So, being sick for the first week and a half of leave wasn't exactly what I had in mind, but the last week and a half was a lot better. With some enthusiastic assistance from Junior Modeller, I managed to make a little progress it doesn't look spectacular - yet - but we've painted the fascia and laid the track.
The next challenge is still the same as the previous post - working out what to put since my silo idea is too big for a single module. I've got some ideas; watch this space to see which one comes out on top!
Waiting - not any more!
That's right folks, the wait is over. Right on due date, at 2:16 this morning Petrina gave birth to a beautiful healthy little girl. S and F are very excited about their new little sister. Mum and bub are doing well.
This post from Femina is very timely for me. Even though we haven't hit Baby's due date yet, I'm feeling my impatience grow each day. God is so kind for putting this collection of verses from His Word in front of my eyes tonight.
Yep. Check before you build. Always make sure there's enough space to fit what you need/want.
After downloading Google Earth and SketchUp, I was able to get a reasonably accurate estimate of height for the silos, thanks to this clever approach. And sure enough, the actual silos are shorter than the kit, but take up much more space.
And while explaining all this to SP this afternoon, I hit upon a sort-of-solution. T-Trak modules come in three different lengths: single, double, and triple. And the triple length module is almost perfect length for the scene. It still doesn't really have enough depth, but I think I can do a few things there to get some more effective depth.
A tumble-down cattle race, leading from a (optionally) deserted paddock up to the line.
A mail or milk shed (a tiny little shed by the side of the line for easy transfer of goods on/off the train. The definitive "whistle stop" scenario).
Measure twice, cut once. Check whether you've got the funds before starting a building project. All good advice. And when it comes to model railroading, there's another good one to remember: decide how you're going to trade off realism and reality. I've seen pictures of amazingly detailed models, capturing in near perfect detail a particular section of a particular line in a particular year. Right down to the numbers on the carriages and wagons. At the other extreme, some folk just want to run trains, and don't care if it's on bare track, no scenery whatsoever.
I'd like to think I sit somewhere in the middle - I want my layout to look realistic, but I'm not trying to replicate the scene perfectly. I'm willing to compromise realism to fit within the limits of reality - space, budget, time, all that. What I didn't understand was how quickly I'd be tested on it.
The scene I'd like to model is simple: a set of eight silos beside the train line on the western Darling Downs. I knew from the outset there'd be some compromise: the line is a single track, but the T-Trak model standard that I'm working to specifies two tracks.
The kit has all eight silos in a single block. The prototype (model railroad slang for "the real thing") has two groups of four, linked only by some overhead fixtures. Modifying ("kitbashing") it to achieve this would probably require two kits. Alternately I can get PVC pipe from a hardware store and use that to the same effect.
Some very rough photo matching with Google Earth suggests the kit is taller than the prototype, and that each silo is a smaller diameter.
But, after buying track yesterday (yay!) I'm continuing the paper design today and once you allow for the pair of tracks across the front of the module, there's not much space left. The scale equivalent of 50 m wide by 32.6 m deep (away from the tracks). And some more very rough analysis suggests that the prototype silos will take up all of that space. Whereas the kit will fit in quite nicely.
Looks like my next step is downloading Google Earth and SketchUp to do some more accurate size estimation.
No visible progress on the module yet, but I made a small amount of progress at the Brisbane Model Train Show today.
I'd been hoping to buy the track I needed, but neither of the stores that I knew carry the right type were exhibiting, and I couldn't find the right type at any of the stores who did have stands.
It'll need some kitbashing, that is, it doesn't look exactly like the scene that I'm modelling, so I'll need to change it. But it's close enough to what I need that I can at least consider kitbashing. Until today, I thought I'd have to build it from scratch. I might still do it that way, we'll see.
The photos don't do it justice, but even so you can see the attention to detail and the quality of the workmanship that goes into these models.
The kit didn't come with written instructions, just some verbal directions from the manufacturer as he handed it to me. Thanks to Mr Bell, my year 9-10 woodwork teacher, I think I still managed to do an OK job.
Step one, put the frame together. Make sure it's square. The top piece came with some handy guidelines, and each piece was numbered to show which side it belonged on.
It's good material - marine ply - nice and light, but also considerably more environmentally rugged than MDF and some of the cheap stuff you find lying around. Each corner is glued and nailed, and the glue is what holds it in place long term. The nails are just there to provide clamping while the glue dries.
Step two, pin the top on the frame. Again, a bead of glue around the mating surface of the frame, and clamp in place while pinning. It's child's play.
For a long time I've harboured visions of grand model railway empires, stretching for (scale) miles and miles. I have very fond memories of the now defunct Flaxton Barn model railway at Mapleton, and another "big tin shed" display near Beenleigh/Beaudesert.
That's one of many sets of grain silos on the Western Downs - each little town had them, all right beside the rail line for ease of transport to the big smoke.
So watch this space for further updates. And who knows, maybe in 30 years I can take early retirement and let people walk through my shed looking at my own little empire.
If, like me, you'd normally need to look up your bible to know who Jeroboam II is, he's got one of the bit parts in 2 Kings; chapter 15:23-29 specifically. One of the many godless kings of Israel in the lead up to its exile.
23 In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, began to reign in Samaria, and he reigned forty-one years. 24 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. He did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin.
That seems out of place, given that usually the evil kings wound up losing territory, not gaining it.
26 For the Lord saw that the affliction of Israel was very bitter, for there was none left, bond or free, and there was none to help Israel. 27 But the Lord had not said that he would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven, so he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash.
28 Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam and all that he did, and his might, how he fought, and how he restored Damascus and Hamath to Judah in Israel, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? 29 And Jeroboam slept with his fathers, the kings of Israel, and Zechariah his son reigned in his place.
This isn't the first time I've read 2 Kings, but it's the first time I noticed verse 27, and I love it. It's easy to complain about our government, to fear that we're "getting the government we [as a society] deserve", or to think that we need a Christian theocracy to be well governed, and things like that. But this verse reminds us that God is still sovereign, and that he will look after us in the way he chooses, even through ungodly leaders.
PS - this is not intended as a commentary on any current or present governments in Australia or anywhere else. It's an observation of how good God is.
April 8th... lots of interesting things happened in history on this day.
AD 217 Emperor Caracella assassinated by the Praetorian guard, and succeeded by guard prefect.
Most interesting to me though, and much less widely reported, was the event in 2004, when a young couple thinking about Bible college gave a friend a lift up to a youth camp on the Sunshine Coast. Being the loving people they are, they made sure their friend was introduced to others at the camp, including a young man on the organising team.
Being a polite chap he said hello, but didn't think any more about it at the time, until 12 months later he needed to find a singer for the camp music team. Then he noticed that not only did she have a voice like an angel, she was also very pleasant on the eye, and very easy to talk to. And most of all, she clearly loved God.
Somebody a while back did a series of posts on choosing a school for your child, with suggested questions to ask at a school tour and things like that. We're choosing between our two locals for SP next year, and I'd love to re-read those posts, but I can't find them.
If you wrote them, or you know you did, could you please let me know?
We started reading the book-of-the-movie version of 'Five Children & It' to SP this afternoon. And got to talking about wishes.
His wish: A cubby/tree house. Sounds a lot like the one in the Swiss Family Robinson, which we've recently read a very abridged version of. The YouTube clip of the tree house in the 1960 movie blew his mind a bit.
Dave: Some wood to build be a cubby house.
Me: A new washing machine to do more washing.
For the record, there's nothing wrong with our current washing machine. Maybe he thinks I'm not keeping up.
I'm a big fan of Christian Audio and their monthly free downloads. Especially for doing the evening washing up when Dave's out or away.
This month, their free book for download is the whole ESV Bible.
Further to my previous post, I fell for one of the classic blunders of all time.
The first, as we know, is never get involved in a land war in asia. The second, of course, is never go up against a Sicilian when death is on the line*.
Somewhat further down the list is the blunder of not sanity checking your numbers.
Let's look at it quickly. You do the survey, the results come up, and you read "like 2% of the population..." and immediately think "wow, only 2 percent, that's not much, I must be really unique." However, in the case of this particular personality test, there are 16 possible outcomes. If the population was evenly distributed over all types, you would only have 6.25% in each type. Hmmm... So the outcome is that yes, at 2% of the population INTJs are less prevalent than other types, but not by an order of magnitude; only by 5 dB**.
*If neither of those make any sense to you, do yourself a favour: go find a copy of "The Princess Bride" starring Cary Elwes and Mandy Patinkin, and watch it over the holidays.
**dB is a logarithmic scale, 3 dB difference is double, 10 dB difference is x10, an order of magnitude. It's a microwave nerd thing.
Simone has been doing a series recently on how your personality affects your preaching style. Having done a few sermons this year, naturally I was curious to find out what type I am.
I don't know how accurate this description is, but I certainly see bits of me in it: bookworm, engineering career, various other traits that might be strengths or weaknesses depending on the situation.
Unfortunately, it's also not on the list of personality types that Simone's looked at yet. Oh well.
We're in a rough spot at the moment. The kids have been sick & not sleeping well for weeks, I've got a typical case of pregnancy exhaustion, Dave's been away more than usual, the Christmas craziness creeps every closer, etc etc etc.
So this post from Femina is a balm to my weary soul.
Our beautiful kids singing together. Keep listening for F at the end.
I had a feeling I would walk out of the Kindy AGM with a job for next year.
At least I'm not on the executive committee.
Just Social Rep for SP's room. Surely I can do that.
It's interesting to reflect on the 'meeting skills' that church membership provides. Although I have very little to base this on, I would guess that a good number of people in that room had never been to an AGM before, and the idea of moving or seconding a motion was obviously foreign or scary. I was the only person not on last year's committee that was willing to do it. Thank you Pressie church for exposing me to many such situations.
Two years ago, I lay in a hospital room. The wonders of the digital age revealed a desperately ill unborn baby.
The doctors said they had some things they could try.
A few life-changing weeks later, the same ultrasound machine showed a very different picture. Today, we have a healthy, happy 22 month old daughter. I am still in awe.
For us, technology worked wonders. And yet, others are grieving for their children, whom modern medicine could not help. Death comes to all of us, eventually. Sometimes technology delays it. Sometimes not.
If we had lived in the pre-digital age, could God have saved our girl? Could he have miraculously healed her without medical intervention? Without our even knowing there was a problem? Of course He could. God is God, and He can do anything.
Would He have? I don't know.
This post is part of Meredith's 'Prompted to Write' event. Click on over in a few days to read the responses of others.
The theme for the kids' music concert this year is Teddy Bears Picnic. Our kids are each going dressed as their favourite teddy bear. So this afternoon I made 'Mike' ears for SP. And it was so, so easy.
Fold the paper where you want the base of the end to be, then fold the gap in the middle into 4 equal parts.
The ribbon headband will go through this gap, and the top of the T shape will sit flat against the child's head so the ear stands up straight.
I'm sure you won't use your finger to spread the glue over the cardboard because the glue spout is broken and you don't want to disturb the busy children round your feet by getting up for a paint brush.
Tie a piece of wool/ribbon/whatever around child's head. It's like a halo, but crossing the top of the head instead of near the forehead.
Once the decorated ears are dry (the waiting was the hardest bit for us), wrap them around the ribbon, position them on the child then glue them in place.
I used pegs to make sure the cardboard held it's T shape so the ears won't slide around on the yarn.
Once dry, wear. Or in my case, make your child wear them for the photo, then hide them away so they don't get wrecked before the concert.
Sometimes I'm away for work over a weekend, which among other things gives me the opportunity to see how other people do church. It's a really interesting thing to do, especially in America. I've been to some places that are quite large, others that are quite small, some that are very traditional in everything, some that are less so.
On a couple of occasions I've had the chance to visit Capitol Hill Baptist Church for their Sunday morning service. You might have seen Mark Dever, their senior pastor, at ministry/preaching seminars here from time to time, and I think he's endorsed a few Matthias Media books over the years too, as well as writing his own.
They start things off with what they call "Core Seminars". Think of it like a workshop, or a topical Bible Study group. There are around half a dozen to choose from, each of which would have between 8 and 30 people attending. Topics covered include Biblical Theology, marriage, guidance, New Testament, apologetics, church membership, things like that.
Core Seminars run for almost an hour, then church starts. It's a full on experience, starting with a few songs, then times of prayer and Bible reading before the sermon starts. Most churches I know of target a 15 minute sermon, but CHBC sermons go for more like 45 minutes. It's not easy to concentrate for that long when you're jet lagged.
But getting back to the topic of the post, what have I learned from these visits?
1. Welcoming. The way a visitor is welcomed sets the tone for the whole morning. When there's a culture of anyone coming up and welcoming you (even with sometimes silly questions like "oh, you're from Brisbane, do you know so-and-so?"), it has a big impact.
2. Music. Doesn't need to be big. My observation here is that CHBC have thought this out quite carefully. Instruments are just a piano and acoustic guitar. But they have three or four singers (the guitarist is also one of the singers, and the main coordinator I think) to make sure that there's a voice and a face in every direction in the hall. They choose songs to suit the sermon each week, and aren't constrained by era, source, or familiarity. I've sung very old hymns there, familiar modern songs, and unfamiliar hymns and songs too. In fact one chap I was speaking to said that it wasn't unusual for him not to know all the hymns, even though he could clearly sing with gusto when he did know the song. They quite like going acapella for the last verse, which I think can be overdone, but at the same time there's a definite lift in the voices as they do it. And I think acapella can be very useful for drawing attention to lyrics.
3. Communion. I haven't been there for a communion service, but I love the way they prepare for it. They do it in the evening service on the first Sunday of each month. The morning of, and the week before, they explicitly remind the congregation that communion is coming, and encourage everyone to prepare themselves for taking the Lord's Supper. No doubt in my mind, when people listen and respond to that sort of encouragement, spiritual growth will follow.
4. Diversity and humility. CHBC is near the US Capitol obviously. It's a well-to-do area, and the congregation includes lots of congressional staffers, senate staffers, lawyers, and wider government and military personnel at all levels. But I haven't seen any signs of one-upmanship or people trying to big-note themselves. Some come in suits, some come in jeans and t-shirts. There's no pressure to conform - if a particular song or prayer leads people to raise hands, fine - they don't force everyone to do it, nor do they force people to keep their hands down. During one hymn, an older lady in the back pulled out a tambourine and started shaking in time with the song. Just that one, she wasn't trying to do it for everything, but it fit with that particular song.
5. Bible. With a 45 minute exposition, the Bible is undeniably at the centre of their time together each week.
I'm sure CHBC have their flaws - every church does, because they're made up of sinful human beings. And I wouldn't necessarily want to apply all of their practices to my own church. But I think we can learn a lot by observing how other churches do things, and be better disciples of Christ and more effective ministers for him as a result.
Or so people say anyway.
Ant it seems to be true. The airport is massive - Brisbane has the Airtrain between terminals, but Dallas-Fort Worth has 5 terminals, space for at least one more, and a bunch of remotely-driven trains for shuttling from one to the next. The highways are enormous - easily on par with Los Angeles. The "trucks" (utes in regular Aussie English) all need running boards to get up to the seat. And there are huge churches everywhere.
I just finished a run of four consecutive sermons on Sunday - the longest series I've done since before I was married. It was only supposed to be three on the Old Testament prophet Habakkuk, but roster changes due to illness meant I had to do another one immediately beforehand.
Long story short, it went well. I really enjoyed digging into the book. If you haven't read it, it's got little gem phrases like "the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of God as the waters cover the sea" (anyone else remember the old RCH hymn?), and "the righteous shall live by faith". The one sentence summary: in a messed up, complicated world, God is sovereign and we can trust Him always.
But that said, I'm glad it's over. I wouldn't have said I was particularly stressed about it; Petrina made sure I had all the preparation time I needed, even weeks in advance. But still at Sunday lunch-time I could almost feel the stress falling away.
Looking forward to not being the one talking for the next couple of months, and to our new minister arriving in January.
As you can see, I blog - occasionally anyway. Which means I have an internet prescence. But I try to be careful about what's posted online and what's kept "IRL" (In Real Life, as I believe kids these days call it).
... you don't remember the times you get it right, only the times you get it wrong.
A subsequent observation: I'm thankful that full time paid minsters are trained in things like pastoral care.
Some people have noticed a lack of posts recently.
We're still here, just doing our regular thing.
I think I got out of the habit of blogging & haven't got back into it yet.
No doubt the time will come again.
Our church supports a family ministering in Japan, so I found this article particularly fascinating. Tough gig. But what an opportunity for the gospel.


