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Vaisakhi: Sikhs, Indians worldwide commemorate ancient festival & faith
April 7, 2019 by Stephanie Fenton Leave a Comment
Vaisakhi parade, Vancouver, 2017. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
SUNDAY, APRIL 14: Around the world today, Indian communities and Sikhs are celebrating Vaisakhi (or Baisahki; spellings vary), an occasion for colorful processions and public festivals. From Salt Lake City, where the mayor has dedicated April as Sikh Awareness and Recognition Month (read the story here), to Dublin, where a major parade took place and rules were recently changed that now allow Sikhs serving with the Garda police service to wear turbans (read about it here), Sikhs are making an impact worldwide.
Did you know? The festival's name refers to a month in the traditional Hindu calendar: Vaisakha.
In India, Vaisakhi holds varying meanings in different regions. First, this was an ancient agricultural festival in the Punjab; a time of prayers for bountiful crops. In the Punjab region (and among families with Punjabi roots around the world), it is an ancient agricultural festival and a time for prayers for bountiful crops; one custom is an energetic dance called Bhangra, which dates back centuries. Hundreds of years ago, while farmers were preparing to reap a harvest of wheat at this time of year, men would pause to perform this dance. The Bhangra has moved through several different eras and forms, according to scholars of Indian folklore. Today, there is a modern revival of the practice, complete with colorful costumes, that is often performed at Vaisakhi festivals.
THE KHALSA
Though celebrated by many, Vaisakhi holds particular significance for Sikhs who, in 1699, established the Khalsa. On Vaisakhi Day in 1699, Guru Gobind Singh emerged from a tent before thousands, asking for five volunteers willing to give their lives. Armed with a sword, the Guru took in the first volunteer; a few minutes later, the Guru emerged from the tent again, his sword covered in blood. By the time five volunteers had come forward, the Guru revealed his true intentions: to call forth a "Beloved Five," who would be baptized into a new order known as the Khalsa. The five volunteers exited from the tent—unharmed and wearing turbans. To this day, Sikhism incorporates a readiness to fight for justice by protecting the vulnerable.
SIKH VAISAKHI: PILGRIMAGES & SERVICE
Tens of thousands of Sikhs journey to Pakistani holy sites each year for Vaisakhi—one city even bears the name of the first Sikh Guru, Nanak. Thousands more flock to the birthplace of the Khalsa, as well as to the famed Golden Temple at Amritsar. Sikhs in the United States can travel to Los Angeles, California for an entire day of Kirtan (spiritual music based on the holy book, Guru Granth Sahib) and a large-scale parade; in Manhattan, New York City, Sikhs flood into the streets to perform seva (selfless service) of charity.
Further north, Canadians in British Columbia parade through the streets for Vaisakhi, often drawing 200,000 attendees to the festivities. The UK boasts its own sizeable Sikh population, though most adherents can be found in west London; events there draw up to 75,000.
IN THE NEWS: PLANTING 1 MILLION TREES
Perhaps the biggest story involving Sikhs this year is one that is currently underway and reflects the 550th birth anniversary of Jainism's founder, Guru Nanak: Sikhs have pledged to plant 1 million new trees, as a "gift to the entire planet." (Read the story in The Guardian.) Aimed at fighting environmental decline, the Million Tree Project is being coordinated by Washington, D.C.-based organization EcoSikh. Tens of thousands of trees have already been planted, and saplings will be lain in India, the UK, US, Australia and Kenya.
Filed Under: Faiths of India, SikhTagged With: Baisakhi, Beloved Five, Guru Gobind Singh, India, Khalsa, seva, Sikh, VaisahkiLeave a Comment
Baisakhi: Sikhs and Indians of the Punjab region celebrate first of Vaisakh
April 14, 2015 by Stephanie Fenton Leave a Comment
Baisakhi is, in part, a Punjabi harvest festival. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
TUESDAY, APRIL 14: The grand Baisakhi festival sweeps across the Punjab region of India today, bringing lively processions and dancing, sacred baths, Sikh kirtans and expressions of gratitude for a good harvest. It is the first day of the month of Vaisakh, and the beginning of a new solar year.
For Hindus, Baisahki means Punjabi fairs, sacred rituals and a legend about the Goddess Ganga; for Sikhs, Vaisakhi is the anniversary of the organization of the esteemed Khalsa. (Tribune India reported on this year's Baisakhi mela.) During the Baisakhi festival of 1699, Sikh Guru Gobind Singh Ji set the foundation for the Panth Khalsa—the Order of the Pure Ones. (Learn more at BaisakhiFestival.com.) Today, Sikhs visit a gurdwara (place of worship) with flowers and other offerings. The largest Sikh gatherings take place at the Golden Temple in Amritsar, and at the gurdwara at Anandpur Sahib (the birthplace of the Khalsa).
Did you know? Spellings of the solar New Year festival vary widely, but generally, it is spelled "Vaisakhi" in specific dialects of Punjabi, and "Baisakhi" when referring to the Sikhs and the Khalsa anniversary.
While most Baisahki events take place around the Punjabi region, Sikh celebrations are carried out worldwide. (For an assortment of tasty Basaikhi recipes, visit BBC.co.uk.) In New York, community service and food charity is practiced by Sikhs; in Los Angeles, a full-day kirtan (spiritual music) program is followed by a parade that contains an average of 15,000 participants. In British Columbia, a kirtan parade attracts tens of thousands annually (The Georgia Straight reported); in London, Sikhs gather for a kirtan and visits to the gurdwara.
A Vaisakhi procession in Southall, Great Britain. Photo courtesy of Geograph.org
BAISAKHI 1699
As Sikh's recall their history this week, they will remember: In 1667 CE, the Mughal emperor installed himself as the emperor of India. Strict religious persecution followed, religious taxes gained momentum and temples and places of learning were closed. The Brahmins, eager to stop the emperor, approached Guru Tegh Bahadur (the ninth Sikh guru) for leadership in the conflict. At his son's encouragement, the guru accepted the Brahmin invitation. (Wikipedia has details.) Guru Tegh Bahadur was later imprisoned and martyred for his fight against the emperor, yet when his body was left exposed, in the open, by the executioner, no one came forward to claim it.
Then, the Sikh narrative continues: In such dangerous and violent times, Guru Gobind Rai—son of Tegh Bahadur—wished to instill in the Sikhs a unique sense of identity and courage. During the Baisakhi festival, it was common for Sikhs to visit Anandpur for the guru's blessings. Two months prior to Baisakhi 1699, the guru sent a message to Sikh followers: this year, Baisakhi would be different. (Get a Sikh perspective at Sikhism Guide.org.) With a massive crowd before him on that day, the guru declared that every great deed must be preceded by an equally great sacrifice—and, with that, he asked for a head. One man stepped forward from the crowd, ready to sacrifice himself, and the guru led him into a tent. Moments later, Gobind Singh emerged from the tent with a bloodied sword.
After four more men declared themselves for sacrifice, the guru emerged from the tent: the five men, all dressed in pure white, stepped out, too. The men were baptized, knighted as Singhs and called the Five Beloved Ones. They were deemed saint soldiers and the first members of a new community. The Sikh duty, it was proclaimed, was to dedicate life as a service to others and to pursue justice. The identity of the Khalsa embodies the five "Ks": Kesh (unshorn hair); Kangha (the wooden comb); Karra (the iron or steel bracelet); Kirpan (the sword); and Kachera (the underwear).
Filed Under: Faiths of India, SikhTagged With: Baisakhi, India, Punjab, Sikh, VaisakhiLeave a Comment
Vaisakhi, Baisakhi: Celebrating harvest, new year & Sikh revival
A Vaisakhi street festival in Canada. Courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
SATURDAY, APRIL 13: Around the world Indian communities—especially Sikhs—are celebrating Vaisakhi (or Baisahki; spellings vary). It's fun. It's a source of pride and an occasion for colorful processions and public festivals. But explaining its exact meaning is difficult—because Vaisakhi holds many meanings to communities with origins in India.
First, this was an ancient agricultural festival in the Punjab, a time of prayers for bountiful crops. In the Punjab region (and among families with Punjabi roots around the world), one custom is an energetic dance called Bhangra. Centuries ago, while farmers were preparing to reap a harvest of wheat at this time of year, men would pause to perform this dance. The Bhangra has moved through several different eras and forms, according to scholars of Indian folklore. Today, there is a modern revival of the practice, complete with colorful costumes, that is often performed at Vaisakhi festivals.
A BUDDHIST PERSPECTIVE: VESAK
The festival's name refers to a month in the traditional Hindu calendar: Vaisakha. Within Buddhism, given the faith's roots in India, this seasonal period of celebration is related now to what is commonly called "Buddha's Birthday." Here is Wikipedia's overview of the Buddhist Vesak—which actually occurs in May this year. Once again, Buddhist customs for Vesak vary across the many cultures in which Buddhism now is deeply rooted around the planet. Decisions by Buddhist leaders in the mid 20th century are among the factors unifying their Vesak celebration as a divergent festival from Vaisakhi.
A 17th CENTURY SIKH REVIVAL: Birth of the Khalsa
Though celebrated by many, Vaisakhi holds particular significance for Sikhs who, in 1699, established the Khalsa. On Vaisakhi Day in 1699, Guru Gobind Singh emerged from a tent before thousands, asking for five volunteers willing to give their lives. Armed with a sword, the Guru took in the first volunteer; a few minutes later, the Guru emerged from the tent again, his sword covered in blood. By the time five volunteers had come forward, the Guru revealed his true intentions: to call forth a "Beloved Five," who would be baptized into a new order known as the Khalsa. The five volunteers exited from the tent—unharmed and wearing turbans. (Read more from the BBC.) From that day, Sikhism became a faith of soldier saints—always prepared to fight for justice by protecting the vulnerable.
SIKH VAISAKHI AROUND THE GLOBE
Service for the common good is a major theme at Vaisakhi. In this photo, two young Sikhs operate a tractor with an attached machine that crushes sugar cane to make fresh sweet juice. They are giving the fresh juice to celebrants as their act of service. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Tens of thousands of Sikhs make pilgrimage to Pakistani holy sites each year for Vaisakhi—one city even bears the name of the first Sikh Guru, Nanak. Thousands more flock to the birthplace of the Khalsa, as well as to the famed Golden Temple at Amritsar. Sikhs in the United States can travel to Los Angeles, California, for an entire day of Kirtan (spiritual music based on the holy book, Guru Granth Sahib) and a large-scale parade; in Manhattan, New York City, Sikhs flood into the streets to perform seva (selfless service) of charity. Further north, Canadians in British Columbia parade through the streets for Vaisakhi, often drawing 200,000 attendees to the festivities. The UK boasts its own sizeable Sikh population, though most can be found in west London, and events there draw up to 75,000. The prime minister of Malaysia has announced that this year—for the first time—all government workers of Sikh affiliation will be given a day of on Vaisakhi Day.
Snatam Kaur: An American-Born Sikh Musician
Care to read more about America's own famous Sikh musician, Snatam Kaur? This spring, she is touring across the U.S. Our new profile of Snatam Kaur tells her inspiring story of trying to promote peace through traditional meditative Sikh hymns.
NEWS on Vaisakhi 2013 and EcoSikh
In efforts to promote justice, Sikh organizations are voicing concern over Pakistani rejection of Hindu visas for Sikh occasions such as Vaisakhi. (Times of India reported.)
Meanwhile, Sikhs from Pakistan celebrated the recent Sikh environment day by planting trees and raising awareness of the importance of plant life. The event was organized by both the Pakistan Sikh Council and the Washington, D.C.-based group EcoSikh. (Read more here.)
Filed Under: Faiths of IndiaTagged With: Baisakhi, India, Khalsa, Punjab, Sikh, VaisakhiLeave a Comment
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Sisi tapes are genuine, British forensic lab finds.
Leaked el-Sisi Tapes with his Deputy Defense Minister Mamdouh Shaheen and Gen. Abbas Kamel, the chief of staff.
David Hearst
Source: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/articles/africa/17148-sisi-tapes-are-genuine-british-forensic-lab-finds
بالفيديو.. تسريب مكتب السيسي كاملا وكشف المؤامرة الكاملة على الدكتور مرسي من الجيش وتلفيق التهم له
On Sunday night Abdel Fatah Al-Sisi took to the air to proclaim his innocence. Stung by the publication of secretly recorded conversations in which the Egyptian president and his senior staff revealed their contempt for their Gulf donors, discussing how to tap them for billions more and how to divert the money into the army's bank accounts, the president said he was the victim of a plot.
Addressing himself directly to his "brothers in the Gulf," he said that "we show every respect for them, and we should be vigilant toward what is done in order to create division and dissension."
Al-Sisi blamed what he called a fourth generation of warfare, in which "technology" is being used to accomplish political goals to weaken him. In this vein he claimed that his voice and those of his closest advisers had been fabricated. Al-Sisi said:
"I have met with all strands of the Egyptian society. I spoke, and my speech is recorded for up to 1,000 hours. In the 1,000 hours there is not a single violation or one abuse coming out of my mouth against anyone, not a state, not a faction, not a group and not an entity."
These protestations of innocence are going down like a lead balloon in Saudi Arabia, which, since the death of King Abdullah, is under new management. King Salman's first act was to throw out of office the coterie of advisers who had tried to stop him from inheriting the throne. As these are the same people who funded and backed Sisi's military coup, the Egyptian leader must be asking himself whether he has just lost his chief sponsor. He will soon find out.
Al-Sisi's existential angst will not be calmed by news that a leading British laboratory in forensic speech and acoustic analysis has authenticated one 30-minute section of the tapes. Worse than that, the laboratory ruled out the possibility that the tapes were fabricated or manipulated electronically.
The secret recordings were broadcast by a Turkish-based satellite channel, Mekameleen, which is pro-Brotherhood. Without independent, forensic authentication, the political sympathies of this source would have cast doubt on the content of the tapes.
J. P. French Associates, led by Peter French, a professor of forensic speech science at the University of York, is Britain's leading independent forensic speech and acoustics laboratory. They give evidence to the courts in Britain and advise international law enforcement agencies. They were tasked to establish whether the voice of the main participant in the discussions, General Mamdouh Shahin, the legal advisor to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), was genuine.
Their conclusion was unequivocal: "Our opinion is that the evidence provides strong support for the view that the questioned speaker is Mr Mamdouh Shahin." The laboratory further states:
"There are no indications that the spoken material in the recordings has been fabricated by editing together a large number of short speech segments or utterances. It would be very difficult to create a convincing conversation in this way. Further, the speech material displays the features of natural conversations that one would expect to encounter in a genuine recording."
Shahin, Al-Sisi's office manager Abbas Kamil, and Al-Sisi himself were taped discussing how to "fix" a legal problem that had arisen over the deposed president's detention. According to Egyptian law, Mohammed Morsi initially had been held illegally in an army barracks instead of a prison run by the Interior Ministry.
As Shahin himself admits, if the government prosecutors lost on this issue, all the other charges against Morsi would be thrown out, because under Egyptian law his detention would have been declared illegal. So Shahin, Kamil and others were busy trying to rewrite history, generating backdated orders from the Interior Ministry, turning a military barracks at Abu Qir naval base (near Alexandria) into a prison, supplying it with records of visits and a batch of prison officers. To add a final touch of authenticity, they joke about giving it its own torture chamber.
The other leaks in which Al-Sisi and Kamil disparage their Gulf donors as "half-states" are more damaging to regional ears. Now that one tape has been declared genuine, Mekameleen is offering up all the others for international inspection.
The British laboratory is not alone in believing the tapes and conversations to be genuine. Ayman Nour, a liberal Egyptian politician who is respected by all sides, told me last week, "I know their voices. The tape are genuine." Nour spent 10 years in Parliament trying to get the generals to be transparent about their income and budget. In the end he resigned his seat in a committee to examine the constitution. He said:
"We have two states: the state of Egypt and the state of the army. Although the logic should be that the army is part of the executive authority, we have always had a pharaoh, a semi-god, and you have a god that is called the military state."
The authentication of the tapes will have legal consequences, not necessarily in Egypt, where, as we now know, the courts are under the military's thumb, nor even before the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, which, last year, ordered a moratorium on all death sentences passed in Egypt.
British police are currently investigating whether current members of the Egyptian government and military have command responsibility for torture in Egyptian prisons, the massacres that took place last year, and continued killings of protesters. If nothing else, the tapes show the most senior advisers to Al-Sisi discussing the minutiae of how to fix evidence and make a barracks look like a prison. The tapes establish a prima facie case for the involvement of officials at the highest levels of the state in the abuses that are going on. They even boast about them.
At one point in the authenticated tape, Shahin quips, "You can always command us. Forgery is the order of the day."
If Britain's Crown Prosecution Service comes to the same conclusion, members of the Egyptian government or military who enter the jurisdiction of British courts face arrest under universal jurisdiction.
Closer to home, Al-Sisi must be wondering who bugged his closest advisers and who was listening in on the most sensitive discussions taking place in his office. The finger points to someone powerful enough in the Egyptian army or security establishment to subvert him. As Al-Sisi trusts no one and is prepared to betray even those liberals who backed his coup, it goes without saying that some general somewhere is returning the favor. Either way, Al-Sisi emerges from this episode a weaker figure.
Last week Al-Sisi called for a second international intervention in Libya, after his warplanes bombed what they claimed were Islamic State (ISIS) targets in Derna following the murder of Egyptian Copts. This call failed. As the respected and well-connected Saudi writer Jamal Khashogji observed, reconciliation between the warring groups in Libya is the first step in the war against ISIS.
No sane person, he argued, would want to see a repeat of Iraq and Nouri Al-Maliki's treatment of the Sunnis, which led to the proclamation of the Islamic State in Libya. The Italians have realised this. Khashogji continued:
"If only the rest of Libya's neighbors could give this serious consideration, follow suit and stop inflaming the conflict, the better off we will all be. They can't use war in Libya to cover up their domestic difficulties and as a way to justify their failure to achieve genuine national reconciliation that could deliver them from their crises."
Is it safe to assume that Salman's key advisers and those around the powerful interior minister and deputy crown prince, Mohammed bin Nayef, may be having similar thoughts? If it is, Al-Sisi may well find that Saudi Arabia will no longer be writing him a blank check or, for that matter, any other.
This article was first published by the Huffington Post.

