more turbulent each Saturday, the day on which yellow vests convene across the country. Cars set on fire, the Arc de Triomphe graffitied, tear gas and projectiles saturating the air, blood, deaths. All across France, the gilets jaunes movement has caused inconveniences primarily through road blockages in some areas, and unrest in others, especially in the capital. These scenes of chaos have circulated around the world, and everyone wonders worriedly: what's going on in France? The simple answer is, no one knows, least of all the French.
As with every grassroot political movement, there are many forces at play and various dynamics that can be unearthed. So let's start with a keyword, and build from there. Violence being the keyword in question; one that has arisen as a central component of the movement, both as a cause and as an effect. The violence is multifaceted, and its multiple, interacting levels each need to be considered.
First of all, there's the obvious, surface-level iteration of violence, the one that is present at the riots themselves and that takes the form of disobedience and crackdown on disobedience. It is a violence that is seen to be wielded by two opposing, irreconcilable sides, in two different but equally unjustifiable manners. On the side of the protesters, it's a violence that is rooted in self-righteousness and deep-seated frustration. For the CRS, it is a power move disguised as an act of duty. On both sides, it's violence that is fostered by adrenaline and rage, one that is directed at individuals who, in this precise moment, embody what you hate the most. It's a violence that wants to exert power, assert dominance. The malevolent state that needs to be brought down, the unruly civilians that need to be tamed.
But it's also a violence that is inscribed within the context of a power imbalance; as protesters throw rocks and damage public as well as private property, the CRS have the means -and also the right, bestowed upon them by the state- to do much more damage. And they have. Flash-Balls and tear gas have badly wounded several of the protesters.
It is very clear, violence is the atrocious effect of the protests. Asymmetrical, unspeakable violence. But what about violence as a cause? It's important to regard protesters' anger as something that needs to be understood before it can be condemned, as something that stems from the yellow vests' perception of a more insidious, sustained form of violence, which has been exerted against them long before the start of the movement. They are not throwing rocks for the sake of it, but because they don't see an alternative. They are struggling; battling against structural coercion, against the chronic economic insecurity in which they were thrown into and have not yet found a way out of. Precarity and unemployment are massive, pervasive issues in France, and are their own form of violence, as the state-sponsored destruction of livelihoods engineered by financial and political elites and facilitated by globalisation forces.
But instead of empathy, contempt has been a popular pick in the Rolodex of confused reactions. Looking down upon and sneering at the protesters is an easy way out, one that has been taken by the media, or by non-protesters; some of which have decided to take the moral high ground by establishing a comparison with the complete lack of action taken to protest climate change. This reasoning not only is obnoxious, but also classist in nature and ignorant of the day-to-day concerns of so many French people. Rising fuel taxes might not concern urban dwellers and more well-off sections of the populations, but for millions of working-class people, budgets are tight and purchasing power is ever declining. Climate change is a distant, amorphous threat. Not being able to afford petrol is a much more tangible one.
However, the identified targets have not been as clear-cut as the grievances themselves; the yellow vests are not affiliated with one political party nor inscribed within one clear political frame. Their political identity is a patchwork, assembled from a medley of several ideas that have been historically associated with traditional factions, which themselves have lost their significance in the contemporary French political landscape. As the left and the right become ever more hazy, irrelevant concepts in the context of France's politics, the protesters themselves reflect this kind of identity crisis by not being able to identify one single culpable entity. As such, "who's the target?" is still a mostly unanswered question.
The protesters have widely disparaged Macron and what they perceive to be the puppet masters; an alienating, metropolitan, out-of-touch financial and political elite working behind the scenes. But some of them have also identified less obvious perpetrators. For some yellow vests, which are mostly made up of the white, rural working-class, agents of their group's decline have been immigrants. Fear of demographic overhaul and cultural genocide have led them to this conclusion, and to the perpetration of other forms of violence. Racist, xenophobic, and homophobic slurs have been reported, and physical attacks also occurred, leading to a wave of outrage that was however mostly contained within social media, and barely addressed by conventional media channels. A woman was notably forced to remove her veil, while another had to endure a stream of racist insults hurled at her. If this is to be seen as fringe factions within the movement- unreflective of yellow vests' motives and demands- it's important to acknowledge the fact that the people who committed these acts still felt welcome within the movement, and maybe even bolstered by it.
In this context, it's then also crucial to consider the way in which what is perceived as appropriate protesting behaviour and state response are both deeply racialised in France, and how all of this would have been different if only a different demographic had started the protests. Death threats directed at the president, property damage, graffiti on one of Paris' most emblematic monuments. What if all of this had been done by the black and brown young men who live in the banlieue, the poverty-stricken, structurally subjugated suburbs lying on the outskirts of France's big cities? It would have been framed as an attack on democracy, on the Republic, an act of terrorism, even. And police response would surely have been far more brutal.
Many other questions remain unanswered. What will be the long-term ramifications? Along what lines is the fight between a nebulous idea of the people and a nebulous idea of the elites fought? What does this whole thing mean for the already unpopular Macron, whose presidency is still young and yet already deeply unstable? Will the yellow vests movement be as culturally-defining as the May 1968 protests? Are the divides within the French political fabric ever going to be resolved? If so, how?
But the most important, pressing question is the following: how can protesters' demands be met? Because beyond any amateur political analyses and attempts at labeling all the ins and outs of a movement with a single buzzword, there is the very simple reality of alienated, disgruntled citizens. And before we start the work of unpacking, it would be wise to try to listen first.
France gilets jaunes protests taxes violence yellow vests
Minister Visits University to Face Students in a Q&A
Has Political Correctness Gone 'Too Far?'