text:
Work, Live and Travel in the EU: Digital Nomad Visas
The Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has recently announced that 200 applicants have been granted a Digital Nomad Visa to live and work in the country, since the launch of the visa scheme in October 2022. According to the government body, the remote workers who have been granted the visa come from the USA, United Kingdom and Brazil. Other European countries have joined Portugal in regulating the stay of remote workers including Malta, Spain Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Finland and Norway. With talks of Italy announcing a similar visa soon, a European lifestyle – temporary or permanent can now become a reality for global remote workers.
Digital Nomadism is a trend that started in the early 2000s and gained traction during the Covid-19 pandemic, which forced workers to perform their duties remotely. With remote work becoming the norm, countries were also forced to catch up and regulate their stay with the so-called Digital Nomad Visas. Patricia Casaburi Managing Director of Global Citizen Solutions, a boutique investment migration company based in UK and Portugal explains how the visa works, "It is a long-term visa that grants residency rights to foreigners who can do their work remotely and are not employed by a company or entity registered within the respective country where they're applying. The residency period ranges, on average, between six months to two years and can be subject to extension and often, you are not required to be a registered tax resident. However, tax residency depends on every government's regulation and sometimes on how long you maintain residence."
Upping sticks and moving to a different country is not a decision to be taken lightly. However, now the Digital Nomad Visa has made it possible for individuals and families to plan a life in Europe for a limited period of time. Portugal, Malta, Greece and Spain are attractive for remote workers due to the abundance of work hubs, warm weather, low cost of living and connections to major EU capitals. "With the Digital Nomad Visa also being a pathway for permanent residency, it can be an opportunity to test a lifestyle many did not have the chance to try before. If planned carefully, under the Digital Nomad Visa, it is still possible to live in two different countries within a couple of years." As Patricia Casaburi points out.
It is also an opportunity to bring talent and specific skill sets to these countries, whilst boosting the local economy. Those who acquire the Digital Nomad Visa are permitted visa-free travel across the European Union's Schengen Area, which consists of 27 EU member states – for as long as their permit is valid.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Misenheimer, N.C. (Jan. 2, 2019) – Pfeiffer University got 20 points from Brina Bentley and 14 points from A'Mya McClain in a 67-49 USA South win over visiting Methodist University on Wednesday afternoon at Merner Gym.
After trailing 11-10 after the first quarter, the Falcons (4-2, 2-1 USA South) took control in the second, building a 26-22 lead by halftime.
In the third quarter, Pfeiffer built the lead to 43-33 after a Bentley jumper with 1:29 left. After a Monarch basket cut the lead to 45-37, McClain hit a jumper to put Pfeiffer up 47-37 at the end of the quarter.
In the fourth, the Falcons limited Methodist to just a pair of free throws over the first five minutes of play, building a 60-39 lead. Methodist cold shooting woes continued, as they only managed three field goals in the fourth, with the Falcons taking the 67-49 win.
The win improves Pfeiffer to 4-2 overall and 2-1 in USA South play while Methodist slips to 2-9 overall and 1-3.
The Falcons will have a short turnaround, as they host Berea College on Thursday afternoon, Jan. 3 at 2:00 p.m.