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SERIAL: The Candidate - 2028 (working title)
Author Topic: SERIAL: The Candidate - 2028 (working title) (Read 3520 times)
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The Candidate-2028
Junior Senator from Idaho, Jackson Plummer, wealthy scion of a prominent former Ambassador to Thailand found himself being urged to throw his hat in the ring for the Presidency. The family fortune had mostly come from Thailand, which was the reason his father Abraham Plummer was chosen to become an Ambassador decades ago.
Jackson Plummer made some important celebrity friends in his youth, becoming a semi-celebrity himself just by being on the periphery of stardom. Investing in high-profile ventures in Idaho, from skiing to reclaiming old mining sites, gave him the public stature to be considered for office just as Senator Wharton was killed in a plane crash.
In-fighting on the Republican side between conservatives and nationalists handed the election to Jackson Plummer, the first Democrat to be a Senator from Idaho since Frank Church. His first term in the Senate was mostly a quiet one, but the few times he rose to speak were designed to garner as much attention and praise as possible.
With both major parties facing major hurdles putting a competent Presidential campaign together, Jackson Plummer found himself touted as the "clean-cut, golden child of the Democrat Party". The party had found itself shrinking due to its movements to the far-left and by abandoning the white vote.
"Listen, Jackson, this deal won't work unless we can gain the support of all the factions. We need to keep the coalition on-board while presenting you as a more conservative Democrat," his political advisor Jacob Newsom reminded him. The short Newsom had a nasal New York accent that reminded Jackson of Woody Allen.
"I'm not stupid, Jacob. You don't need to keep saying the same things over and over."
"You do!" Jacob exclaimed jabbing a finger toward the potential candidate, "You're not running in Idaho this time. The Presidency is the big hill, this isn't Little League."
Jackson rolled his eyes, "I know what to do. We've been over this, over and over."
Just exploring a Presidential run was starting to wear him out. Meeting and meeting with 'community leaders' to assure them, behind closed doors, that he was one of them despite what he might say on the campaign trail. They had to understand he was just positioning himself for advantage.
During this time he also made sure that the local press was informed when he traveled to meet politicians in their state. Video clips of him meeting with the Premier of Alberta and the Prime Minister of Thailand were used to prove he had foreign policy experience, however thin.
With the weak position of the Democrat Party, he might just luck out if their voter base saw him as a winning compromise candidate. The Reverend Jesse Lee Peters, the self-appointed spokesman for the black community was also considering another run. In fact a while plethora of 'old hat' politicians were considering it.
The reason was simple, for the first time in twelve years the Democrats had a shot. Not because the Democrat Party had done anything right, it hadn't, but because the Republican Party had finally split into sparring factions. The nationalist-populists had all but shown the conservatives the door for years, but that finally brought the confrontation to a real conflict. Meanwhile the 'Christian right' was split along with the rest, neutering their influence.
The death or retreat of billionaire financiers and new laws limiting the political influence of large foundations had shrunk the power of the Democrats to raise money. Meanwhile a few billionaires had moved over to the Republican Party and fed one faction or another. This part actually helped intensify the infighting over there.
Jackson Plummer placed the tablet computer face down on the desk, leaned back and took a deep breath. There actually seemed to be three or more factions in the Republican schism, not just the two largest ones. This vulnerability could be utilized by the Democrats if they played their cards correctly, but try as he might he doubted any of the other potential candidates could get it done.
Senator Henrietta Davis had claimed to be a native American while running for her office, a claim that proved to be a lie. If she were nominated, it would become a major, if not the major, issue of the whole campaign. At one point she had been favored by the powers-that-be in the party, but that support dried up.
He tapped the ear-piece he always wore these days, "Call Jacob,". His political advisor was quickly present in the office. Although he was wearing an old rock band t-shirt and jeans instead of something more appropriate.
"If we offered Senator Davis something, could we get her to drop out?" Jackson Plummer asked, "What do you think she'd want?"
Jacob was a quick thinker, "She knows she doesn't have a chance, sure the liberal base loves her, but I think she's running because she doesn't see anyone else with the charisma or the gravitas to become a real challenge to whoever the Republicans nominate."
Jackson gave Jacob a glare, "Gee, thanks."
Jacob put up both hands defensively, "That's just how she thinks, you're too new to have made much of an impression on her."
Jackson smiled, the New Yawker was so easy to bait. On some days it was the only entertainment he had. "I was yanking your chain, again, Jacob."
The diminutive advisor looked down and sighed as his arms dropped to his sides, "Oh right, I always fall for that."
"Do you think offering Secretary of the Interior would offend her?" Jackson asked.
Jacob thought about, "Normally I would say it would, but she knows the stack is against her. Her interest in native Americans might also be an incentive. Of course polls show she doesn't have a chance in hell of being re-elected to the Senate in two years. So, I think she might go for it."
Jackson Plummer smiled and nodded. People were simple. The stupid ones would accept words of a promise, the smarter ones would trade anything for what they want and the elite would trade an unrealistic dream for a real cushy assignment when facing reality.
It was easy. Soon enough he received an invitation to dinner in her home state. She was accepting the offer but wanted to haggle on the terms of her surrender. Jackson knew what was coming. Would she have to openly endorse him immediately or could she wait until he was a clear primary front-runner?
Just give them rope, a man once told him, let them tie themselves down. Once she dropped out of the race, there was little that could stop Jackson from taking it all. He tapped his ear-piece, "Jacob, we need to file a flight plan out to Georgia."
Patrick J Calhoun crossed his arms angrily as his microphone was cut off. The moderator, an editor at American Review magazine, waggled a finger at him, "Mister Calhoun, please allow the other candidate to respond to the question."
He had tried filibustering and shouting down the Senator from Utah Eugene McDaniels. Everyone knew he considered McDaniels an establishment toady, even if his argument to this end was weaker than twice-used coffee grounds.
"As I was saying," Senator McDaniels said, "The best way to curb illegal immigration is to remove the public benefits. Once they find that they cannot get a job or welfare, they won't come here or they will leave. The ones that stay and become criminals will be deported on contact..."
"They're already criminals! Just being in this country made them criminals!" Calhoun shouted at the dead microphone in front of him.
"As a reminder," Senator McDaniels told the audience as Calhouns face became beet-red, "Mister Calhoun himself accepted the compromise of 2018. It was essentially an amnesty, but it had a new title, and we all know how that worked out."
The moderator, smiling, "I must warn the Senator, if you bring up your opponent again, I will cut your time short so he can respond. Them's the rules."
The audience laughed.
The American Review debate wasn't an official Republican function, especially since the primaries were so far off, but it served a purpose. The editors of the magazine clearly favored the conservative faction but tried to win over the nationalist and populist faction instead of alienating them. Sadly, it seemed they were intent on victim-hood with the zeal of a martyr.
The man in the dark blue suit watching this on his wall-screen sighed and fast forwarded.
"He showed toughness, that's what we needed!"
"Name-calling is not toughness, Mister Calhoun. You can't govern through calling names!" Senator McDaniels said, "It failed then and it will fail again. It's been more than a decade and we've been at a standstill ever since."
He turned the wall-screen off and dropped the remote. He tapped the top of the wooden desk and sighed.
"Maybe. Maybe it's time," He told himself. The negative public reaction would be immediate but he would soon show them he wasn't the same thing all over again. Having spent years building up his credentials, maybe he should do this himself.
The old saying was sometimes true, sometimes you had to do it yourself.
Knowing where the bodies were buried also helped.
As founder and owner of Power Inc, Matt Douglas had placed an energy cell in every home and vehicle in America and much of the world. In a matter of three years his product had made him the wealthiest man that ever lived. If he didn't do anything more he would become the worlds first trillionaire in only a few more years.
He owned a news channel and a national newspaper, the Bulletin, the only real newspaper left in the country. It used proprietary paper-making, printing and ink-making technologies. All of the newsprint was recycled from trash by another of his companies using yet other proprietary technologies. He had reinvested his fortune in ventures in nearly every industry.
"We are a knowledge company," he was famous for saying, "That beats everything."
Matt Douglas had made sure years ago that Senator Jackson Plummer was given a high profile in his media outlets. It was Plummer who had to win the Democrat primary for his plan to work. The only real struggle was to neutralize the factions inside of the Grand Old Party and get them to unite behind Matt Douglas.
"I already own the world, why shouldn't I run it?" he had said jokingly to the audience of a television program once. Only he had inwardly meant it.
He spoke to the air, "Take message."
"Ready," the voice of his computer answered.
"Address it to Vernon Warner. Having received your invitation to the Republican Round-table special prime time program, I'd like to accept. I know that I do not appear on television very often, but there is something important I would like to say..."
Jackson napped between events. The private plane was abnormally quiet. He dreamed of being a child, his father arriving home from Thailand on business.
"Daddy! Daddy!" he had shouted, happy to see his father again. Just in time for Jackson's twelfth birthday.
The stern woman who took care of him placed a hand on his shoulder, "You should address him as 'father' and behave so as not to embarrass him. He is a very important person, after all."
But Dad had walked down the steps, not with his business partner or his assistant, but with a young Asian girl. She looked sad, but his father was beaming.
Jackson woke with a start and looked around the plane. His assistant Debra was reading, Jacob was chatting on the phone and nobody else seemed to notice he had woken up.
"I'm hungry," Jackson said, but he was wondering why he had had such a dream. What could that have meant?
"Jackson Plummer is the man to watch, he is their golden child. He's young, he's handsome, he's wealthy and a near celebrity," columnist Malcolm Smith opined on the news chat program Opinion!
"The way the Democrats have been shrinking, do you think Plummer is their answer?" host Marcus Johnson asked.
Malcolm Smith nodded, "None of the others has a chance. Does anyone really think Reverend Jesse Lee Peters is a serious candidate? Jose Inglesias? Of course not, these are vanity candidates. With Senator Henrietta Davis seeing the writing on the wall, who else but Jackson Plummer can appeal to more than the base?"
Marcus Johnson nodded, "If he can broaden the base while the Republicans are fighting themselves, we could see the Democrats return from the political graveyard?"
"Yes, I think I would have used the woods or desert before graveyard," Malcolm Smith laughed, "But it's all the same thing. Yes, I think Senator Plummer is their only realistic shot at winning the White House."
"This is Opinion! On the ForNews channel, we'll be back after a quick commercial break!" Marcus Johnson told the camera.
"Mr. Matt Douglas, the richest man in history, do you think there is a way to bridge the divide in the Republican Party?" the host of the Republican Round-table prime time special asked near the beginning of the show.
"I think we have to. Look, Patrick J Calhoun is a fiery individual, but he's not ever going to calm down and become Presidential," Douglas explained, "Senator Eugene McDaniels is a good spokesman for the party, but he's boring as anything."
The other guests were chuckling.
"They both lead factions that refuse to accept the others legitimacy. They both make some good points, but neither of them is going to defeat Senator Jackson Plummer. At a time when we expect candidacies to get off the ground, we already have two figures who shouldn't run. That leaves the question you asked; who can bring these groups together?"
The other guests, pundits and columnists mostly, weren't laughing now.
"I think I can do that," Matt Douglas said, breaths taken, mouths agape. "I wouldn't need to raise any money, I wouldn't need to please any high-rollers. I think my career speaks for itself, I have always been a faithful conservative..."
Senator Jackson Plummer watched the program along with his top staff. They were all whispering to each other.
Jacob Newsom tapped the phone in his ear, ending a call.
"Look, this guy is going to make people say, 'no way, not another billionaire' after that last one made a mess of everything," the political advisor said.
The Senator was still shell-shocked. Matt Douglas wanted to run for President against him, this was a complete blow from nowhere. It was Douglas who had encouraged him to run for the Senate and then the White House long before anyone else.
Jackson felt his stomach turning into a knot. Something was definitely wrong with the whole scenario.
Matt Douglas was the one who promised that the conservative media would give Jackson the attention he needed to show the liberal base he had the right political enemies. The promise had come true, and every step of the way it was Matt Douglas who had given him advice needed to advance.
"I need to rest, I'm very tired," Jackson explained as he left the make-shift office in the hotel for the next room where he could lie down. As soon as he did his phone chimed, the Senator tapped his ear-piece.
"Yes?" he asked, sounding tired.
"I guess you saw the show?" Matt Douglas asked, the Senator bolted upright.
"Mister Douglas, what is going on? Why are you running against me?"
The man laughed, "Because it'll be interesting."
"Interesting?" Jackson asked, "How?"
Matt Douglas laughed again, "Both parties are a mess in this country, the government is a mess too, as a country we are stuck in a rut. Sure, people feel comfortable and richer, because of my technologies and other things, but it's like icing on an old spare tire."
"I don't follow."
"You represent the best of your party, and I bridge the gap of the factions of my party. Both parties can be put back together in this race. We will both become the nominal leaders of our respective parties and we can pull up the sane ones and push the crazies to the sidelines. So, whichever of us wins, the whole country can still be better off."
The Senator saw some truth in that but he felt there was a lot more than what was said,
"Are you trying to say, let the best man win?" Jackson asked.
"Oh, I will."
Jackson laughed, "I walked into that, but what I mean is, do you mean it?"
Matt Douglas was quiet for a moment then said, "I think we'll see at the end of this road. La Kon."
The confused Junior Senator from Idaho laid on his side and pulled his legs up on the bed. He didn't understand the situation. There was a good chance they could both win their primaries, then what? Did Matt Douglas plan to run a dirty campaign? It wouldn't fit his image at all, so Jackson doubted it.
What was Matt Douglas thinking?
« Last Edit: March 05, 2017, 06:52:00 pm by geronl »
Gefn
"And though she be but little she is fierce"-Shakespeare
Cat Mod
Quos Deus Vult Perdere Prius Dementat
Re: SERIAL: The Candidate - 2028 (working title)
Bookmarking to read later today. (When I'm more awake, lol)
G-d bless America. G-d bless us all
Adopt a puppy or kitty from your local shelter


