text:
package com.publicuhc.uhcaddons.scatter;

import com.google.common.base.Optional;
import com.publicuhc.scatterlib.DefaultScatterer;
import com.publicuhc.scatterlib.Scatterer;
import com.publicuhc.scatterlib.exceptions.ScatterLocationException;
import com.publicuhc.scatterlib.logic.StandardScatterLogic;
import com.publicuhc.scatterlib.zones.CircularDeadZoneBuilder;
import com.publicuhc.scatterlib.zones.DeadZone;
import com.publicuhc.ultrahardcore.api.Command;
import com.publicuhc.ultrahardcore.framework.configuration.Configurator;
import com.publicuhc.ultrahardcore.framework.routing.annotation.CommandMethod;
import com.publicuhc.ultrahardcore.framework.routing.annotation.CommandOptions;
import com.publicuhc.ultrahardcore.framework.routing.annotation.OptionsMethod;
import com.publicuhc.ultrahardcore.framework.routing.annotation.PermissionRestriction;
import com.publicuhc.ultrahardcore.framework.routing.converters.LocationValueConverter;
import com.publicuhc.ultrahardcore.framework.routing.converters.OnlinePlayerValueConverter;
import com.publicuhc.ultrahardcore.framework.shaded.javax.Inject;
import com.publicuhc.ultrahardcore.framework.shaded.joptsimple.OptionDeclarer;
import com.publicuhc.ultrahardcore.framework.shaded.joptsimple.OptionSet;
import com.publicuhc.ultrahardcore.framework.translate.Translate;
import org.bukkit.Bukkit;
import org.bukkit.Location;
import org.bukkit.Material;
import org.bukkit.command.CommandSender;
import org.bukkit.configuration.file.FileConfiguration;
import org.bukkit.entity.Player;
import org.bukkit.plugin.PluginLogger;
import org.bukkit.scoreboard.Scoreboard;
import org.bukkit.scoreboard.Team;

import java.util.*;

public class ScatterCommand implements Command
{

    private final List<Material> mats = new ArrayList<Material>();
    private final int maxAttempts;

    private final Translate translate;

    @Inject
    public ScatterCommand(Translate translate, Configurator configurator, PluginLogger logger)
    {
        this.translate = translate;
        Optional<FileConfiguration> mainConfig = configurator.getConfig("main");
        if(!mainConfig.isPresent()) {
            throw new IllegalStateException("Config file 'main' was not found, cannot find configuration values");
        }
        FileConfiguration config = mainConfig.get();
        List<String> stringMats = config.getStringList("allowed blocks");
        for(String stringMat : stringMats) {
            Material mat = Material.matchMaterial(stringMat);
            if(null == mat)
                logger.severe("Unknown material " + stringMat);
            else
                mats.add(mat);
        }
        maxAttempts = config.getInt("max attempts per location");
    }

    @CommandMethod("sct")
    @PermissionRestriction("UHC.scatter.command")
    @CommandOptions({"t", "r", "minradius", "min", "c", "[arguments]"})
    public void onScatterCommand(OptionSet set, CommandSender sender, StandardScatterLogic logic, Double r, Double minradius, Double min, Location centre, List<Player[]> args)
    {
        boolean asTeams = set.has("teams");

        Set<Player> toScatter = OnlinePlayerValueConverter.recombinePlayerLists(args);

        if(toScatter.isEmpty()) {
            translate.sendMessage("must provide players", sender);
        }

        logic.setCentre(centre);
        logic.setMaxAttempts(maxAttempts);
        logic.setRadius(r);

        if(!mats.isEmpty())
            logic.setMaterials(mats);

        CircularDeadZoneBuilder deadZoneBuilder = new CircularDeadZoneBuilder(minradius);

        List<DeadZone> baseDeadZones = new ArrayList<DeadZone>();
        if(min > 0) {
            //add dead zones for all not scattered players
            for(Player player : Bukkit.getOnlinePlayers()) {
                if(!toScatter.contains(player)) {
                    baseDeadZones.add(deadZoneBuilder.buildForLocation(player.getLocation()));
                }
            }
        }

        if(minradius > 0) {
            CircularDeadZoneBuilder builder = new CircularDeadZoneBuilder(minradius);
            baseDeadZones.add(builder.buildForLocation(centre));
        }

        Scatterer scatterer = new DefaultScatterer(logic, baseDeadZones, deadZoneBuilder);

        HashMap<String, List<Player>> teams = new HashMap<String, List<Player>>();
        if(asTeams) {
            Scoreboard scoreboard = Bukkit.getScoreboardManager().getMainScoreboard();
            Iterator<Player> players = toScatter.iterator();
            while(players.hasNext()) {
                Player player = players.next();
                Team team = scoreboard.getPlayerTeam(player);
                if(null != team) {
                    List<Player> playerList = teams.get(team.getName());
                    if(null == playerList) {
                        playerList = new ArrayList<Player>();
                        teams.put(team.getName(), playerList);
                    }
                    playerList.add(player);
                    players.remove();
                }
            }
        }

        int amount = toScatter.size() + teams.size();
        List<Location> locations;
        try {
            locations = scatterer.getScatterLocations(amount);
        } catch(ScatterLocationException e) {
            translate.sendMessage("couldnt find locations", sender);
            return;
        }

        Collections.shuffle(locations);
        translate.broadcastMessage("start scatter");

        Iterator<Location> locationIterator = locations.iterator();
        int count = 1;

        for(Map.Entry<String, List<Player>> team : teams.entrySet()) {
            Location location = locationIterator.next();
            location.add(0, 1, 0);

            for(Player p : team.getValue()) {
                p.teleport(location);
            }

            translate.broadcastMessage("item scattered", count, amount, "Team", team.getKey());
        }

        for(Player p : toScatter) {
            Location location = locationIterator.next();
            location.add(0, 1, 0);

            p.teleport(location);
            translate.broadcastMessage("item scattered", count, amount, "Player", p.getName());
        }

        translate.broadcastMessage("complete");
    }

    @OptionsMethod
    public void onScatterCommand(OptionDeclarer parser)
    {
        parser.nonOptions().withValuesConvertedBy(new OnlinePlayerValueConverter(true));
        parser.accepts("t")
                .withRequiredArg()
                .required()
                .withValuesConvertedBy(new ScatterLogicValueConverter())
                .describedAs("Type of scatter to use");
        parser.accepts("teams", "Scatter players as teams");
        parser.accepts("c")
                .withRequiredArg()
                .required()
                .withValuesConvertedBy(new LocationValueConverter())
                .describedAs("World/coordinates for the center");
        parser.accepts("r")
                .withRequiredArg()
                .ofType(Double.class)
                .required()
                .describedAs("Radius for scatter");
        parser.accepts("min")
                .withRequiredArg()
                .ofType(Double.class)
                .defaultsTo(0D)
                .describedAs("Minimum distance between players after scatter");
        parser.accepts("minradius")
                .withRequiredArg()
                .ofType(Double.class)
                .defaultsTo(0D)
                .describedAs("Minimum radius from the center of the scatter");
    }
}


The Beatles during the recording session of "Paperback Writer" in 1966.
Thomas Jeffrey "Tom" Hanks is 59 years old today.
Bandstand, and debuted nationally on August 5, 1957.
to the Smithsonian Institution in 1981.


10,000 liberals huddle together for warmth away from the biting chill outside and from the more polarised politics on the rise around the planet.
One speaker this morning referred to an ageing population and an ageing world. David Attenborough belied that yesterday, with his ever youthful, impassioned and wildly gesticulating style, much as his message was a sober one on the threat we all pose to the natural world: "we can exterminate whole ecosystems without even noticing". Following a growing tradition of celebrity interviewers - David Rubenstein on everyone, Obama on Jack Ma - Attenborough was interviewed by Prince William who stated "work to save the planet is probably going to happen largely on our watch." But ultimately Attenborough was optimistic, "we have the knowledge, we have the power, to live in harmony with that natural world".


text:
Q: How to add silverlight app to Orchard CMS How to add silverlight app to site based on Orchard CMS

A: This may be a good starting point: http://orchardproject.net/gallery/List/Modules/Orchard.Module.Szmyd.Orchard.Modules.Silverlight

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
U.S. Women's Chamber of Commerce
I Vote for Women
My Certification
Join the U.S Women's Chamber
Mobius Consulting, LLC., VA Details
Wendt Productions, Inc., Florida Details
Two Seventy Group, LLC, NC Details
BHFL Group, LLC, GA Details
OWNERSHIP Certified Majority Wo Verified 25%+ Wo Unverified Wo
Socio Economic
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Certifications held
EDWOSB
8(a)
Business State
SELECT Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Washington DC Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Federated States of Micronesia Guam Marshall Islands Northern Mariana Islands Palau Puerto Rico Virgin Islands International Other
Get in the Directory
Environmental Waste Specialists, Inc.
Transport to dispose of asbestos, hazardous and universal waste.
4451 Brookfield Corporate Drive, Chantilly, Virginia 20151 Ph (703) 502-0100
www.ewsihazmat.com Contact the Firm Get Directions
Don't forget to join us for our 1:30 PM EST webinar. If you are thinking about #WOSB or #EDWOSB #Certification this… https://t.co/Lq5onaEKfA
Did you know, that today in 1804, Thomas Jefferson is nominated for president at the Democratic-Republican caucus. https://t.co/qgxwQmbSfn
Join our next #WOSB / #EDWOSB webinar, 2/27/19 for an informative overview. Charmagne Manning, USWCC staffer will p… https://t.co/qnlEmqGMSI
The U.S. Women's Chamber of Commerce gives voice to the collective strength of women in the U.S. economy. Using a platform of influence, innovation, and opportunity, we work with and for our members to grow successful businesses and careers. The Women's Chamber helps women start and build successful businesses, gain access to government contracts, grow as leaders and prepare for a secure retirement.
U.S. Women's Chamber of Commerce
Women-Owned Certification
USWCC | Meetings & Events
Join the USWCC
We invite you to join the U.S. Women's Chamber of Commerce. Working together, we are advancing women's economic priorities, growing businesses and maximizing our influence in business, politics and community leadership.
Business and Supplier Members receive business listings in the Women-Owned.us directory.
Learn more and join here.
700 12th Street, NW, Suite 700
Contact the USWCC.
© 2019 U.S. WOMEN'S CHAMBER OF COMMERCE. All Rights Reserved

