text:
Expanded and Remastered Music News
Popular Standards/Vocal
Classical/Opera
Release Round-Up
Second Disc Records
/ The Bar-Kays
December 10, 2020 By Sam Stone Leave a Comment
Over the past few months you've probably heard us mention Vinyl Me Please. The subscription-based record club frequently partners with the major labels to create exclusive pressings from across genres. They also curate Records of the Month for subscribers - available in three tracks: Classics, Essentials, and Hip Hop - specially selected by their staff to spotlight albums of importance in pop, rock, soul, world music, jazz, and beyond. This year, the offerings ran the gamut from The Stooges,
Categories: Reviews Genre: Blues, Classic Rock, Everything Else, Funk, Jazz, Pop, R&B/Soul Tags: Albert King, Buena Vista Social Club, Errol Garner, Erykah Badu, Gabor Szabo, Grateful Dead, John Mayer, McCoy Tyner, Otis Redding, Outkast, Sipritualized, Stevie Nicks, The Bar-Kays, The Stooges, The White Stripes
Vinyl Me Please is at it again! Following their celebrations of Blue Note, Motown, and Ghostly International, the subscription service is set to release a new volume of their acclaimed VMP Anthology Series. This time, they're shining a light on the history of Stax Records. As with previous volumes, The Story of Stax Records will be told in four chapters. The eight albums included in the box will be wrapped in "secrecy sleeves" that can be unveiled at specific points in the journey. Though
Categories: News Formats: Digital Streaming, Vinyl Genre: R&B/Soul Tags: Albert King, Booker T. and the MG's, David Porter, Eddie Floyd, Johnnie Taylor, Otis Redding, Sam and Dave, Steve Cropper, The Bar-Kays, William Bell
October 29, 2019 By Sam Stone 2 Comments
This fall, Craft Recordings will continue its celebration of the rich and varied sounds of Stax Records with a further batch of reissues in the Soul Explosion series. The year-long campaign puts a spotlight on Stax's years as an independent label following their split from Atlantic fifty years ago. During that period, the label released a staggering 27 albums and 30 singles in just a handful of months. With a host of hits and best-selling albums from evergreen acts and new signers-on alike, Stax
Categories: News Formats: Vinyl Genre: R&B/Soul Tags: Booker T. and the MG's, David Porter, Delaney and Bonnie, Johnnie Taylor, The Bar-Kays
July 24, 2019 By Joe Marchese 5 Comments
When the latest sequel/reboot of Shaft hit screens this past June, one essential element was missing: the music of Isaac Hayes. While the late composer-artist's seminal "Theme from Shaft" was referenced in Christopher Lennertz's score, Hayes' commanding voice was nowhere to be found - some said to the detriment of the film. While the new Shaft underperformed in theatres, it had at least one happy byproduct as Craft Recordings revisited the classic original 1971 film soundtrack with a new
Categories: News Formats: CD Genre: R&B/Soul, Soundtracks Tags: Isaac Hayes, The Bar-Kays
May 10, 2019 By Joe Marchese 1 Comment
Now in their sixth decade, The Bar-Kays' place in the R&B pantheon is assured. From the Memphis soul stew of their first single "Soul Finger" in 1967 through the funk-drenched workouts of the 1970s, the common factors have been the band's authenticity, grit, and musicianship. Now, the full story of the band has been told on Cherry Red and Robinsongs' recent release The Definitive Collection, a 3-CD, 46-song anthology spanning their 1967-1989 recordings on the Stax/Volt and Mercury
Categories: News Formats: CD Genre: Disco/Dance, Funk, R&B/Soul Tags: The Bar-Kays
February 28, 2019 By Joe Marchese 2 Comments
Record Store Day announcements are coming fast and furious, and one of the first out of the gate hails from Craft Recordings. The label has a variety of packages coming soon for the RSD festivities at your local independent retailer on Saturday, April 13! Here's the full list from Craft with descriptions provided by the label. Violent Femmes, Hallowed Ground (LP): Hallowed Ground is the follow up to the Violent Femmes' legendary self-titled 1983 debut. As with the first album, all of the
Categories: News Formats: Vinyl Genre: Pop, R&B/Soul, Rock Tags: Albert King, Bingo Hand Job, Booker T. & The MG's, Otis Redding, Record Store Day, The Bar-Kays, The Beatles, Violent Femmes
Summer of Soul (...or When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised): Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
In Remembrance: Love Songs and Lost Treasures
B.J. Thomas
Harold and Maude: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Tears Began to Fall: New Box Set Chronicles Frank Zappa and The Mothers' 1971 Fillmore East Shows, Final London Concert posted on January 14, 2022 | under News
Release Round-Up: Week of January 14 posted on January 14, 2022 | under Release Round-Up
The Weekend Stream: January 15, 2022 posted on January 15, 2022 | under Features, The Weekend Stream
Return To Itchycoo Park: Small Faces' "Here Come The Nice" Deluxe Box Set Arrives In January [UPDATED 12/3] 82 comments | by Joe Marchese | posted on December 3, 2013 | under News
British Invasion! The Beatles Unveil "The U.S. Albums" Box Set in January 69 comments | by Joe Marchese | posted on December 12, 2013 | under News
Out of Their Heads: Stones Plan Mono Box Set 47 comments | by Mike Duquette | posted on August 10, 2016 | under News
Crap from the Past
IMWAN Forum – From the Vaults
MusicTAP
Musoscribe
Pause & Play
Popblerd
Popdose
Record Racks
Steve Hoffman Music Forums
Vintage Vinyl News
Viva La Mainstream
Wolfgang's Vault
Labels of Note
Analog Spark
BGO Records
Big Break Records
Blixa Sounds
Cherry Red Label Group
Demon Music Group
Friday Music
Funky Town Grooves
Iconoclassic Records
Intervention Records
Kritzerland
La La Land Records
Legacy Recordings
Light in the Attic
Masterworks Broadway
Now Sounds
Omnivore Recordings
Real Gone Music
Resonance Records
Rhino Entertainment
Rock Candy Records
Sunset Blvd. Records
Supermegabot
Varese Sarabande
Vinyl Me Please
Copyright © 2022 The Second Disc. All rights reserved. · Site by Metaglyphics
The Second Disc is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com, amazon.ca and amazon.co.uk.


Bilateral is breathing both sides, left and right. This is done every 3 strokes (counting both arms) so your breathing alternates from side to side.
It is important to breathe bilaterally to keep your stroke symmetrical.
It will enable you to swim alot faster.
One-arm Freestyle To practice breathing to your left, leave your right arm at your side. Perform One-arm freestyle. Whenever you need to breathe, roll your head to your weaker side. If you're having trouble with this drill, grab a board. Grip the board with your right hand and lock your elbow. Perform One-arm freestyle with the board. As you roll your head to the left side, the board should help keep you afloat. This will make it easier to breathe.
Use a Single Paddle After you've mastered breathing during One-arm freestyle, take away the board. Place a paddle on your left hand and swim regular freestyle. As you swim, you will most-likely feel lopsided. Focus on evening out your stroke, especially when you breathe. Breathe every three strokes. Try to make breathing to both sides feel identical.


Being invited into private boarding homes gives BHM a unique perspective on mental health in Canada, and we are committed to engaging in the larger discourse on mental health care and spirituality through regular workshops, community consultation, research projects, student placements and education curricula.
Student Placements: BHM offers placements for students of Toronto School of Theology at the University of Toronto, where they gain frontline experience in inner city and mental health pastoral care. Responsibilities and activities include regularly visiting boarding homes, visiting residents in hospital, participating in memorial services, and writing reflections on their experiences. Past students have described the placement as invaluable to their career, as there are few alternative placements that focus on mental health care in such depth and in the unique setting of boarding homes.
Workshops: Regularly, BHM organizes workshops for volunteers focusing on aspects of the ministry, such as the importance of loving affirmation or tools for being comfortable in praying on the spot. Workshops usually last approximately two hours and include a chance to connect over a shared meal. The gathering also serves as an important opportunity to share experiences with BHM, to discuss how other teams organize their time in the homes, and to feel the encouragement of being around like-minded people.
BHM will be extending invitations to workshops beyond BHM team members to include a wider audience in the discussion of the intersection of mental health and spirituality. In congregations, families, or encounters with strangers we negotiate mental health issues as they arise and in the moment. BHM intends to cultivate a community of learning and reflection, so we might be better equipped to care for those with mental illnesses in our communities.
Writing and Research: BHM recognizes the importance of research in education and has supported or commissioned a number of pieces on mental health and spirituality.


Contractor - Restoration Resources $1,281,774.00 2012.10.18 $859,873.
Contractor - Restoration Resources $739,901.00 2015.02.19 $925,584.
Phase 3 Final EIS Doc.
Project Phasing and EIR Approach - Roberta Childers, EDAW, Inc.
Habitat Strategy - Steve Chainey, EDAW, Inc.


text:
require 'webrick'
include WEBrick  # Because AbstractDaemon is totally brain dead.

require 'omf-aggmgr/ogs/abstractDaemon'

class MockRequest
  attr_accessor :query

  def initialize(hash)
    @query = hash || {}
  end

  def [](key)
    @query[key]
  end
end

class MockDaemon < AbstractDaemon
  attr_reader :port
  def getCommand()
    'ping localhost > /dev/null'
  end
end

class Daemon1 < MockDaemon
  def self.daemon_name(req)
    "daemon1/#{req['name']}"
  end
end

class Daemon2 < MockDaemon
  def self.daemon_name(req)
    "daemon2/#{req['name']}"
  end
end

def run
  Daemon1.configure('testbed' => { 'default' => {}})
  Daemon2.configure('testbed' => { 'default' => {}})

  klasses = [ Daemon1, Daemon2 ]

  klasses.each do |klass|
    10.times do |i|
      req = MockRequest.new('domain' => "domain-#{klass.name}-#{i}",
                            'name' => "daemon-#{klass.name}-#{i}")
      klass.new(req)
    end
  end
  sleep 2

  all_pids = []

  MObject.debug(:test, "Created #{AbstractDaemon.all_classes_instances.length} daemons:")
  klasses.each do |klass|
    failed = []
    pidlist = klass.all.collect do |inst|
      all_pids << inst.pid
      begin
        Process.getpgid(inst.pid)
      rescue Errno::ESRCH
        failed << inst.pid
      end
      inst.pid.to_s
    end.join(", ")
    MObject.debug(:test, "--> #{klass.name}: #{klass.all.length} daemons; pids:  #{pidlist}")
    if failed.length > 0
      failedlist = failed.collect { |f| f.to_s }.join(", ")
      MObject.debug(:test, "--> #{klass.name}: failed to launch: #{failedlist}")
    end
  end

  AbstractDaemon.all_classes_instances.each do |inst|
    MObject.debug(:test, "Killing daemon '#{inst.name}'")
    inst.stop
  end

  sleep 1

  all_pids.each do |pid|
    begin
      Process.getpgid(pid)
      MObject.error(:test, "Daemon #{pid} failed to die!")
    rescue Errno::ESRCH
    end
  end
end

if __FILE__ == $PROGRAM_NAME then run; end

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


5 Acres & A Dream: Got Chickens? Need Nest Boxes?
Got Chickens? Need Nest Boxes?
Life On A Southern Farm is having a giveaway, one of their 2-chicken HenPals handcrafted nest boxes. Click here for details and to enter!
haha love the pic if that was my cat, no fence would stop her killing it!
Thanks! The only time I really worried about Rascal and the chickens was when they were chicks. He was really curious but lost interest as they got bigger. Fortunately!