text:
Smiths Detection wins contract to supply Radiation Portal Monitors across the US to DHS Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office
Smiths Detection, a global leader in threat detection and security screening technologies, today announces that it has been awarded a contract by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office (CWMD) to provide 110 radiation portal monitors (RPM). Partnering with Radiation Solutions, Inc, the RPM's will be deployed across land border crossings throughout the US.
The RPM is a passive checkpoint which can detect potentially dangerous radiation emitting material which passes through its detection zone. The portal is capable of scanning trucks, vehicles, containers, packages and people.
Shan Hood, President of Smiths Detection Inc., said, "We are delighted to announce our new contract with the DHS Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office, continuing our relationship after the initial contract award for test unit RPM's in January 2019. Smiths Detection is dedicated to making the world a safer place and the deployment of 110 RPM's across land border crossings in the US is testament to this. The RPM's will deliver 24/7 screening, 365 days a year, offering industry-leading efficiency and effectiveness. Our extensive experience with radiation detection and checkpoint solutions, supplemented by our investment in data solutions, makes cutting-edge screening technology a reality, today."
Smiths Detection announced its initial contract with DHS Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction in January 2019.
The RPM's will be deployed between December 2021 and May 2023.
About Smiths Detection
Smiths Detection, a division of Smiths Group, is a global leader in inspection and detection technologies for the air transport, ports and borders, armed forces and urban security markets. With more than 40 years of experience in the field, we offer the necessary solutions to protect society from the threats posed by explosives, prohibited weapons, contraband, toxic chemical agents and narcotics.
Our mission is simple: to ensure the security, peace of mind and freedom of movement on which the world depends.
Please visit https://www.smithsdetection.com/ for further information.
FTI Consulting:
Tom Hufton/Georgina Reeves/Zoe Williams
sc.smithsdetection@fticonsulting.com
Smiths Detection:
Sophie Mills, Global Communications Manager
sophie.mills@smithsdetection.com
+ 44 (0)738423647