Walter Russell Mead, a Distinguished Fellow at the Hudson Institute, the James Clarke Chace Professor of Foreign Affairs and Humanities at Bard College, and the Global View Columnist at the Wall Street Journal, will present a lecture on History, American Greatness, and the State of Israel.
Walter Russell Mead, a Distinguished Fellow at the Hudson Institute, the James Clarke Chace Professor of Foreign Affairs and Humanities at Bard College, and the Global View Columnist at the Wall Street Journal, will present a lecture on Examining 'America First': Nationalism and Jacksonian Democracy in the 21st Century.
Junior BM Music Performance Major Andrew Cannestra will present a piano recital as partial fulfillment of his music degree requirements.


text:
Rubbish Music: Carousel The Songs of Jacques Brel
An oddly shambolic concert took place at the Barbican tonight in what was supposed to be a show to highlight the music of Jaques Brel and his ongoing influence on musicians. Instead we had a band that drowned out the singers, half the singers sounding as if they had spent a bit too long at the bar, and a concert that looked and sounded like it needed to have a tech run and a rehearsal.
Some people loved this show and obviously had an affinity to the performers. I suspect however they would have been happy for them to read from the phone book. It wasn't all bad either, but when half the performances were so inept, many of those who were more interested in the music of Brel voted with their feet and left at intermission. Some of us stayed to see if it got better, but only after a stiff drink at the bar...
Part of what is amazing about Brel's music is its nuances and particularly its lyrics. But when you pump up the volume or get a performances that are just loud, noisy and atonal…
Opera: L'Heure Espagnole and Gianni Schicchi
In a week packed full of culture and goings on, Tuesday night's trip to the opera to see Ravel's L'Heure Espagnole and Puccini's Gianni Schicchi was a real treat. Well when giant cleavage greets you when you enter the theatre (it was on the curtain, not in the audience), you know it is going to be a bit of a fun evening.
Both performances and productions were excellent. Director Richard Jones (who also is responsible for Annie Get Your Gun at the Young Vic) and revival director Elaine Kidd manage to keep it bright and brisk. The opera singers even managed to show not only could they act but they had great comic timing too. Ravel's piece is not so much an opera, so it was nice to have it paired with Puccini's often hilarious and over the top melodrama. The aria O mio babbino caro is from this piece and sung delicately by Maria Bengtsson. Holding it all together was a great performance by Thomas Allen in the title role.
Worth catching and surprisingly not sold out…
Open season on Brel at Barbican
via AudioBoo Posted via web from paulinlondon's posterous
Theatre: Mother Courage and her Children
After seeing a few low-spectacle shows (or no spectacle shows given the complete lack of imagination in the current Annie Get Your Gun), it was nice to see such a messy, grand epic production of Mother Courage and Her Children at the National Theatre last Wednesday. While I am not normally up for watching a three-hour play, there was so much to take in with this show that it was a hell of a journey worth taking. Fiona Shaw played Mother Courage in this production, who is a woman determined to make a living during the thirty years war (that was the war between 1618 and 1648) despite the consequences. Written by Bertolt Brecht in a new translation by Tony Kushner, the flavour of the story is influenced by recent events in the middle east.
Things blow up, people die, songs are sung and all amongst it there is money to be made and a living to be made. There is nothing too subtle about this show but with some great songs by Duke Special, a great set by Tom Pye and an overall impressive cast…
Interval musings at the national
Pre mother courage at the national musings...
Theatre: Annie Get Your Gun
Previews have begun for a great new revival at the Young Vic of Annie Get Your Gun. The cast headed by Jane Horrocks and Julian Ovenden are sensational and there is some very fine singing and dancing happening on stage. I suspect with such a great cast and a lively interpretation of this old show it is going to be a big hit for them. Ovenden and Horrocks together show a great chemistry and give this show a lot of class...
My only quibbles with it would be four piano's don't always do this music justice (or did they sound particularly great all the time on Saturday night)... And no matter how you put it... The set is just hideously awful. It almost detracts from the show as you feel like you're watching the show through a letterbox. Despite what the Young Vic's website says, if you are sitting on the left hand side (and particularly upstair) you are not going to have a good view (unless they fix it over the next few days). And during the opening Act 2 film montage do we …
Theatre: The Author
The opportunity arose on Friday evening to see the new play The Author at the Royal Court Theatre. Not knowing anything about it, except my suspicion that more than just a few bloggers would be there, I was up for a night of mystery theatre and suggested to Gio that we should go. Even better was that it was short so we wouldn't have to suffer the inedible food at their bar / cafe and could go eat somewhere else. There is a trend in sophisticated theatres in London to serve pretentious overly fussy small servings of food made from ingredients that would be better off going into cans of dog food. The Royal Court is leading this trend...
But anyway, we arrived to see that there were two facing tiers of seating... No stage. Opting for the one facing where we walked in, we sat down and waited for something to happen. Sure enough, the actors were already in the theatre. They were sitting among us. Actor number one, Adrian Howells starts speaking to people and saying how gorgeous we all a…
How do penguins approve?
Do they make noises? Do they flap their wings? Do they issue special stamps? The latest water on offer in various theatres carries this penguiny message... Pity that given the amount of energy theatres use, this would hardly offset their carbon footrint... Posted via email from paulinlondon's posterous
Movies: Suddenly Last Winter
It has been awhile since updates on the blog, but there was a recent trip to Rome, general business, and a lack in interest in seeing anything cultural in London that partly explains that. Well anyway the cultural endeavours returned big time this week with a trip to the Barbican on Wednesday night to see the documentary Suddenly Last Winter, which traces the ill-fated journey of legislation to give equal rights to same-sex partnerships in Italy.
I never went to any gay bars while in Rome, and arriving at the Barbican full of gay Italian men I wondered if they were like this... Albeit with more flattering lighting and better coffee. Actually it was probably better not to visit them given they seem to attract firecrackers and molotov cocktails at the moment... Anyway the documentary was a personal account of a gay couple who traced the journey through the Italian Parliament of legislation that could have given Italy civil partnerships. Watching the documentary with a London audience, it…