Ah well. Again, I have been too long away. I keep getting swept under by the permanent high tide of bad news (complete with a low tide stench). The madman and half-wit minions someone thought should run our country, (into the ground) make writing about pasta seem pointless. And I resent, deeply, anyone who does that. I shouldn't speak ill of the dead (those who are dead inside, that is) but I ask myself sometimes: why crawl out of bed?
Well, that's easy actually: to bake. My daughters rely on me to keep a babbling brook of baked treats flowing through the house, so they have fuel to complain about homework and chores. Hey, it's tough to stress-bake your way out of the current atmosphere of violence and vitriol, but grab your aprons, because if we don't try, who will?
I know I have published a couple iterations of chocolate chip cookie recipes, ("Chookies," "Cookies Again") but this one includes coconut and oats and is top notch. I like these the best, and this is due, in part, to my employment of the larger of my two dough scoops. Larger cookies not only ease the psychic pain, they are more moist. But are they really more moist, or did I just manage to not overbake them? It's unclear. Indeed we live in times where one can only assume sales of large dough scoops have soared, along with "WTF?" cross-stitch throw pillows kits, and one-way tickets to Canada. Don't overthink it, just switch to the large dough scoop.
My friend Jenni enjoyed one of these cookies the other day when we were out seeking solace in the woods in the uncomplicated company of our dogs. She described the cookies as magical. That was sweet. No magic here though, just love. Or perhaps then it's magic after all – because what is more transformative than love? Answer: large infusions of cash to politicians.
My daughter says these cookies taste like girl scout Samosas, "but homemade, so even better!" I read somewhere that every day that you wake up and someone loves you is a miracle. Every day that you wake up and someone loves you, and makes you cookies, is a day to throw off the covers, Eaters, and hit the ground running. Or at least crawling.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, stir the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and oats together.
In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugars together for about 30 seconds until blended. Beat in the egg until smooth and barely fluffy. With mixer running on medium high, drizzle in the maple syrup and vanilla until incorporated. Turn the mixer down to its lowest setting and gradually add the dry ingredients. Blend just to combine, then mix in the chocolate.
I think these turn out best if you chill the dough for half an hour. If you can form the dough balls and then chill it, even better. I know it's hard to wait, but the sad fact is, cookies spread out on baking sheets and melt into cookie puddles. Place large dough balls on a parchment, or silicone lined cookie sheet at 3 inches apart. Pat them down slightly but don't stress them out. Check at 9 minutes, but they may need to bake a bit longer. They are done when lightly browned on top.
Recently, I tried to make my family a batch of cinnamon rolls that would cause a veil to lift and reveal how blessed they are to have me. I don't have much experience using yeast, and the coils of ominous jerky that resulted were dubbed Dwarf Bread by my husband. He actually ate it – I think he savored the challenge – but he pronounced it better suited to weaponry than breakfast. Yes well, "It stays with you," I told him, grimly. The children, unconvinced, reached for toast.
I probably need to play to my strengths. I have, at last count, two strengths: one of them is chocolate chip cookies. I know Eaters, I have yanked this chain previously, but hark! Listen! It's National Chocolate Chip Cookie Week! So how can I not bake CCC? HOW?!
My friend Kirstin came over for a walk a couple days ago, but needles of freezing rain descended as the sky appeared to be building toward a tornado, so we opted to have tea while I made cookies. As I have mentioned, I am a devotee of King Arthur Flour products and recipes. This cookie recipe has replaced (!!!) my Yummy and Tempting cookies. The inclusion of honey and espresso powder makes for a toffee-like flavor, that will have you baking these every week until you are too aged and infirm to press buttons on your Cuisinart.
These Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies are easy to make, especially with the aid of a cookie scoop. Whoever invented cookie scoops is the Johannes Gutenberg of baking. You can hand-mold each cookie, slaving away in monklike fashion by a guttering candle until you perish from repetition, or you can employ a handy tool that will let you whistle while you work, just like those cheerful dwarves.
Cooks Note: I made so many changes to this recipe, but only with regard to amounts. I halved both sugars and the resulting cookies were more crumbly than soft, I admit it. My friend Susie, a blogger and flavor scientist, informed me that sugar adds moisture to recipes: I had no idea. I fancy myself a flavor scientist but Susie is an actual scientist, not a person like me who just eats a lot. So the reduced sugar changes the texture, but I can't imagine them sweeter. I used the full amount of honey but (great leaping blood sugar levels!) I did not use the suggested 3 (what?!?) cups of chocolate. I used one half cup. Chopped dark almond bark works so well in this recipe, as do Guittard extra dark (63% cacao) chips.
*It's also national celery month, but he doesn't care.
We'd get sick on too many cookies, but ever so much sicker on no cookies at all.
I always say I am not a cookie baker. What I mean is that my cookie repertoire is not extensive. But what I lack in variety, I have more than made up for in sheer output.There are several love languages, (so I learned in my recent foray into self-help) and mine happens to be baked goods.
I probably have a limited palette where homemade cookies are concerned: I like peanut butter, frosted lemon, Mexican wedding teacakes, the occasional ginger, and of course, the queen of cookies: chocolate chip. Well, queen might be too regal a term. CCC are the workhorse of cookies. They aren't fluted, frosted, or shaped like elves, but they get the job done.
I don't feel tempted to duck behind a hedge with a snickerdoodle; where cookies are concerned, I am monogamous. The last couple years I have made hundreds of what my youngest refers to as "Yummy and Temptings," (she called them that when she was about 25 inches tall, and it stuck). I can make these in my sleep (and as with unbaked cheesecake, I often do).
These aren't Mrs. Fields' cookies, (remember those?) but please understand, I have nothing against Mrs. Fields. Those cookies, at least the ones I bought at the mall growing up, were delicious. Chewy cookies are just not my specialty, requiring as they do, greater sugar and precision. I like a dough I can bang together in the Cuisinart with my phone cradled in my shoulder and one hand repotting a plant. From the moment I get a twinkle in my eye regarding an after school snack, to the moment said snack emerges warm from the oven, no more than 30 minutes should elapse.
The chocolate is important here; I like it DARK. I use 72% cacao bars and chop them in the food processor. Chocolate chips are a convenient shape, but the bars are more cost effective. I recently made cookies that took CCCs to another place entirely. I chopped pumpkin seed dark chocolate bark (NOTE: I did NOT say pumpkin spice, I never say pumpkin spice, and not just because it's the name of my daughter's deceased goldfish [may he rest]) and it made these nutty little shavings. I won't go on and on about them because it makes me sound like a cookie snob (I absolutely AM a cookie snob, my mother was a cookie snob, her mother was a cookie snob…).
A tip: lining cookie sheets with parchment paper and employing a dough scoop revolutionized the business of cookies. These two innovations took me from a person who made cookies on occasion in a desultory fashion, to a one woman cookie baking machine. The uniformity of the cookies produced when you use a scoop is satisfying in the way of all OCD activities.
Just let me say this: I believe that if someone walks into your house and is met with a plate of warm cookies, or even cold cookies, it says: I am glad you are home from school, work, the store, or wherever you blew in from, and these are for you (and if your love language is yard work, then let's make a deal).
Cream the butter and sugars for a couple minutes, then add the egg and extracts. Mix. Combine dry ingredients in separate bowl, whisk together, then add to wet ingredients. Mix until just combined. Add chocolate and mix briefly.
Chill for ten minutes or more (I find all cookie dough easier to work with once it's cold). Scoop out onto cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes.
*I could say the flax meal is optional but don't turn down the opportunity to claim that your cookies are yummy, tempting AND healthy. You can't put a price on smugness.


text:
, né à Brême le  et mort le  à Celle, est un médecin allemand. Il étudie à Brême puis à Göttingen ; reçu docteur, il exerce à Brême jusqu'en 1817, puis s'installe à Celle.

Œuvres
 Dissertatio de recto atque tuto mercurii sublimati corrosivi in variis morbis usu, Göttingen, 1777.
 Materia mediaca practica, Mannheim, 1781.
 Erklærung ueber meine beyden an den Hofrath Baldinger geschriebenen Briefe, ueber den thierischen Magnetismus, Brême, 1787.
 Einige Bemerkungen uber die Nervenfieber, Brême, 1802.
 Ueber die Nachtheile der Begræbnisse in den Kirchen und Kirchhoefen der Stædte, Brême, 1812.

Références

Médecin allemand du XVIIIe siècle
Étudiant de l'université de Göttingen
Naissance en juin 1754
Naissance à Brême
Décès en mars 1823
Décès à Celle
Décès dans le royaume de Hanovre
Décès à 68 ans

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


36 targeted spray jets scrub baked-on foods – without soaking or using extra water.
Our most efficient wash system ever cleans while using 1/3 less water than dishwashers made before 2000.
Dual sensors detect the load size and soil level and auto-select the correct cleaning level and cycle length.
The removable basket attaches to the front rack, bottom rack or in the door for maximum loading flexibility.
Wash glassware or lightly soiled items in just 30 minutes.
Choose fully integrated controls for a sleek, sophisticated exterior, or choose a model featuring controls on the exterior.
The durable and stylish stainless interior lends a clean, high-end look while the slate interior reduces the appearance of stains.
* The CEE Tier system is based upon the Department of Energy Consortium for Energy Efficiency Ratings.


Open Classroom – BUS 491 – Sustainable Strategy will be hosting Dr. Bill Silver, former Dean of the Business and Economics School on Tuesday evening, April 17th from 6:00 -7:00 pm. Dr. Silver's leadership approach integrates sustainability and personal meaning into leading a new type of corporation that goes beyond the B-Corp. He calls them Z-Corps!