text:
Q: Umbraco (4.11) Issue On Save/Publish: UltimatePicker Object reference Have a site already in production that up until yesterday I was able to add a particular piece of content that uses a variety of data types that use ultimate picker set to a specific parent  nodeid which also filters by a document alias.
Right now when saving/publishing any of those content items, I'm getting this exception:
[NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.]
   umbraco.editorControls.ultimatepicker.ultimatePickerDataEditor.Save()
Anyways, only thing I can thing of is the day before the recycling bin on the site was cleared.
If that's the case, is there a way to clean up the references that some of these content items are using? Or is there some other way to solve this?
Full exception:

2013-12-06 18:19:45,992 [6] ERROR Umbraco.Web.UmbracoApplication -
  [Thread 7] An unhandled exception occurred
  System.Web.HttpUnhandledException (0x80004005): Exception of type
  'System.Web.HttpUnhandledException' was thrown. --->
  System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance
  of an object.    at
  umbraco.editorControls.ultimatepicker.ultimatePickerDataEditor.Save()
  at umbraco.controls.ContentControl.SaveClick(Object sender,
  ImageClickEventArgs e)    at
  umbraco.controls.ContentControl.SavePublish(Object sender,
  ImageClickEventArgs e)    at
  System.Web.UI.WebControls.ImageButton.OnClick(ImageClickEventArgs e)
  at System.Web.UI.WebControls.ImageButton.RaisePostBackEvent(String
  eventArgument)    at System.Web.UI.Page.ProcessRequestMain(Boolean
  includeStagesBeforeAsyncPoint, Boolean includeStagesAfterAsyncPoint)
  at System.Web.UI.Page.HandleError(Exception e)    at
  System.Web.UI.Page.ProcessRequestMain(Boolean
  includeStagesBeforeAsyncPoint, Boolean includeStagesAfterAsyncPoint)
  at System.Web.UI.Page.ProcessRequest(Boolean
  includeStagesBeforeAsyncPoint, Boolean includeStagesAfterAsyncPoint)
  at System.Web.UI.Page.ProcessRequest(Boolean
  includeStagesBeforeAsyncPoint, Boolean includeStagesAfterAsyncPoint)
  at System.Web.UI.Page.ProcessRequest()    at
  System.Web.UI.Page.ProcessRequest(HttpContext context)    at
  System.Web.UI.Page.ProcessRequest(HttpContext context)    at
  System.Web.HttpApplication.CallHandlerExecutionStep.System.Web.HttpApplication.IExecutionStep.Execute()
  at
  System.Web.HttpApplication.CallHandlerExecutionStep.System.Web.HttpApplication.IExecutionStep.Execute()
  at System.Web.HttpApplication.ExecuteStep(IExecutionStep step,
  Boolean& completedSynchronously)

A: OK, here's the odd, crazy rundown of what happened:

*

*Somewhere, somehow along the development chain someone installed a Starter Kit on Umbraco. When the site was first created, it didn't have a Starter Kit. So it had to be on one of our testing environments

*This didn't happen on production as the Install folder was removed.