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The M.S.T.E. is an interdisciplinary degree program administered by the Telecommunications Engineering Division on behalf of the Departments of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science in the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science (see Electrical Engineering and Computer Science sections for listing of faculty).
The program leading to the M.S.T.E. degree provides intensive preparation for professional practice in the high technology aspects of telecommunications engineering. It is designed to serve the needs of engineers who wish to continue their education. Courses are offered at a time and location convenient for the student who is employed on a full-time basis.
The Engineering and Computer Science Building provides extensive facilities for research in microelectronics, telecommunications, and computer science. A Class 1000 microelectronics clean room facility, including optical lithography, sputter deposition and evaporation, is available for student projects and research. An electron beam lithography pattern generator capable of sub-micron resolution is also available for microelectronics research. The Plasma Applications Laboratory has state-of-the-art facilities for mass spectrometry, microwave interferometry, optical spectroscopy, and optical detection. In addition, a Gaseous Electronics Conference Reference Reactor has been installed for plasma processing and particulate generation studies. The Optical Measurements Laboratory has dual wavelength (visible and near infrared) Gaertner Ellipsometer for optical inspection of material systems, a variety of interferometric configurations, high precision positioning devices, and supporting optical and electrical components. The Optical Communications Laboratory includes attenuators, optical power meters, lasers, APD/p-i-n photodetectors, optical tables, and couplers and is available to support system level research in optical communications. The Electronic Materials Processing laboratory has extensive facilities for fabricating and characterizing semiconductor and optical devices. The Laser Electronics Laboratory houses graduate research projects centered around the characterization, development and application of ultrafast dye and diode lasers. Research in characterization and fabrication of nanoscale materials and devices is performed in the Nanoelectronics Laboratory.
The Center for Systems, Communications, and Signal Processing, with the purpose of promoting research and education in general communications, signal processing, control systems, medical and biological systems, circuits and systems and related software, is located in the Erik Jonsson School. The Center for Applied Optics, which has produced more than twenty Ph.D. graduates and whose faculty carry out research in enabling technologies for microelectronics and telecommunications, is in the Erik Jonsson School.
GRE examination scores of 500, 700 and 600 for the verbal, quantitative and analytical components respectively; a total score of at least 1800 is advisable based on our experience with student success in the program.
Applicants must submit three letters of recommendation from individuals who are able to judge the candidate�s probability of success in pursuing a program of study leading to the master�s degree.
Applicants must also submit an essay outlining the candidate�s background, education and professional goals.
Students from other engineering disciplines or from other areas of science or mathematics may be considered for admission to the program; however, some additional course work may be necessary before starting the master�s program.
All full-time, supported students are required to participate in the thesis option. The thesis option requires six semester hours of research, a written thesis submitted to the graduate school, and a formal public defense of the thesis. Research and thesis hours cannot be counted in a M.S.T.E. degree plan unless a thesis is written and successfully defended. A supervising committee, which must be chosen in consultation with the student�s thesis adviser prior to enrolling for thesis credit, administers the defense. Full-time students at UTD who receive financial assistance are required to enroll in 9 semester credit hours during the Fall, Spring and Summer semesters. Students enrolled in the thesis option should meet with individual faculty members to discuss research opportunities and to choose a research advisor during the first or second semester that the student is enrolled. After the second semester of study, course selection should be made in consultation with the research adviser. Part-time students are encouraged to enroll in only one course during their first semester and in no more than two courses during any semester they are also working full-time.
Each doctoral degree program is tailored to the student. The student must arrange a course program with the guidance and approval of a faculty member chosen as his/her graduate adviser. Adjustments can be made as the student�s interests develop and a specific dissertation topic is chosen.
A master�s degree in Telecommunications Engineering, or Electrical Engineering or Computer Science or a closely associated discipline from an accredited U.S institution or from an acceptable foreign university. Consideration will be given to highly qualified students wishing to pursue the doctorate without satisfying all of the requirements for a master�s degree.
Scores on the GRE examination of 500, and 700 for the verbal, and quantitative respectively or 1200 for the total score.
Applicants must submit three letters of recommendation on official school or business letterhead or the UTD Letter of Recommendation form from individuals who are familiar with the student record and able to judge the candidate�s probability of success in purchasing doctoral study in electrical engineering.
At least 30 semester hours of graduate level courses beyond the bachelor�s level in the major concentration. Students choose 30 hours from the following courses with the approval of the TE Graduate Committee.
At least 4, at least 3 from the Erik Jonsson school faculty.
Neither a foreign language nor a minor is required for Ph.D. However, the student�s supervisory committee may impose these or other requirements that it feels are necessary and appropriate to the student�s degree program.
Doctoral level research opportunities include: VLSI design, reconfigurable systems, system architecture, fault-tolerant computing, digital signal processing, digital communications, modulation and coding, electromagnetic-wave propagation, fiber and integrated optics, lasers and optoelectronic devices, optical transmission systems, optical networks, wireless communications, mobile IP, wireless multimedia, DWDM networks, QoS assurance protocols, network design and optimization, ad-hoc and PCS wireless networks, network security and high speed protocols.
In keeping with the established tradition of research at UT-Dallas, the Telecommunications Engineering Program encourages students to interact with researchers in the strong programs in basic computer science, electrical engineering and business management.


Rotary Club of Coimbatore – .
The Rotary Club of Coimbatore is one of the pioneers in India of the rotary movement, devoted to the ideal of Fellowship through service.
This is a blog post on the various service activities and events we undertake.
8/732 Avinashi Road, Coimbatore – 641018.


text:
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signs early abortion ban
Posted: May 7, 2019 / 03:43 PM EDT / Updated: May 7, 2019 / 03:44 PM EDT
Georgia Governor Candidate Brian Kemp speaks to the crowd at a rally held at the Savannah International Trade and Convention Center on Thursday. Vice President Mike Pence also spoke to the audience. [Will Peebles/Savannahnow.com]/Savannah Morning News via AP)
ATLANTA (AP) – The Latest on the signing of an early abortion ban by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (all times local):
Georgia's Republican Gov. Brian Kemp has signed legislation banning abortions once a fetal heartbeat can be detected. That can be as early as six weeks before many women know they're pregnant.
The signing Tuesday morning caps weeks of protests at the state Capitol and marks the beginning of a possible costly legal battle.
ACLU of Georgia legal director Sean Young said the new law is unconstitutional and the ACLU would challenge it in court.
Anti-abortion activists and lawmakers across the country have been energized by the new conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court.
Several GOP-controlled states are pushing abortion bans in an attack on the high court's 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion nationwide.
Similar bans have been signed into law in Mississippi, Kentucky, and Ohio, and are being considered elsewhere.
Georgia's Republican Gov. Brian Kemp is set to sign legislation banning abortions at around six weeks of pregnancy before many women know they're pregnant.
Kemp's office says the signing at 10 a.m. Tuesday at the state Capitol will be attended by lawmakers including state Rep. Ed Setzler, the bill's author.
It caps weeks of protest and marks the beginning of what could be a costly legal battle.
ACLU of Georgia legal director Sean Young says the law is unconstitutional and that the ACLU will challenge it in court.
Similar abortion bans have recently been signed into law in Mississippi, Kentucky, and Ohio, and are being considered in other states.
More National News Stories
by Associated Press / Jul 19, 2019
ATHENS, Texas (AP) — A Texas woman was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty Wednesday to shooting and killing her two young daughters in 2017.
Prosecutors declined to pursue the death penalty against Sarah Nicole Henderson in exchange for her pleading guilty to two counts of capital murder in the deaths of her 5- and 7-year-old daughters.
ST. JOSEPH, Mich. (AP) — The wife of a U.S. Army sergeant from Michigan who plotted to kill her husband has been found guilty of murder.
Kemia Hassel was convicted Thursday by a Berrien County jury in the death of Sgt. Tyrone Hassel III.
by CNN / Jul 19, 2019
ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. (CNN) – A would-be car thief was thwarted by his own inability to drive a stick shift.
According to the Orange County Sheriff's Office, 25-year-old Jaylen Alexander tried to steal an elderly man's car while he was placing his walker in the trunk.


text:
Q: How do I find out why I lost reputation points? I have lost a couple of points today, no biggy, but I can't work out why. Everything points to these pages, but there are no down votes.
Nodejs output -Domain name not found
Creating multiline strings in JavaScript

A: Downvoting an answer "cost" one reputation point. If you downvoted those two answers, it means you lost 2 reputation points because of that.
By the way, downvoting a question is free of any cost.