text:
Tigris, a bridge and Grand Mosque in Mosul
Nīnwē ܢܝ݂ܢܘܹܐ
Location of Mosul within Iraq
Show map of Iraq
Mosul (Asia)
Show map of Asia
Coordinates: 36°20′N 43°08′E / 36.34°N 43.13°E / 36.34; 43.13Coordinates: 36°20′N 43°08′E / 36.34°N 43.13°E / 36.34; 43.13
Governorate
Nineveh Governorate
180 km2 (70 sq mi)
Unknown (estimates range between 750,000 and 1,500,000[1]
UNData 1987[3]
Moslawi
UTC+3 (AST)
Mosul (Arabic: الموصل al-Mawṣil, Kurdish: مووسڵ, Syriac: ܡܘܨܠ, romanized: Māwṣil) is a city in the north of Iraq. Under the Ottoman Empire it was the capital of northern Iraq. More than a million people lived there when Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant conquered it in 2014. In 2017 the Iraqi Army with help from Kurdish Peshmerga troops and other militias took the city back.
Further reading[change | change source]
Published in the 19th century
Jedidiah Morse; Richard C. Morse (1823), "Mosul", A New Universal Gazetteer (4th ed.), New Haven: S. Converse
"Mosul". Edinburgh Gazetteer (2nd ed.). Edinburgh: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green. 1829.
Josiah Conder (1834), "Mosul", Dictionary of Geography, Ancient and Modern, London: T. Tegg
Charles Wilson, ed. (1895), "Mosul", Handbook for Travellers in Asia Minor, Transcaucasia, Persia, etc., London: John Murray, ISBN 9780524062142, OCLC 8979039
Edward Balfour, ed. (1871). "Mosul". Cyclopaedia of India and of Eastern and Southern Asia (2nd ed.). Madras.
"Mosul", Palestine and Syria (5th ed.), Leipzig: Karl Baedeker, 1912
"Mosul". Encyclopaedia of Islam. E.J. Brill. 1934. p. 609+. ISBN 9789004097926.
Jacqueline Griffin (1996), "Mosul", in Trudy Ring (ed.), Middle East and Africa, International Dictionary of Historic Places, Routledge, ISBN 9781884964039
Published in the 21st century
C. Edmund Bosworth, ed. (2007). "Mosul". Historic Cities of the Islamic World. Leiden: Koninklijke Brill. ISBN 978-9004153882.
Michael R.T. Dumper; Bruce E. Stanley, eds. (2007), "Mosul", Cities of the Middle East and North Africa, Santa Barbara, USA: ABC-CLIO (published 2008), ISBN 978-1576079195
↑ Malas, Nour (9 June 2015). "Iraqi City of Mosul Transformed a Year After Islamic State Capture". Wall Street Journal.
↑ Gladstone, Philip (10 February 2014). "Synop Information for ORBM (40608) in Mosul, Iraq". Weather Quality Reporter. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
↑ "UNSD Demographic Statistics". United Nations Statistics Division 1987.
Media related to Mosul at Wikimedia Commons
ninava-explorer Archived 2017-06-22 at the Wayback Machine
Iraq Image – Mosul Satellite Observation Archived 2012-12-16 at Archive.today
Detailed map of Mosul by the National Imagery and Mapping Agency, from lib.utexas.edu
ArchNet.org. "Mosul". Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA: MIT School of Architecture and Planning. Archived from the original on 2012-12-10. Retrieved 2014-05-29.
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text:
English language is enjoying a 'golden age' in women's slang thanks to parenting site Mumsnet, author claims - after acronyms like 'DH' and 'AF' find their way into real-life speech
Author Jonathon Green, 71, has been studying slang for the past 40 years
He says Mumsnet has created casual colloquialisms from the female perspective
British parenting site has thousands of members influencing female dialects
By Latoya Gayle For Mailonline
An author who has spent 40 years studying slang, claims that a popular online forum has created a golden age of women's colloquialisms.
Jonathon Green, 71, from London, who has penned numerous slang dictionaries, believes that British parenting site Mumsnet has, for one of the first times in history, created casual colloquialisms from the female perspective.
He also claims that the Mumsnet movement will help to create a slang word for love, - something which has never existed in almost 500 years of lingo.
The website's users are responsible for popular acronyms, such as PITA which stands for pain in the a*** and AF which reads as Auntie Flo and means menstruating.
Jonathon Green, 71, (pictured) from London, who has recently published a study surrounding female slang, has cited Mumsnet as a major influence in women's dialect
Jonathan who has recently written Sounds and Furies: The Love-Hate Relationship between Women and Slang, has been studying slang for 40 years, and compiling colloquialisms since 1993.
The 71-year-old said it is the first book of its kind on female dialects. 'Although women were not meant to know slang, and were not meant to use slang, quite a lot of women always have,' he said.
He continued: 'Until relatively recently, in the 20th century, what we're seeing is women using men's slang.
Size 16 mother sheds five stone after spending £11,500 on a... The Queen is 'a fan' of 'unflappable' Kate Middleton who...
'The words for women, or the words for sex, all come down to the concept from a man's perspective.
'There are around 1,750 slang words for sex over the last 500 years, and I would suggest at least 1,700 are from a male point of view.
'Words for women are evaluated on if she is good looking or not.
'There are very, very little in the opposite direction.
'So if you have fishwives cursing each other, they are still using these very misogynistic terms, but not seeming to worry about it.'
Jonathon argues that the British parenting website has created a golden age in women's slang and anticipates a term evolving that refers to love
Popular acronyms used on Mumsnet
Am I being unreasonable?
Previously banned poster
Diarrhoea and vomiting
IKWYM
JFGI
Just f******* Google it
MMTI
Makes my teeth itch
YABOS
You are being over-sensitive
Full list: https://www.mumsnet.com/info/acronyms
<!- - ad: https://mads.dailymail.co.uk/v7/us/femail/none/article/other/mpu_factbox.html?id=mpu_factbox_1 - ->
In the 1920s, for the first time in 400 years, the Flappers created slang from a female perspective.
They were a generation of women who wore skirts, bobbed their hair and listened to jazz.
He continued: 'They had a pretty big vocabulary, so much so that newspapers were publishing Flappers' dictionaries.'
From the end of the Flapper movement until the invention of the internet, women went back to using men's slang.
And then with the creation of Mumsnet, and other female-focused websites, new lexicon was born.
He added: 'What brought girls into the picture was the digital revolution.
'The vocabulary that has evolved around Mumsnet is a large vocabulary.'
Other acronyms include, DH which means darling husband or LTB which stands for leave the b****** and means split up with your partner.
'It's got hundreds of thousands of users, which means its influence on slang is quite substantial,' he continued.
'It's perforating through into all sorts of people you wouldn't expect to use it.'
Jonathon believes Mumsnet could create a historic moment in slang's 500 year history.
'Slang itself has no word for love,' he said.
'If there is an evolving women's slang I am sure that will be remedied soon.
'You are getting a different viewpoint.'
A recent thread added to the 'Am I Being Unreasonable?' section asked Mumsnet members, 'Will I be unreasonable to get a cat even though dear husband doesn't like them?'
Another Mumsnet thread read, 'Am I being unreasonable to expect daring husband to put toilet seat down and clean up afterwards?'
One Mumsnet user recently began a discussion about her nine-year-old son, explaining that he has been suffering from distress over his body odour
Mumsnet | The UK's most popular website for parents
English language is enjoying a 'golden age' in women's slang thanks to parenting site Mumsnet
Roseanne Barr's daughter Jenny reveals stark contrast between 'prime-time-friendly' version of her family's life that inspired hit sitcom - and the 'R-rated' reality of infidelity, an illegitimate child, and drug overdoses