Country Faith Hymns Vol. 2 is the latest addition to the hit Country Faith series with an all-star cast singing the beloved hymns of the Church. Sit back, relax and let the comfort of these timeless songs wash over you.
Country Faith Hymns Vol. 2 features original records from Brad Paisley, Alison Krauss and Union Street, Charlie Daniels, Leann Rimes, Billy Ray Cyrus, Wade Hayes, Mo Pitney, The Judds, and many more of country music's most musically gifted fellow travelers sharing the songs that have become the soundtrack of our lives. Like a tall glass of country lemonade, Country Faith Hymns Vol. 2 will refresh your spirit while inspiring your soul.
BUY NOW at Cracker Barrel, Amazon.com.
Fifteen artists from yesterday and today lend their personal Southern Gospel favorites to this all-star collection! Featuring songs from Jason Crabb, The Happy Goodmans, the Oak Ridge Boys, Janet Pascal among others, this compilation is perfect for Country and Southern Gospel fans young and old alike!
TRACK LIST: JASON CRABB "Washed by the Water, THE HAPPY GOODMANS The Lighthouse, JANET PASCAL Washed in the Blood of the Lamb, MICHAEL ENGLISH I Bowed on my Knees and Cried Holy, THE CATHEDRALS Step Into the Water, KAREN PECK & NEW RIVER Pray Now, LEGACY FIVE Christ is Still the King, JOSEPH HABEDANK Here He Comes, THE NELSONS Oh For a Thousand Tongues, MARK LOWRY What's Not to Love, THE FLORIDA BOYS When He was on the Cross, THE CRABB FAMILY Through the Fire, GREATER VISION My Name is Lazarus, CANTON JUNCTION God's Got a Better Plan, THE OAK RIDGE BOYS Brand New Star.
This one-of-a-kind collection of original songs was recorded and released in Nashville, Tennessee by CURB/WORD Entertainment. BUY NOW at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Cracker Barrel, Walmart, and iTunes.
Country Faith: Love Songs features romantic tracks from some of today's leading Country stars, including Keith Urban, Tim McGraw, Phil Vassar, The Judds, Randy Travis and more, delivering songs of faith, hope, and love.
The standard full-length studio album consisting of country music's biggest stars and their best love songs will be released through digital outlets, iTunes and Amazon, as well as physical stores, like Walmart. Additionally, a deluxe version with two bonus tracks added will be exclusively available at Cracker Barrel locations. The album is the sixth release in the series and will be distributed by Curb|Word Entertainment.
This full-length studio album consisting of country music's biggest stars and their best patriotic hits is exclusively released through Cracker Barrel's 639 locations as well as digital outlets such as iTunes, Apple Music, Amazon and Spotify available through Curb Records and Word Entertainment.
Fifteen of Country music's biggest artists come together to share personal songs of faith in this all-star collection! Featuring songs from today's most popular artists like Carrie Underwood, Brad Paisley, Josh Turner and Hunter Hayes, newcomers such as Scotty McCreery and Dustin Lynch, to cherished heritage artists like Wynonna and Alan Jackson, this compilation is perfect for Country fans young and old alike!
This one-of-a-kind collection of original songs was recorded and released in Nashville, Tennessee by WORD Entertainment. BUY NOW at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Cracker Barrel, Walmart, and iTunes.
Thirteen of Country music's biggest artists come together to share personal songs of faith in this all-star collection! Featuring songs from today's most popular artists like Luke Bryan, Brad Paisley, Brooks & Dunn, Phil Vassar and Wynonna, alongside some of the genre's most exciting new talents like Michael Ray and Drew Baldridge. This fourth Country Faith compilation is perfect for Country fans young and old alike!
Featuring the songs Carrie Underwood ("Hark! The Herald Angels Sing"), Chris Young with Alan Jackson ("There's A New Kid in Town"), Kelsea Ballerini ("Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas"), Kenny Rogers ("A Soldier's King") and Darius Rucker ("What God Wants for Christmas") among other classic favorites.
This compilation of original recordings is perfect for Country fans young and old alike. Recorded in Nashville, Tennessee and released by WORD Entertainment.
BUY NOW at Cracker Barrel and iTunes.
Featuring Carrie Underwood, Florida Georgia Line + 54 country stars!
Pour yourself a fresh, cold glass of sweet tea and ease into your favorite chair with a copy of Country Faith. Enjoy a front row seat to an intimate look at your favorite country stars as they discuss the personal significance of their favorite Bible passage.
With contributions from 56 of today s top country artists, the Country Faith includes the Bible passage that tops each of their charts as well as the reasons why this part of scripture is so valuable to them. You'll also listen to your favorite country artists in a whole new way!