Aerocool P7-GC1 AIR RGB G..
Lighting Effects The RGB system comes with four lighting effects. Set the mood of your lighting wi..
Aerocool is a futuristic company with a wide range of cooling equipment, ranging from computer cooli..
The current work place health movement has driven many people to switch to standing desks at work an..
From increased focus to being able to burn extra calories, many people who work on computers have ad..
DxRacer chairs are manufactured under strict quality standards to offer our customers the ultimate l..
DXRacer F Series Gaming ..
DXRacer F Series Gaming C..
The Formula Series is DXRacer's answer to those seeking affordable luxury. These chairs are well-kno..


text:
Confessions of a 58-year-old Trekkie
Nonfiction by Josie Carballo Tejada | May 31, 2009
Space – the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its continuing mission: to explore strange new worlds; to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no one has gone before.
These words invaded my awareness more than forty years ago when the first edition of Star Trek came out on television. As a precocious teenager, I became instantly tantalized by the Gene Roddenberry creation, a penchant shared by my sister Thelma. At least once a week, we had a rendezvous at around 7:00 PM with the crew of the Enterprise in our 10-inch black-and-white TV set. As far as I remember, we never missed an episode, and should a storm occur at that moment with a blackout, we cursed the heavens for causing us to miss our date with Star Trek-TOS (The Original Series)!
The sci-fi series became a bonding link between my sister and I. There were other sci-fis that came out on TV later (Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon) but our interest was never drawn to them as much as with Star Trek. From the moment we met James Tiberius Kirk and the pointy-eared Vulcan Spock, we knew we were bitten by a bug from which we never recovered.
Twenty years later, I again found myself glued to the now 24-inch colored TV when Star Trek– TNG (The Next Generation) began its telecast in local channels. As a young mother in the 80s, I began to revive the passion I had for the series that lay dormant for a time. As a result, I bred a brood of Trekkies. Telecast of US shows came in about a year late. So it was probably in 1988 when TNG finally came out on Philippine TV. This time the brashness of Kirk was replaced by the more cerebral Picard, which to me was rather more appealing. Moreover, the Enterprise was refurbished and expanded to accommodate even families and a special feature was added—the Holodeck.
Seven seasons of Star Trek brought me deeper and deeper into Roddenberry's world of warp speed, quantum singularities, alien species, and alternate realities. I took it upon myself to learn as much as I could about this world, and I rediscovered why I was drawn to it from the start.
Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry was a visionary, endowed with a positive outlook of the future of humankind. As a former pilot for the US Army Air Corps and later for Pan Am, he had a working knowledge of aeronautics that would prove helpful to his literary concepts. Gene's first literary attempts were dismal failures. No studio wanted his stories. But persistence and determination paid off eventually. Perhaps his sheer passion for the vision he had of 24th century Earth earned him the respect of friends and colleagues in the industry, enough to convince Paramount to take on the project.
For more than 40 years, Roddenberry's world continued to flourish both in television and film. The most recent rendition of Star Trek was released with an entirely new cast and featured the appearance of the original Spock—Leonard Nimoy. Before the advent of digital technology, all outer shots of the Enterprise had to be done photographically. A series of photo exposures from varying angles of the starship was played fast forward in roughly two seconds to create the warp speed effect. This image is indelibly etched in every Trekkie's memory.
As a Trekkie, I had the fortunate experience in 2007 of visiting Hilton Las Vegas, which featured "The Star Trek Experience." I had hoped to encounter a Klingon in the flesh, or perhaps a copy of any of the more notable Star Trek Characters. But the only one available was a Ferengi. Before our picture was taken, the alien whispered to me, "Say, GREED!" The show "Star Trek Experience" at the Hilton Las Vegas was decommissioned the following year.
Through the years, gathering tidbits of Star Trek history and trivia became an occasional preoccupation for me. For instance, Gene's wife, Majel Barrett Roddenberry (who by the way died early this year)—whom everyone on the set referred to as "The First Lady of Star Trek"—was also Nurse Chapel in TOS, as well as Deanna's mother Lwaxana Troi in TNG. Probably her least known but most important role in the sci-fi series was that of the voice of the computer—a role she reprised just shortly before her death, in the recently released prequel The Future Begins.
Stories of the crew of the Enterprise also made interesting and juicy tidbits. Nichelle Nichols, who played Lt. Uhura in TOS, was actually cast at the insistence of Roddenberry because she was an old flame of his. I was delighted to see that director J. J. Abrams decided to make Lt. Uhura the love interest of Spock in the new movie. For me, a romantic twist is always welcome.
Shatner and Nimoy, whose acting careers were at a low in the late 60s, owe their stardom in the series to Roddenberry, who was himself in an equally declining writing career at the time (talk of misery loving company). The pilot film was fraught with technical and budget constraints, so Gene thought of the idea of "beaming" to avoid the expense of showing the cast boarding in and out of shuttles. Thus, "transporting" became a staple feature. Despite the failure of The Cage, it had enough to prime the Star Trek engine to box office success in later years.
One character that particularly amused me was the immortal "Q." John de Lancie, as many would perhaps notice by now, is a stage actor. I always considered his occasional appearances as happy diversions from the mainstream storylines that serial writers sometimes unmindfully dished out. As "Q," de Lancie concocted schemes to plague Picard and test his ability to extricate himself from a usually moral dilemma. Recently, Q's Doge-like costume in TNG's final episode All Good Things fetched $10,000 at Christie's. In between Star Trek and recurring appearances in Stargate SG-1, the Juilliard trained de Lancie directs on Broadway and appears in operas.
Another immortal character—Guinan—was actually an afterthought. Played by academy award winner Whoopee Goldberg who herself is a confessed Trekkie, the role had to be invented by Roddenberry to accommodate the star's incessant pleas to be part of the series. Another classical actress who was an irrepressible Trekkie is Jean Simmons.
Patrick Stewart, who played Capt. Jean Luc Picard in TNG, was a fortunate happenstance. At first, Gene was skeptical about having a bald man play captain; but listening to Stewart's Shakespearian diction at a lecture changed his perspective altogether. Later when asked why no one in his 24th century has found a way to cure baldness, Gene merely replied: "In the 24th century, no one would care."
Gene Roddenberry died in 1991 of heart failure at the age of 70. As a fitting tribute to this visionary, NASA brought his ashes to outer space on board the Space Shuttle Columbia.
The reason I like Star Trek is not because it is science fiction. Star Trek is not about space, or science or even acting. It's about moral choices. Whoever their foe may be—Romulan, Klingon, Cardassian or the Borg—the crew of the starship Enterprise always chose to do what was right for the greater good and under any circumstance. Resistance to evil was never futile. Star Trek embraced the concept of unity in an infinitely diverse universe. The Enterprise, Voyager, and Deep Space Nine had crew members of mixed races: Humans, Klingons, Vulcans, Tralaxians, Bajorans, and other weirder species. It also placed women in positions of authority and responsibility: Lt. Tasha Yar, Security Officer, Capt. Katherine Janeway, Admiral Aynna Nechayev, the Vulcan T'Pal, and the Borg Seven of Nine. Star Trek also explored the possibility of artificial intelligence gaining prominence and respect in man's world by including the characters Lt. Data, the Android, and Voyager's Holographic Emergency Medical Officer.
While the Star Trek world was far from perfect, Roddenberry's message rung clear in each episode: it is possible to come close to it. The United Federation of Planets was an inter-planetary United Nations with each member charged with the prime directive to promote peace and harmony in the galaxies. For mankind, this may prove elusive, for prejudice remains a very human trait. Still, in spite of his agnosticism, Gene Roddenberry perceived a world that defined the very ideals of human existence—a world without hunger and without greed.
For me at least, what Star Trek had finally accomplished was meeting mankind's singular challenge to explore the final frontiers of the human heart.
Josie Carballo-Tejada is a member of the DWG.
Previous Previous post: Kapag Ang Iniibig Mo'y Isang Makata
Next Next post: Il Postino Para sa Iyo

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


I had guided both these guy's last year on the Bristol Avon and they went on to catch some good barbel to double figures.
They had been following my blog and asked if I could help them out on the Wye. So we set a date where I would guide them for the first day to show them the swims and tactics and they could fish themselves for the second.
We met on the services on the Severn crossing and soon travelling through the Welsh and English countryside.
I had guided on the river on the Monday where is was up about a foot and coloured, today it was back down to the low summer level and very clear.
The method was to be the normal hinders pellets and ground bait which is about there is on the market. We started fishing at about 8am and to be fair the sport was a while in coming. The chub were on the feed at regular intervals mostly around the 2-3 lb mark.
Steve was first to catch a barbel at 10am of 3 lbs or so.
Then at 10.20 he landed the best looking chub I had seen from the Wye, it's weight being 5lbs 12oz a beautiful fish.
Things continued to improve as the day progressed until a canoe upturned upstream and a few bodies swam down through the swim. There was lots of splashing etc so I think that scared the fish for a while. They do not though take any notice of canoes and often one can be caught when a canoe is overhead of them.
The way it normally goes is that the lower rod normally gets most of the fish but today it was the top rod that produced most of the fish. We chuckled what do I know!
I was due to leave them at 6pm and by that time they had caught some good barbel up to 7lbs 14oz and had plenty of fun.
The remainder of the tale is from them. They said that no sooner had I started the car they had a double hookup, with both fish being 8lbs plus.
So in total for the day they had something like 18 barbel and 14 chub. So a wonderful days fishing.The next day saw them in the same swim again. This time the swim was even quieter in starting up. A couple of barbel were caught early then nothing much for most of the day.
Again there were plenty of problems with the canoes. At one stage they told me that 5 people were diving in their swim looking for a camera that had fallen overboard. Now this does tend to disturb the swim. I told them though they should have asked the divers to retrieve a few 100 feeders that must be strewn on the bottom.
They said that the canoe traffic was unbearable at times. Needless to say when things settled down they continued to catch barbel once again.
Steve had the largest barbel of the day at 10lbs 4oz. each also had an 8lber again.
Today they said that most of the fish came from the lower rod for a change. Thats normal!
So excellent fishing from the Wye.
For Steve and Nick it was their first visit and I'm sure it won't be the last.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 27th, 2013 at 9:18 pm	and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.


text:
Die Parlamentswahlen in Gambia 1977 fanden im westafrikanischen Staat Gambia am 4. bis 5. April 1977 statt. Diese Wahlen (auch: Allgemeine Wahlen) waren für 35 gewählte Sitze im Repräsentantenhaus ().

Die People's Progressive Party (PPP) konnte erneut mehr als drei Viertel der Sitze erreichen. Zweitstärkste Kraft wurde die National Convention Party (NCP).

Wahlverfahren und -kreise
Es wurde zum fünften Mal das Repräsentantenhaus () gewählt. Das Repräsentantenhaus hatte insgesamt 44 Mitglieder, von denen 35 in einer Direktwahl gewählt wurden. Neun weitere Mitglieder wurden von den Häuptlingen ernannt.

Die Anzahl und Einteilung der Wahlkreise wurde gegenüber der Wahl 1972 leicht verändert. Mit der Umbenennung der Hauptstadt Bathurst in Banjul wurde auch die Umbenennung in der Verwaltungseinheit mit den drei Wahlkreisen nach 'Banjul North', 'Banjul Central' und 'Banjul South' vollzogen. Drei neue Wahlkreise sind entstanden, einer durch die Teilung von 'Serekunda' in der Kombo St. Mary nach 'Serekunda East' und 'Serekunda West'. In der Verwaltungseinheit Brikama sind die Wahlkreise 'Northern Kombo', 'Southern Kombo' und 'Eastern Kombo' neu aufgeteilt worden und der Wahlkreis 'Central Kombo' wurde neu geschaffen. In der Verwaltungseinheit Kerewan ist der Wahlkreis 'Niumi' in 'Lower Niumi' und 'Upper Niumi' geteilt worden.