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The Last Ones Left: Inside the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
With a simple "good luck" from President Richard Nixon, Ambassador Joseph Farland set out to Pakistan, unsure of what to expect. Having previously worked with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) during World War II, Ambassador Farland was always cautious of those around him.
2015 | Wikimedia Commons
Thus, when he entered this post, he had been preparing for the worst. And the worst is what he got. The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 erupted while he was stationed in Islamabad. As all other foreign diplomats left the country, those in the U.S. Embassy stayed put, many not realizing that their ambassador had devised an escape route from the country for all of them, in case the situation became too dangerous.
The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 started in early December with air strikes on Indian air stations. At that time, Pakistan controlled two different territories: East Pakistan and West Pakistan (now Bangladesh and modern-day Pakistan, respectively). The preemptive air strikes led to greater hostilities between West Pakistan and India, leading the latter to support the Liberation War for Bangladesh. Militarily, India planned on splitting West Pakistan in two, breaking Islamabad and Karachi away from each other, thus weakening the power of West Pakistan. With West Pakistan weakened, it would be harder to fight the insurgency in East Pakistan. Despite what the leaders of West Pakistan believed, they did in fact start the war, and they were not going to win it.
The war only lasted 13 days, ending in the middle of December of 1971 with the fall of Dacca and the establishment of Bangladesh. The main goal of this specific war was to achieve East Pakistani independence. While other wars between Pakistan and India have followed, no other ambassador since Farland has had to devise a secret escape route from Pakistan or been "the only one left."
View All A Moment in U.S. Diplomatic History South Central Asia Post-Colonialism Articles.
Liz Dee
A Moment in U.S. Diplomatic History, Post-Colonialism, South Central Asia
Intelligence, Research, God and Country: a Tour in INR
Teresita Schaffer enjoyed an illustrious 30-year career in the Foreign Service, developing a reputation as a leading expert on South Asia and international economics. She served in embassies in Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh and as U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka and the Maldives from 1992-1995. After a first tour in Israel, Ms. Schaffer returned to Washington to work as the Israel analyst in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR) from 1969 to 1971. While at INR, she also had a chance to gain experience as a public speaker at U.S. colleges.
Secretary of State George Marshall established INR in 1947, making it the oldest civilian intelligence element in the U.S. Government. INR analysts draw on a myriad of sources to provide an independent analysis of world events of interest to State Department policymakers. The Bureau of Intelligence and Research ensures that U.S. intelligence activities support foreign policy and national security purposes, and, among other responsibilities, analyzes geographical and international boundary issues. Read more
View All A Moment in U.S. Diplomatic History Middle East South Central Asia Public Diplomacy Articles.
A Moment in U.S. Diplomatic History, Middle East, Public Diplomacy, South Central Asia
The U.S. Incursion into Cambodia
When President Richard Nixon took office in 1969, he and National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger vowed to find a way to end U.S. involvement in Viet Nam quickly and honorably without appearing to cave in to communist pressure. The U.S. launched a secret air campaign, thirteen major military operations, against North Vietnamese bases in Cambodia. Cambodia's neutrality and military weakness had made its territory a safe zone where North Vietnamese troops established bases for operations over the border.
President Richard Nixon gave formal authorization to commit U.S. ground troops, fighting alongside South Vietnamese units, against North Vietnamese troop sanctuaries in Cambodia on April 28,1970. The incursion was possible because of a change in the Cambodian government in which Prince Norodom Sihanouk was replaced by pro-U.S. General Lon Nol. News of the military action in Cambodia ignited massive antiwar demonstrations in the U.S., in part because the determination to invade was made secretly.
Meanwhile, the U.S. embassy in Phnom Penh, which had closed in 1964, was in the process of reopening. The fact that only a small circle of people in Washington knew what the Nixon administration was planning to do in Cambodia, including the April 1970 incursion, complicated the work of U.S. diplomats there. Read more
View All A Moment in U.S. Diplomatic History South Central Asia East Asia and Pacific Military Post-Colonialism Articles.
A Moment in U.S. Diplomatic History, East Asia and Pacific, Military, Post-Colonialism, South Central Asia
Brass Tacks and Kashmir: India-Pakistan Military Crises in the 1980s
A crisis between India and Pakistan erupted between November 1986 and March 1987 after India launched the largest-ever military exercise in the subcontinent, called Operation Brass Tacks. The exercise took place in the desert area of Rajasthan, a few hundred miles from the Pakistani border, and included nine infantry, three mechanized, three armored and one air assault divisions.
Pakistani analysts interpreted Brass Tacks as a threatening exhibition of conventional force and responded with maneuvers of its own near India's state of Punjab. International concerns spiked when Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadir Khan was quoted as saying in March 1987 that Pakistan had a nuclear bomb. U.S. diplomats sought to diffuse tensions between the two countries to prevent a nuclear war. Before the end of the decade, India and Pakistan would again nearly come to war over military exercises, prompting the intervention of Deputy National Security Advisor Robert Gates. Read more
View All A Moment in U.S. Diplomatic History South Central Asia Military Post-Colonialism Articles.
A Moment in U.S. Diplomatic History, Military, Post-Colonialism, South Central Asia
Bombing North Vietnam into Accepting Our Concessions: Christmas Bombings, 1972
President Richard Nixon ordered plans for retaliatory bombings of North Vietnam after talks to end the war in Vietnam broke down December 13, 1972. Operation Linebacker II, otherwise known as the "Christmas Bombings," began December 18 and lasted for two weeks. A total of 741 B-52 sorties were dispatched, dropping 20,000 tons of bombs on Hanoi and Haiphong, damaging 80 percent of the electricity supply grid and killing, by Hanoi count, over 1,600 civilians. The United States lost 15 of its B-52s and 11 other aircraft during the attacks.
By December 29, the North Vietnamese agreed to resume the talks and signed the final Paris Peace Treaty soon afterward, ending the Vietnam War. There are differing opinions about whether the "Christmas Bombings" forced the North Vietnamese back to the negotiating table. National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger was reported to have said "We bombed the North Vietnamese into accepting our concessions." Read more
An Embassy in Flames: Islamabad, 1979
The November 21, 1979 attack on the American Embassy in Islamabad started as a small group demonstration in front of the embassy, where protesters shouted anti-American slogans and demanded entry into the campus. Police officers were able to stop the protesters and have them leave the area. However, about fifteen minutes later, some six busloads of Pakistani students arrived and laid siege to the American embassy compound for several hours, from midday until nightfall. The students were angry because of suspected U.S. involvement in the coup d'état of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in 1977 and execution in April 1979. The final straw came from false reports, made by Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, that the United States had launched a terrorist attack on the Grand Mosque, Masjid al-Haram, at Mecca. Read more
View All A Moment in U.S. Diplomatic History South Central Asia Terrorism Public Diplomacy Military Articles.
A Moment in U.S. Diplomatic History, Military, Public Diplomacy, South Central Asia, Terrorism
Cannabis and Cabbages: Serving at the Last Stop of the Hippie Trail
In the late sixties – early seventies, the "Hippie Trail" started in Europe, crossed over to Istanbul, ventured into Iran and Afghanistan and, for many adventurous souls, ended in Nepal. It was an era of experimentation, reflection and free love. Sandal-clad hippies with backpacks from throughout the world sought enlightenment amid the fumes of cannabis and charms of Kathmandu. Classic rocker Bob Seger had a 1975 hit song about escaping to kkkkkk-Kathmandu.
The hippies even developed their own vernacular for their newly-adopted city: the ancient Buddhist shrine Swayambhunath was called "The Monkey Temple" and Jhochhen lane, in the heart of the capital city, was known as "Freak Street." Freak Street was considered hippie heaven, where marijuana and hashish were legal and sold openly in government-licensed shops.
But the higher you get, the harder you may crash, and those serving at the U.S. Embassy were often called on to help Americans who got into trouble in paradise. Read more
View All A Moment in U.S. Diplomatic History South Central Asia Humorous Consular Articles.
A Moment in U.S. Diplomatic History, Consular, Humorous, South Central Asia
"The Wild West" — Peshawar and the Afghan Mujahedeen
In the late 1970s, the USSR had been supporting the Afghan government in its fight against rebels, who had made considerable inroads and controlled territory outside Afghanistan's major cities. Determined to squash a growing threat, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan on December 24, 1979. Soviet troops and swarms of helicopters overthrew the government, which Moscow believed had contributed to the instability, and installed a pro-Soviet government, forcing millions of Afghanis into refugee camps in neighboring Pakistan and Syria.
However, the Soviet military faced significant resistance from a group of highly motivated fighters called the mujahedeen, literally "one engaged in Jihad." The Islamic fighters fought the Soviets aggressively and attracted the attention of the United States, most famously Texas Congressman Charlie Wilson, whose work on the issue became the subject of the book and movie Charlie Wilson's War. Most famously, he successfully fought to give the mujahedeen Stinger surface-to-air missiles, which proved to be very effective against Soviet helicopters. The Soviets eventually withdrew their forces from Afghanistan in 1989, in what has widely been deemed "Russia's Vietnam." Read more
View All A Moment in U.S. Diplomatic History South Central Asia Military Cold War Russia/Soviet Union Articles.
A Moment in U.S. Diplomatic History, Cold War, Military, Russia/Soviet Union, South Central Asia
Kyrgyzstan After Independence – An Unfulfilled Promise
After the collapse of the USSR, Kyrgyzstan, despite its isolation and lack of development, was considered to be one of the more promising newly independent states, "the Switzerland of Central Asia" with its mountains, pragmatic president, and relative lack of ethnic tensions or repression. The U.S. and others poured in aid to help establish free markets, promote democracy and human rights, and provide much-needed food and medical aid (cumulative U.S. aid to Kyrgyzstan from 1992-2010 was $1.2 billion; Kyrgyzstan ranks third in such aid per capita among the Soviet successor states).
Some of those projects were less than stellar, such as the contractor who recommended that Kyrgyzstan boost its cheese consumption by eating more fondue. However, perhaps not surprisingly, the dreams of those early days did not pan out, as corruption and authoritarian tendencies took hold.
View All A Moment in U.S. Diplomatic History South Central Asia Human Rights Russia/Soviet Union Articles.
A Moment in U.S. Diplomatic History, Human Rights, Russia/Soviet Union, South Central Asia
"A Box Sealed for 70 years" — Opening U.S. Embassy Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
A mountainous country in Central Asia, Kyrgyzstan was ceded by China and formally incorporated into the Russian Empire in 1876. With the creation of the USSR, it became the Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic until the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. After the failed August coup in Moscow, Kyrgyzstan declared independence from the Soviet Union on August 31, 1991. Askar Akayev, a physicist, was elected President unopposed in October 1991. The U.S. formally recognized Kyrgyzstan, as well as the other former Soviet republics, with the dissolution of the USSR on December 26, 1991.
The United States moved to set up embassies in all the new republics, especially in the "Stans" of Central Asia — Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan — in order to support the development of stability and democracy in the post-Soviet world. Thus, the call went out for Russian-speaking Foreign Service Officers who wanted the challenge of being at the forefront of U.S. diplomacy on a new frontier. Read more
View All A Moment in U.S. Diplomatic History South Central Asia Russia/Soviet Union Foreign Service Articles.
A Moment in U.S. Diplomatic History, Foreign Service, Russia/Soviet Union, South Central Asia
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In the winter of 1984 with heavy snowfall, it fell on General Services Officer Robert Weisberg to get the snow cleared daily at the U.S. embassy in Moscow. Read about how a few bottles of vodka and cartons of cigarettes helped Weisberg get the job done: https://bit.ly/3mHa3eK
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Kentucky Speedway - Sparta, Ky.
Prior to arriving in Sparta, Kentucky Gaughan spent several days touring Jasper Engines and Transmissions facilities in Crawford and Jasper, Indiana. The visits to the facilities gave Gaughan the chance to spend a little quality time with the employees who help support Orleans Racing's Craftsman Truck efforts.
On the first day of the tour Gaughan met with the entire day shift from the Crawford, Indiana facility then went on to tour and greet employees of Jasper's "family" shift at the Jasper, Indiana facility. The following day Gaughan met with employees of Jasper West (completely staffed by Hispanic employees, whom Gaughan spoke with in Spanish), Jasper Electric Motor then back to Jasper's main facility where he met the day shift employees during the morning.
"It's great to be able to meet the folks at Jasper's manufacturing faculties," said Gaughan after his two-day Midwest tour. "First the facilities themselves are impressive --- and unlike anything I've ever seen. But what's really neat about my visits is that we get to meet so many great race fans.
Last time I was there in 2003 we were leading the thing. Me and Carl Edwards were putting on a show for the fans. Great race. We lost an oil pump and put a hole in the side of the engine. I spun out in my own oil. I actually spun out, didn't hit anything, and coasted into the garage from turn three. It was one of the greatest saves I've accomplished as a driver – I didn't hit anything and it was fun.
I've always done well there --- it's one of those tracks I do well at, a mile and a half. The Orleans Team is struggling though. Our aero program isn't quite fixed up yet. We know that. So just like Kansas, me and Rambo look at each other and say it's time to cowboy up and him and I just make adjustments, don't quit and make adjustments and refuse to be bad. If that means going back to 34th a lap down to make those adjustments we'll do it. We're going to battle for a top-10. We're going to dig for every spot we can get.
The Orleans Team is coming ---- and we're going to be great.