text:
The Verge - Konstrui Pli Bonan Lingvon (To Build a Better Language) 5-15min
How an artificial language from 1887 is finding new life online ... Like its vastly more successful digital cousins — C++, HTML, Python, Linux — Esperanto is an artificial language, designed to have perfectly regular grammar, with none of the messy exceptions of natural tongues. Out loud, all that regularity creates strange cadences, like someone speaking Italian slowly while chewing gum. William Auld, the Modernist Scottish poet who wrote his greatest work in Esperanto, was nominated for the Nobel Prize multiple times, but never won. But it is supremely easy to learn, like a puzzle piece formed to fit into the human brain. ... Decades before Couchsurfing became a website (or the word website existed), Esperantists had an international homestay service called Pasaporta Servo, in which friendly hosts around the world listed their phone numbers and home addresses in a central directory available to traveling Esperantists. It may be a small, widely dispersed, and self-selected diaspora, but wherever you go, there are Esperantists who are excited that you exist. ... There's no money, no power, no marketing, no prestige — Esperanto speakers speak Esperanto because they believe in it, and because it's fun to speak a foreign language almost instantly, after a couple months of rolling the words around in your mouth. ... Esperanto was invented in 1887 by a Polish ophthalmologist named L.L. Zamenhof, who hoped his creation would bring about world peace. Zamenhof saw a turbulent world divided by language, and concluded that the situation was too complicated, essentially unfair, and ultimately doomed. He believed that the languages people already spoke were oversaturated with history, politics, and power, making it impossible to communicate clearly. Esperanto was a fresh start, a technology that would allow its speakers to sidestep the difficulties of natural languages altogether.
Also: Tim Ferriss and Benny Lewis - 12 Rules To Learn Languages In Record Time > 15min
Repeat: Aeon - Talk like an Egyptian 5-15min
Tags: Esperanto, Language, Learning, Sam Dean