text:
Poetry Night 2019
Our Favorite Books
Our Favorite Authors
We like to learn about our favorite authors!
Here are websites that teach us about the people who write books that entertain and educate us.
(Commentary by Mr. Penne)
Nic Bishop
Mr. Bishop's website is heavy on text and light on Flash. However, his career as a nature photographer is as mesmerizing as his award-winning photography.
Bad Kitty -- Nick Bruel
If you're new to this series, you can get a sense of the appeal of these books by watching the trailer. These books are a smart choice for younger readers that are drawn to the Wimpy Kid books.
A master of bright, engaging books for young readers & pre-readers, Mr. Carle also has a very impressive website. Mr. Penne would love to one day visit the Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, MA. So far, he has had to settle for the
Virtual Tour.
The website for Mr. Clements leaves out the bells and whistles, but it is definitely very informative about him and all of his books.
Mr. Penne thinks the best part of Mr. Gutman's site is the page all "About Dan," particularly the links at the bottom of that page. Don't miss Gutman's Tips for Young Authors.
Pinkalicious -- Victoria & Elizabeth Kann
If you're still not sure what all the fuss is about with these stories, you can listen to the story here. When it's done, you'll probably want to Pinkafy yourself.
Magic Tree House -- Mary Pope Osborne
The MTH series is a unique mix of fantasy fiction, historical fiction, with a dash of well-researched non-fiction. If you think you've learned a lot about history from reading the MTH books, try the Fact Tracker Showdown game.
Seussville -- Dr. Seuss's website
Of course, Dr. Seuss would have one of the most engaging author websites, with numerous games, activities, and videos. Parents, don't miss Seussville's Tips for Reading With Your Children.
Who was the better wordsmith, Seuss or Silverstein? Luckily, we don't really have to choose. The games on Silverstein's site are a wonderful opportunity to practice your poetry skills.
Seymour Simon
Sometimes, non-fiction writers don't get all the credit they should for their hard work and informative books. Simon has had a long career writing about a variety of science topics for young people. His website is a 2011 Webby Award Honoree.
The Rodent's Gazette -- Geronimo Stilton
The content of the Gazette changes often, so there is always plenty to do. Mr. Penne wonders when Geronimo finds time to sleep between overseeing the Gazette and going on adventures around the world.
Mr. Penne thinks Mo Willems is a national treasure. In Mr. Penne's opinion, Willems has revitalized early reader books in a way not seen since Dr. Seuss first introduced the Cat in the Hat. Regardless of how you feel about Mo Willems, Mr. Penne hopes that you enjoy the Elephant & Piggie Dance Game from Mo's website.


text:
Alex Prager's monstrous banalities
by Sophie Puig
Until September 4, FOAM is showing the work of the American photographer Alex Prager. The exhibition offers an overview of her work, foregrounding elaborate mises-en-scène, technical sophistication, and a caustic look at the fetters of glamor.
A cinema-loving photographer
Alex Prager is living proof that when it comes to photography, being self-taught opens up paths to free expression and bold experimentation. In every single image, the young American photographer demonstrates a perfect mastery of her art. The main feature of her work is her capacity to inspire a seemingly infinite number of possible readings and paths of approach.
Desiree, from the series The Big Valley, 2008 © Alex Prager. Courtesy Alex Prager Studio and Lehmann Maupin, New York, Hong Kong and Seoul.
A seasoned film-lover (especially Hitchcock), she incorporates Hollywood citations into her work, adopting cinematic codes and references to invent her own language. Her photography could be termed "genre photography" (including horror, B pictures, comedy).
In addition to cinema, photographic influences are also present in her work: William Eggleston, Diane Arbus, and Cindy Sherman. Every one of Alex Prager's images contains a multitude of veiled messages.
When the public becomes an active audience
Alex Prager's knowledge of art history allows her to display an impressive technical prowess, whether it comes to her sense of staging, composition (in terms of both the overall effect and the details), or her abundant use of color.
Alex Prager seduces the viewer with her meticulously thought-out and stylized photographs which multiply allusions and references. These cinematographic images, which appear frozen in time, allow the public to put together the suspended narrative, seek out the references, and note the details hidden in each photograph.
Crowd #1 (Stan Douglas), from the series Long Week-End, 2010 © Alex Prager. Courtesy Alex Prager Studio and Lehmann Maupin, New York, Hong Kong and Seoul.
The technique in the service of fear
Far from empty shells, these photographs powerfully convey, under the cover of glamor and through the use of humor and sophistication, a monstrous aspect of humanity, a terrifying truth. The uncompromising mise-en-scène framing the protagonist is a means of denouncing social fetters, especially those constraining women. Alex Prager's work thus echoes Miles Aldridge, recently exhibited at the Christophe Guye Gallery and featured in our magazine.
This prolific autodidact now shows her work in major museums worldwide, including the MoMA, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the SFMoMA.
Rita from the series Week-End, 2009 © Alex Prager. Courtesy Alex Prager Studio and Lehmann Maupin, New York, Hong Kong and Seoul.
Alex Prager, Silver Lake Drive
une 14 - September 4
Foam Fotografiemuseum, Keizersgracht 609, 1017 DS, Amsterdam
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Articulate a more coherent message about progression routes in musical learning, and the possible routes available for young people at all stages – this requires much greater collaboration and coordination among schools, private teachers, Music Services, community music and national organisations.
Implement more rigorous monitoring processes so that learners' development and progress can be more effectively mapped, helping identify the most effective strategic support and practical interventions.
Champion the role of music and music specialists so head teachers and governors truly understand the positive impact they can make.
Champion the role of creative learning in schools as part of the inspection framework – this would strengthen head teachers' perceptions of music as an important contributor to school culture, outcomes and achievements for young people and attainment results.
More effectively target and align funding, to support disadvantaged learners from social grades C1, D and E, address regional imbalances, and ensure a more equitable supply of diverse instruments UK-wide.
Sustain and further enhance funding to Music Education Hubs in England to ensure they are able to meet the high ambitions set out for them.
Increase exposure to music at initial teacher training level to ensure new entrants to the profession are adequately skilled to fulfill their statutory obligations, particularly at primary level.
Continue to provide a rich mix and depth of musical styles, repertoire and experiences in the classroom that engage young people and meet their own expectations.
Monitor learners' progress more effectively to better identify both their individual needs and the resources and support required to meet them.
Encourage greater collaboration between teachers working across the private and public sectors – this would encourage better sharing of good practice and go towards ending the isolation teachers can feel.
Undertake regular and targeted continuing professional development via existing support structures – this requires greater collaboration between competing commercial and non-profit stakeholders.
Advocate the benefits of music education with parents and carers to ensure better understanding and garner more support.


text:
The Status of Justice Reform in Minnesota
Minnesota Women's Press is building collaborative media partnerships to lift up the progress reports and solutions related to justice reform.
My Life as a Peace Activist
Years ago, in high school, I had a crush on a Quaker. All I knew of the Quaker philosophy was
Women Forging Peace
Muslim, Jewish, and Christian women from eight countries in the Middle East and North Africa (the MENA region) spend a
Always an advocate: Luz Maria Frias: Building bridges between cultures and communities through communication
Luz Maria Frias recalls a neighbor coming to her father's storefront repair shop on the west side of Chicago when
Women Wage Peace
Women Wage Peace, which was founded on the premise that Israeli and Palestinian people had lost hope that there would ever be an agreement, and that women could change that attitude by instilling hope in the population.
Forward, global women
Rula Quawas, a professor at the University of Jordan (left), Sandy Pappas, DFL-St. Paul, and Rina Bar-Tal, past chair of
Betty McKenzie: locked up for peace
The activist nun put her beliefs on the line, even if it meant going to jail. "I learned a lot in prison. For one thing, the people there are absolutely normal. I can only think of one who seemed like a criminal to me."
2013 Changemakers: The Girls Restorative Program
"We made statues with words that express how we should be." — Rashonda, 16
Trees of reconciliation
"I was distressed about particularly the outcome of our involvement in Iraq. This seemed like something small that I could do to contribute in a positive way."
2011 Changemakers: MCAD students meet WILPF
"Many of us see [this] as an opportunity to raise the next generation of women peacemakers."
2011 Changemaker: Global Women's Leadership Convening
"The bold question [for the café conversation] was 'how do we prepare and propel more women into leadership roles in public life and civil society?'"
Men step up to thwart gender violence
It's time to ask: "Other men are doing this? Why aren't you?" That's the question Chuck Derry suggests women pose


It was an honor to be interviewed by a former colleague, the talented, veteran journalist, Dan Rascon. He explored Yoga with the Sharks and Rainforest Yoga for his in-depth segment this week on KUTV 2News, and the finished product made my jaw drop. He painted such a beautiful picture of these events, and put the soundbytes together so artfully. If you'd like, please take just a couple of minutes to be dazzled by the verbal imagery, and shots of wildlife in this story!
UPDATE! This story went national. It was picked up by affiliate stations and broadcast across the country!
KUTV's Dan Rascon interviewing yoga instructor Amanda Jones at Living Planet Aquarium.


Haven't decided how may sessions to purchase? Get this one and continue your journey with me. Build on the momentum you generated in your discovery session.
*This cannot be your first session. If you have not completed an initial session with me return to the catalog and schedule your Discover Session today!
*This service is offered in English via the phone.