Schedule ECB Exchange Rate Load to perform a nightly download of the currency-conversion table from the European Central Bank (ECB). For information about turning off the regularly scheduled update and maintaining the Exchange Rate table manually, see Use your own currency-conversion rates.
You can adjust the frequency of this behavior or disable it entirely.
Modify the schedule, as needed.
After the job runs, rates are stored in and loaded from the Exchange Rate [fx_rate] table. Navigate to System Localization > Exchange Rates to see them.


This Georgian villa in Wiston near Biggar sleeps ten people in five bedrooms.
Duneaton House is a Georgian property with five bedrooms, in Wiston near Biggar. The bedrooms, including one on the ground floor, offer a flexible combination of doubles and twins. There are three bathrooms. The kitchen has a dining area, there is a sitting and a drawing room, each with an open fire, and there is also a conservatory and a games room. Outside is ample off road parking, a shared walled garden to the rear, and a front private lawned garden too, both with furniture and BBQ. Duneaton House, which can be booked with the annex next door to accommodate two more, is ideally suited for countryside exploration as well as visiting the cities of Glasgow and Edinburgh.
Duneaton House is situated at , Biggarin Lanarkshire. A map is below but if you are travelling by car the all important Sat Nav settings are: Latitude 55.56893, Longitude -3.647632 or postcode ML12 6GA.


This is a beautiful Thunderbird, that has just received new, correct paint, interior, new Top, chrome re-plate,new wide white walls, after marked AC. It has power Steering, Drivers seat and Breaks and Windows. The 352 V8 Engine was rebuilt in 2010 and driven less than 500 miles since then. At time of rebuild a mild cam was installed along with Eldebrock intake and engine chrome dress up kit. I have all the original engine parts that go with the car. Also I have numerous New and used parts that go with the car. The rear Axel was rebuilt in June of this year. This beautiful Convertible looks and drives like a dream and gets thumbs up every where I drive it. I have shown it in one local Car show and it won 1st. place trophy in the ford class.


This course is designed to raise the awareness of Responsible Managers about the potential liabilities inherent in that role, and help to plan the management of compliance and mitigation of risk – to themselves and their businesses. Suitable for Responsible Managers, Compliance Managers and those in line for Responsible Manager roles.
The Role and Responsibilities of Responsible Managers. What it means to be a Responsible Manager, the qualifications and experience required, responsibilities and overall liabilities involved.
Regulation in the Financial Services Industry. The role of ASIC, APRA, ACCC and industry bodies and a discussion of some of the most recent FSR refinements.
Obligations on AFS Licensees. An in-depth view of the day-to-day responsibilities of a Responsible Manager and how to ensure compliance in matters such as the products and services provided and the way they are delivered; staff and resources employed; and management issues such as financial adequacy. Includes reference to a compliance action plan to assist with the planning and implementation of the compliance program.


JUST REDUCED! BEST PRICE !OWNER MOTIVATED! MAKE YOUR OFFER! Now you can buy your vacation home at Bella Vida Resort! GORGEOUS 6 BEDROOMS ,5 BATHS HOME WITH PRIVATE POOL .NEW WATERPROOF LAMINATED FLOOR DOWNSTAIRS AND NEW GRANITE COUNTERTOPS. It accommodates the needs of extended families or larger groups of friends.The house has Flat screen TV in every room Fully equipped Kitchen Washer and Dryer Bedding: 3 King beds, 3 Queen beds, Sleeper sofa Accommodate up to 14 guests YOU CAN USE AS INVESTMENT OR YOUR VACATION PLACE! The Bella Vida clubhouse is over 6700 square feet. Two community pools. Over 15 acres of lakes, cafe, arcade, basketball, volley ball. Gathering room with television, walking trails, picnic area. Children's playground, boccie ball, Italian gardens, fitness center and game room. Located approximately five miles from Walt Disney World, and is only minutes away from other local attractions such as Universal Studios/Islands of Adventure, SeaWorld, and Discovery Cove. There are a number of local restaurants on US 192, and the Medieval Times dinner theater is located directly in front of Bella Vida. Make your offer today!
I was searching for a Property and found this listing (MLS® #O5569567). Please send me more information regarding 221 Las Fuentes Dr, Kissimmee, FL, 34746. Thank you!
I'd like to request a showing of 221 Las Fuentes Dr, Kissimmee, FL, 34746 (MLS® #O5569567). Thank you!
Listing information courtesy of Realty One Group Inspiration.


You can add your favorite art to a collection, which is basically an album of others' work. You can have as many collections as you'd like, and they can either be public or private.
To add art to a collection, or to create a new one, just click the circular "plus sign" icon by the desired piece.
You can change the details of any of your collections at any point, including the title and whether the collection is public or private. You can also remove individual items or delete the whole collection entirely.
To view and edit yours, just go to the home page when you're logged in (your dashboard), and click the "My collections" link on the left.
You can also view, like, and comment on the public collections here.


text:
const stopLang = require('../../umd/stop.js');

describe('The FLOOR instruction', () => {
    const getResult = dataString => {
        const program = new stopLang([`FLOOR ${dataString}`]);
        program.go();
        return program.currentResult;
    };

    it('can floor a single number', () => {
        expect(getResult('3.2')).toBe(3);
        expect(getResult('-3.2')).toBe(-4);
    });

    it('cannot take double references', () => {
        expect(() => getResult('$$0 1')).toThrowError(SyntaxError);
    });

    it('can floor UNDEFINED', () => {
        expect(getResult('')).toEqual(NaN);
        expect(getResult('UNDEFINED')).toEqual(NaN);
    });

    it('can floor NAN', () => {
        expect(getResult('NAN')).toEqual(NaN);
    });

    it('can floor INFINITY', () => {
        expect(getResult('INFINITY')).toBe(Infinity);
        expect(getResult('+INFINITY')).toBe(+Infinity);
        expect(getResult('-INFINITY')).toBe(-Infinity);
    });

    it('can floor a list', () => {
        expect(getResult('1 1')).toEqual(NaN);
        expect(getResult('[1, 1]')).toEqual(NaN);
    });

    it('can floor a string', () => {
        expect(getResult('"foo"')).toEqual(NaN);
    });
});

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Jonathan David Kranz
Jonathan David Kranz maintains dual identities as a marketing copywriter and a fiction writer. His debut novel, Our Brothers at the Bottom of the Bottom of the Sea, launched in early June. He lives in Melrose, MA with his old lady and two young adult daughters.
Recently I asked Kranz about what he was reading. His reply:
At close to 800 pages and with its imposing Masterpiece Theater air, George Eliot's Middlemarch has long been a novel from which I'd successfully kept my distance. But all the talk around Rebecca Mead's book, My Life in Middlemarch, caught my ear and piqued my curiosity.
I'm glad it did. Middlemarch has so many virtues (many of which Mead avidly articulates in her study), but what stands out for me is that Eliot takes seriousness seriously. Her principal characters, Dorothea Brooke and Dr. Tertius Lydgate, hunger for significant work, hers in a vague calling to greater social good and his in medicine. In the thickets of Middlemarch convention, their ambitions stick out like exotic flowers, and there is no shortage of naysayers eager to heap ridicule on our heroes' failings.
Fail, they do. But while Dorothea and Lydgate make foolish choices, Eliot is careful never to paint them as fools. Our respect for them grows even as their worlds, and their ambitions, contract. Virginia Woolf famously applauded Middlemarch as "one of the few English novels written for grown-up people," and I suspect it's because the novel doesn't merely accept ambivalence, but celebrates it, offering a vision that distinguishes the achievement of a meaningful life from the clutching at a significant one.
Tokyo Heist
Diana Renn's YA novel Tokyo Heist has a mystery, has a romance (or two), and has an angst-ridden teen, much as we expect from a YA novel. But it also has a protagonist, Violet, who falls in love with a culture, the art and traditions of Japan. In too many stories, location is merely a backdrop to the action, a scrim that can be dropped or lifted at will to lend verisimilitude to the action. But in Tokyo Heist, Japan serves as a key character, perhaps even the leading agent of change, that helps Violet gain confidence and take her first steps toward claiming her talents as an artist. For my money, too many YA stories focus exclusively on sexual and/or emotional awakening; Tokyo Heist makes intellectual awakening exciting, and gives it a rightful place in the journey toward adulthood.
When others zig, I like to zag--contrariness is a big part of my vanity. When a book is widely applauded, I'm prepared to put it down. Anthony Doerr's All the Light We Cannot See has been praised from many quarters but for once, I'm joining the chorus.
You might think that there can't possibly be anything more to say about World War II. But Doerr reminds us that the deep reflection, the one that invites intimacy with history—a way to touch, see, smell, feel and hear a traumatic event—is always fresh, that it always reveals something new.
In the novel, a blind French girl, Marie-Laure, cannot see the destruction she senses around her. The orphan German boy, Werner Pfennig, uses radio to hear an alternative to violent Nazi propaganda. In this novel of convergence, the story moves back and forth in time to eventually connect on the island of Saint-Malo, where allied forces are bombing one of the last German strongholds on the Atlantic coast.
Much of the story hinges on the fate of a priceless diamond that may or not be cursed. But when Marie-Laure and Werner finally cross paths, the enduring power of the diamond becomes insignificant, and the fleeting transience of their connection becomes the lasting thing of importance. Theirs is the story that stays with us.
Visit Jonathan David Kranz's website.
The Page 69 Test: Our Brothers at the Bottom of the Bottom of the Sea.
Wallace Stroby
Margaret Fortune
Lee Robinson
Peter A. Shulman
Paul Moses
Spencer Quinn
Jane Lindskold
Caroline B. Cooney
Kent Wascom
Ingrid Thoft
Ted Kosmatka
Siobhan Roberts
Harry MacLean
Emily Mitchell
Lauren Saft
Brendan DuBois
Christine Sneed
Andrew Roe
Victoria Shorr
Carola Dunn
Sara Solovitch