On April 8, Hungary held its parliamentary elections, resulting in a victory for the Fidesz-KDNP alliance, with Victor Orbán selected as the country's Prime Minister. Orbán's radical platform is not only detrimental to Hungary, but also poses a risk to the stability of the European Union.
On June 1, 2017, Iceland passed a law to tighten its gender wage gap. The country is leading the world in passing legislation to close the pay gap, but does Iceland see any positive effects because of this new law?
On Tues., March 27, the Saratoga Chapter of the League of Women Voters hosted a lecture on the First Amendment. This lecture was part of the three programs sponsored by the League and was given by Justin Harrison of the New York Civil Liberties Union's legislative department.
On March 26, the Yemen war entered its fourth year, and the crisis is yet another bleak reminder of inhumanity in modern history. The significant civilian losses, which have reached over 10,000, have gone unnoticed by global media, especially by those in the United States.
This February, Skidmore's Model United Nations club sent thirteen delegates to the North American Model United Nations Conference (NAMUN) at the University of Toronto. Connor Batsimm '18 reflects on his experience.
On Tuesday, Feb. 27, a lecture on voting rights in the United States was hosted by Chris Deluzio, a counsel of the Brennan Center for Justice's democracy Program, who advocated for extending voting rights and implementing more effective methods.
In November 2017, Lebanon's Prime Minister resigned from his position while on a diplomatic trip to Saudi Arabia. Analysis of his sudden resignation and following events reveal how countries are being used as instruments to further the proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
On Sunday, Feb. 18, the Palestinian Rights Committee and the Jewish Voices for Peace joined forces to rally together, holding a vigil in solidarity with Ahed Tamimi and all Palestinian children in Saratoga Springs.
Deniz Aytaç '20 reflects on her experience attending the 21st United Nations Youth Assembly from Feb. 14-16, and the status quo behind addressing youth regarding global issues.
Ten Skidmore students attended the 27th Annual Dynamic Women in Business Conference this past weekend at Harvard Business School in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
The flyers were first passed around to people unexpectedly on Broadway on the evening of February 10th. The same pamphlets were later found on a number of car windshields near downtown Saratoga the following morning.
One of the world's smallest nations — consisting of over 1000 coral islands — has made it to headlines due to the tormenting conflict between the executive and the judiciary branches, which has resulted in massive protests and unrest across the nation.
The 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics is still ongoing and while people are amazed at the feats of the athletes, it should also be remembered that the games were affected by the ongoing tensions between South Korea and North Korea, and the ongoing missile crisis in the region.


text:
Niederschönhausen ist ein Berliner Ortsteil im Bezirk Pankow. Das Stadtgebiet ist geprägt von alten Villen und Mietshäusern. Hier befindet sich auch das Schloss Schönhausen.

Der Nebenname Pankow-Schönhausen ist ein Hinweis auf den angrenzenden Ortsteil Pankow. Vertreter der alten Bundesrepublik betrachteten und bezeichneten den Ortsteil Niederschönhausen metonymisch als Pankow, weil hier bis 1960 führende DDR-Politiker bis zum Umzug in die Waldsiedlung Bernau ihren Wohnsitz hatten.

Geographie
Niederschönhausen liegt nördlich und nordwestlich des Ortskerns von Pankow, die Berliner Nordbahn markiert die westliche Grenze. Im Norden grenzt Niederschönhausen an den Ortsteil Rosenthal, im Nordosten an Französisch Buchholz.

Ortslagen
Zu Niederschönhausen gehören neben dem namensgebenden Ort die Ortslagen
 Schönholz
 Majakowskiring
 Nordend

Geschichte

Entwicklung
Das Fehlen von spätslawischen Siedlungsresten deutet darauf hin, dass Niederschönhausen sich als Straßendorf entwickelte. Erste Hinweise auf eine Siedlung gibt es von etwa 1230, zu der später in der südlichen Hälfte ein Gut hinzukam. Um 1250 wurde die Dorfkirche Niederschönhausen erbaut. Im Landbuch Karls IV. von 1375 wurde das Dorf erstmals als Schonenhusen inferior und Nydderen Schonhusen urkundlich erwähnt. Es hatte 48 Hufen, davon vier Pfarrhufen (Wedemhof) und zehn Ritterhufen sowie einen Krug. Im Jahr 1450 waren es 52 Hufen, weil noch zwei Kirchenhufen dazugekommen waren. Die Ritterhufen und die Abgaberechte gegenüber den Hüfnern wechselten mehrfach zwischen mehreren bekannten märkischen Adelsfamilien.

1691 erwarb Kurfürst Friedrich III. das Dorf. Ein am Ende des 17. Jahrhunderts erbautes einfaches Schloss wurde 1704 repräsentativ umgebaut. Friedrich II. schenkte das Schloss Schönhausen im Jahr 1740 seiner Frau Elisabeth Christine, die es abgesondert vom König bis 1797 bewohnte.

Seit dem 20. Jahrhundert
Bis zur Gründung von Groß-Berlin im Jahr 1920 war Niederschönhausen eine eigenständige Landgemeinde im Landkreis Niederbarnim der preußischen Provinz Brandenburg. Mit der Eingemeindung verbesserte sich die Infrastruktur des Ortes. So wurde der Lauf der Panke reguliert und der Rosensche Park ausgestaltet.