*So, there was the Homepage, Textpage, and Product types lingering and one was added to one of our document types

*Since there was sample data on testing, staging for that document type, it didn't get a null reference exception on publish, however on publish on production it DID get a null reference exception

I found this by pulling down the Umbraco 4.11 tag on GitHub, adding it to my project, and then debugging on Save/Publish. I found there was an errant property trying to save with no data. This is actually because of the recycling bin being cleared, oddly enough. There wasn't data, so it threw a null reference when trying to iterate through the items.
The moral of the story? Lock down any Starter Kits from being added once you started custom development. Also, don't clear the recycling bin unless you know for sure it won't impact your site, i.e. this shouldn't have been done on production initially.
The recycling bin is great, it's just that there WAS a property relying on data that no longer was present,

A: Cleaning the recycle bin shouldn't affect it, unless your data type was relying (getting node information) on it? (Doesn't make sense, but...)
Anyways I would check the umbraco log files, the database log table and see what's the output.
Did you change some document types? Check also the code that's relying on them, might be a simple issue that you can spot right on.
For the time being, can you re-create a new data type that uses that ultimate picker and add it again to a test document type and see if it saving/publishing works? Fixing this issue in production, might be similar to change a a flat tire of car while moving on the road. I would recomend you to it in a DEV or STAGING environment.
Can you provide us more detail on the exception?
Good luck!

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Home > CAD > Cloud-Based CAD
Related topics: AEC, Cadalyst Special Focus: Summer on the Cloud 2017, Management, Manufacturing
Cloud-Based CAD
Harnessing the Cloud for CAD: The Case for Virtual Workstations
27 Jun, 2017 By: Alex Herrera
Herrera on Hardware: The demands of CAD-heavy workflows in manufacturing, design, architecture, and construction are growing. Some companies are looking beyond their local machines, and implementing virtual computing options to augment or replace traditional deskside and laptop workstations.
Workstations, virtualization, and the cloud — this trio of technology tools is joining forces, ready to transform the way design teams deploy and use workstation-caliber systems to tackle the increasingly challenging issues facing cutting-edge CAD workflows.
The first component of that trio is the tried-and-true foundation that CAD users and IT administrators have long relied on to power visually intensive workflows quickly and reliably. The second is a more recent computing tool that enables users to run their familiar client desktops on shared datacenter resources. And the third represents today's hottest markets and technologies, upon which IT vendors and users alike are looking to resolve the future's thorniest computing problems. Today, the confluence of the three is creating a valuable new weapon for the CAD IT arsenal: Cloud-hosted virtual workstations are here.
We've seen this potential and evolution of cloud-hosted virtual workstations coming for a while; I discussed some of the evolving supporting products and technologies over the past couple of years in "New Computing Solutions for CAD Take Fuller Advantage of the Cloud" and "Is Cloud-Based CAD Ready for Prime Time?" This month, I kick off a series on what this cloud-based technology is all about: Why it's appealing, whether you should consider its adoption, and key considerations to take in deployment. This first installment explains what virtual workstations are and how they work, and also explores whether your business and workflow might benefit from adopting them in place of traditional, physical workstations.
Why a Virtual Workstation?
Traditional deskside and laptop workstations power the vast majority of CAD environments today. They have done so for years, reliably and effectively. But some businesses — particularly those running CAD-heavy workflows in manufacturing, design, architecture, and construction — are finding it increasingly difficult to satisfy the demands imposed by a host of growing challenges. Skyrocketing dataset sizes, dynamic workflows, a globally distributed workforce that needs immediate access to complex visual data, heightened concerns of security, and the constant incursion of personal digital devices into the workplace: all are conspiring to push traditional, distributed client environments to the brink.
Huge files no longer take seconds to transfer from client to client, or site to site — instead it might be minutes or even hours. Security risks spread, while the burden of protecting priceless IP has never been heavier. And complex projects are more often requiring teams assembled not just from employees, but also contractors and consultants who might be in the field or in an office halfway around the world. Yet, all need access to the same datasets, on demand, from wherever they are at the moment — and that data must be up to date.
In urgent need of solutions to these growing problems, businesses that rely on high-performance visual computing for CAD are beginning to look elsewhere, and one solution shining particularly brightly is the virtual workstation.
What Is a Virtual Workstation?
With the traditional, distributed client-side model that now dominates professional computing, all user processing and rendering is performed locally by the client computer. But with a virtual workstation approach, a remote server hosts a virtual representation of that machine, somewhere in the cloud or possibly in a corporate-owned datacenter. That virtual workstation performs everything that the physical machine at the desk would: running the operating system (OS) and applications, and processing graphics. Only the final displayed image — the pixel stream — traverses the network, to a simple client that need only display those pixels and handle any user input (e.g., commands from the keyboard and mouse).
In the traditional, tried-and-true environment of distributed workstation clients, the client handles at least part of the computing.
In the server-centric, cloud-capable virtual workstation environment, the entire compute burden is lifted off clients.
How Virtual Workstations Can Address CAD Needs
The ability of a virtualized workstation environment to store one golden set of data safely in one place looks particularly attractive when considering the explosion in the size of today's ambitious and complex project datasets. With a virtualized, centralized IT environment, it makes no difference if staff is located all in the same building or scattered across the globe. With potentially massive, global teams comprising employees, contractors, and partners, success hinges on IT's ability to efficiently connect people to the data, without costly, time-consuming copies and downloads.
When machines are no longer physically moved around — just virtually and dynamically allocated — IT administration becomes faster, simpler, and less error-prone. De-provisioning one user while provisioning another is fast, making rapid expansion and contraction over a project's life far less problematic. And centralized control and management consoles can simplify and streamline administration overhead, particularly for geographically dispersed enterprises.
By design, the use of virtual workstations hardens corporate security. Critical IP never strays beyond company grounds on laptops and flash drives. Only pixels cross corporate firewalls, and those pixel streams can be (and typically are) encrypted. Better still, virtually any device can suffice, regardless of OS or underlying hardware, making personal smartphones, tablets, or Macs capable and safe for CAD-related work.
The advantages of such a virtual workstation environment appeal as much in CAD as in any other application — and arguably more. In the CAD world, huge, visually complex datasets abound, numerous scattered staff and third parties must contribute and collaborate, and security is paramount. So it's no surprise that some of the earliest adopters are coming from the automotive, aerospace, and architecture spaces. Consider Honda Automotive, which having completed several successful proof-of-concept trials, is green-lighting the deployment of around 10,000 virtual workstations to replace physical deskside machines. Or CannonDesign, a Top 50 architecture firm that is moving to a virtual workstation environment to ease the growing problem of managing huge Revit designs spread across as many as 16 corporate sites.
Virtual or Physical: Which Is Right for Your Business?
The benefits are compelling, and everyone who relies heavily on CAD run on conventional deskside workstations should explore this new potential of virtual workstations. But it's important to know that there is neither a mandate nor a one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to deploying them. Virtual workstations might represent a replacement to deskside machines, an add-on to a traditional client-side environment, or neither. Which situations call for virtual solutions, and which are probably best left (at least for now) to physical ones? Ultimately, answers to these questions depend largely on who you are, what you do, and how you work.
For example, the locations where your staff works and lives — and the ways in which they need to collaborate — matter. How unwieldy your datasets are today, and how you see them growing down the road, will have a big impact on the choice.
Security is important to all, but a virtual approach will appeal especially to more vulnerable companies, or those for whom a breach would be catastrophic. Similarly, while no business wants outages and long recovery times due to natural disaster, for some the probability might be substantially higher — and the penalties far more severe.
A move to a virtual workstation environment comes with mandatory infrastructure requirements, including access to a capable network with high, reliable bandwidth and consistently low round-trip latencies. Businesses that have that access or have the means to acquire it — particularly for the wide-area network (WAN) — can consider going virtual. (More to come on this topic in a future installment).
Since most virtual workstations run the identical client operating system users run on traditional workstations, such as Windows, they are inherently compatible with applications that run on those operating systems. However, you will want to make sure any virtual workstation solution you're considering is certified for use with your mission-critical application, just as you would with a traditional deskside workstation.
Virtual platforms do not typically support every possible peripheral a user may demand, and high-demand input and output (I/O) can impact visual performance. Tasks and workflows with more pedestrian peripheral requirements (e.g., mouse and keyboard) are a better fit for virtual workstations, though specific I/O support will vary by solution.
Some key decision criteria to consider in the decision to go virtual or not.
Consider how your specific business and workflow measure up on these key criteria. Don't find many that are calling out for a virtual approach? Then you may be better off sticking with traditional physical workstations, at least for now. But if you find you're checking off most of these items, and more than a few represent hot-button issues for your business, then it's probably time to consider taking the plunge into the world of virtual workstations.
For more on hosting virtual workstations in the cloud, keep an eye out for more Herrera on Hardware columns focusing on these topics, coming soon. Over the next few months, I'll explore the following considerations:
Making the case for virtual workstations in the cloud: What a cloud offers that VDI can't
Considerations in deploying cloud-hosted virtual workstations for CAD, including whether to exploit public or private cloud resources, or some hybrid of the two
Looking forward: Where a cloud-centric CAD workflow can lead.
Editor's Note: Read "Harnessing the Cloud for CAD: The Case for Virtual Workstations, Part 2" here.
About the Author: Alex Herrera
About Alex Herrera
See contents by Alex Herrera
More News and Resources from Cadalyst Partners
For Mold Designers! Cadalyst has an area of our site focused on technologies and resources specific to the mold design professional. Sponsored by Siemens NX. Visit the Equipped Mold Designer here!
For Architects! Cadalyst has an area of our site focused on technologies and resources specific to the building design professional. Sponsored by HP. Visit the Equipped Architect here!