This past summer, staff members of Professional Remodeler convened in a conference room on the outskirts of Chicago to review this year's Design Awards.
Many of you are looking at this editorial page and probably wondering: Where's Jonathan? And who is this new guy?
Have master tubs jumped the shark?
Sept. 20, 1977, was the day that I breathlessly awaited the conclusion of the shark-jumping episode of "Happy Days." All week long I had fretted about Fonzie's mid-air cliff hanger.
An article in the Chicago Sun-Times this past Sunday featured the Chicago bungalow, an architectural style much beloved in the Windy City. Former Mayor Richard M.
To a remodeling contractor, saying "no" to a potential client could possibly be the best decision you make for your company.
A new theme park just opened in Houston, and it's not Six Flags. MainStreet America is a collection of 12 show homes, ranging from 1,800 to 6,000 square feet and representing a smorgasbord of architectural styles.
I read thousands of customer surveys every year – THOUSANDS! This customer insight gives me a unique perspective on many home building topics, like today's "Finding Your Special Agent 007s For Huge Sales Increases."
There's a new business buzzword spreading like Strep Throat. I'm betting it's still in the early adoption phase, but these viral epidemics (pandemics?) move quickly.
Michelle Jennings Wiebe is helping to spread the message that new homes are better than resales.
When I travel with my wife, or sometimes just run to the grocery, cleaners or hardware store, she frequently has to remind me, "Scott, remember, you are NOT in charge here." Many of you fellow Leanistas know the drill.
This pottery is the future.
OK, not the pottery itself.
What the pottery represents… is the future.
When I was part of a growing home building company we learned to be on guard for the newest "technology" coming down the pike that promised to revolutionize our home building business.
Studies show that across industries Cost of Quality (Failure, Appraisal & Prevention) is: 2.6-4% of sales revenue.
Did you know that Bronson Pinchot has a show on the DIY Network? That's right, folks — Balki renovates houses!


text:
Q: Get ID from URL I have a custom object, Job (Job__c (this is parent)), and another custom object is Job Applicant (Job_Applicant__c (this is child).
How do I get ID from the URL from sc.getRecord().id in the following?
public class Job_Application{
    public Id JobID{get;set;}
    public List<Job__c> Query{get;set;}

    public Job_Application(ApexPages.StandardController sc){

        JobID = sc.getRecord().id;
        System.debug('----Job ID ----- ' + JobID);
        fetchRecords();
    }

    public void fetchRecords(){
        Query = [SELECT Id, (SELECT id, Name, Experience__c, Qualification__c, Score__c, Spoken_Language__c, Technical__c FROM Job_Applicants__r) FROM Job__c WHERE Id =:JobID];

        System.debug('---Query Result ---- ' + Query);
    }
}

This is not working.

A: Have you tried simply:
JobID = sc.getId();
See docs here.
This assumes that the standardController attribute on your page is for Job__c and that the URL is something like /apex/YourPage?id=[some job id].

A: Apexpages is a global variable that you can access from your constructor, probably your problem is the ApexPages.StandardController sc variable that you are passing as an argument in the constructor is probably being declared as null, so:
Just use the following:
JobID = apexpages.currentpage().getparameters().get('id');

instead
JobID = sc.getRecord().id;

And remove ApexPages.StandardController sc from the parameters of your constructor, it should work now

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
package z21Drive.actions;

import z21Drive.LocoAddressOutOfRangeException;

public class Z21ActionLanXCVPomWriteByte extends Z21Action{

    /**
     * Writing a CV on the MainTrack
     *
     * @param cv The CV to read.
     * @param value Value
     * @param locoAddress the Adress of the Loco
     * @throws LocoAddressOutOfRangeException Thrown if loco address is out of supported range.
     */
    public Z21ActionLanXCVPomWriteByte(int locoAddress, int cv, int value) throws LocoAddressOutOfRangeException{
        byteRepresentation.add(Byte.decode("0x40"));
        byteRepresentation.add(Byte.decode("0x00"));
        if (locoAddress < 1)
            throw new LocoAddressOutOfRangeException(locoAddress);
        addDataToByteRepresentation(new Object[]{ locoAddress, cv, value});
        addLenByte();
    }

    @Override
    public void addDataToByteRepresentation(Object[] objs) {
        //Add all the data
        byteRepresentation.add((byte) 0xE6); // X-Header
        byteRepresentation.add(Byte.decode("0x30")); // DB 0

        // Adding Loco-Address
        byte Adr_MSB = (byte) (((Integer)objs[0]) >> 8);
        byte Adr_LSB = (byte) (((Integer)objs[0]) & 0b11111111);
        if (Adr_MSB != 0){
            Adr_MSB |= 0b11000000;
        }
        byteRepresentation.add((byte) (Adr_MSB)); // DB 1
        byteRepresentation.add(Adr_LSB); // DB 2

        // Adding CV
        int cv = (int) objs[1] - 1; // 0 => CV1, ...
        int value = (int) objs[2];
        byteRepresentation.add((byte) (0xEC | cv >> 8 )); // DB3
        byteRepresentation.add((byte) (cv & 0xFF)); // DB4
        byteRepresentation.add((byte) (value & 0xFF)); // DB5
        byteRepresentation.add((byte) (byteRepresentation.get(2) & 0xff ^ byteRepresentation.get(3) & 0xff^ byteRepresentation.get(4) & 0xff^ byteRepresentation.get(5) & 0xff^ byteRepresentation.get(6) & 0xff^ byteRepresentation.get(7) & 0xff^ byteRepresentation.get(8) & 0xff));
    }
}


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text:
Police: Man drinking fuel oil battled officers
Jan 18, 2023 | Police & Fire | 0
Cameron Baker / Photo, Westport Police Department
WESTPORT — A 20-year-old man, reportedly drinking motor oil and acting erratically, battled police sent to the scene to help him, causing one officer to suffer a broken wrist, according to the report.
Cameron Baker, of New Haven, was charged Jan. 17 with assaulting a public safety officer and threatening in connection with the incident 15 months ago.
Officers were dispatched to Center Street on Oct. 28, 2021, to investigate a report that a man, walking down the middle of the road, was drinking a substance believed to be a type of motor oil, which police later identified as a "liquid fuel additive."
Baker began yelling as officers arrived at the scene, while continuing to drink the liquid and walking in the middle of Center Street, police said.
Baker ran away as officers approached, police said, and when they caught up with him, he began to fight. He "punched [officers] in their heads, causing one officer to fall to the ground and break his wrist," according to the report.
Throughout the altercation, police said Baker repeatedly ignored commands to halt fighting, and instead hurled insults and threats at officers and their families.
After Baker was subdued, he was transported to Norwalk Hospital.
Warrants were issued for Baker's arrest, and he was formally charged Jan. 17 after turning himself in. He later was released after posting $50,000 bond, and is scheduled to be arraigned Jan. 26 at state Superior Court in Stamford.
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Structure in white and black resin. Golden metallic details. Conical lamp shade in fabric.
Ø: 40 cm | 16"
Heigth: 88 cm | 35"
Full of personality, Harpa promises to be a stunning centrepiece wherever it is placed.