Yep, there was a frally in Ogden, UT at Union Station with Mike (aka zmotorsports), Chrystal, and Jared Zuech, and me (Christi is in Mississippi for a family (not framily) reunion).
We had a great dinner at Union Grill and talked about a lot of folks on the Forum. There should have been a lot of ears burning! Especially those of Jan Stiskala and Henry Wishard!
Obviously, we had a good time! There are just some super framily everywhere you go!
We missed you in Idaho/Yellowstone, we missed you in the Tetons, and now we've missed you in Ogden. We were there on the 16th. Perhaps another time down the road.
We really liked union station too!
Darn. You get to Utah just as I leave Utah. I should be back there for a while in August before I head East.
Sitting in Lincoln NE about to go to the SAC museum in Ashland, then its 460 miles home by Monday.
Hope you have fun, Kim.
Well, Stan, I guess I did not realize there was a SAC museum - my dad retired a CMSGT as a B-47 line chief - probably one of his old ships on the line out there! I have to add that to my list of military museums, so thanks for the info!
Kim, took your advice on staying in Canon City, Co. From the windshield of our MH we see the Royal Gorge Bridge. From here we will really test the 40x as we will be going over Monarch pass to Blue Masa Resevour!
We are not too far behind you - we will be in Gunnison in two weeks, and have some friends already there. I'll shoot you a note and let you know our stops. Would love to hear your campfire stories!
Don't worry about Monarch Pass. It's not hard, just slow. Enjoy Blue Mesa, nice place. There's a great boat ride on the river/lake below the dam.
We had a great time at dinner Kim. Thanks for meeting us in our little corner of the world.
We will be looking forward to meeting up with you and Chrisi in Colorado next month.
Better get that Jeep so we can hit some trails.
Frally in Colorado ? When ? Where ?
To be announced - all of a sudden there's a lot of folks within spitting distance of Gunnison or about to be! It may turn out to be a "frolly" or rolling frally with lots of framily!


I love you more with each new day!
And forever it will stay!
Without you I can't live!
What can be better now?
Words could never even start to tell you all the love I have for you within my heart! Happy Valentine!
You may be out of my sight, but not out of my heart.
You may be out of my reach, but not out of my mind.
I may mean nothing to u, but u'll always be special to me.
Love… I want to hold you close to me and feel our hearts beat as one …on Valentine's Day and always!


Lymington's Sea Water Baths, in Bath Road, is the oldest open air natural swimming pool in the UK. Dating back to 1833 the baths have historically gained national interest for their health giving waters and natural mud minerals. Today, young and old still swim in the waters and enjoy the stunning location with views over to the Isle of Wight.
The Sea Water Baths are generally open 7 days a week from the May half term until mid-September.
The best of pool and sea combined!
The Lymington Sea Water Baths is a fantastic place for all the family to enjoy - come rain or shine! Many local families take the attitude 'well, you're going to get wet anyway' and just pop on a wetsuit if the weather is a little chilly! Back in 2013, Chris Evans featured lidos on his Breakfast Show, after which the Lymington Sea Water Baths became known affectionately as Lymington Lido!
Inflatibles, kayaking, zorbing, paddle boarding - and swimming too!
Whether you prefer to take a gentle swim, tackle the fabulous 120 metres of inflatable obstacle course, take up aqua jousting, kayaking, stand up paddle boarding or walk on water in the zorbs, there is something for everyone. Younger children have a splash pool and sandpit and of course the kiosk/café is open throughout the season.
The Sea Water Baths have disabled access and facilities, toilets, changing rooms and showers, first aid room and bike racks. It is also possible to hire buoyancy aids and wetsuits.


Wordpress plugins… there are hundreds and thousands of them. And no matter how many you've see or used, you'll still be discover more surprising ones. SexyBookmarks is one such wordpress plugin by sexybookmarks.net. SexyBookmarks is a bookmarking and sharing plugin which allows your blog visitors to bookmark and share your content. And for that purpose it adds icons for those services to your posts.
However unlike other plugins this one comes with some cool animation and hover effects (you can see it below this post if you are reading this on the site — and if we haven't changed it). It feels slick and web 2.0..ish (if that's a word) and is remarkably attractive. The beauty of it is that being so beautiful it draws the visitors eyes and effortlessly serves it's purpose. It comes with comprehensive options and you can customize it to your needs. At the end of the day I'm sure you wouldn't want to miss such a plugin. Grab SexyBookmarks here.
We're glad you're impressed/happy with the plugin, and do feel free to let us know if there's anything you'd like to see in future releases!
It's an awesome plugin, however it seems to have been taken off the wp plugin's market.


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European Unrest
January 9, 2015 • Volume 25, Issue 2
Is economic stagnation fomenting extremism?
By Brian Beary
Supporters of the anti-Muslim PEGIDA movement demonstrate in Dusseldorf, Germany, on Dec. 8, 2014, against what they call the "Islamization" of Germany. Europe's continuing economic woes led to stunning wins for far-right and anti-immigrant parties in last May's European Parliament election. (Getty Images/Sean Gallup)
Europe has been unable to haul itself out of the doldrums wrought by the 2008–09 global financial crisis. In addition to economic stagnation and high joblessness rates, immigration from poorer to richer countries has led to social tensions, made worse by a new influx of refugees fleeing Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. Meanwhile, after decades of dormancy, anti-Semitism appears to be on the rise again. The 28-member European Union (EU) has responded to the economic malaise by bolstering its fiscal authority, but that has provoked a backlash from critics who believe national governments — and not the EU — should set policy. In such a climate, far-right, anti-immigrant, anti-EU and even neo-Nazi political parties have been gaining eyebrow-raising victories at the ballot box. At the same time, foreign-policy experts say Hungary, an EU member, is sliding toward authoritarianism, adding to fears that Europe is headed in a dangerous direction.
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European Unification
Apr. 05, 2019 European Union at a Crossroads
Dec. 16, 2016 European Union's Future
Jan. 09, 2015 European Unrest
Apr. 17, 2012 Future of the EU
Aug. 2007 The New Europe
Oct. 28, 2005 Future of the European Union
Nov. 27, 1998 European Monetary Union
Jun. 28, 1991 Europe 1992
Jan. 13, 1989 Europe 1992: Danger or Opportunity?
May 11, 1979 Electing Europe's Parliament
Jan. 17, 1973 European Security
Sep. 03, 1969 Benelux Cooperation
Jun. 15, 1966 European Realignment
Sep. 19, 1962 Political Integration of Europe
Mar. 27, 1957 European Economic Union
Jan. 02, 1952 European Unification
Jan. 08, 1951 Defense of Europe
May 21, 1947 Federation of Europe
Nov. 16, 1939 Federal Union and World Peace
Apr. 12, 1933 European Political Alignments
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Barcelona's 4-1 win over Cultural Leonesa in the Copa del Rey on Wednesday will be marked in Riqui Puig's memory.
The young midfielder came on in the 55th minute for Barça B's Oriol Busquets and played in a trio alongside Carles Alena and Sergio Busquets.
Teenager Puig showed his quality and soon made his mark on the game, setting up Denis Suarez for Barça's fourth goal with an exquisite pass.
Until now, Puig hadn't been able to debut for Ernesto Valverde's side in an official game -- his previous appearances came in the tour of the United States and the Joan Gamper Trophy.


Welcome to the premier resource for all real estate information and services in the area of Chapel Hill, North Carolina. I hope you enjoy your visit and explore the various communities I specialize in, including Chapel Ridge, Colvard Farms, Preserve at Jordan Lake, Grey Hawk Landing, Legacy at Jordan Lake and various other Chatham County neighborhoods. You will find a wealth of information on custom home building in North Carolina, homes for sale in Chapel Hill, Durham, Apex and Cary, information for homebuyers and sellers, and relocating to the NC Triangle. Find out more About Me, Yvonne Beal, your Realtor, bringing home the Southern Lifestyle.
Looking for a new home? Use Quick Search or Map Search to browse an up-to-date database list of all available properties in the area, or use my Dream Home Finder form and I'll conduct a personalized search for you. I pride myself on being a full-service Realtor in Chatham County, always going the extra mile and providing my clients with individualized local attention throughout their investment decision. I specialize in land sales, builder spec homes, the custom build process, luxury home sales and buyer representation. I am extremely knowledgeable about Colvard Farms, Chapel Ridge, The Preserve at Jordan Lake and The Legacy at Jordan Lake - a specialized knowledge you won't find in other general brokerage firms.
If you're planning to sell your home in the next few months, nothing is more important than knowing a fair asking price. I would love to help you with a FREE Market Analysis. I will use comparable sold listings to help you determine the accurate market value of your home. Contact Me and allow me to assist you in selling your home or buying a new one in Chatham county, Chapel Hill, Apex or any area within the Triangle NC.
Chatham Park is moving forward with a master planned development on over 7,000 acres near the intersections of Hwy 64 and15/501. Will it be the next Research Triangle Park? I think so! Check out my NC Real Estate Blog for the latest on what this development will mean for the area.