In der Zeit des Nationalsozialismus entwickelte der Generalbauinspektor Berlins einen Interessengebietsplan, der dazu führte, dass die vorhandene Wohnbebauung verdichtet und weitere Wohnsiedlungsgebiete in Niederschönhausen erschlossen wurden. In dieser Zeit waren viele Juden gezwungen, ihre Immobilien zu verkaufen. In den Bezirksakten sind besonders häufig Eigentumsübertragungen um die Uhland-, Lindenberger, Blankenburger und Waldstraße dokumentiert.

Im Jahr 1949 wurden das Schloss und der naheliegende Majakowskiring mit den Wohnvillen der führenden DDR-Politiker quasi zum politischen Zentrum der DDR. Das Schloss war Amtssitz des Präsidenten (bis 1960) und des Vorsitzenden des Staatsrats der DDR (bis 1964). Das umzäunte und bewachte Areal hieß bei den Anwohnern auch das "Städtchen". Mit dem 1960 erfolgten Umzug in die Waldsiedlung bei Wandlitz wurde ab 1973 das Gebiet auch für die "normale Bevölkerung" geöffnet.

In der Wendezeit tagte 1989/1990 in den Nebengebäuden des Schlosses der Runde Tisch. Zudem fanden hier wesentliche Teile der Zwei-plus-Vier-Verhandlungen statt.

Bevölkerung

Quelle: Statistischer Bericht A I 5. Einwohnerinnen und Einwohner im Land Berlin am 31. Dezember. Grunddaten. Amt für Statistik Berlin-Brandenburg (jeweilige Jahre)

Sehenswürdigkeiten
Bei der Eingemeindung des Dorfs Niederschönhausen nach Berlin gab es an der Waldstraße das 1903 errichtete Wasserwerk mit einem Wasserturm. Technik und Turm wurden bis 1928 beseitigt. Das Hauptgebäude ist erhalten und dient als privates Wohnhaus.

Niederschönhausen zeichnet sich durch eine Bebauung mit Villen und Mietshäusern aus, die vornehmlich um das Jahr 1910 bis in die 1920er Jahre entstanden. Hier befindet sich auch das Schloss Schönhausen, einer der wenigen Schlossbauten Berlins, die den Zweiten Weltkrieg unversehrt überstanden haben. Im 18. Jahrhundert befand sich das Schloss im Besitz der Königin Elisabeth Christine, der Gemahlin König Friedrichs II. Aus dieser Zeit haben sich bedeutende Teile der originalen Ausstattung erhalten. Zu DDR-Zeiten war es zunächst Sitz von Wilhelm Pieck, dem Präsidenten und von Walter Ulbricht, dem Vorsitzenden des Staatsrats der DDR. Nach der Verlegung des Amtssitzes in das Staatsratsgebäude in Berlin-Mitte im Jahr 1964 wurde es Gästehaus der Regierung. Als Ort des Zentralen Runden Tisches und der Zwei-plus-Vier-Gespräche, die die deutsche Wiedervereinigung vorbereiteten, spielte Schloss Schönhausen nach 1989 eine besondere historische Rolle. Inzwischen befindet sich in den Nebengebäuden der Schlossanlage die Bundesakademie für Sicherheitspolitik (BAKS). Das Schloss ist nach einer umfassenden Sanierung seit 2009 als Museum für den regulären Besucherverkehr geöffnet.

Am Majakowskiring steht das Johannes-R.-Becher-Haus, wie es bis 1990 offiziell hieß. Dort wohnte der Schriftsteller Johannes R. Becher bis zu seinem Tod, der unter anderem den Text zur DDR-Nationalhymne schrieb. Seit den 1990er Jahren ist in dem Haus ein privates Unternehmen untergebracht.

Rund 500 Meter westlich des Majakowskirings entstand ab 1950 nach einem Beschluss der DDR-Regierung um die Straße 201 herum die Künstlersiedlung Erich Weinert.

Zudem ist Niederschönhausen einer der wenigen Ortsteile im Bezirk Pankow, in dem es noch ein Kino gibt, den Blauen Stern an der Ecke Hermann-Hesse-/Waldstraße. Aus Niederschönhausen stammt Max Skladanowsky, der 1895 ein Patent auf seinen Projektionsapparat Bioscop beantragt hatte und seine selbstgedrehten Filme erstmals am 1. November 1895 im Varieté Wintergarten öffentlich vorführte. Er gilt damit neben den Brüdern Auguste und Louis Lumière und Thomas Alva Edison als Kinopionier. In Niederschönhausen, wo er in der Waldowstraße gewohnt hat, liegt er auch begraben – auf dem Friedhof IV am Herthaplatz. Dort befindet sich auch das Ehrengrab der Stadt Berlin für Carl von Ossietzky. Dieser starb im Krankenhaus Nordend, das Anfang 2006 abgerissen wurde. Im zeitweilig als Lazarett genutzten Schulgebäude an der Blankenburger Ecke Buchholzer Straße wurde 1947 Hans Fallada behandelt. Hier starb er im selben Jahr.