Wahlvorbereitung
Im Oktober 1975 entstand unter der Führung Pap Cheyassin Secka die National Liberation Party. Vor den Wahlen 1977 wurde unter dem Vorsitz von Sheriff Dibba die Partei National Convention Party gegründet.

Die NLP schloss sich in einer Allianz mit der UP zusammen.

In den 35 Wahlkreisen traten 78 Kandidaten an und wollten die Mehrheit der Wähler erhalten. Darunter trat die PPP mit 35 Kandidaten in jedem Wahlkreis an, herausgefordert wurde sie von acht Kandidaten der UP und 30 Kandidaten der NCP. Die NLP, in einer Allianz mit der UP, trat mit zwei eigenen Kandidaten an. Weiter gab es bei dieser Wahl zwei Kandidaten, die keiner Partei angehörten.

Wahlausgang

Es wurden 179.573 gültige Stimmen abgegebenen.

Bei der Wahl gewannen die PPP 28, die UP 2 und die NCP 5 Sitze.

Wahlergebnis nach Partei

Wahlergebnis nach Wahlkreis

Gewählte Abgeordnete

Nachwahlen

Jokadu 1977
Nachdem der Kandidat des Wahlkreises Jokadu, Alasan N'Dure (NLP/UP), nach einem Autounfall kurz vor der Wahl verstorben war, wurde im Mai 1977 im Wahlkreis Nachwahlen angesetzt. Momodou S. K. Manneh (PPP) konnte den Wahlkreis für sich gewinnen.

Banjul Central 1977
Nachdem der gewählte Vertreter des Wahlkreises Banjul Central, John R. Forster (UP), kurz nach der Wahl verstorben war, wurde im Mai 1977 im Wahlkreis Nachwahlen angesetzt. Horace R. Monday, Sr. (PPP) konnte den Wahlkreis für sich gewinnen.

Bakau 1978
Nachdem der gewählte Vertreter des Wahlkreises Bakau, Bakary P. Camara (NCP), 1978 verstorben war, wurde im Juni 1978 im Wahlkreis Nachwahlen angesetzt. Dembo Bojang (NCP) konnte den Wahlkreis für sich gewinnen.

Einzelnachweise

Gambia Parlament
1977


text:
PM Pick
Touring the South
Valerie MacEwan
Agri-tourism. It seems people will pay good money to drive a tractor, weed collards, and pick cotton.
The post-NAFTA South is depending on tourism to bring it back from economic disparity. Everyone seems to blame NAFTA for their economic woes. Towns like Washington and Columbia, North Carolina, are hoping to capture tourism dollars to replace tax dollars formerly paid by factories like Hamilton-Beach, Procter Silex, Singer furniture, and the like. But it's a hard row to hoe. Two new ideas have come to the forefront, lately.
The first is our latest entry in the tourism field of dreams competition. Agri-tourism. It seems people will pay good money to drive a tractor, weed collards, and pick cotton. Guess it's that Green Acres land-spreading-out-so-far-and-wide urge in folks. It causes a compulsion to mix it up with the aphids and the cow dung. And the second idea? Eco-tourism. Which is popular all over the damn place these days. In Washington County, North Carolina, they're building camping decks at $10,000 a pop in the swamps of the Roanoke River so the canoeing/kayaking public can take in 130 miles of swamp without ever seeing a telephone pole or an SUV.
The cypress trees are truly an awesome sight and I'm not denying the beauty of the area. Truth is, the mosquitoes there come in two sizes. Small enough to fly in through the holes in the screens or big enough to open the door and come on in. And gnats, snakes, alligators, bears, panthers (yes Virginia, there are still panthers in eastern North Carolina), red wolves (recently introduced to the area by our forward thinking environmentalists despite the fact that red wolves are not an indigenous species, not native to the area, they eat yard dogs and small farm animals, and they wander into people's back yards and scare the bejesus out of some hamburger grillin' farm family).
It sounds like I'm picking on folks who would pay their hard earned cash to view what we take as every day dull. I'm not. Lord knows I've had my share of derision. Try talking sweet tea and grits in Manhattan. Doesn't matter how dressed up I am (Sunday Go To Meeting Clothes and all), if I open my mouth and speak in New York City, folks around me will either shy away or egg me on, try to get me to talk more. "Say something else," they'll implore. "What are ya'll talking 'bout?" I'll ask. Funny, though, I don't recall anyone around here ever asking someone with a Yankee accent to keep on talking.
There must be a tourism maxim along the lines of: If you live here, you can't imagine why anyone would want to see the place, unless of course it's someone visiting you personally and then you've got to take them in the 110 degree heat in 110% humidity with the windows down and the bug spray on, all over the damn countryside to see every oddity, freak of nature, and barbecue pit. (See Circling Dixie book review.) To museums that feature fleas dressed as bride and groom or the world's largest button collection, and farther down the highway, just about a mile from Betsy's Elbow to Miss May's farm on account of she's got a two-headed piglet, and over toward the phosphate mine where the water lines on the cypress trees off Highway 17 show how high the Pamlico River got when Hurricane Floyd flooded eastern North Carolina. Like touring in New York City, where my friend, a native NY'er, hadn't been to the Statue of Liberty since a grade school field trip but he showed it off to me proudly like he went there every day.
The Tourism Paradox: Why do we show it off to out-of-town friends and family and then make fun of it when they leave?
Being a Tourist in South Carolina
Living in Aiken, South Carolina for a brief spell gave me the opportunity to tour many of the true icons of Southern Tourism. Three cities in Georgia — Atlanta (the penultimate Southern city) and Savannah (the "If you're not 'from' here, you're 'not' here" capital of the world) — were within easy driving range and Charleston, ahhhh, Charleston, South Carolina was right there at my fingertips. A nothing-drive, barely two hours away.
Touring Charleston's Drayton Hall with a graduate class, I got a taste of real southern history. Completed in 1742, the historic plantation house sits smack dab on a 630-acre site. It's one of the finest examples of Georgian-Palladian architecture in America and is still in its original condition. The house is an archeological site. It has no furniture inside: it's a skeleton, preserved, stabilized, but not restored. Professionals, many with advanced degrees, not costumed re-enactors, run the tours and the house is part of the National Historic Trust.
Wade Lawrence, in an article published in the Summer 1998 issue of Historic Preservation Forum, wrote about Drayton Hall:
. . . (A) climate such as that found in Charleston, South Carolina, no museum would willingly exhibit its primary collection artifacts in an unconditioned space. The ravages of extreme heat and unrelenting humidity would certainly shorten the life of any prized and priceless museum piece. Yet visitors to Drayton Hall, a National Trust historic site found just outside Charleston on the Ashley River, see just that. Drayton Hall is shown to the public unrestored, unfurnished, and completely without mechanical environmental control, an object fabricated of masonry, wood, and paint [which] sits exposed in a field along the lowlands of coastal South Carolina." And it is that way because of a conscious, philosophical decision made by the Trust when the house was acquired in 1974.
Drayton Hall is not for the myth-seekers. It's not a Disneyfictation of the American South. It's the real deal. It breathes and ages like a living thing. But not all visitors want to see "real" and you can't blame them. Real is hot, humid, uncomfortable, and can smell pretty damn awful if the breeze off the swamplands leading down to the Ashley River hits just right.
A few weeks after my Drayton Hall trip, I had the opportunity to tour the air conditioned flip-side of archeological preservation. People pay big bucks to tour the Margaret-Mitchell'd-Joel-Chandler'd South of Scarlet O'Hara, Rhett Butler and Br'er Rabbit. Restoration with a twentieth century ideal in mind. Boone Hall Plantation outside of Charleston, South Carolina — the quintessential myth-mocking Southern money maker. I'm there with a "spouse tour" designed to placate the mates of busy middle-managers, mostly men, who will sit through three days of intense meetings while their spouses tour the area, buy Gullah baskets, and eat salt-water taffy and pecan pralines while riding in horse-drawn carriages, giggly and thrilled at the prospect of having a few days without their toddlers as constant companions.
The night before the tour, I visited the Boone Hall Plantation website to get some information about the tour I would soon take. The website mentions a "fee charged", but there's no dollar amount on the site. I suppose gives them leeway to change the price on a whim.
Boone Hall's original plantation house was built in the mid-eighteenth century, and was constructed of both brick and wood. In 1935, the present house was built by Thomas A. Stone, a Canadian diplomat who came to know South Carolina through his wife, a South Carolinian. Stone was fortunate in finding enough of the original, hand-made brick stored in good condition with which to construct the new house. He also used materials salvaged from the original house, as well as dated woodwork and appointments.
Stone built the house to fulfill the traditional intent of a southern planter's home, a comfortable residence in which elegant rooms welcomed visitors to the plantation in the grand style that made the ante bellum South legendary.
Today the plantation home remains faithful to its original purpose; it is a private home, but visitors receive a guided tour of the first floor rooms. Costumed hostesses interpret ante bellum life and customs as they point out furnishings and household accessories of the past three centuries, all carefully selected to reflect the southern planter's way of life.
Not the original house, not the whole house — costumed hostesses — reflecting the southern planter's way of life? That's okay, I want to see where North and South was filmed. I want to feel the history while walking down the avenue of live oaks. So I'll settle for a few first floor rooms instead of the whole shebang.
I'm researching hearth death for a short story and I'll check out the fireplaces in the Cotton Gin House, which according to the map in the brochure, contains the plantation kitchen. Most people don't know this but the leading cause of death among American women in the 18th and 19th centuries was hearth death. Not diseases like small pox or tuberculosis, or even childbirth. Instead, they died when their voluminous aprons and skirts caught on fire, lit by the open flames of cooking at a hearth. It's pretty much agreed upon by historians that this is why women began wearing pants (which were originally called Bloomers, after feminist Amelia Jenks Bloomer, who advocated more than just wearing pants for women. She was so radical, she wanted women to be able to vote.)
I've found quite a few references to the horrible death one can only imagine, a woman burning to death, seared by her flaming clothing. "The bottoms of our dresses are burnt full of holes now, and they will be soon burnt off," related Miriam Colt along the Missouri/Kansas border in 1856. "If we stay here we must needs don the Bloomer costume," referring to the bloomers which resembled culottes. It gives you pause to think when you look at a kitchen fireplace in a historic home, doesn't it? Well, all in all, it should be a fine tour here at Boone Hall.
Arriving at Boone Hall via a tour van supplied by the hotel, we wait in line for the tour to begin in fifteen minutes. My "spousal" companions are a cheerful group of women from the Midwest. We all wear khaki shorts, pastel t-shirts, running shoes, and carry large straw bags filled with souvenirs and credit cards. We don't wear nametags but our uniforms define our group. No one planned the sameness, the sea of khaki, it just occurred naturally. I'm the only Southerner, but if I keep my mouth shut, no one will ever know. As we stand waiting for our tour guide, I notice a chalkboard sign with today's specials printed on it. It lets me know today's specials are asparagus quiche and salad nicoise in the restaurant located in the Cotton Gin House. True Southern fare.
Waiting on the steps just ahead of our group there's a young couple, Linda and Carl. They are both wearing name tags, "Carlson Tours Hi I'm Linda" and the same with "Carl" and both have a smiley face instead of a dot above the letter "i" in hi. That's how I've come to know their names.
Linda smells like yesterday's sex, wears polyester lime-green stretch Capri pants pulled girdle tight across her ample, generously poned rear end and has a tattoo of a mermaid right above her ass crack that shows when she bends over to scratch her ankle which is covered with infected mosquito bites. It's a cheap tattoo, not in color, just a mermaid outlined in black. She stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Carl, who probably works in a foundry, judging by the slate gray tint to his skin and the permanent black stains on his fingernails and the backs of his hands. Carl's wearing Sansabelt slacks, plaid shirt, black acrylic socks with flip-flops, and a new Johnny Reb Confederate cap that he must have bought in the gift shop, prior to mounting the steps to wait to tour Boone Hall Plantation. "I wouldn't have minded the bus ride so much if that old man hadn't been sitting behind us," says Linda, "He wheezed all the way here. You just don't realize how far South Carolina is from Pennsylvania until you ride there in a Greyhound. I'm not complaining, this has been real great, Carl, I just wish we'd had enough money to fly here. Did you hear the way that waitress sounded this morning ... when she called you "honey" and asked if you wanted sweet tea? What the hell is sweet tea? And, don't let me forget, I need to call Jimmy if he's not feeding the dogs, I got to get Mama over there quick like."
Carl shakes his head, "You always got to let something ruin a good time, don't ya? Them dogs is okay, so's Jimmy, and everything else at home. Shut up about it and look at them trees. Those is live oaks. Someone back at the motel told me they filmed Gone With the Wind here. You're never gonna' get a chance to see nothing like this again for a long time. Damn it's hot. Who'd a' thought ten o'clock in the morning could be so goddam hot? They say they's used to be slave houses over there, where them rock buildings is, over yonder. You know, if we hadn't a'won the Civil War, they'd be slaves there still. That's what it's all about, Linda, it's about freeing them African-Americans from bondage."
Carl says "African-American" slowly, deliberately, like he's not used to it. And "bondage" doesn't exactly roll off his tongue. "Got your camera? Be sure and get some pictures of them rock slave houses. I read in this guide-thing that there used to be 27 of 'em. Slave houses I mean. I promised Willie I'd take pictures of what slavery done looked like, he wants them for his kids. Says they's got no clue of the troubles their great-great-grandpappy went through. You know, Willie's a good man, don't come no better, whatever color they is."
"I hope we go in soon. After lunch . . . we's eating here ain't we? I want to buy me some of them Aunt Jemima dolls. Salt and pepper shakers too. I need to get something for Mama. She's never been south of the Pennsylvania state line. We should get her something real nice like. Come to think of it, has anyone you know ever been south of Doylestown? I don't think nobody in my family's ever been out of Pennsylvania. 'Cept us, on this trip. Takin' this honeymoon tour is sure real nice, Carl. I gotta' tell ya', 'cept for the heat, this is real nice."
"Nobody never left Pennsylvania 'cept Layton Grimes. Did you know he's a cousin of my step-daddy's? Oh, wait, I don't think you met him, he didn't get to come to the wedding. Well, he went to Norfolk for a while to work in the shipyard, back in the '80s. His daddy was stationed there, during World War II. But he came right home, as soon as the war ended. It's too goddam hot to come down here. And these goddam gnats, always in your face, flying in my goddam mouth."
"Here comes the tour guide . . . Don't she look pretty? And she ain't sweating a bit. Wonder if she's just used to it, the heat, I mean."
They step aside as a woman in a hoop skirt, dressed as a wanna'be Scarlet O'Hara, mounts the stairs. She stands at the front door, hand poised above the door knob, and says, "Hi ya'll, welcome to Boone Hall Plantation. Ya'll got your tickets? If not, we can wait right here for you while you purchase them at the gift shop, just to the left of the main house, right over there. Everyone got a ticket? Ya'll come on in then."
And the South succeeds at last in clutching the Yankee dollar, amid forgotten fields of sea island cotton and long-grain rice swept up by the price of manual labor. And me, I just keep touring. My cousins are coming down from Cincinnati in a few weeks. I know our destination has to be air conditioned with clean restrooms. The South will accommodate them just fine. We've got something for everyone.
true tales of the new south True Tales Of The New South