Welcome to St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church!
The hunt will take place on the front lawn of the school building.
As Saint Mary Magdalen Parish continues to celebrate its milestone of 100 Years, we look toward how we can leave a visible reminder by honoring our parishioners, students, priests, deacons, sisters, teachers, and other individuals who have contributed to the rich history of this great parish. As part of our commemoration of parish life at St. Mary Magdalen, personalized brick pavers are available for purchase. Pavers will be placed in the ground along the walkway between the church and school (see example below).
The cost for each 8" x 4" brick paver is $25.00. You may request one, two or three lines per paver. The number of characters, including spaces, is limited to 14 per line (see the above examples). There is no limit on the number of pavers you can purchase. Please use the form below to place an order for yourself, your family, or in memory of a loved one, or in honor of a special person who was part of the life of St. Mary Magdalen Parish.
No Divine Intervention required !!
Let's ALL offer a personal invitation to those parishioners, and their families, whom we haven't seen for a while. This outreach is important for parishioners and their families, who have moved out of our Parish to attend an evening of St. Mary Magdalen Trivia in celebration of our Parish's 100th Anniversary. In 2019, across the country, there will be churches celebrating Anniversaries. Our St. Mary Magdalen 100th Anniversary – the evening of the Trivia Night celebration is an opportunity for church parishioners to invite former parishioners and their families to accompany them to our Parish's recently remodeled school building for a Trivia History Lesson of our Parish.
This is a wonderful time for people to get together, reconnect and socialize with friends and their children that they may not have seen in a while also experiencing a History Lesson of our Parish.
Our 100th Anniversary celebration is a time for outreach through personal invitation, via any/all types of social media you are using. Every parishioner is encouraged to set aside that Saturday Night, to invite all of your family members to our Trivia Extravaganza to spend some time enjoying the company of our fellow parishioners, of the past and present, and will be the social event of the year.
You Are Always Welcome Home!
Graves will be visiting the homebound to write down their memories.
Please email your memories to Fran Voss at smmadmin@sbcglobal.net or mail to the rectory, or drop off your memories in the Sunday offertory collection addressed to Fran.
You can now support our Parish through Amazon Smile!
Children's Memorial Website now online. Click Here.
When the United States flag (Old Glory) becomes worn, torn, faded or badly soiled, it is time to replace it with a new flag, and the flag should be "retired" with all the dignity and respect befitting our nation's flag.
If someone has an old or unusable American Flag that is no longer fit for display you can BRING it to the school cafeteria during Donut Fellowship on July 2nd or you may place "Old Glory" in the designated basket in Church.
The St. Mary Magdalen Veterans Committee & the First catholic Slovak ladies Association will collect the worn, tattered flags and otherwise unserviceable flags & respectfully destroy them during the Ceremony on July 4th after 9:00 AM Mass. The flags will be placed on a ceremonial pyre and set ablaze.
The St. Mary Magdalen Veterans Committee and The First Catholic Slovak Ladies Association are very pleased to provide our citizens with an opportunity to dispose of these flags, many of which they have proudly flown over their homes or businesses for many years.
If you have any questions, or would like to assist, please feel free to contact Joe Miklovic at 353-1062.


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Meet Alice Bidault, Dijon Fellow from ENSA
In August, Meadows School of the Arts hosted the Second Annual "From Dijon to Dallas" Exhibition, which featured the work of two fellows selected in a six-week exchange program. This year, the fellows were Andrew Davis (SMU MFA '16) and Alice Bidault from Dijon. Dijon and Dallas are sister cities, and the program was established last year between the two schools, Meadows and the École Nationale Supérieure d'Art (ENSA). The exhibition opened at Liliana Bloch Gallery on August 23rd and closes on September 3rd. In October, both Andrew and Alice will launch a joint exhibition in Dijon.
Below is Alice's interview about her work, and experience in Dallas and at SMU. It follows as the blog's second one from last year's Dijon fellow, Hugo Capron.
Andrew Davis, Dallas artist-in-residence at ENSA; Sofia Bastidas, 2016 Pollock Curatorial Fellow at SMU Meadows; and Alice Bidault
What originally made you want to become an artist?
Art found me! I had a scientific background, had the possibilities to go in an astrophysics university, but at the last moment I chose to go to fine art school because I wanted to break the rationality of a straight education and find something different, more free I guess at this moment of my life. I think also I heard a lot from my parents' histories at the Pietro Sparta gallery when I was a child.
How would you describe your art or art practice?
My work stems from my research about History in dialogue with art, considering how artists relate to History and how they might act upon it. I attempt to define through my practice the concept of Contemporary Archaeology. Using several mediums, like sculpture, installations, videos and photographs, I try to show how an artist and his or her work can be the vector of a new insight on our scientific and epistemological foundations and traditions and where our thinking processes and knowledge could be influenced by and approached in other ways. In the manner of an archaeologist I am doing field work, translating by prospection and archiving of different kind of materials (objects, testimonies, historical archives, photographs etc.) and taking into consideration what is lacking as an important key to site comprehension. Such an approach broadens the scope for potential theories, germinates other possibilities, it frees and stimulates the imagination. The absence of physical evidence can, nevertheless, often still tell us that something was there : a fragment, a faint trace, an echo which points towards the whole. The use and elaboration of the imagination is for me a specific way to give a different aspect and point of view on present and past events. I am also interested in particular places which introduce and mix different temporalities or functions out of the present time, like botanical gardens, libraries, museums and also transitional places produced by super-modernity, such as parking garages, motels, malls, stations, airports… Heterotopia and non-places (in French,- "non-lieux"-) are typical places where we can question our history and its relation with institutions. These could themselves become future generators of speculation and fiction factors.
What or who has influenced your art the most?
Very early in my practise I was influenced by the italian artists of Arte Povera especially Mario Mertz and Guiseppe Penone who were the first artists I learnt about. Land Artists who I consider also to be the closest relatives of my artistic family. Robert Smithson with who I still keep an intense friendship through his earthworks, writings and entropic concepts.
These two artistic movements of the 60/70's are still so pertinent for me because we are actually crossing the same kind of societal questions about our economic system and the way how it affects art, the art market and life everyday. We still need to find new creative solutions to build a parallel economy, not obviously in boycotting institutions, but by trying to change them from the inside. I am also thinking about some awesome architecture and design groups such as Superstudio and Archigram which attempted to reinvent the urban system in a futurist, yet plausible way through artistic fictions. Also, I read a great deal and always do a bunch of researches in philosophy, sociology and anthropology. This includes works of Michel Foucault and De Certeau about concepts' genealogy, heterotopias, historicity and subjectivity ; Georges Didi-Huberman about collective memory and « shapes survival » through time and space ; Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari texts about this philosophy of deterritorialization, global interaction and rhizome concept you can apply to all thinking processes ; Marc Augé and is anthropology of supermodernity, and most recently Brian Holmes, Suely Rolnik, Saskia Sassen or Eduardo Viveiros de Castro.
I think you can grasp, I am a voracious reader!
Apart from my readings, Nature and Science were my first inspiration and are still relevant today. I used to take long walks in urban/suburban spaces, as well as more « naturals » ones, which are really part of my creation process. For several summers now, I have done archeological excavations (for the most part in prehistoric period) and have learned many scientific methods, very enriching for my artwork where I can distort them.
The works of Jean Daniel Pollet and Marguerite Duras for their films, as Louidgi Beltrame, Raphael Siboni & Fabien Giraud ans Uriel Orlow; Pierre Huygues and Laure Provost for their installations; Katinka Bock, Simon Boudevin, Guillaume Leblon and others European sculptors of the same generation who I think are very pertinent nowadays (my artists' Cinder block Generation) ; Eric Tabuchi, Josef Koudelka and Nicolas Moulin for their photographs, Etienne Boulanger and Till Roeskens for their performances ; François Gall for his/her paintings ; Marcel Broodthaers and Sammy Engramer for their sense of humor, among others.
Of course, everydays encounters are, and one of the best ways for me to grow ideas.
Tell us about your upcoming exhibition at the Liliana Bloch Gallery in Dallas.
First of all, you should go check it out and read the statement written by our curator Sofia Bastidas, which is a good start ! My work in this exhibition is about Native american people in Texas. When I arrived to Dallas, I noticed that American people have a different way of considering History. I saw every day in my bus trips, construction projects, a growing, looking like a battlefield crushing the street, tabula rasa of the past. A crushing of history stratum after stratum, in order to build isomorphic design housing/hotel/mall complexes.
How developers view land as a speculative field of quick profit is a very capitalist and colonialist attitude, disconnected from global reality and tangible approach natural resources. I wanted to create a parallel between the territory's oldest and forgotten history (which still very young in comparison to Europe) of Natives, and contemporary architecture, in order to explore how one might build a culture and a city, to attempt linking them within one object, the exhibition space.
Andy Davis, who I'm exhibiting with has pieces worked really well with mine, so we chose to mix both in the space, and spent a lot of time installing the pieces together, we tried many combinations, removing and shifting works until we arrived at this transitory state.
We have a second show together in France, so the study of Drawing Ground a study will move, change and live again.
What have you gained so far from your experience in Dallas?
I learned how a city can be thirty years late about ecology!
Dallas has been very stimulating, I had so many ideas and developed new modes of seeing, I wish I could stay longer…I will come back!
Additionally, I have met many amazing people here, students, artists, gallerists, and curators. Many critical people that exist in contradiction to their environment with I had good talks and conversations.
I have met Sofia with whom I have so many common interests. She started a project along with other Dallas people, a reading-thinking group called the society of something, of which I took part of.
I don't believe in chance; we will keep working together.
What are some of the biggest differences you've noticed about the art world in Dijon vs. Dallas?
Dallas is so much bigger!
Comparison is hard between these two different scales.
I think the Art District is a perfect example of the instrumentalization of the arts. So many sky rises where art is totally mixed with trade, banks and art collections. You are not able to see any kind of difference between the two, and I think this is worrying. Also a lot of art collections are private. And suddenly the mall is an art collection too? Is it becoming entertainment?
Open question.
Besides, I went to great alternative places like CentralTrak, Beefhaus and The Power Station which are full of beautiful initiatives. I can say that in Dijon Chiffoniers or Vortex can be an equivalent. But we definitely need to support more of them!
What have been some interesting research materials you've found at the Hamon Arts Library?
So many! I spent my first two weeks and hours in the collection considering Native American Art, Caddoan culture and story-tellings, tradition and architectural structures going through differents times and tribes. I remained longer on some pottery patterns and their meanings. I spent also some time in Fondren Library where I found plenty of interesting publications in the anthropology section. These materials were the basis of my research. I love archives.
The librarians were so helpful and amazing too.
Oh, and I found Georgia Erger! The curatorial fellow of the Hamon gallery!
What piece of advice would you give to early career artists in the Dallas community?
Travel and see what's happening outside of the United States.
Remember, sometimes, the Land you're coming from (I'm not saying identity).
Take some time and distance to look away from our "more-and-more" accelerated life.
Don't be afraid to be critical.
Be critical.
You are the new historians. We are making history today.
Do residencies and take part in informal education.
When your body moves, you think quicker.
Thank you to Alice Bidault, Dijon Fellow, for participating in this interview!
Images: Courtesy of Alice Bidault
hamonlibraryblog