text:
Fat-Freezing Procedure May Have More Complications Than Doctors Thought
Written by Joni Sweet — Updated on July 23, 2018
Some patients who have the "CoolSculpting" procedure end up with firmer fat.
Imagine a quick, nonsurgical procedure that could reduce stubborn areas of fat. It's virtually painless, touted as safe, and has zero downtime. Sound too good to be true?
Meet cryolipolysis. Also known as fat freezing or CoolSculpting, the FDA-cleared procedure uses a wand-like device to break down fat cells with cold temperatures through 40–60 minute treatments. People start to see results just a few weeks later, finally seeing the size of the area shrink by about 25 percent six months after the procedure.
But a very small portion of patients experience the exact opposite effect: The areas targeted by cryolipolysis actually become larger and firmer. And new research shows that the complication, known as paradoxical adipose hyperplasia (PAH), might actually be more common than experts previously thought.
In a paper published in the most recent issue of the medical journal Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, researchers discovered that PAH occurs in about 1 out of every 138 cryolipolysis treatments. That rate is much higher than the manufacturer's estimate of 1 out of every 4,000 treatments, according to the researchers.
Both the study and the manufacturer measured the rates of PAH based on a treatment cycle, defined as the use of cryolipolysis on an individual spot on the body. However, those numbers don't reveal the risk of this complication on the per patient level, as people typically get multiple spots on their body treated at one time, said Dr. Jonathan Kaplan, a board-certified plastic surgeon at Pacific Heights Plastic Surgery.
"If a patient who had six spots treated gets PAH in one spot, then that's 1/6 according to [the way the manufacturer and researchers measure the rate of incidence]," he said. "But in terms of what people really care about, the truth is the patient has a large swelling — they don't care that it's only 1 spot out of 6. They should use the number of patients, rather than the number of cycles, that have PAH as the denominator."
Even though the new data suggests the per-treatment incidence of PAH is 0.72 percent, the actual risk on a per patient basis is likely higher, said Kaplan. A representative from Allergan, the manufacturer of CoolSculpting equipment, said the company has no means to track the number of patients affected by PAH.
"We do not disagree with [Kaplan] that it would be ideal or more relevant to report by patient, but unfortunately the data does not exist in our records," said Brad Hauser, vice president of research and development and general manager for CoolSculpting at Allergan.
The risk of developing PAH at a cryolipolysis site is still quite low, coming in at less than 1 percent. Still, doctors have yet to determine the exact risk factors for this complication.
Who develops PAH?
"No one's really sure why PAH happens," said study co-author Dr. Michael Kelly, a board-certified plastic surgeon at Miami Plastic Surgery. "Something is triggering the fat cells to grow, and I think the cold is creating inflammation. For most patients, that will cause the fat cells to go away, but in a small group, the fat cells grow in response to the cold."
The good news is that PAH can be treated with liposuction after a few months, and the manufacturer of the cryolipolysis equipment usually pays for the procedure, said Kelly. However, doctors must explain the treatment options with extreme sensitivity, as patients are "initially aggravated" by the delay and the need to undergo cosmetic surgery they hadn't originally wanted, according to report.
"You definitely have to be sensitive. These people were getting the cryolipolysis treatment to avoid surgery in the first place. Now you're telling patients they need to have surgery. It's a difficult conversation," said Kaplan.
Overall, cryolipolysis is considered a safe procedure by the medical community. If you're thinking of trying it, work with a dermatologist or cosmetic surgeon to determine whether you're an ideal candidate. The biggest thing to keep in mind is that it's intended to reduce the number of fat cells in an area and change its shape, not help you lose weight.
"The effectiveness of the procedure also depends on the elasticity of your skin, so that when the fat is taken away you will shrink down," said Kelly. "The best candidates are usually people at an average weight or slightly heavier who have good-quality skin and fat in a specific area that they want to change the shape of."
Whenever you're considering a medical procedure, it's always a good idea to discuss potential complications with your doctor. The findings about PAH and CoolSculpting have inspired Kaplan to have deeper conversations with patients about their risk.
"I do think CoolSculpting is safe overall, that's why I continue to offer it," he said. "But whereas in the past we might have just let the consent form do the talking, now we're more proactive in telling them about things that are still rare, but slightly more likely to happen."
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text:
Q: Solving a Kummer equation with variables I am trying to solve a Kummer equation with an unknown inside it, which has to be solved numerically. x1 and x2 needs to be the same value.
I have done this with a for loop for all values of x1 and then solving for x2 and going forward if these values are the same, but this takes to much time and makes the code very slow. Thus I am trying to solve it as an equation with nsolve but gets the typeerror: "TypeError: cannot create mpf from 1.25/x1"
Under is the code which contains the problem, I would greatly appreciate any help.
from sympy import symbols, Eq, solve, nsolve, Symbol
import cmath
from mpmath import *
r=0.07
alpha=0.5
t=0.15
theta=1
sigma=0.4
C=1
k=0.1

a = (1/2)*(sigma**2)
b = -(1/2)*(sigma**2)-k
c = -r

d = (b**2) - (4*a*c)

gamma_2 = (-b-cmath.sqrt(d))/(2*a)
gamma_1 = (-b+cmath.sqrt(d))/(2*a)

V_1 = (1-t)/(r+k)
V_2 = ((1-t)*k*theta)/(r*(r+k))

x1 = Symbol('x1')
x2 = Symbol('x2')
f1 = x1-x2
f2 = hyp1f1((1-gamma_2, 3-2*gamma_2 + (2*k/sigma**2),(2*k*theta)/((sigma**2)*x1))/(hyp1f1(-gamma_2,2-2*gamma_2 + (2*k/sigma**2),(2*k*theta)/((sigma**2)*x1))) + (x2*gamma_2-((V_1*(x2**2))/(V_1*x2+V_2-(1-t)*(C/r))))/((gamma_2*k*theta)/((1-gamma_2)*(sigma**2)+k)))
print(nsolve((f1, f2), (x1, x2), (-1, 1))) 1)))

A: The error means you are passing non-numeric values to the mpmath function. The expression you gave in the question also has parentheses location issues. I don't think there is any way to use nsolve if you are using an mpmath function that needs numerical arguments but you include as one of its arguments the variable for which you are trying to solve. Using bisection with a lambda function might be more productive:
z = lambda x1: S(hyp1f1(1-gamma_2, 3-2*gamma_2 + (2*k/sigma**2),(2*k*theta)/((sigma**2)*x1))/hyp1f1(-gamma_2,2-2*gamma_2 + (2*k/sigma**2),(2*k*theta)/((sigma**2)*x1)) + (x1*gamma_2-((V_1*(x1**2))/(V_1*x1+V_2-(1-t)*(C/r))))/((gamma_2*k*theta)/((1-gamma_2)*(sigma**2)+k)))

In this expression I have replaced x2 with x1 (since they must be equal). Now you can calculate z(.1) -> 8.09413738178983. Once you find values of x1 that bound a root, you can use bisection to refine the bounds. There is a discontinuity at 0 to watch out for, otherwise it has a nice crossing for x1 > 0 that can be found with a simple bisection routine.
def bisect(f,a,b,nstep=100):
 fa=f(a)
 fb=f(b)
 assert fa*fb <= 0
 for i in range(nstep):
  m=(a+b)/2
  fm=f(m)
  if sign(fm)==sign(fa):
   a=m;fa=fm
  else:
   b=m;fb=fm
 return m

This gives a solution near 0.4:
>>> bisect(z,.4,.5)
0.4388673830531


text:
Meriones libycus és una espècie de rosegador de la família dels múrids. Viu a altituds de fins a 1.700 msnm a l'Afganistan, Algèria, l'Aràbia Saudita, l'Azerbaidjan, Egipte, l'Iran, l'Iraq, Jordània, el Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Líbia, Mauritània, el Marroc, el Pakistan, Qatar, el Sàhara Occidental, Síria, el Tadjikistan, Tunísia, el Turkmenistan, Turquia, l'Uzbekistan i la Xina. El seu hàbitat natural són els deserts. Es creu que no hi ha cap amenaça significativa per a la supervivència d'aquesta espècie. El seu nom específic, libycus, significa 'libi' en llatí.

Referències

libycus

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Two teens die just days apart. Both of them had taken a type of synthetic LSD. Dealers are cashing in by creating synthetic versions of otherwise illegal drugs. Drew Griffin has been digging in on this problem and met Charles Carlton, a dealer who is now facing a long prison sentence for selling the same chemicals that killed these teens.
Whoever wrote this has done absolutely no research on this subject. 25I is a Phenethylamine known to be highly toxic for years. Its not even in the same chemical class as LSD (which would be correctly labeled a lysergamide based tryptamine) the two substances share no relation. This would be like blaming the opiate crisis on "synthetic tylenol" they're not related compounds. Please stop spreading misinformation. 25I is highly dangerous and the loss of life due to this chemical is truly sad. LSD has a proven safety profile and has an LD-50 so high its impossible to OD on it. Please learn to do basic research before you start your fear-mongering.


Yvette has been invited to give keynote addresses at events in throughout the country.
Specialising in tech trends, digital marketing and now kids and technology, Yvette is a highly versatile speaker and is comfortable talking about juggling work-life balance (she started her fourth business when her second child was just 7 weeks old) as she is talking about business trips to Silicon Valley (the Tech Capital of the world), or her new book No Kidding, and is able to adapt to a wide variety of situations and audiences.
To enquire as to Yvette's availability or to find out more, please drop us a line and we'll get back to you ASAP.


@missricaa shows off her 8 month belly in this sought out Black and White RAW photoshoot.
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text:
import os
import time
import sys
import random

import numpy as np
import pandas as pd
import math
import copy

class NoiseModel(object):
    def __init__(self, seed=None, scaling_params=None, degree=0.00):
        self._scale = scaling_params['scale']
        self._degree = degree
        if seed is not None:
            np.random.seed(seed)

    def add_noise(self,batch):
        batch = copy.deepcopy(batch)
        inputs = batch.inputs
        input_scales = np.tile(self._scale,(batch.size,1))
        num_inputs = inputs[0].shape[1]
        for i in range(len(inputs)):
            input_noise = np.random.normal(loc=0.0,
                                           scale=self._degree,
                                           size=(batch.size,num_inputs))
            batch.inputs[i] += input_scales * input_noise
        return batch