Double One Furnishing guarantees to repair or replace any part of the product with a manufacturing or structural defect for a period of 12 months from the date of goods received ( the guarantee period ), this is provided that the defect is not a result of normal wear and tear, or a natural characteristic of the material used.
The warranty is extended to the original purchaser at the original delivery address. Please ensure that you keep your receipt in order to validate your warranty.
The warranty is not valid if the goods are used for commercial or outdoor purposes or exposed directly to the sunlight, extreme heat or bright light such as sun lamps.
Fabrics supplied by customer are not included in this warranty.
- Damage is caused by accident, abuse, neglect or negligence.
- Damage is caused by improper handling such as dragging without lift-up or cleaning with corrosive solvent.
- Damage is directly or indirectly caused by unprofessional assembling, unauthorized repair, alteration or modification.
The purchaser must at his/her expense return to the retailer or to an office of the company the defective goods with the Warranty and proof of purchase. The company reserves the right to determine whether the goods shall be repaired or replaced.
Lounge timber frame (structure) is covered for 3 years, lounge face and foam is covered for 1 years.
The Company reserves the right to charge for any service not covered by this warranty.
For warranty claims and general enquiries please call Double One Moorabbin on 03 95516618 or Nunawading 03 98771662 or email us.


text:
Dean's Weekly Message
Dear colleague:
Christina Reimer, MD, has been named assistant dean for the CU School of Medicine's branch in Fort Collins, effective April 1. Christie is a primary care physician with Snow Mesa Internal Medicine and the UCHealth Medical Group. She has been an assistant clinical professor of medicine with the CU School of Medicine since 2010. Prior to moving to Colorado, Christie was associate program director of the internal medicine residency program and an associate professor at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine. Our partnership with Colorado State University is crucial to the success of CU SOM at CSU. When the first students enroll in 2021, this branch will offer them a four-year educational experience with training on the CSU campus and in clinics throughout the community. Our success in that endeavor depends on relationships with practitioners and adding Christie to our leadership team will certainly strengthen the effort. She has been effective in her role as director of the longitudinal integrated clerkship in Fort Collins, is a member of the board of directors of UCHealth Medical Group, and was medical director of primary care for UCHealth North until last year. She will work with Suzanne Brandenburg, MD, professor of medicine who is the associate dean for CU SOM at CSU.
The Western Regional Research Conference of the American Federation for Medical Research was January 23-25 in Carmel, Calif. At this year's meeting, students from the School of Medicine research track presented 13 papers, including two students who received awards. Alyssa Shepherd received the WAFMR/WAP/WSCI Student Subspecialty Award for her abstract "T-Cell Deficient Mice Demonstrate Reduced Atherosclerotic Plaque Burden." She is mentored by Martin Yussman, MD, assistant adjoint professor of medicine, and David Wagner, PhD, associate professor of medicine. Kumar Thurimella received the AFMR Henry Christian Award for his abstract "Employing Metabolomics and Microbiome Data to Build Algorithms for Interrogating Host-microbe Interactions." His mentor is Catherine Lozupone, PhD, associate professor of medicine. Allan V. Prochazka, MD, MSc, professor of medicine and director of the research track, reported that their presentations were well-received. Congratulations to all.
Rachel Frank, MD, assistant professor of orthopedics, has been named to the American Board of Medical Specialties 2019-2020 Visiting Scholars Program. Rachel is one of four scholars nationally selected for the program, which provides financial support to participate in programming related to medical education, practice regulation, and policy. Rachel's project, "Is there a Ceiling Effect in Virtual Reality Orthopaedic Surgical Simulators? A Prospective Clinical Trial," is co-sponsored by the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery. During the next year, Rachel will participate in webinars with national leaders and attend three in-person leadership meetings, where she and her fellow scholars will present their research findings.
The January Curriculum Reform Update has been posted with news about the appointments of 18 course and content directors. I would like to thank them for stepping up to the challenge of leading the changes that are required to make the update a success. They are great examples of leadership and service who are making major contributions to our School. The process of reviewing and updating our medical education curriculum began with a retreat in October 2017, which led to the creation of more than 25 committees working on the design and implementation of a program that will prepare our graduates to be physician leaders in the years ahead. The revisions are intended to emphasize training that encourages lifelong learning, leadership, and a commitment to service. I encourage all members of our community to keep informed about this significant initiative and welcome your engagement in the process. To learn more, the Office of Medical Education has posted a curriculum reform website.
The Office of Medical Education is conducting searches for an assistant dean of admissions, which is described in this online job posting, and for an assistant dean of student affairs, which is outlined in this job posting. I would like to express the School's appreciation to Jeffrey SooHoo, MD, associate professor of ophthalmology, who has agreed to serve as interim assistant dean of admissions until a finalist is named. Jeff specializes in the medical and surgical treatment of glaucoma as well as cataract surgery, and he serves as residency program director for the Department of Ophthalmology and Chief of the Division of Ophthalmology at Denver Health Medical Center.
The School of Medicine hosted Gregg Semenza, MD, PhD, professor of pediatrics, radiation oncology and molecular radiation sciences, biological chemistry, medicine, and oncology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, who shared the 2019 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with two other physician-scientists for their discoveries of how cells sense and adapt to oxygen availability. His talk was Friday afternoon as part of a Hypoxia and Human Health mini-symposium that was also sponsored by the Altitude Research Center, the Division of Pulmonary Sciences and Critical Care Medicine, and the GI and Innate Immune Programs, which is one of the School's Transformational Research projects.
Condolences to the family, friends, and colleagues of Dominik Wiktor, MD, assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Cardiology, who died Monday, January 13. He was 39 years old. Dom was a highly regarded interventional cardiologist who joined the School of Medicine faculty two and half years ago. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer soon after joining CU and he fought cancer through chemotherapy, radiation, surgery, and a clinical trial. Peter Buttrick, MD, chief of the Division of Cardiology, said, "Dom was an exceptionally talented cardiologist and we are fortunate to have had him as a colleague, but his greatest gift to us was to demonstrate how to navigate tragic circumstances with exceptional grace." Dom is survived by his wife, Marisa Wiktor, DO, assistant professor of anesthesiology, daughters, Cecylia and Adeline, and his parents, Tadeusz and Anna Wiktor. Funeral services were held on January 20. Dom's family requested that memorials be directed to Wings of Hope for Pancreatic Cancer Research in Dom's memory. Wings of Hope is a Colorado-based charity, with its funds going directly to University of Colorado pancreatic cancer research teams.
Condolences to the family, friends, and colleagues of William E. Jackson, MD, professor emeritus of ophthalmology, who died January 22. Williams came to CU as a resident more than 60 years ago and continued a relationship with the School throughout his entire career, serving as a clinician at the Barbara Davis Center for Diabetes. Naresh Mandava, MD, chair of ophthalmology, noted that William had continued to attend Ophthalmology Grand Rounds until recently and that he will be missed.
Have a good week,
John J. Reilly, Jr., MD
Richard D. Krugman Endowed Chair
Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs and
Dean, School of Medicine
The Dean's weekly message is an email news bulletin from John J. Reilly, Jr., MD, Dean of the CU School of Medicine, that is distributed to inform University of Colorado School of Medicine faculty members, staff, students and others about issues pertaining to the School's mission of education, research, clinical care and community service. See the UCH-Insider →
If you would like to receive these emails directly, please contact Cheryl.Welch@ucdenver.edu.
To unsubscribe →
Dean's Office Contact List
Departments, Centers and Institutes