Falling oil prices helped gas contracts decrease on Friday afternoon, erasing the gains recorded at the start of the session. The outage at Kollsnes continued to restrict supply levels in the UK, contributing to bullish movement in the morning. On the far-curve, prices were dictated by rising coal prices and a stronger Euro before the drop in Brent. Power contracts ended Friday's session on a bearish note following decreases on the oil and gas markets. Prices were generally stable in the morning as stronger coal prices offset the effects of weaker demand and improved wind levels.
Norwegian flows into the UK are still limited this morning but are expected to ramp up tomorrow, helping towards bearish sentiment on the near-curve. Wind generation is also set to rise later in the week which will reduce CCGT demand. Meanwhile, weaker oil prices continue to apply downward pressure at the back of the curve, while coal is stable. Power prices have moved down this morning in similar fashion to their gas counterparts. A stronger wind generation forecast has helped to weigh on the near-curve, although renewable power will remain weak tomorrow, supporting the prompt. Like gas, the back of the curve has been pressured down by falling Brent.
Brent display a strong loss from Friday's open and trades at $47.9.b this morning, a loss of around $1.6/b. Traders are pessimistic about OPEC's efforts to cut production levels ahead of the meeting in St Petersburg, with no restraints placed on Nigeria and Libya at present.
Market close data has revealed that the 1-year forward price for both commercial gas & commercial electricity decreased – closing at 41.60ppt and £42.57/MWh, respectively.


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Machineguns and Silencers: The National Firearms Act Explained byThe Legal Brief!
by The Arms Guide Guest Writer Jul 24, 2018
There is a lot of misinformation out there about the National Firearms Act… today on The Legal Brief, Adam Kraut breaks it down for you!
The National Firearms Act https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/te…
The Regulations Pertaining to the National Firearms Act https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/…
National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record (NFRTR) – 26 USC § 5841 https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/te…
National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record (NFRTR) – 27 CFR § 479.101 https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/…
Special Occupational Tax – 26 USC § 5801 https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/te…
Special Occupational Tax – 27 CFR § 479.32 https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/…
Transfer Tax – 26 USC § 5811 https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/te…
Transfer Tax – 27 CFR § 479.82 https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/…
Tax on Making – 26 USC § 5821 https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/te…
Tax on Making – 27 CFR 479.61 https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/…
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OMG! The Arm Brace IS Legal Again: The Legal Brief!
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Do Gunsmiths have to pay? ITAR Explained: Watch The Legal Brief!
Ultimate Guide to Stripped Receivers – The Legal Brief!
Finally, some relief from International Traffic in Arms Regulations? – The Legal Brief!
The Gun Control Act of 1968 and Why It Matters: The Legal Brief!