In Niederschönhausen sind Kirchenbauten beider Konfessionen vertreten: die evangelische Friedenskirche und die katholische Kirche St. Maria Magdalena.

Niederschönhausen ist ein grüner Ortsteil, der Schlosspark Schönhausen, die Schönholzer Heide, der Brosepark und der Friedhof Pankow III liegen hier.

Verkehr
Die Straßenbahnlinie M1 verbindet Niederschönhausen mit dem S- und U-Bahnhof Pankow und  der Berliner Innenstadt. Mehrere Buslinien erschließen den Ortsteil.

Besondere Bedeutung für den Straßenverkehr hat der Straßenzug Grabbeallee–Hermann-Hesse-Straße–Dietzgenstraße (Bundesstraße 96a). Der Pastor-Niemöller-Platz im Zentrum des Ortsteils ist Knotenpunkt mehrerer Hauptstraßen in die benachbarten Ortsteile.

Persönlichkeiten

Söhne und Töchter von Niederschönhausen
 Friedrich Nietner (1766–1824), Hofgärtner
 Martin Brendel (1862–1939), Astronom
 Hans Reicher (1895–1963), Bildhauer
 Ossi Oswalda (1898–1947), Schauspielerin
 Wilhelm Siemer (1904–1991), Missionar und Pfarrer
 Maria Matray (1907–1993), Schauspielerin

Mit Niederschönhausen verbundene Persönlichkeiten
 Königin Elisabeth Christine (1715–1797), lebte im Schloss Schönhausen
 Emma Ihrer (1857–1911), Politikerin (SPD), lebte in der Marthastraße 10
 Max Skladanowsky (1863–1939), Wegbereiter des Films, lebte in der Waldowstraße 28
 Wilhelm Pieck (1876–1960), Präsident der DDR, lebte am Majakowskiring 29
 Arnold Zweig (1887–1968), Schriftsteller, lebte in der Homeyerstraße 13
 Max Lingner (1888–1959), Maler und Grafiker, lebte in der Beatrice-Zweig-Straße 2
 Erich Weinert (1890–1953), Schriftsteller, lebte in der Heinrich-Mann-Straße
 Johannes R. Becher (1891–1958), Dichter, lebte am Majakowskiring 34
 Hans Fallada (1893–1947), Schriftsteller, lebte am Rudolf-Ditzen-Weg 19
 Walter Ulbricht (1893–1973), Vorsitzender des Staatsrats der DDR, lebte am Majakowskiring 28/30
 Otto Grotewohl (1894–1964), Ministerpräsident der DDR, lebte am Majakowskiring 46/48
 Hanns Eisler (1898–1962), Komponist, lebte in der Pfeilstraße 9
 Ernst Busch (1900–1980), Sänger und Schauspieler, lebte in der Leonhard-Frank-Straße 11
 Ruthild Hahne (1910–2001), Bildhauerin, lebte in der Beatrice-Zweig-Straße 1
 Harald Hauser (1912–1994), Schriftsteller, lebte in Niederschönhausen
 Erich Honecker (1912–1994), Vorsitzender des Staatsrats der DDR, lebte am Rudolf-Ditzen-Weg 14
 Kurt Sanderling (1912–2011), Dirigent, lebte Am Iderfenngraben 47/49
 Stephan Hermlin (1915–1997), Schriftsteller, lebte in der Hermann-Hesse-Straße 39
 Winfried Glatzeder (* 1945), Schauspieler, lebt in Niederschönhausen
  Christoph Dieckmann (* 1956), Journalist und Autor, lebt in Niederschönhausen
 Andrej Hermlin (* 1965), Pianist und Bandleader, lebt in Niederschönhausen

Siehe auch
 Liste der Straßen und Plätze in Berlin-Niederschönhausen
 Liste der Kulturdenkmale in Berlin-Niederschönhausen
 Liste der Stolpersteine in Berlin-Niederschönhausen

Literatur
 Hans-Jürgen Rach: Die Dörfer in Berlin. Berlin 1990, ISBN 3-345-00243-4.