text:
Q: Estimating tablespace size I'm trying to estimate the size of a tablespace using these steps: Space Estimations for Schema Objects
and I was little confused about some of the steps. In step 3 for calculating the rowsize I first need to calculate the column size and then the sum of all column sizes in the table, I was wondering how I get the column size value without having actually created the table yet do I have to create sample data and then use vsize()? or am I missunderstanding what the column size is..
Also these steps in the link are for estimating the size of a table (?) so if I wanted to estimate the size of the tablespace would I just take the sum of all the estimated table sizes?

A: Are you using Oracle 7? If not, please make sure to always use current versions of documentation. Oracle is already on 12C, and while some concepts still the same, a huge part of features has changed.
You actually won't get column size. This is why it is only an "estimate". You need to have an idea of what you are going to need, and then you can use the package dbms_space with the create_table_cost procedure to get an idea of space required.
For example:
I need to create a table with 3 columns (val1, val2, val3), and I know each one is going to take up 4bytes (3 of literals, like abc, and the leading byte that varchar2 takes). I also estimate that this table will have approximately 1000 rows. Now just think about cartesian graph:
row_count
^
|
|
|
|-----------> avg_row_len

and use the following to estimate the size:
 set serveroutputon
    DECLARE
      estimated_used_size   NUMBER;
      allocated  NUMBER;
    BEGIN
        DBMS_SPACE.create_table_cost (
        tablespace_name => 'USERS',
        avg_row_size    => 12,
        row_count       => 1000,
        pct_free        => 10,
        used_bytes      => estimated_used_size,
        alloc_bytes     => allocated);

      DBMS_OUTPUT.put_line ('the table (TS=USERS): will use =' || estimated_used_size ||' bytes  to be allocated =' ||  allocated);
end;
/

Regarding your last question, to estimate the size of an existing table, you can check the view dba_segments (also to query index and other objects size).
Example:
SQL> SELECT bytes/1024/1024 "Size in MB" FROM dba_segments WHERE segment_name = 'TABLE_NAME_HERE' AND segment_type = 'TABLE';


O'Gara, E., Guest, D.I., Vawdrey, L., Langdon, P. and Diczbalis, Y. (2004) Phytophthora diseases in durian and durian decline syndrome in Far-North Queensland. In: Drenth, A. and Guest, D.I., (eds.) Diversity and Management of Phytophthora in Southeast Asia. Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, Canberra, pp. 143-152.
Durian is the most popular fruit in Southeast Asia, with high economic and cultural value to the producing countries, which include Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. The greatest threat to durian production in all countries is Phytophthora palmivora, which affects all stages of the cropping cycle. This chapter describes the diseases caused by P. palmivora, and their epidemiology. The chapter also describes a perplexing durian-decline syndrome which occurs in northern Queensland, where it appears that P. palmivora is operating in a complex with Pythium vexans and nematodes from the Xiphenema genus. Early control recommendations and their limitations are described, which leads to a discussion of integrated disease management principles and their applicability to the control of phytophthora diseases in durian.


text:
Wahine rank No. 8, for now, in first power rating
By Ann Miller
This week's inaugural NCAA women's volleyball power rating probably went over big the moment it was released in Indianapolis. The reaction grew more subdued as news headed West.
Hawaii (19-1), which takes a 14-match winning streak into tonight's Western Athletic Conference match against Utah State, is No. 8 in the NCAA RPI. It follows Illinois, Nebraska, Iowa State, Minnesota, Northern Iowa and Florida State.
Postseason brackets are based on that RPI, which now changes weekly. The Rainbow Wahine could have a shot at playing an NCAA subregional in the Stan Sheriff Center (Dec. 1-2) for the first time since 2003.
WAHINE VOLLEYBALL
» What: Western Athletic Conference
» Where: Stan Sheriff Center
» When: 7 tonight vs. Utah State; 5 p.m. Sunday vs. Idaho
» TV: Live on OC Sports, Ch. 12
» Radio: Live on KKEA, 1420-AM
WAC STANDINGS
Hawaii 19-1 7-0
New Mexico St. 17-5 6-1
Idaho 11-9 5-2
Utah State 9-12 4-4
Fresno State 9-11 3-4
San Jose State 8-13 3-5
Nevada 4-15 1-6
Louisiana Tech 9-15 0-7
* Nevada def. Seattle 3-0
Utah State at HAWAII
NMSU at LaTech
Nevada at Fresno State
Idaho at HAWAII
* — nonconference
Don't start looking for tickets yet, even though a new NCAA regulation gives the 16 seeded teams the option of hosting first and second rounds.
Even if Hawaii wins all its matches between now and the beginning of December, its RPI will fall because WAC opponents rate so low. It is so bad coaches wondered, semi-seriously, if UH would be better forfeiting to Louisiana Tech, which has an RPI of 257 and a nonconference schedule loaded with teams even worse.
"Every time we play a WAC match our RPI goes down," UH coach Dave Shoji says. "Beating Notre Dame (No. 54) allows us to tread water and be about the same, but when we play LaTech it drags us down. Fresno State (159), Nevada (240) and San Jose (190) all drag us down.
"But we've known that."
It might remain a problem next year when the Wahine move to the Big West. That conference barely has a team in the top 60 (Long Beach State at No. 59), but it does have five teams in the Top 100. New Mexico State (51) is the only other WAC team that high.
Most striking about the first RPI was the lack of Pac-12 teams up high. Five are ranked in the top seven of the AVCA Coaches Top 25. Stanford, Southern Cal and UCLA top the RPI at 9, 10 and 12. California, ranked second by the coaches, is 27th. Washington, the team that ended Hawaii's season last year in the NCAA's second round, is 33rd.
"Those are not a surprise because people know Cal and Washington played soft (preseason) schedules," Shoji says. "But they have really skewed this RPI in the wrong way. You know that both of those are very, very good teams with final-four capabilities, yet they are ranked 27th and 33rd. That's just upsetting because it's going to happen again this year — either one of those teams are prime candidates to be our opponents in the second round."
The Pac-12 teams can't help but move up now that they are playing each other. The RPI is based on your opponents, and your opponents' opponents. It can make for some cheers you never thought you'd hear.
Hawaii is pulling hard for Pepperdine (17), Cincinnati (28), Ohio State (43) and Wichita State (47) to finish fast because it beat all those teams the first month.
New Mexico State coach Mike Jordan, whose team beat rival New Mexico (96) for the first time in three years, has become "the biggest Lobo backer you have ever seen."
Injuries won't slow UH's Laurel
Rangers rally in 9th, beat Cards to even Series


text:
J Korean Neurosurg Soc. 1998 Aug;27(8):1109-1116. Korean. Original Article.
Clinical Analysis of 54 Cases with Spondylolisthesis.
Lee YK , Cho YD , Cho J , Moon CT , Chang SK .
Department of Neurosurgery, Seoul Hospital, Kon-Kuk University, Medical Center, Seoul, Korea.
Most cases of spondylolisthesis are asymptomatic and successfully managed with conservative treatment. Operation was performed in 20% of symptomatic cases having severe back pain, neurological symptoms and/or progressive slipping. Although surgical treatments are divided into decompression and fusion, various methods were tried from simple Gill's resection to posterior and/or anterior fusion with instrumentation in case of severe slipping. The authors reviewed 54 cases of symptomatic spondylolisthesis, who were surgically treated, and had follow up evaluations our institution during past 6 years from March, 1990, to March, 1996. 1) The age distribution was from 19 to 64 years of age and the highest prevalent decade was at the 5th. 2) There were 14 male and 40 female patients with female preponderance about 3 to 1 ratio. 3) Thirty one cases were isthmic type and 23 cases were degenerative type. The ratio between isthmic type and degenerative type was about 2:1. 4) The displacement between L4 and L5 was 25 cases and the displacement between L5 and sacrum was 18 cases, and others were L3 and L4, L4 and sacrum, L5 and L6. 5) Overall results are excellent in 7 cases(13%), good 35 cases(65%), fair 10 cases(19%), and poor 2 cases(4%). 6) There were no changes in slipping in 23 cases(42.6%). Occurred in partial reduction were possible in 30 cases (55.5%), and further slipping developed was 1 case(1.9%).
MeSH Terms expand_less expand_more Age Distribution Back Pain Decompression Female Follow-Up Studies Humans Male Sacrum Spondylolisthesis