text:
Springfield School Board
Meet the School Board
Agendas & Materials
Board Budget Committee
Board Selects Todd Hamilton as Next Superintendent
The Springfield School Board of Education will finalize their selection of Todd Hamilton as the next superintendent for Springfield Public School at their business meeting, Monday, March 11.
Throughout the fall and winter months of 2018, the board worked with search firm executives from MacPherson and Jacobsen, LLC, to conduct a nationwide search. The process included extensive feedback from stakeholders through focus groups and a community survey that helped the school board identify qualities the community desired in the next leader of SPS.
As the position posting closed, the board worked to identify a collaborative process that would garner input from the various groups across our community. As four candidates rose to the top, three stakeholder groups spent a whole day interviewing and meeting prospective superintendents. At the conclusion sharing their thoughts and feedback for the School Board's consideration.
Ultimately, the school board unanimously agreed that Hamilton was the top candidate to fill the role.
At Monday's meeting, the board is expected to formalize the hire and authorize the chair to enter into contract negotiations on their behalf.
Hamilton will join Springfield Public Schools from Creswell School District where he has served as superintendent for the past 8-years. During that time, he is credited with expanding programs across the K-12 continuum including early learning programs, college-level courses, and CTE programming. He also supported a number of community partnerships aimed at addressing the social, emotional and learning needs of Creswell students.
Previously, Hamilton served South Lane School District as their Director of Student Services and Technology and Eugene 4J School District as the Curriculum and Staff Development Specialist.
Hamilton is recognized for his leadership and is a regular presenter to aspiring administrators, and his role in coordinating a nationally replicated program that provided training assistance to schools and community groups.
When asked about his new role with Springfield Public Schools, Hamilton shared, "I am honored to have been selected to serve the district and its students. As a resident of this area for more than 20 years, I'm well aware of Springfield's 'can do' approach. It is a community that sees opportunity and works to achieve its goals."
Hamilton will begin his role as superintendent in July of 2019.


Arredo Bagno Giava 06 Pino Grigio Cm 130 Duzzle Mobili Per , Download this wallpaper for free in high resolution. Arredo Bagno Giava 06 Pino Grigio Cm 130 Duzzle Mobili Per was posted in May 22, 2018 at 7:34 am and This Arredo Bagno Giava 06 Pino Grigio Cm 130 Duzzle Mobili Per Wallpaper has viewed by 54 users. If you wanna have it as yours, please click full size and you will go to page download in full size, so you just choose the size above the wallpaper that you want in "Download", Click it and download the Arredo Bagno Giava 06 Pino Grigio Cm 130 Duzzle Mobili Per Wallpaper.


2 HP Mighty Mammoth Sand Filter System with 22" Tank provides outstanding filtration and is affordable! Easy on any swimming pool owner's wallet. Available Now! FREE SHIPPING!!
Heavy Duty. Fits All Pool Sizes. This Deal cannot be beat. Durability coupled with Affordability.


Burbank Airport commissioners have voted to ban noisy jetliners from the airfield as of April, 1987, almost two years earlier than required by previous noise-abatement rules.
The unanimous decision on Monday to adopt new noise rules represented a compromise between the airlines and the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority. The agency in December considered forcing air carriers to convert their fleets to federally certified Stage 3 aircraft, the quietest commercial jetliners available, by January, 1986.
The authority's previous noise rules, adopted in 1982, required the airlines to stop using the noisier jets by January, 1989.


text:
Q: MLE estimator for the second parameter of binominal distribution Let us have a sample $X_1, X_2, ... , X_n$ with $B_{p,m}$ distribution.
How to make an estimator for $m$ using MLE ? For simplicity, let us $n=1$
I am a little bit stuck, because I have a derivative of binominal coefficient which is uncommon in usual undergrad textbooks.. So, probably, I am doing something wrong.
Update: $p$ is known

A: This is along the lines you started to try.
$\sum{X_i}$ is binomial with parameters $p$ and $mn$.
The likelihood function is
$$f(m)$$
$$=\frac{\Gamma(m+n+1)}{\Gamma(m+n-\sum{X_i}+1)\Gamma(\sum{X_i}+1)}p^{\sum{X_i}}(1-p)^{mn-\sum{X_i}}$$
for $\max{X_i}\le m$.
Start by treating the likelihood function as if it were a function of a continuous variable $m \in (\max{X_i},\infty)$.
The derivative of the log of the likelihood is
$$f'(m)=\log{(1-p)}+\psi (mn+1)-\psi{\left(mn-\sum{X_i}+1\right)}$$
where $\psi$ is the digamma function.
This simplifies to
$$f'(m)=\log{(1-p)}+\frac{1}{mn-\sum{X_i}+1}+...+\frac{1}{mn}$$
The second derivative is
$$f''(m)=\psi^{(1)} (mn+1)-\psi^{(1)}{\left(mn-\sum{X_i}+1\right)}$$
where $\psi^{(1)}$ is the polygamma function.
This simplifies to
$$f''(m)=-\frac{1}{\left(mn-\sum{X_i}+1 \right)^2}-...-\frac{1}{(mn)^2}$$
The second derivative is always negative.
That means the derivative is a decreasing function.
Also, $f'(m)\rightarrow \log{(1-p)}<0$ as $m\rightarrow \infty$ because there are a fixed, finite number of other terms in $f'(m)$ and each of those other terms converge to 0.
If the derivative at the lowest possible $m$, that is at $\max{X_i}$, is less than or equal to 0, then the mle is $\max{X_i}$. On the other hand, if $f'(\max{X_i})>0$, then let $M$ be the largest integer such that $f'(M)>0$. The mle is either $M$ or $M+1$. Just plug both of them into the likelihood function to see which of them makes $f$ bigger.
Note that
a) $\left(\max{X_i},\sum{X_i} \right)$ is a sufficient statistic
b) $$f'(m)=\log{(1-p)}+\sum_{j=1}^{\sum{X_i}}\frac{1}{mn-\sum{X_i}+j}\approx \log{(1-p)}+\int_{mn-\sum{X_i}+0.5}^{mn+0.5}x^{-1}dx$$
$$=\log{(1-p)}+\log{(mn+0.5)}-\log{(mn-\sum{X_i}+0.5)}$$
and the approximate solution to $f'(m)=0$ is therefore $m\approx \frac{\sum{X_i}-0.5 p}{n p}$.
Here are some examples from simulated data using the following R program:
mlem=function(X,p) {
  sX=sum(X)
  mtry=mX=max(X)
  if ((log(1-p)+sum(1/c((mtry*n+sX+1):(mtry*n))))<0) {
    mle=mtry
    mtry=mtry+1
    } else {
    while ((log(1-p)+sum(1/c((mtry*n-sX+1):(mtry*n))))>0) mtry=mtry+1
    if (dbinom(sX,n*(mtry-1),p)>dbinom(sX,n*mtry,p)) mle=mtry-1 else mle=mtry
  }
#return the mle, max Xi, Max integer M with f'(M)>0, approximate solution
  return(c(mle,mX,mtry-1,round((sX-0.5*p)/(length(X)*p))))
}

set.seed(123)
for (i in 1:3) {
  p=runif(1)
  m=30+round(20*runif(1))
  n=10+round(10*runif(1))
  X=rbinom(n,m,p)
  mle=mlem(X,p)
  print(c(m,n,p))
  print(X)
  print(mlem(X,p))
}

The first line shows the true values of the parameters used to simulate the data. The second line shows the simulated values of $X_i$:
Example 1.
m=46 n=14  p=0.2875775
17 18  8 13 17 14 13 19 13 15 14  9 17 11
mle= 49, M= 49
Example 2.
m=37 n=20  p=0.04205953
3 2 2 5 2 2 2 2 1 0 4 3 2 2 0 1 2 1 1 1
mle=45, M=45
Example 3.
m=38  n=14  p=0.1428
5 3 3 4 5 4 8 2 5 7 3 6 4 3
mle=31, M=30
These examples show that the mle is not always equal to $M$ or always equal to $M+1$ where $M$ is the largest integer with $f'$ positive; it can be either of those. In all three of those examples, the mle was the nearest integer to $\frac{\sum{X_i}-0.5 p}{n p}$.
Sometimes, the mle is equal to $\max{X_i}$ as in this example simulated from data with $M=10$, $N=20$, and $p=0.8$:
9  7  8  6  6 10  8  6  8  8  6  8  8  8 10  6  9 10  9  6
Here, $f'(10)\approx -0.104$ and so the mle is $10$. Again in this example, it turns out that the mle is the nearest integer to $\frac{\sum{X_i}-0.5 p}{n p}$.
Summary:
If $f'(\max{X_i})<0$, then the mle is $\max{X_i}$.
Otherwise, find the largest integer $M$ such that $f'(M)>0$ using the formula above. $f'(x)$ is a decreasing function that goes to $-\infty$ as $x\rightarrow \infty$, so it is guaranteed that such an $M$ can be found. That $M$ will be close to $\frac{\sum{X_i}-0.5 p}{n p}$. Either $M$ or $M+1$ will be the mle.