Weblinks

Einzelnachweise

Niederschonhausen

Ehemalige Gemeinde in Berlin
Gemeindeauflösung 1920
Ersterwähnung 1375

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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I just haven't had any inspiration to draw for a few days so I made myself go out and sketch in the town centre this afternoon. Black and white only today, with some rather suspect perspective, but it feels good to have overcome the blank page.
Daily life presses the inspiration to the back of the line at times, doesn't it? I know Many times I have to force myself to get started, and then I marvel at how much better I feel… I think waiting for inspiration, for me, is like waiting for a pretty disorganized bus that might or might not come! After a lot of years I have the art habit, that seems to carry me on through those times now. I like this drawing and I compare it to my local area (a suburb of Philadelphia) – it looks like home to me! I like the sparing use of the heavier black lines, too.
You are so right Claudia. I like the bus analogy!


At the 'ZONG Promotes Emerging Talent' segment of PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week, designer Schehrezade Sohail Muzammil will be showcasing her collection titled 'Neo Nomadism', inspired from the nomadic lifestyle that is still prevalent in certain parts of the world. For this collection, designer Schehrezade undertook a detailed study of different nomadic cultures around the globe, particularly of the nomadic tribes of Mongolia, whose habits and customs feature strongly in the collection. Primarily a womenswear collection, outfits contain androgynous elements which are edgy and innovative, incorporating abstract prints with Ombre prints and dyeing components. Outfits in the collection have been crafted using latex jerseys, leather and polyester blends, in an attempt to synthesize the futuristic with traditional nomadic elements, and feature loose, draped silhouettes with foil and pigment printed embellishments. The collection also incorporates a diverse colour palette ranging from night sky amethyst to sparkling shades of blues and silvery greys.
Schehrezade Sohail Muzammil is a fashion design graduate from the Pakistan Institute of Fashion and Design. An outstanding student, Schehrezade was awarded the Unilever Scholarship at the Lux Style Awards in 2011 for securing 1st position in her third year of fashion education. Her design aesthetic is derived from her own personality, a self-proclaimed tomboy who travelled frequently due to her army family background which serves as the foundation for her highly original and avant-garde design work. Among international designers, her role models include Ann Demeulemeester, Diane von Furstenberg and Antonio Berardi, to name a few. She is currently working at the Nayna Fashion House and has aspirations to start a design label of her own and establish a presence in the international fashion community. Her design philosophy is to create pieces that are edgy, diverse and bizarrely beautiful.


A federal prosecutor says the reputed Philadelphia mob boss was a "fixer" in a widespread scheme to collect insurance payments by bribing doctors to write bogus prescriptions for a pain cream.
Joseph 'Skinny Joey' Merlino "called the shots" as he and his cohorts "used the health care system as their personal money tree." Defense attorney Edwin Jacobs said his client was framed by cooperating criminals with incentive to lie to save their own skins.
Prosecutors said Merlino also collected gambling debts for the syndicate, adding the jury would hear recordings of him fretting over whether any "rats" and "stool pigeons" were lurking. Merlino, 55, was among nearly four dozen defendants arrested in a 2016 crackdown. Crimes included extortion, loan-sharking, casino-style gambling, sports gambling, credit card fraud and health care fraud.
Most of the defendants pleaded guilty to lesser charges, with Merlino the only one so far to go to trial on conspiracy charges. He's free on $5 million bond.


text:
Have You Never Been Mellow Olivia Newton-John
Have You Never Been Mellow
Loving Arms
Life Stream
Goodbye Again
I Never Did Sing You a Love Song
And In the Morning
The Air That I Breathe
Please Mr Please
℗ Compilation 1995 EMI Music Special Markets. All rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction is a violation of applicable laws. Manufactured by EMI Music Special Markets, 1750 N. Vine St., Hollywood, CA 90028
Tim2670 , 02/25/2014
Olivia at her very best. Brings back 40-year old memories with every song.
JohninRockville , 03/10/2014
Some of her best
I fell in love with Olivia Newton John's voice in the late 70's, that bore a character of soft innocence without being mushy. I was disappointed when Grease portrayed a nice young woman giving up her principles, mocking virginity and going over to the "dark side". I had a teen daughter at the time and felt mortified at the lesson taught.
I still have a tape with 3 of Olivia's first albums, still love some of the songs and afraid to play the fragile tape so I'm buying these MP3 versions. They still retain the goodness that was once displayed by this now defunct singer.
BeckSaki , 12/31/2018
I remember seeing Olivia Newton-John singing with John Denver in Fly Away. What a beautiful voice.
More By Olivia Newton-John
Xanadu (From the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Grace and Gratitude
Christmas Wish
Liv On
Summer Nights: Live In Las Vegas
Crystal Gayle: The Hits
Anne Murray - The Best...So Far
The Best of Mac Davis