text:
NBA Trade Rumors: Thunder's Chris Paul, Steven Adams, More 'All Available'
Tim Daniels@TimDanielsBRTwitter LogoFeatured ColumnistDecember 10, 2019
Zach Beeker/Getty Images
The Oklahoma City Thunder are reportedly making several of their veteran players, including guard Chris Paul, forward Danilo Gallinari and center Steven Adams, "available" ahead of the 2020 NBA trade deadline in February.
Kevin O'Connor of The Ringer reported Tuesday that OKC's modest 11-12 record, which currently ranks seventh in the Western Conference, hasn't altered the front office's focus on the future and it's willing to take on "big salaries" in order to improve the return assets as part of dealing its vets.
Paul was acquired from the Houston Rockets in July as part of the blockbuster trade that sent Russell Westbrook to H-Town for a reunion with James Harden.
He's one of the league's most decorated point guards with a resume that features nine All-Star appearances, four All-NBA First Team selections and seven NBA All-Defensive First Team honors.
Paul has averaged 16 points, 5.9 assists and 4.1 rebounds across 23 appearances for OKC. The assist total is on pace to set a career-low as he's split ball-handling duties with Dennis Schroder, but he's one of the NBA's top distributors with a career average of 9.6 assists.
The 34-year-old Wake Forest product told Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated last week he was "shocked" by his trade to the Thunder, and he's unsure what will happen next.
"I try to control what I can control," Paul said. "And for me, that is preparing to play every night. Doing my workout. Doing my training. Hooping."
His on-court ability would provide a boost to just about any contender, but his fiery, ultra-competitive attitude might not be the best fit for every title hopeful team.
Gallinari could generate interest from the Portland Trail Blazers, who are seeking frontcourt and wing depth alongside the star backcourt tandem of Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum following a series of injuries, per O'Connor.
The 31-year-old Italian has transitioned from small forward to the role of stretch 4 since joining the Thunder in the July trade that allowed Paul George to join Kawhi Leonard with the Los Angeles Clippers. He's excelled, averaging 18.3 points while shooting 40.3 percent on threes in 22 games.
Adams has quietly put together a terrific career in Oklahoma City. He doesn't need to touch the ball consistently on offense (9.7 career PPG) to make an impact as he's once again illustrated this season by averaging 9.3 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.3 blocks while shooting 61.7 percent from the field.
It will probably fly under the radar if he's dealt at the deadline, especially if the Thunder also move Paul and Gallinari, but he could make the biggest impact of the trio in the right situation with a contender.
Ian Begley from SNY joins "The Full 48 with Howard Beck" to discuss David Fizdale and the New York Knicks!


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Afghanistan's "Militia" Problem: Can Local Defense Forces Replace Private Security Firms?
Publication: Terrorism Monitor Volume: 8 Issue: 32
By: Michael A. Innes
August 12, 2010 07:56 PM Age: 12 years
An ISAF transport plane landing in Afghanistan.
Afghanistan's President, Hamid Karzai, gave a speech on August 7 at the Civil Services Institute in Kabul in which he discussed his government's reliance on foreign consultants and the role of private security firms. He proposed cuts to the former, and in the case of the latter, outright closure – heavily critical of what he argued is their role in perpetuating violence and instability in the country (Tolo TV, August 7). Karzai's speech was hardly surprising in its content, and was illustrative of a longer-term concern, both in Afghanistan and in the West, with commercial providers of security and military services on the one hand, and their close cousins, warlords and private militias, on the other.
Karzai's speech also came at a time of heightened sensitivity to several issues:
• Blurring of the conceptual lines between private militias, private security firms and local policing or self-defense units.
• Past damage caused to Afghanistan and its people by private armies and their potential to do more of the same now and in the future.
• American interest in bolstering local self-defense and policing capacity – with its clear potential as a militia feeder.
• Endemic Afghan government corruption.
• Anxiety over the withdrawal from ISAF of troop contributing states over the next few years.
There is little reason to expect, amidst all this, that legal, commercial and bureaucratic controls will prevent various security initiatives from eventually collapsing under the weight of private interests. There is every reason to expect that such tensions will continue to tug and pull at Afghanistan, perpetuating a vulnerable state of affairs much loved by insurgents. Ultimately, the elimination of surrogate forces – be they regulated, commercial providers of security and military services or illegally-armed groups in the service of individual warlords – is an experiment meant to favor both the state control of local militias and the timing of foreign troop withdrawal.
The Costs of Contracting
While U.S. strategy for Afghanistan is ostensibly focused on a 2011 withdrawal, attention has also recently turned to its sizeable contractor community. This is not a new story. A burgeoning Department of Defense contractor culture has been noted for several years now and in particular saw exponential growth following the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Abroad, large basing operations – like that at Kandahar – also represent a significant jackpot for local actors, who vie for access to base employment, service contracts and other economic vehicles. The expansion of International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) operations in Afghanistan since 2006 is thus a major target for corrupt practice.
Provision of security and military services is a narrower subset of contracted activities, but it is by far the most contentious given that it comes equipped for violence and, if recent history is any indication, a propensity for getting caught in individual displays of indiscipline and criminal behavior. Presently, the focus is on limiting the potential for corporate malfeasance by ensuring more active and transparent management of contracts. In early July, for example, NATO/ISAF established Task Force 2010. Headed by Rear Admiral Kathleen Dussault (U.S. Navy), the unit is responsible for ensuring the effective distribution of contracting funds for their "intended purpose" in support of ISAF's counterinsurgency strategy (Tolo TV, July 8). [1]
Task Force 2010 is part of the International Contracting Corruption Task Force, which gathers and provides evidence of corrupt practices to Afghanistan's government for further handling. This wider interest is meant to be consistent with the "Afghan First Policy," which stipulates that U.S. "procurement and contracted work services" in Afghanistan should go to Afghan companies first, and if no such local capacity exists, it should be developed. [2]
Corruption complicates development processes everywhere, of course, and is hardly unique to Afghanistan. It has, however, been a prominent part of the public debate on Western support for the Karzai government, widely considered to be shot through with nepotism, graft and corruption. In that light, moves to abolish private security firms in Afghanistan would require high-stakes maneuvering between government and business elites. In theory, shutting them down should help consolidate the means of violence under the banner of the state – a baseline condition for a bolstered, self-reliant Afghanistan. Given the commercial stakes involved, however, whose interests are served or harmed by such measures remains an open question.
Local Self-Policing
Since taking command of ISAF this summer, U.S. Army General David Petraeus has placed responsibility for self-defense and self-policing squarely on Afghan shoulders – a move no doubt modeled on the successful use of tribal militias in Iraq and designed to foster Afghan self-reliance ahead of the withdrawal of U.S. and Allied forces. Statements made by various press officers and other sources suggest that there are challenges involved in effectively communicating this. One source explained the difference between Petraeus' local policing project and private militias. The former, he explained, are "simple, local self-protection forces, more akin to a village security force," whereas "militias or private armies operate at the behest of one individual." Local self-protection forces would operate under Interior Ministry and local police control, and receive salaries from the government (Dawn [Karachi], July 13).
A number of cases have since been touted as success stories, but there is a degree of double-speak at work in how they are defined and promoted. Karzai, formerly critical of the creation of armed militias, has become an avid supporter of Petraeus' local policing program, and ISAF officials have appeared in local media to press the case for it (Tolo TV, July 30). An ISAF press release in late July, for example, described the efforts of Afghans in the Pusht-e Rod district of Farah Province to repel insurgent elements from their villages. It went on to explain that "Pashtun communities have traditionally used a wide array of policing forces," but "Coalition officials stressed these community watch programs are not militias; instead, they are defensive, village-level policing forces under the control of local shuras and jirgas, with a connection to the Afghan government." [3]
Elsewhere, officials have provided contradictory or misleading details on the nature of a U.S. Army Special Forces program to train local self-defense units. This suggests that while such efforts may look good on paper, they may indeed, in practice, also live up to the fears of many Afghans who view them as little more than old wine in new bottles. [4] Afghan officials in Shindand district, for example, charged that they were not consulted in the formation of the "village defense forces," and that such groups "had been deployed without coordination with local police." Their counterparts in Kabul, on the other hand, have indicated otherwise – though not without qualification. By mid-July, a deal had been struck under which the village defense units would be subsumed" into Petraeus' local police forces under Interior Ministry control. [5]
The Soviet-era experience with predatory militias (Arbaki) in Afghanistan will make the measure difficult to sell locally. Predictably, the creation of pro-government militias did not please existing armed groups at large in Afghanistan. A press release from the Taliban's Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan said the move to form militias was nothing more than a revival of "that notorious and failed plan" to create such forces under the rule of Najibullah, the late Communist president of Afghanistan. The notorious militias of that time "not only ignited the fire of thefts, killings, barbarism and ethnic prejudice but they also became the cause of the failure of that regime" (Benawa.com, July 27). Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's Hezb-i-Islami likewise said the formation of local militias would not yield any fruitful results (Shahadat [Peshawar], August 9).
In a commentary by Dr. Bashir Musa Nafi that appeared in pan-Arab daily al-Quds al-Arabi, the analyst noted:
"Tribal militias are nothing but a resurrection of the warlords and the armed gangs that caused havoc in the country in the years of infighting and civil chaos in the period between the Soviet withdrawal in 1989 and the moment when the Taliban imposed their authority on most of Afghanistan in 1996. There are considerable and essential differences between the Iraqi situation and the situation in Afghanistan, and it is difficult to transpose the Iraqi Awakening experience to the Afghan scene effectively… If militias become stable entities with local material interests, in the end, it is most likely that they will contribute considerably to the eruption of a civil war that will be more or less long, depending on different objective factors" (al-Quds al-Arabi, July 23).
Meanwhile, a broad range of Afghan media outlets has also roundly criticized the militia initiative. One Kabul newspaper asked who will guarantee that the militias will not attack people's lives and assets, while a local weekly pointed out that the Arbaki were already a proven failure in Afghanistan (Manedegar [Kabul], July 20; Mosharekat-e Melli Weekly [Kabul], July 20). The proposal was also criticized as having benefits only for the Taliban and for allowing the possibility of the Taliban to exploit the plan to receive arms and other equipment (Payam-e Mujahed [Kabul], July 25; Arman-e Melli [Kabul], July 24).
1. See ISAF Public Affairs Office, "New Task Force Stands Up To Combat Contract Corruption," ISAF Press Release (8 July 2010), URL: https://www.isaf.nato.int/article/news/new-task-force-stands-up-to-combat-contract-corruption.html.
2. ISAF Public Affairs Office, "Linking Contracting in Afghanistan To A Winning COIN Strategy," ISAF Press Release (30 July 2010), URL: https://www.isaf.nato.int/article/isaf-releases/isaf-conference-focus-linking-contracting-in-afghanistan-to-a-winning-coin-strategy.html.
3. ISAF Joint Command – Afghanistan, "Afghans In Farah Take First Step Toward Stabilizing Communities," ISAF Press Release (July 27, 2010).
4. "International Forces Deny Funding Afghan Militia," Afghan Crisis Report (Institute for War & Peace Reporting, July 27, 2010).
TM_008_79.pdf
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Playing without the services of Shamorie Ponds, the No. 24/23 St. John's men's basketball team failed to fend off DePaul on its home floor, dropping a 79-71 decision to the Blue Demons at Carnesecca Arena.
Trailing by just one at the half, St. John's (14-3, 2-3 BIG EAST) saw the Blue Demons pull away on the other side of the break before a late Red Storm run cut the deficit to five with less than a minute to go. The two teams were tied at 39 with 14:30 to play before DePaul outscored the Red Storm 31-19 over the next 11 minutes.
Ponds, who failed to dress for the fourth time in his St. John's career due to a strain in his lower back, ranked third in the BIG EAST with 20.6 points per game entering the weekend. He also topped the league in assists (6.0 per game) and steals (2.7 per game) while placing second in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.9-to-1). Without Ponds controlling the offense, St. John's lost the turnover battle for the first time this season, coughing up 11 possessions while forcing just nine DePaul turnovers.
Marvin Clark II registered the second double-double of his collegiate tenure, posting 14 points and a career-high 12 boards. The Michigan State transfer also recorded two steals.
LJ Figueroa sank nine of his 14 tries from the floor, including a 3-of-5 showing from three-point range, to finish with a team-high 23 points. The former junior college All-American also dished out three assists and grabbed three rebounds in 37 minutes.
Justin Simon netted a season-high 20 points after turning in a 10-of-16 effort from the field. He also tallied a game-high seven assists.
Mustapha Heron also finished in double figures with 11 points on the evening.
Long Island native Femi Olujobi poured in 27 points and corralled eight boards to lead the Blue Demons to their second-straight win. Paul Reed (18 points, 10 rebounds) and Max Strus (14 points, 12 rebounds) posted double-doubles for DePaul.
DePaul (10-5, 2-2 BIG EAST) attempted 28 free throws while the Red Storm recorded just six tries from the charity stripe on its home floor. On the game, fouls were 21-9 in favor of the Blue Demons.
Ahead 12-10 following a Simon jumper with 13:37 to go in the opening stanza, DePaul scored five unanswered to take a seven-point lead, its largest lead of the half, with just under 12 minutes to play in the period.
Trailing by that same seven-point margin, 21-14, two minutes later, the Johnnies kept the Blue Demons off the board for the next 4:18, rattling off an 8-0 run to take their first lead of the game, 22-21, on a Simon drive with 5:45 to play in the period.
Down one, 31-30, at the break, St. John's reclaimed the lead on the opening possession of the second half thanks to a Heron jumper.
With the game tied at 39 five minutes later, DePaul unleashed a 13-4 run to take its largest lead of the game to that point, 52-43, with just over 10 minutes to play in regulation.
Trailing 58-49 with 8:20 to go, Clark ripped off five-straight points to cut the lead to four and force a DePaul timeout. The Blue Demons then outscored the Johnnies 12-4 over the next four minutes to take its largest lead of the contest, 70-58, with 3:30 to play.
The Red Storm returns to action on Wednesday night, playing host to Creighton at 6:30 p.m. on FS1 and 970 AM WNYM.
Prior to the game, St. John's honored the legacy of the late great Solly Walker by renaming the athletic department's academic study hall in his memory. Walker, the first African-American to suit up for the Red Storm, played a key role on St. John's teams that reached the 1952 Final Four and the championship game of the 1953 NIT. After graduation, Walker embarked on a long and successful career in education, dedicating decades of his life as a teacher and principal in the New York City public school system. An unmatched ambassador for St. John's University throughout his life, Walker, who passed away in 2017 at the age of 85, always took a particular interest in the academic accomplishment of Red Storm student-athletes.
The University also celebrated the creation of the Solly Walker Academic Support Services Fund, developed and funded by the Shannon Family and dedicated to providing financial support for the continued success of St. John's student-athletes on and off the fields of competition.
St. John's Head Coach Chris Mullin, Marvin Clark II and Justin Simon spoke to the media after Saturday's loss to DePaul, 79-71.