A: I don't see how to do this with only one observation, if $p$ is unknown.
If $p$ is known, here are some clues. [More generally, this is a much-studied problem; perhaps see this paper and its references.]
If $p = 0.3$ and your observation is $X = 12,$ then
the method of moments estimator is $X/p = 40.$
Perhaps it is reasonable to guess that the MLE will
be approximately the same.
Here is a graphical solution, using R:
m = 1:150; p = .3; x = 12
like = dbinom(x, m, p)
plot(m, like, type="l", lwd=2)
 abline(h=0, col="green2")
mle = mean(m[like==max(like)]);  mle
[1] 39.5
 abline(v=mle, col="red")

A: We have the likelihood of $m$ by $$f(m)=\frac{m!}{(m-X)!X!}p^X(1-p)^{m-X}$$
Here $m\geq X$.
Now, let's consider when $\frac{f(m+1)}{f(m)}$ is less than 1. When it starts to be less than 1, we know that function $f$ reached a (local) maximum. After calculation we find
$$r = \frac{f(m+1)}{f(m)} = \frac{(m+1)(1-p)}{m+1-X},$$ and when $n\geq\left\lfloor\frac{X}{p}\right\rfloor$, we have $r\leq 1$. Thus, we conclude that $$\left\lfloor\frac{X}{p}\right\rfloor\text{ is the MLE of }m.$$
Here, $\lfloor y\rfloor$ denotes the largest integer that is less than $y\in\mathbb{R}.$
----- update -----
By the way, BruceET's numerical example confirms the conclusion.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Exciting times ahead, new website coming soon!
We are a Newcastle based digital marketing agency born in January 2016; our goal is to be an outstanding digital marketing partner for ambitious businesses.
We hate fluffy talk, pointless chat, and time wasting. Instead our services are designed to simply help your business ROAR online, creating Real Opportunities with Actual Results.


text:
Q: What is an equivalent of "except socket.error as (code, msg)" in Python3? I have this try/except block in Python2 that does not run in Python3 due to the line except socket.error as (code, msg):
try:
    (conn, (ip,port)) = tcpServer.accept()
except socket.error as (code, msg):
    if code != errno.EINTR:
        raise
    else:
        break

What is the equivalent in Python3? Is there a way that works in both Python versions?

A: According to the PEP that removed the old exceptions, PEP 3151, this way should work:
try:
    (conn, (ip,port)) = tcpServer.accept()
except socket.error as e:
    if e.errno != errno.EINTR:
        raise
    else:
        break

Note that in Python > 3.3 socket.error is a deprecated alias for OSError.


Syria, a Middle Eastern country, is located on the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea. It is bounded by Turkey to the north, by Iraq to the east and southeast, by Jordan to the south, and by Lebanon and Israel to the southwest. Syria has an area of 185,180 square kilometers (71,500 square miles), including 1,295 square kilometers (500 square miles) of territory in the Golan Heights captured by Israel in the Six Day War of 1967. There are 2,253 kilometers (1,400 miles) of boundary length, with a coastline of 193 kilometers (120 miles). The area occupied by Syria is slightly larger than the state of North Dakota. The capital city, Damascus, is located on the Barada River in southwest Syria. Other major cities, Latakia and Aleppo, are situated on the Mediterranean coast in the west and in northern Syria, respectively.
The population of Syria was estimated at 16,305,659 in July 2000, an increase of 3.4 percent from the 1990 population of 12,116,000. In addition, there are about 38,200 people living in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights (excluding nearly 20,000 Israeli settlers). Syria has one of the highest population growth rates in the world. Over the last decade, however, Syria's population growth rate has gradually decreased from 3.30 percent in 1990 to approximately 2.58 percent in 2000. Despite the steady decline in its growth rate, the population is expected to reach 20.9 million by the year 2010.
Syrians are divided along profound ethnic and sectarian (groups divided by politics, language, and religion) cleavages. Arabs constitute the major ethnic group with 90.3 percent, while other minority groups such as Kurds, Armenians, Turcomans, and Assyrians make up the remaining 9.7 percent of the population. Sectarian divisions include Sunni Muslims (about 74 percent), Alawites (an extreme Shi'ite subsect), Druze (a secret Middle-Eastern sect and doctrine combining different Islamic, Jewish, and Christian elements), and other Muslim sects (about 16 percent). The Christian population in Syria is small (about 10 percent), and Jews number only a few thousand.
Syria's population is overwhelmingly young, with 41 percent below the age of 15 and only 3 percent older than 65. The urban-rural population ratio has been reversed over the last decade in favor of the urban population, which increased at a rate of 4.1 percent from 49.4 percent in 1988 to 53.5 in 1998. Because of this trend, major cities like Damascus, Latakia, and Aleppo have become the main venue of rural emigration within the country.
The Syrian industrial sector contributed 22 percent of the GDP in 1997 and 20 percent of the labor force in 1996. State-owned organizations dominate heavy industry. Mining and quarrying (mostly oil) generates about 28 percent of gross industrial output, followed by the agro-food and chemical industries. The textiles and clothing industry comes next, and accounts for about 12 percent of industrial output.
Petroleum is Syria's chief mineral product. Most of the petroleum comes from fields in the northeastern part of the country. Phosphate rock is another important source of income. Phosphate, which is used to make fertilizer, is mined in the Palmyra area of central Syria. The principal limestone quarries are located north and west of Damascus, near the city of Aleppo. Marl is used in the cement industry with quarries near Damascus, Aleppo, and Rastan. Sandstone suitable for glass manufacture is mined in the Palmyra Mountains. The country's other mineral products include asphalt, gypsum, natural gas, and table salt.
Most of Syria's oil fields are located on the Euphrates Graben, which runs across the northeastern region of the country. The discovery of large crude fields in the mid-1980s boosted the role that oil plays in the Syrian economy. Since this time, output has expanded rapidly and reached a peak of 604,000 barrels per day in 1996. Production has been falling in recent years, because many fields discovered in the 1960s reached maturity. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), as of 2000, Syria's production was about 520,000 barrels per day, of which some 325,000 barrels per day have been exported, accounting for some 65 percent of export revenue. Because of Syria's old, small, and dispersed oil fields, the EIU Country Report claims that the decline in Syrian oil production will continue in 2001, and most observers agree that the decline will continue for years to come.
Intense exploitation in the late 1980s and early 1990s saw oil production rise rapidly, fuelling economic growth, but at a cost. Fields were damaged as groundwater seeped into reservoirs and reservoir pressure fell, requiring injection projects to maintain pressure. Additionally, harsh government terms caused many foreign oil firms to leave the country. Investors have complained about the restrictive terms for exploration and development in the Syrian oil sector. In fact, international observers have forecasted that Syria will revert to being a net importer of oil within a few years as production declines and domestic consumption rises, unless new, substantial, and financially viable reserves are soon found. Syria exports Syrian Light, a blend of light and sweet crude oils produced from the Deir ez-Zour and Ash Sham fields. The country also exports fuel oil and other products. Syria is a member of OAPEC (Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries), but not OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries).
The oil exploitation of the 1980s attracted international interest to the Syrian oil sector, and several consortiums (companies formed to undertake an enterprise beyond the resources of any one member) were formed. Companies such as Agip, Bay Oil, Chevron, Conoco, Marc Rich, Shell, Elf, Total, and Veba are the most prominent involved in the sector. The largest of these is the Shell consortium made up of Pecten, Shell, and Deminex. In 1985 the Shell consortium entered a joint venture with the Syrian Petroleum Company (SPC) to create the Al-Furat Petroleum Company. This joint venture produces about two-thirds of Syria's oil output. All Syrian oil, including that produced by foreign companies, is sold on a monthly basis by the state-owned marketing company Sytrol. Since January 1994, Sytrol has had a clause in its term contracts prohibiting customers from re-selling Syrian crudes without written permission from Sytrol. This is intended to curb spot trading in Syrian crudes, especially sales to Israel. The unfavorable contract terms for exploration, development, and poor exploration results have only left 3 (Elf, Shell, and Deminex) out of the 14 companies that were operating in the country in 1991.
Syria's 2 oil refineries are located at Banias and Homs. Total production from these refineries was 242,140 barrels per day in 2001. Syria is planning to construct a third refinery, with an initial capacity of 60,000 barrels per day, at Deir ez-Zour to supply products to the eastern part of the country. The country's major oil export terminals are at Banias and Tartous on the Mediterranean, with a small tanker terminal at Latakia. Tartous is connected through a pipeline to the Banias terminal. The Syrian Company for Oil Transport (SCOT) operates all 3 terminals and is in charge of Syria's pipelines.
Syria's proven natural gas reserves are estimated at 8.5 trillion cubic feet (Tcf). Most (73 percent) of these reserves are owned by SPC, including about 3.6 Tcf in the Palmyra area, 1.6 Tcf at the al-Furat fields, 1.2 Tcf at Suwaidiyah, 0.8 Tcf at Jibsah, 0.7 Tcf at Deir ez-Zour, and the remainder at al-Hol, al-Ghona, and Marqada. In 1998, Syria produced about 208 billion cubic feet of natural gas, a 5-fold increase over the previous decade. As part of a strategy to substitute natural gas for oil in power generation to free up as much oil as possible for export, Syria plans to increase this production even further in the coming years. According to the EIU Country Report of 2000, Syria produced about 460 million cubic feet per day of gas, but this will nearly double by 2005 to 850 million cubic feet per day, as new gas sources are extracted.
SPC has been working to increase Syria's gas production through several projects. The Palmyra area in central Syria is the site of much of this activity, including the development of the Al Arak gas field, which came on stream at the end of 1995. In October 1997 the Syrian government announced the discovery of a large new gas field in the Abi Rabah area of the Palmyra region. One of the main problems for the gas sector is the location of gas in the northeast regions of the country, while the population centers are in the southwest. According to EIU reports, in July 2000 a step to ease the disparity was taken with the announcement that a Dutch company, A Halk Pijpleidingen, had been awarded a contract to construct a US$46 million pipeline from newly developed gas fields in the Palmyra area to the city of Aleppo. The 124-mile pipeline will be used to supply gas to a 1,000 megawatt power station in the city, constructed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries of Japan. Bids are being measured to build a gas pipeline from Homs to the Mediterranean port of Banias.
Given the small size of Syria's gas fields, most of the large oil companies have shown little interest in the market, given the complex government bureaucracy that they must navigate. One of the exceptions is Conoco, the only U.S. oil company operating in Syria. Another is Elf of France, with whom Syria Petroleum Company signed a US$430 million service agreement in November 1998 to utilize associated gas in the Deir ez-Zour oil fields. Elf and Conoco each hold a 50 percent interest in the project, with Conoco as the lead operator. In March 2000 the 2 companies awarded Houston-based Kvaerner ENC a US$160-million contract to engineer, procure, and construct the infrastructure for the project. The Deir ez-Zour gas development work will include the construction of a gas gathering system and processing plant, and a 155-mile pipeline that will connect the system to the national grid near Palmyra that serves western Syria. When completed in late 2001, gas output from 22 fields should be about 280 million cubic feet per day. According to the EIU Country Report, Syria is planning to supply 3 million cubic meters per day of gas to Lebanon via a 107-mile pipeline that will run from the Syrian city of Homs to northern Lebanon. Elf announced that it is also considering joining the US$175-million pipeline project that would supply power stations in Lebanon with natural gas from Syria.
Manufacturing accounts for about 6 percent of the value of Syria's production. The main industries are cement, glass, food processing, iron and steel, leather goods, brassware, fertilizers, and textiles. Cotton fabrics, wool, and nylon are Syria's most important manufactures. The textile industry is in Aleppo, Damascus, Homs, and Hamah. Natural silk is produced at Latakia. Technical engineering industries, most of which are in Damascus, are active in producing cement, glass panes, bottles, utensils, pharmaceuticals, plywood, and batteries. The food processing industry produces salt, vegetable oils, cotton cake, canned fruit and vegetables, tobacco, and a variety of dairy products. While manufactured goods made up 10 percent of total Syrian exports in 1998, the well-established textile industry contributed another 10 percent of export earnings and employed one-third of the industrial workforce.
Syrian manufacturing industries grew substantially in the 1960s. The government encouraged industrialization by raising tariffs on imported consumer goods and providing tax exemptions and credit for domestic industries. Therefore, most of the traditional handmade manufactures (damask steel, swords and blades, brass and copper work, wood engravings, gold and silver ornaments, mother-of-pearl inlays, silk brocades) have dramatically decreased since the introduction of industrial processing. Private sector participation in manufacturing has taken off in the 1990s, with the total capital investment in the industrial private sector growing from US$273 million in 1991 to US$735 million in 1995. Of the 1.1 million workers in manufacturing, more than 75 percent are now employed in the private or mixed sectors. While private sector involvement has been limited to the textile, food processing, leather, paper, and chemical industries, the government started to open heavy industry to private investment in areas where the public sector is unable to meet increasing demand.
Syria's rich history attracts large numbers of tourists. Artifacts from the ancient Mesopotamian civilization, castles from the crusaders, and many other diverse historical sites appeal to world travelers. The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization has declared Damascus and Aleppo world heritage sites because these date to the early development of civilization, well before the Greek and Roman empires.
With such a rich cultural heritage and a Mediterranean coastline, Syria's tourism sector shows great potential, and the number of tourists who visit the country each year is on the rise. Since the Gulf War in 1990-91, an average of about 900,000 visitors have visited Syria each year. But regional instability after 1996 has hindered the tourist sector, evidenced by the drop in tourists to 400,000 in 1999 from 2.5 million in 1998. In the same time span, tourism revenue declined from US$1.3 billion in 1998 to US$712 million in 1999. Arab tourists continue to visit Syria in increasing numbers, enjoying the improved luxuries offered by the sector. According to the EIU Country Report, capacity at the luxury end of the market is about 8,000 beds in the five-star hotels, with occupancy estimated at 80 percent during the summer season of 2000.
There are a number of problems in the tourism sector, including a lack of marketing activities on an international level, the low number of airline carriers to Syria, and the lack of a nationally coordinated policy for the development of tourism. The hazy divisions between public and private sectors and the non-existence of large centers for tourist entertainment and cultural activities are other major weaknesses inhibiting growth. The most important challenge that the tourism industry faces is the lack of big investments in this vital economic sector. To encourage private sector and foreign investment in Syrian tourism projects, the government has made several aggressive decisions since 1986. Incentives include tax exemptions on all tourism-based projects. All imports needed to build tourism installations, if these imports do not exceed 50 percent of total investment, are tax exempt. There is also a 7-year corporate tax exemption, after which taxes are paid at 50 percent of the normal rate.
The Syrian financial system has been run by the state since nationalization in the 1960s. The banking functions have been designed to cater to the financial requirements of the public sector. Because loans to the private sector are unknown, private businesses must finance projects with cash or through external loans. The Central Bank of Syria and the Commercial Bank of Syria are 2 of the 5 government-owned banks that deal in hard currency. Although previously only foreigners were allowed to open accounts with foreign currency in the Commercial Bank of Syria, beginning in September 1996 the government allowed Syrians to deposit foreign currency at government banks without disclosing the source of such currency, and plans to allow citizens to possess foreign currency. The new decision eliminates provisions in an old currency law that prevented Syrians from dealing in hard currency. The new decree allows hard currency to be transferred abroad provided it is used for education expenses, payments of books, medical treatment, newspaper subscriptions, and other non-commercial transactions. Changing money at rates other than official rates remains illegal and all transfers in and out of the country must be declared.
The government has also announced that foreign banks will be allowed to open branches in Syria for the first time. Banks with at least US$11 million in capital will be permitted to operate in the country's free zones (an area where goods may be landed, handled, manufactured, reconfigured, and re-exported without the intervention of the customs authorities) to finance commercial and industrial activity. In August 2000 3 Lebanese banks were issued licenses while some non-Arab international banks expressed their wishes to enter the full international market rather than be restricted to the small free zones. The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) has estimated that Syria would gain US$8 billion in foreign investment if it allowed the establishment of private banks, opened a stock market, and unified exchange rates .
Arab World Online. "Country Profile: Syrian Arab Republic." <http://www.awo.net/country/overview/crsyr.asp> . Accessed September 2001.
Economist Intelligence Unit. Country Profile: Syria. London: Economist Intelligence Unit, 2001.
Energy Information Administration. "Syria." <http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/syria.html> . Accessed September 2001.
Syrian Embassy. <http://www.syrianembassy.org> . AccessedSeptember 2001.
U.S. Department of State. FY 2001 Country Commercial Guide: Syria. <http://www.state.gov/www/about_state/business/com_ guides/2001.nea/index.html> . Accessed September 2001.
Syrian Pound (S£). One Syrian pound equals 100 piasters. There are coins of 25 and 50 piasters and 1 Syrian pound. There are notes of 1, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, and 500 Syrian pounds.
Petroleum, textiles, manufactured goods, fruits and vegetables, raw cotton, live sheep, phosphates.
Machinery and equipment, foodstuffs/animals, metal and metal products, textiles, chemicals.
Exports: US$4.8 billion (f.o.b., 2000). Imports: US$3.5 billion (f.o.b., 2000).
information about Syria's Population and growth, its economic condition, its area information.
Need to read it carefully. very important incyclopedia.
i know right i think Syria is a great country for learning and stuff like that!