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The Finley Quality Network
"Writings, ramblings, rants, etc." – A reader
Tag Archives: Mike Collins
20 July 2019 by lalmon
"I got the Earth coming up…it's fantastic!"
From the Apollo Flight Journal and the Apollo Lunar Surface Journal, this is the best annotated Apollo 11 descent footage I've seen yet. The 16mm/6fps film, shot from the top of Buzz Aldrin's Lunar Module window 50 years ago later today at about 4pm Eastern, starts after a 3-minute explanatory intro. You'll want to watch this full-screen.
That descent is the subject of the 12-part "13 Minutes to the Moon" podcast*, which you can find here. What they did to prevent those 1200-series program alarms on future missions is discussed in the comments on the Tindallgrams post.
Twenty-five hours later on 21 July:
Bigger and bigger the LM gets in my window, until finally it nearly fills it completely. I haven't touched the controls. Neil is flying in formation with me, and doing it beautifully, with no relative motion between us. I guess he is about fifty feet away, which means the rendezvous is over. "I got the earth coming up…it's fantastic!" I shout at Neil and Buzz, and grab for my camera, to get all three actors (earth, moon, and Eagle) in the same picture. Too bad Columbia will show up only as a window frame, if at all.
– Mike Collins in Carrying the Fire
And it sure is fantastic. A large version of this one is in my upstairs hallway.
The best of the 23-photo sequence taken by Mike Collins during approach and stationkeeping; click for a 4163×4125 version
Collins, one the most personable of the Apollo astronauts, narrated this week's Google Doodle, where the animation was nicely done – and, I'll add, more accurate than the animations in some recently-produced documentaries.
When I saw the animation below in the 3rd episode of Smithsonian Channel's new "Apollo's Moon Shot" series (edited to add: shown again in episode 6), I made a rather unpleasant just-ate-a-lemon face and said "Ack!" to no one in particular. The series is otherwise very good, with Andrew Chaikin, author of the iconic A Man on the Moon, one of the talking heads, and National Air & Space Museum curators showing historic objects, but see here: During Transposition and Docking, Collins used the sixteen tiny Reaction Control System thrusters, a photo of four of them below the screenshot, on the sides of the Service Module – each producing just 50 pounds of thrust – to move gingerly with short puffs. Using the Service Propulsion System engine's 20,000 pounds of non-throttleable thrust as their animation showed would have been overkill in quite a literal sense, with the result two destroyed spacecraft, three dead crew, and probably one dead Project Apollo. This is just the sort of nit I'm not hesitant to pick.
I'm certain Chaikin will have had his head in his hands when he saw this in the completed episode. Gee, you'd think the producers would run stuff like this past someone with even passing knowledge of Apollo before sending it out into the world, wouldn't you? I dunno…maybe someone who was already under contract to the production…say, how about Chaikin? How embarrassing for them.
One of the four Service Module Reaction Control System quads. The assembly, whose housing includes heaters, is about 33″/83.8cm x 25″/73.7cm and the engine nozzles have a 5 and 5/8″/14.3cm diameter. The heaters prevented fuel residue buildup of hydrazinium nitrate, which could eventually detonate and destroy the RCS engine.
*Over the nine hours of "13 Minutes to the Moon," I noted only one minor error – in episode 10, when presenter Kevin Fong says CAPCOM Charlie Duke instructs the crew to "rotate Eagle and redirect their antenna." Duke was actually giving them the pitch and yaw values (-9, +18) for the steerable S-band antenna, which Aldrin entered on the guidance computer using Noun 51 – Desired S-Band Pitch, Yaw Angles. Rotating the entire LM for better radio reception during descent would have been kind of a big deal, and inadvisable, which is exactly why that antenna was steerable. In any case, I'd say a single small mistake in nine hours is not a bad error rate.
The round black antenna pointed at Earth is the steerable S-band
Posted in Apollo
Tagged 13 Minutes to the Moon, Andrew Chaikin, Apollo 11, Apollo Flight Journal, Apollo Lunar Surface Journal, Apollo's Moon Shot, Google Doodle, Lunar Module, Mike Collins, Smithsonian Channel
The thousand-ring circus
On the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11, I thought readers might get a kick out of seeing this funny 1968 memo regarding a problem that needed to be fixed in the Lunar Module (it was), and learning about its extraordinary author, NASA engineer Howard W. "Bill" Tindall, Jr. I wrote about this memo five years ago with just a little information on Tindall, but I wanted to expand on that a fair amount this week because without his efforts, I'm pretty certain we would not have reached the moon before that decade was out.
Click for a larger version
I first learned of Tindall in 1989 when I read Apollo: The Race to the Moon by Murray and Cox, which I think will ever remain the definitive Apollo history from the perspective of technical people on the ground, and have since gathered the information that's included here from 1,700 pages of his memos that the Kennedy Space Center History Office sent to me in 1999, individual memos kindly provided by the University of Houston-Clear Lake from their Johnson Space Center History Collection, some JSC oral histories, and several other books and online resources.
After his earlier work on Mercury trajectories and Gemini rendezvous techniques, Bill Tindall's parchment-dry title was "Chief, Apollo Data Priority Coordination," a position created by Apollo Program chief George Low that quite unusually cut across several branches of the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston. Tindall worked with design engineers, contractors, mathematicians, programmers, mission controllers, and astronauts – everyone, really – to develop and hone the dozens of mission techniques that were used in each one of the twelve distinct phases of lunar missions. Guidance flight controller Steve Bales said of Tindall, "He had a thousand-ring circus going all the time."
Flight Director Gene Kranz: "Tindall was pretty much the architect for all of the techniques that we used to go down to the surface of the moon. Tindall was the guy who put all the pieces together, and all we did is execute them. If there should have been a plaque left on the moon for somebody in Mission Control or Flight Control, it should have been for Bill Tindall. I respected Bill so much that when the time came for the [Apollo 11] lunar landing, the day of the lunar landing, I saw him up in the viewing room, and I told him to come on down and sit in the console with me for the landing. He didn't want to come down, but I cleared everybody away and we had Bill Tindall there for landing, and I think that was probably the happiest day of his life. A spectacular guy."
Late last month, the Johnson Space Center re-opened the painstakingly and beautifully restored Apollo-era Mission Operations Control Room, MOCR 2: https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/06/behind-the-scenes-at-nasas-newly-restored-historic-apollo-mission-control/. How that restoration came about is discussed in detail by JSC Historic Preservation Officer Sandra Tetley and contractor lead Adam Graves in this hour-long episode of "Houston We Have a Podcast": https://www.nasa.gov/johnson/HWHAP/restoring-the-apollo-mission-control-center
Tindall's frequent memos – usually two to four a week – were all dictated because Patsy Saur, his secretary, said he'd better learn how because she was not going to lose her shorthand proficiency. They were called Tindallgrams by those who eagerly awaited their common sense, humor, and perfect condensations of discussions and decisions made during the meetings he conducted – and conducted is precisely the right word. Some of those meetings went on for two or three twelve-hour days, with anywhere from half a dozen to a hundred people in the conference room discussing – or, sometimes, shouting and arguing vehemently – and coming to a consensus on every item on the agenda – or, sometimes, accepting Tindall's final decisions via Tindallgram. Tindall, Buzz Aldrin's equal in orbital mechanics (Aldrin's MIT doctoral thesis was "Line-of-Sight Guidance Techniques for Manned Orbital Rendezvous"), once estimated that he spent just 10 to 20% of his time on standard mission techniques and the rest developing finely-detailed "what if" contingency plans, many of which were never needed but some of which came in very handy indeed. The increased peace of mind I'm sure he had as a result was no doubt shared by many because they all knew that there was a precise plan for just about any problem imaginable.
They were after what was right, and everybody was passionate about it. Everybody was young so they were kind of brash and there wasn't a lot of patience anywhere. So some of those meetings were very, very colorful. Some of the characters were colorful. At the end of this, you were just inundated with all of this stuff you've heard. And now what?
And the next day you would get this two-, maybe three-page memorandum from Bill Tindall written in a folksy style, saying, 'You know, we had this meeting yesterday. We were trying to ask this. If I heard you right, here's what I think you said and here's what I think we should do.' And he could summarize these complex technical and human issues and put it down in a readable style that – I mean, people waited for the next Tindallgram. That was like waiting for the newspaper in the morning. They looked forward to it. I just remember that I've always talked to people about this amazing skill.
– Ken Mattingly, Command Module Pilot, Apollo 16
Just how complicated could Tindall's mission techniques get? Consider that Apollo 11 Command Module Pilot Mike Collins put this CMP Solo Book on a string around his neck a few hours before Armstrong and Aldrin departed for the lunar surface (onboard audio: "Neil, I hate to bother you; could you get my solo book out of R-1 there? Big frapping book, with a bunch of updates on the cover."). Starting on page 60 are summarized procedures – cheat sheets, if you will – for eighteen different Lunar Module rescue scenarios that Collins might have to execute if his crewmates "never made it to the lunar surface, or if they got there early or late, or departed crooked or straight" (Collins in Carrying the Fire). Some involved Collins diving the 32-ton Command-Service Module from its 60-nautical-mile lunar orbit to as low as they dared – possibly down to 35,000 feet, but I think they would have been a tad more conservative – in order to catch up to the LM if its orbit was higher and slower than the CSM's, an example of how counter-intuitive orbital mechanics can be.
Here's a YouTube link to an MIT "Engineering Apollo" class with the sharp and funny Collins in 2015. The interviewer/presenter is Professor David Mindell, the author of Digital Apollo.
Tindall also kept up with the latest scuttlebutt, which at times required that he step in to protect things that needed protecting. For example, when he heard that a NASA high mucky-muck said they should get rid of the Lunar Module's rendezvous radar to save weight, and that people were beginning to take the idea seriously, Tindall took action to nip that in the bud immediately by writing this memo to George Low, the boss of all Apollo bosses. He didn't name the official in the memo, but it was Associate Administrator for Manned Space George Mueller who made the flippant suggestion after a visit to Grumman on Long Island, where LM weight reduction was a constant focus for years. After Low read Tindall's high-energy memo, some memos went between higher mucky-mucks and a few weeks later Mueller's boss told him, in summary, "Yeah…no."
Sometimes fairly unlikely scenarios gnawed at him a bit – such as whether their re-entry targeting was so good that a Command Module might, by mistake and with a catastrophic result, hit the aircraft carrier that was waiting for its splashdown. His method of dealing with small worries was the same as the large ones: address all eventualities completely through thorough planning. In this case, his memo titled Let's move the recovery forces a little. ("PAO requirements for good commercial TV" refers to the NASA Public Affairs Office.)
Another of the 1,000+ Apollo memos Tindall wrote from 1966 to 1970 was on the topic of why Apollo 11's Eagle overshot its intended landing site by four miles. It described how incomplete venting (that is, depressurization) of the docking tunnel prior to undocking caused the Lunar Module to pop like a cork off the Command Module with just a little extra velocity, which in turn caused significant changes in its descent profile. A new rule for subsequent missions required that Mission Control confirm complete depressurization of the tunnel. A related Tindallgram on other venting sources adversely affecting the descent trajectory was titled Vent bent descent, lament!, and he wasn't shy about making his strong feelings on those vexing vents known to all the top brass at NASA, including chief spacecraft designer – also a culprit – Max Faget, in an unusually all-caps-titled VENTS ("This will either amuse you, waste your time, or just possibly accomplish something great.")
After a three-day-long "Mission Techniques free-for-all" not even two weeks after Apollo 11, he wrote How to land next to a Surveyor – a short novel for do-it-yourselfers. That and a follow-up memo, in which he revised his previously pessimistic targeting prognosis, detailed new mission techniques that were key to Apollo 12 Commander Pete Conrad being able to set Intrepid down just 535 feet from the Surveyor 3 spacecraft that had, two-and-a-half years earlier, soft-landed on the Ocean of Storms after bouncing twice due to a slightly-too-early engine shutdown.
Such pinpoint accuracy was life-critical for later landings, in particular Apollo 17, which landed in the Taurus-Littrow Valley, a box canyon surrounded by mountains on three sides.
Here's an excellent 2015 Apollo 17 documentary in two parts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIGbOoZzlYI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQOEC9gHpmA
Oh, yeah…for a period of about a year in 1966-67, Tindall, who grew up in Scituate, Massachusetts, flew up to Cambridge from Houston for two or three days every week to help organize, focus, and speed up – effectively manage, sometimes in a blunt manner – the MIT Instrumentation Lab's previously somewhat free-form development of the COLOSSUS and LUMINARY software for the Apollo Guidance Computers (AGC) in the Command and Lunar Modules, respectively. (He visited often enough that he sent out a TripAdvisor-style memo every now and then.)
Early on, Lab engineers reported, to Tindall's great alarm, that the Command Module code was about 30,000 bytes in excess of the 72,000 available in the AGC and the Lunar Module software was around 10,000 over its 72,000. 13 October 1966, the day Tindall directed them, in person, to eliminate much duplicated code that he had found, and to cut several elegant but non-essential and hence memory-wasting routines, became known to those in the Instrumentation Lab as "Black Friday." Two weeks after Black Friday, he discussed his strategy in this memo, which began with the important point that "There are a number of us who feel that the computer programs for the Apollo spacecraft will soon become the most pacing item for the Apollo flights." Despite the initial hard feelings at the Lab, they did what he asked, and over time came to realize just how beneficial his involvement was to their work – and best of all, that work was ready when it needed to be.
Here's a profile of Margaret Hamilton, who, two years after the Lab's early difficulties, became leader of the Apollo spacecraft software development effort: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/margaret-hamilton-led-nasa-software-team-landed-astronauts-moon-180971575/
In late 1965 just before his work on Apollo began, the New York Times profiled Tindall in a brief Gemini 6/7 sidebar titled "Rendezvous Planner Howard W. Tindall, Jr." (reprinted in the January 1966 Brown Alumni Monthly here), but Charles Fishman, who contacted me while researching his new book, One Giant Leap: The Impossible Mission That Flew Us to the Moon, says that when Tindall died in 1995, not one newspaper in the US ran an obituary. It's even difficult to find any photographs of him bigger than a postage stamp, but here are a couple: below, one in his office (a screenshot from episode 3 of the also excellent "Moon Machines" series, playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTu8nanTJo7GvulBxz9JT9JcXeXimM1Vr) and he's in the center of this photo taken during Apollo 13, chin in hand, looking at papers – some probably written by him.
I've always thought that more people ought to know about this remarkable man. To paraphrase him, if you are still with me, hardy reader, now you do.
Bill Tindall; click for a larger version
I think it's safe to say he thoroughly disliked inaccuracy and inexactitude, which may be reflected in the "H. Timdell" [sic] name I noticed taped to the wall behind him in that photo, the misspelling perhaps from some conference he attended. I've no evidence for it, but I like to think he kept it up there to point out to visitors at appropriate moments, maybe with a raised eyebrow and a little flourish of sarcasm.
We'd all get in there and defend our [computer] requirements, and then Tindall would cut them. And then we'd cuss him. And Tindall would grin, and cuss back, and laugh his loud, infectious laugh, and keep right on going.
– Apollo Flight Director Cliff Charlesworth
We weren't working overtime, we were playing!
– Bill Tindall
Edited 9 August 2019 to add: My theory above about that misspelling on his wall is now inoperative…defunct…shot down. The Johnson Space Center History Office has kindly found and sent me the original of that official photo along with nine others of Tindall from 1965-1979, which I've just posted here: https://finleyquality.net/The-ringmaster. Some deductive reasoning on the uncropped version of that one that they sent reveals the much more likely source of "H. Timdell" [sic].
Edited 21 August 2019 to add: I just happened upon this tidbit while reading Harrison Schmitt's 1999 Johnson Space Center oral history interview. Twenty-seven years after his Apollo 17 mission, Schmitt emphasized how important Tindall's memos were, not just at the time but for purposes of mission planning in the future (emphasis mine):
Well, Frank Borman approached me, asked me if I would do the lunar orbit flight planning for their effort. And that meant that I began to interact with [Howard W.] Tindall's group, the Flight Operations Planning group that met weekly that really was the focus of all of the operational planning for a particular mission. They were looking at all the missions, but the one up was the one they were concentrating on. And that's another tremendous resource.
And I'm not sure where there is a complete collection of what were called Tindallgrams. They were his summary of each of those meetings. I have a partial collection at the University of New Mexico in the files there. Whether there would be a complete collection or not, I don't know. But somebody ought to make a very, very specific effort to get a complete collection of the FOP minutes, Tindallgrams, and to get those in some kind of form and bound. Because that is a resource that should not be lost. I can understand it's hard to put together. I hope somebody has been able to do that.
Posted in Apollo, Lunar Module, Moon, Space
Tagged AGC, Apollo 11, Apollo 12, Apollo 16, Apollo 17, Apollo: The Race to the Moon, Bill Tindall, Catherine Bly Cox, Charles Murray, Cliff Charlesworth, CMP Solo Book, COLOSSUS, Command-Service Module, Gene Kranz, George Low, Howard W. Tindall, Johnson Space Center, JSC, Ken Mattingly, Kennedy Space Center, LUMINARY, Lunar Module, Manned Spacecraft Center, Margaret Hamilton, Max Faget, Mike Collins, MIT, MIT Instrumentation Lab, MOCR, MOCR restoration, MSC, NASA, Steve Bales, Surveyor 3, Tindallgrams
19 June 2019 by lalmon
"Whatcha got in the bag, Mike?"
From Carrying the Fire by Mike Collins:
The security people have roped off a walkway for us, and we give jerky little waves to the photographers as we walk stiff-legged toward the van. Charlie Buckley, the head security man at the Cape, is there to greet us—another little pre-flight ritual. There are certain amenities to be observed, such as presenting Guenter Wendt, the czar of the launch pad, with a going-away present. Guenter has spent the past couple of weeks telling me what a great fisherman he is, and how he regularly plucks giant trout from the ocean. In return, I have located the smallest trout to be found in these parts, a minnow really, and have had it, uncured, nailed to a plaque and inscribed GUENTER'S TROPHY TROUT. I carry it now inside a brown paper shopping bag, which Charlie Buckley eyes suspiciously. I am a bit nervous about it myself. What if my awkward gloved hands drop it and the trout tumbles out in front of all those photographers? They are here to see us leave the earth, with dignity and perhaps a little pomp, but what if their cameras instead record an ungainly scramble after a tiny dead fish? What would Walter Cronkite say?
I knew about the trout, but after reading of it again the other day and then watching the new Apollo 11 film Blu-ray, my eyebrows shot up when I saw he had good reason to be nervous: The bag was safely upright as they left the Manned Spacecraft Operations Building, but when Collins turned left to follow Armstrong into the Astrovan (a converted Clark Cortez Motorhome), it caught on his Portable Oxygen Ventilator and tilted dangerously downward; another five or ten degrees and he would have let the trout out of the bag.
In the White Room, Guenter's estimate of his fishing prowess:
Mike's counter-estimate:
Wendt, who died in 2010, still had the trout when he was interviewed in 1992 below – after having it gutted and properly mounted, of course. The video is cued up to the trout bit.
Armstrong gave Wendt a voucher for a free ride in a space taxi and Aldrin presented a booklet called "Good News for Modern Man", a condensed modern version of the New Testament. In 2015, the trout plaque, taxi voucher, and booklet sold at auction for US$10,625, $8,125, and $5,000, respectively.
"No 'General', just Mike. Old Mike if you want to be formal. And if you really want to get into it, Lucky Old Mike."
– Collins during this interview at the National Press Club, April 2019
Tagged Apollo 11, fish story, Guenter Wendt, Mike Collins, trout
8 May 2019 by lalmon
Carrying the Fire now weightless
16 July 1969: Collins suiting up in a frame from this year's "Apollo 11" documentary film
Mike Collins, Command Module Pilot of Apollo 11, wrote what is considered one of if not the best of the astronaut memoirs, Carrying the Fire, originally published in 1974. It's finally been released as an ebook, so I'm rereading it in its weightless form now. If you read it after watching his recent hour-plus Aero-Astro classes at MIT here, it's quickly obvious that he had no ghostwriter for this book – a rarity in such memoirs. It's fully and delightfully in his own voice.
Gemini and Apollo astronauts underwent both tropical and desert survival training in case they reentered – or aborted during launch phase – away from recovery forces and ended up in entirely the wrong place; cold weather training wasn't needed because the orbital mechanics of Gemini and Apollo flights dictated paths near the equator. Wrapping up the narrative of his Air Force tropical survival school training in Panama, he has this to say in the book:
"Somewhere along the way I picked up a couple of hundred companions, chiggers, evenly distributed from the waist down. I cannot adequately explain to the unchiggered what they are missing. My dictionary says simply that chiggers are 'the parasitic larva of certain mites.' It doesn't say they are also abominable little red creatures who burrow into your skin, where they ultimately die. Uneasy in their terminal tunnels, they either jump about or dig deeper, or secrete some irritant, or something; at any rate they itch like crazy. Friends are always pleased to offer remedies. 'Rub them with Scotch and sand. They'll get drunk and stone each other to death.' They merely itch worse when they (or you) have a hangover. 'Have you tried an ice pick?' The most popular notion (false) is that they can be suffocated, and I have heard doctors recommend covering each spot with clear nail polish. Why clear rather than blush pink (my natural color) I cannot say, but I can say with authority that it doesn't work either, nor does the iodine-like chigger medicine sold in pharmacies. The only thing to do is wait ten days for the truculent little bastards to die or depart, leaving behind a cratered field of battle not easily forgotten by the landowner."
Tagged Carrying the Fire, Mike Collins
31 October 2018 by lalmon
"I take back any bad things I ever said about MIT — which I never have."
The quotation is from Mike Collins, Command Module Pilot of Apollo 11, as their spacecraft entered lunar orbit. He was commenting on how well the computer had controlled their Lunar Orbit Insertion burn, adjusting their course to velocities accurate within a tenth of a foot per second in all three axes – essentially perfect. In full, from the onboard audio recording:
Minus 1, minus 1, plus 1. Jesus! I take back any bad things I ever said about MIT – which I never have.
Collins wrote the best of the astronaut biographies, Carrying the Fire, and he turned 88 today. He's behind the moon in this crew photo, when all three of them, born in 1930, were 39:
MIT's Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics curriculum includes a graduate semester devoted to "Engineering Apollo" – where twenty-six class sessions barely scratch the surface, according to the professor in the first video below – itself one of those twenty-six classes. Collins was a guest there in 2015 and last year.
Tagged Apollo 11, Mike Collins, MIT
Introduction to the site
Printing articles nicely
Contact the proprietor
The loons are a few weeks late this year
The ringmaster
"If we're late in answering you, it's because we're munching sandwiches."
"Sakrafise!"
"We choose to go to the moon"
Io Saturnalia!
An Essex boy at heart
Robert Smith on A toasty winter in store
Mark Passell on Timberland Tales
lalmon on The thousand-ring circus
lalmon on "Sakrafise!"
Richard Eckert on "Sakrafise!"
lalmon on Tindallgrams
lalmon on The ringmaster
The loons are a few weeks late this year | The Finley Quality Network on "We're running low on funds. Any ideas?"
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The explosive guillotine in the Lunar Module
And the bran muffin answer is...Nancy Silverton
A little something to whet the appetite
"Only the Mary Ann..."
"We choose to go to the moon"