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Q: overflow in division in assembly(8086) I don't know what is the exact definition of overflow in the division. can you explain it first and then instruct it by the below example?
for example my book has written that this piece of code results to overflow. I don't know why??
mov dx,0087h
mov ax,6002h
mov bx,10h
div bx

but this piece of code is correct and doesn't result to overflow:
mov dx,0087h
mov ax,6000h
mov bx,100h
div bx

so why the first result into overflow but second not what is the difference?

A: The dividend in registers DX and AX is in fact a 32bit number, in your example it is 00876002h.
It will be divided by the divisor BX and the result (quotient) should fit in register AX. The remainder after unsigned division will be put into register DX.
When you try to divide 00876002h by the contents of BX (10h), the result is 87600h and remainder is 2. Now you should see why it triggers an error: quotient 87600h is too big to fit into 16bit register AX.
Divide overflow (alias division by zero) happens when the divisor is too small. Your example will overflow when BX is below DX.

A: 0x00876002 / 0x10 = 0x87600, so the quotient of DX:AX / BX doesn't fit in AX, thus you get a #DE exception.  Intel's instruction reference manual (x86 SDM vol. 2) has detailed descriptions of every instruction, and the entry for div explains this.  There's an HTML extract of the div entry here.  See the x86 tag wiki for links to Intel's docs, and other stuff.
Dividing by 10h is a right shift by 1 hex digit, but the high-half of the input, DX, has 2 significant hex digits.
x86 Assembly: Division Floating Point Exception dividing by 11 is mostly a duplicate of this, and @rcgldr's answer has code for extended-precision division (e.g. 32-bit / 16-bit producing a 32-bit quotient and 16-bit remainder) using div that works for an arbitrary 16-bit divisor.

In your specific case you're dividing by a power of 2.  This is very inefficient with div.
For these power-of-2 divisions, you should use
; input in DX:AX

shrd ax, dx, 4      ; right shift AX, shifting in bits from DX
shr  dx, 4          ; separately right shift DX

; DX:AX = 0008:7600 = 0x87600 = 32-bit quotient

If you want the remainder, it's the low 4 bits of the original AX, which you should get with mov cl, al / and cl, 0Fh.
SHRD only modifies its destination, not the source, so you need that 2nd shr on DX.  This makes sense for larger extended-precision shifts: you want to use a chain of SHRD instructions to shift bits into the top of each element in turn, and don't want to shift in zeros.
Or if you can't use 386 instructions like shrd, you can emulate SHRD with a left and right shift and an OR.  Original 8086 doesn't have immediate-count shifts either, so you'd need a count in CL.
; 8086-compatible version of 32-bit division by 10h, i.e. right shift by 4.
; input in DX:AX

mov  bx, dx
mov  cl, 16-4
shl  bx, cl       ; bx = the bits shifted across the 16-bit boundary into low half

mov  cl, 4
shr  ax, cl
shr  dx, cl       ; discards the bits shifted out

or   ax, bx       ; replace the 4 zeros at the top of AX with the bits from DX

; quotient in DX:AX

Or if you know that the result won't overflow, like in the divide-by 100h (right shift by 8) case, you can use just one SHRD.