text:
Q: Trouble compiling any java code in Eclipse I'm new to the world of java and have been following a few online tutorials to get started. Everything was going great and the programs were compiling perfectly and then all of a sudden, without me seemingly changing anything, as far as preferences directly attributing to Eclipse, it stopped compiling any code at all. Even the simple Hello World code will not compile. All I get in the console line for any code is:
Usage: javaw [-options] class [args...]
       (to execute a class)
or  javaw [-options] -jar jarfile [args...]
       (to execute a jar file)
where options include:
-d32      use a 32-bit data model if available
-d64      use a 64-bit data model if available
-server   to select the "server" VM
-hotspot      is a synonym for the "server" VM  [deprecated]
              The default VM is server.

-cp <class search path of directories and zip/jar files>
-classpath <class search path of directories and zip/jar files>
              A ; separated list of directories, JAR archives,
              and ZIP archives to search for class files.
-D<name>=<value>
              set a system property
-verbose[:class|gc|jni]
              enable verbose output
-version      print product version and exit
-version:<value>
              require the specified version to run
-showversion  print product version and continue
-jre-restrict-search | -no-jre-restrict-search
              include/exclude user private JREs in the version search
-? -help      print this help message
-X            print help on non-standard options
-ea[:<packagename>...|:<classname>]
-enableassertions[:<packagename>...|:<classname>]
              enable assertions with specified granularity
-da[:<packagename>...|:<classname>]
-disableassertions[:<packagename>...|:<classname>]
              disable assertions with specified granularity
-esa | -enablesystemassertions
              enable system assertions
-dsa | -disablesystemassertions
              disable system assertions
-agentlib:<libname>[=<options>]
              load native agent library <libname>, e.g. -agentlib:hprof
              see also, -agentlib:jdwp=help and -agentlib:hprof=help
-agentpath:<pathname>[=<options>]
              load native agent library by full pathname
-javaagent:<jarpath>[=<options>]
              load Java programming language agent, see java.lang.instrument
-splash:<imagepath>
              show splash screen with specified image

See http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/documentation/index.html for more details.
I'm not exactly sure of what this is or why it started doing it. How do I go about in fixing the compiler so I can continue to learn?

A: I too have had this problem. Try restarting Eclipse. If that doesn't work, restart your computer. If even that doesn't work, re-install Java. Its an annoying bug that usually occurs when your computer goes into standby while a program is running on Eclipse.
EDIT: If the problem persists, you can make a small javac program that would compile any code in a given directory.
Hope I helped!

A: That happens because you haven't installed JDK but only JRE. Install JDK to make it work.
Source


text:
US Digital Bank Dave Admits Customer Data Breach
by Chelsie WyattPosted on July 27, 2020
A US fintech giant has admitted that it suffered a breach of customers' personal data via a third party supplier, after researchers found a database containing millions of records for sale online.
LA-based Dave offers digital banking services, and in 2019 hit a valuation of $1bn after just two years in business.
However, reports emerged over the past week that its customers' details were being traded on the dark web. Prolific cybercrime trader ShinyHunters released the trove for free on Friday, although in the weeks previous it was being auctioned by a new user on a separate forum.
It is claimed that there are over 7.5 million records associated with three million email addresses in the haul.
Over the weekend, Dave issued an official statement confirming the breach.
"As the result of a breach at Waydev, one of Dave's former third party service providers, a malicious party recently gained unauthorized access to certain user data at Dave, including user passwords that were stored in hashed form using bcrypt, an industry-recognized hashing algorithm," it explained.
"The stolen information also included some personal user information including names, emails, birth dates, physical addresses and phone numbers. Importantly, this did not affect bank account numbers, credit card numbers, records of financial transactions, or unencrypted Social Security numbers."
Although Dave claimed that there's no evidence the theft has led to financial loss or unauthorized account access, both are on the cards now the trove has been made freely available.
The passwords could technically be decrypted and then used in credential stuffing across other accounts, while the personal information exposed in the incident could be deployed to make phishing attacks more convincing.
Dave said it is in the process of notifying all affected customers and has performed a mandatory reset of all Dave customer passwords.
Source: Infosecurity Magazine
Prev Russia's UK ambassador rejects coronavirus vaccine hacking allegations
Next Garmin Confirms Cyber-Attack as Ransomware Recovery Rumored


Stock #: 130910 Exterior Color: Red Interior Color: White Body Type: Coupe Transmission: Automatic Drivetrain: Rear Wheel Drive Engine: 425 ci V8 Engine Title Condition: Clear Vehicle Description This is an extremely clean 1979 Cadillac Coupe DeVille. This vehicle came out of a museum in Branson, Missouri. The odometer is believed to be correct at 14,771 miles. Everything on this car appears to be original. The air conditioning system has been converted to run R134A refrigerant.
425 ci V8 EngineAutomatic TransmissionAutomatic Climate Control with Cold A/C, Converted to R134ACruise Control with Resume FunctionTilt and Telescopic Steering ColumnPower Front SeatPower Door Locks And WindowsOriginal Floor... MatsWhite Leather Interior If you would like more information on this vehicle, please call us at 806-203-3829.
Contact us now at 806-203-3829 for more details! Contact us for more details: 806-203-3829Call Dealer Photos Vehicle Warranty New Vehicles come with a full-factory warranty. Used vehicles may have a remaining-factory warranty, but please contact us for the warranty details specific to this vehicle.