You would be blind if you had not noticed the spreading of the "anti-capitalist" movement in the US also know as the 99% or Occupy Wall Street. And while the do have big issues there is no place were the fall from being the world leading economic superpower and the mall of the world to real tangible poverty have been greater then in here. In Denmark we have seen the first Facebook groups being formed and some of the first attempts to form demonstrations by ordinary people.
So how does the 99% compare between the US and Denmark and does the Danes really have anything to complain about?
Business insider has featured a number of interesting statistics about the situation in the US and I have tried through the Danish statistical office to replicate some of the same charts just in a local Danish context.
For one thing is the unemployment rate around 9% or around 14 million people in the US while it in is 4,2% or around 110 thousand people. While the numbers have been increasing from around 2% in 2008 and more people have lost their jobs the impact is still manageable. And we have yet to see real poverty on a large scale and fall in living standard among the middleclass. Also is the time from the loss of job to the time when people get another place of employment not as long as we have seen it elsewhere.
Another interesting thing is that corporate executives pay continue to rise both in the US and in Denmark. As one of the leading Danish corporate Asger Aamund said, "The Danes better get used to higher corporate payrolls" in spite the fact that the economy is a recession or as close to one as it can possible get. And as unemployment continue to grow and more and more people have to live for less it is no wonder people start o get upset.
One of the most discussed political and economical subjects discussed in Denmark is the growing inequality or the gap between the relative poor and the relative rich. According to the CIA (yes, it is the CIA you are thinking of) is Denmark number 17 on the list on the US is number 93! Located in between Bulgaria and Camaroon. According to the survey are the most unequal country being Nambia and the most equal country being Sweden. One might argue that equality is not a goal in it self but it is shown that the level of inequality and social stability is to a large extend co-constructive. This means that countries where the economic differences are small will have a larger degree of political stability.
In both the US and Denmark was the pre crisis proportion of rich people around 2% and the poor 30% so when the number of poor gets higher it is no wonder that people start to make noise when they are asked to pay the bill. While we are far from some of the countries in the developing world we the propositions are not shifting in a more equal direction.
Do the Danes have a cause for alarm and a reason to take to the streets is a question, which is difficult to answer. But there is little doubt that the people who are asked to pay the bill after the relative rich have taken their share are the people with the lowest income. And as people with high incomes again and again are exposed as fraudsters, inside traders, pyramid builders, or just plain greedy the reasons for ordinary people to take to the streets just increase.