text:
Conquest at Munich
Adolf Hitler always believed he was doomed to suffer an early death from some kind of major illness, just like his parents. His father had collapsed suddenly one day from a lung hemorrhage when Hitler was a boy. His mother later perished in long agony from cancer during his teenage years.
Convinced that he would not live to be an old man, Hitler wanted his to wage his war for Lebensraum sooner rather than later, while he was still relatively young and vigorous. "I would rather have the war when I'm 50 than when I'm 55 or 60," he would say repeatedly. And time was now catching up with him. He would be fifty within a year.
Although he had just taken Austria without firing a shot, he decided he wanted to "smash" Czechoslovakia next door by military force. Thus he assembled his top generals and ordered them to prepare for an attack on the small democratic republic by October 1st, 1938.
But his order appalled the General Staff. They knew that an attack on Czechoslovakia might erupt into a war against Britain and France, and possibly even with Soviet Russia. The German Army at this time was not ready for such a war. It only had 31 fully armed divisions along with 7 reserve divisions. The French alone had over 100 divisions while the Czechs had 45 and a heavily fortified defense line along the Czech-German border.
To summarize all of the problems, General Ludwig Beck, Chief of the General Staff, wrote a detailed analysis of the pending military disaster if Germany attacked Czechoslovakia. Beck gave his report to General Walther von Brauchitsch, Commander-in-Chief of the Army, urging Brauchitsch to convene a secret conference of top generals to discuss the matter.
On August 4th, 1938, a secret Army meeting was indeed held. Beck read his lengthy report to the assembled officers. They all agreed something had to be done to prevent certain ruin. Beck hoped they would all resign together right then and there. But no one resigned except Beck, a few days later, out of disgust with the whole situation.
Generals Ludwig Beck (left) and Franz Halder - the men who might have toppled Hitler in 1938 and prevented World War II. Below: Konrad Henlein (right) seen with high ranking Nazi Dr. Wilhelm Frick upon his visit to the Sudetenland in September 1938..
Hitler immediately replaced him with General Franz Halder and made sure no news leaked out about Beck's sudden resignation. Unknown to Hitler, General Halder sympathized with Beck as to the utter folly of Hitler's plan to attack Czechoslovakia. In the days that followed, Beck and Halder formed a group of conspirators consisting of several top generals, along with former diplomat Ulrich von Hassell, Admiral Wilhelm Canaris who was Chief of German Intelligence, and Berlin's Police Chief, Graf von Helldorf.
They hatched a plot to arrest Hitler the very moment he gave the actual invasion order. According to their plan, Berlin would be sealed off by special Army units to prevent the SS from interfering. Other units, aided by anti-Nazis in the Berlin Police, would seize important government buildings while top Nazis such as Göring, Goebbels and Himmler would be arrested. Assuming this all worked, Hitler would be hauled before a special court and charged with leading Germany toward a military disaster.
But there was one big if in this whole scenario. The plan would only work if both Britain and France maintained a belligerent attitude toward Hitler and made it known to the world that they would fight to preserve the little Czech Republic. This would serve to convince the German people that certain defeat awaited Germany if it attacked Czechoslovakia and would justify the overthrow of Hitler.
To insure that Britain and France understood how high the stakes were, the conspirators sent agents to England to secretly inform Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain that Hitler was planning to attack Czechoslovakia. They also informed the British of their intentions to overthrow Hitler and requested that both Britain and France adopt an openly aggressive stance toward Hitler.
However, major problems prevented this from happening. First, the messengers were not taken seriously by the British who found themselves unable to trust the same German Army which had been steadfastly aiding Hitler since his takeover of power in 1933. Secondly, Prime Minister Chamberlain had his own peace agenda in mind and was willing to negotiate to the hilt to prevent another European war.
The First World War had ended not even twenty years ago and had wiped out an entire generation of young men in England, France and Germany. No one in his right mind wanted to risk that sort of war in Europe again – except Hitler.
After World War I, the democratic Republic of Czechoslovakia had been created by the victorious Western Allies out of the remnants of the old Hapsburg Empire. But Czechoslovakia was hampered from day one by serious conflict among its diverse ethnic groups including the Czechs, Slovaks, Hungarians and over three million ethnic Germans.
The ethnic Germans lived in the western part of the country known as the Sudetenland, an area now surrounded on three sides by Hitler's Army. The area had a powerful pro-Nazi organization called the Sudeten German Party led by a gymnastics teacher named Konrad Henlein. It was funded by and took its orders directly from Berlin. Most of the Germans in the Sudetenland were members. Like the Austrian Germans, they longed to attach themselves to the rising star of Hitler's Germany.
On March 28, 1938, shortly after the Austrian Anschluss, Henlein traveled to Berlin and was told by Hitler to cause trouble in Czechoslovakia by making ever-increasing demands on behalf of the Sudeten German Party "which are unacceptable to the Czech government." The strategy worked well. Every time the Czech government was about to give in, Henlein demanded something more so that no agreement could ever be reached.
Throughout the summer of 1938, Nazi agitators in the Sudetenland caused political and social unrest while Goebbels' propaganda machine waged a ferocious anti-Czech campaign claiming that Sudeten Germans were being persecuted by the Czechs. At the annual Nuremberg Rally in early September, Hitler and Göring both made threatening speeches concerning the so-called Sudeten Question.
Hitler first welcomes British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain at Berchtesgaden on a rainy Thursday, September 15th, 1938. On the right is Nazi Foreign Minister Ribbentrop. Below: Chamberlain grimly departs after their second meeting at Bad Godesberg at which Hitler had raised the stakes considerably - accompanied by the Führer and Hitler's interpreter Dr. Schmidt.
Below: Benito Mussolini is warmly greeted by Hitler as his train arrives at Munich for the 3rd and final meeting.
Below: Britain, France, Germany and Italy at the Munich meeting - represented by Chamberlain, Daladier, Hitler and Mussolini.
Below: Hitler signs the Munich Agreement on September 30th. Behind him Mussolini is seen chatting with Hermann Göring.
With Germany edging ever-closer to war, the peace-minded British Prime Minister decided to send a personal telegram to Hitler asking for a face-to-face meeting "to find a peaceful solution." Hitler was genuinely surprised by the request and immediately agreed to a meeting.
Thus, on the morning of September 15, 1938, the 69-year-old Neville Chamberlain boarded an airplane for the first time in his life and departed England. Seven hours later he arrived by car at Berchtesgaden and met Hitler for the first time. The Führer led him into his villa and up to the great room with the big picture window and views of the Alps.
Six months earlier, the Chancellor of Austria had walked into this same room hoping to negotiate a peaceful solution and had been relentlessly badgered. This time, Hitler once again dominated the whole discussion, but carefully avoided the crude bullying tactics he had used before. Chamberlain was, after all, the head of government for the British Empire, one of the greatest powers the world had ever known. To the British Prime Minister, Hitler complained at length about the "persecuted" Sudeten Germans inside Czechoslovakia and then boldly asked if the Sudetenland area could be simply handed over to Germany.
Chamberlain responded that he would consider asking the Czechs to cede the Sudetenland but said he was not prepared give an answer on the spot and first needed to consult with his Cabinet back in London. He asked Hitler to refrain from any military action until he returned for his next visit. Hitler agreed to the military delay.
Chamberlain returned to London and succeeded in getting his government's approval for the Sudetenland concession. He also received a favorable response from Britain's former World War I ally, France.
Regarding his first impression of Hitler, Chamberlain commented: "In spite of the hardness and ruthlessness I thought I saw in his face, I got the impression that here was a man who could be relied upon when he had given his word."
Meanwhile, behind his back, Hitler proceeded ahead with his war plans. Representatives from Poland and Hungary were secretly approached by the Nazis and asked if they each wanted a piece of Czechoslovakia in return for letting Hitler break up the country. The military rulers of Poland, along with Hungary's Fascist government, both agreed to stand by and let Hitler invade Czechoslovakia in return for a share of the spoils.
Britain and France, having agreed among themselves to give Hitler the Sudetenland, now confronted the Czech government. On September 19th, the British and French ambassadors in Prague sternly advised the Czechs that they should give up all areas along the German border where 50 percent of the population or more was German. The Czech government, realizing it had been abandoned by its Western Allies, reluctantly gave in and agreed to the terms.
On September 22nd, an optimistic Chamberlain returned to Germany to see Hitler, this time to a hotel at Godesberg along the Rhine River. The Prime Minister informed Hitler that he could have the Sudetenland after all, just as he wanted.
"Do I understand that the British, French, and Czech governments have agreed to the transfer of the Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia to Germany?" Hitler asked him.
"Yes," said the smiling Chamberlain.
"I'm awfully sorry," Hitler responded, "but that won't do anymore...this solution is no longer of any use."
Chamberlain was stunned, his hopes for an easy peace suddenly dashed. Hitler now raised the stakes by demanding a German Army occupation of the Sudetenland by October 1st and the expulsion of all non-Germans living there.
Chamberlain, utterly flabbergasted at this dangerous turn of events, informed Hitler this amounted to a military ultimatum and said the Czechs wouldn't agree to such terms. But Hitler said he didn't care. The Czechs had to agree to an Army occupation, or else.
The British Prime Minister had just become the second victim of Hitler's gangster diplomacy. He had risked his whole political career and the prestige of the British Empire to appease Hitler, only to be rudely turned down for no apparent reason.
Chamberlain returned home deeply disappointed to ponder what to do about this mess. France, on hearing of the Führer's ultimatum, mobilized a hundred Army divisions and began packing them off toward the French-German border. The Czech Army consisting of a million men was mobilized. Britain also put its entire naval fleet on alert and declared a state of emergency in London.
Europe, it seemed, was headed for war after all. This was good news for the anti-Hitler conspirators in Germany. Things were now going as they had hoped, and they prepared to strike against Hitler in Berlin as soon as he gave the order to invade Czechoslovakia.
Interestingly, Hitler attempted to arouse popular support for the coming war by having an Army division parade through the streets of Berlin. But all along the parade route people turned away or ducked into nearby stores and subway entrances. The Führer stood on the balcony of the Reich Chancellery reviewing the troops. But after seeing that only a few hundred people cared to watch, Hitler went back inside.
Some two decades earlier, at the beginning of World War I, throngs of people had filled Berlin's streets to cheer their young soldiers and toss flowers as they marched off to the Front. Now, nobody cheered. The German people clearly did not want another war, and Hitler saw this.
As a result, he decided to step back from the brink and delay his war for Lebensraum for a while. He sent a letter to Chamberlain promising that if the Western Allies yielded the Sudetenland to the German Army, it would not result in the destruction of Czechoslovakia. Germany would even be glad to join with Britain and France in guaranteeing the rest of Czechoslovakia from any further aggression.
Chamberlain decided to grasp at this last chance for saving the peace. He telegraphed Hitler that he was ready to return for more talks "at once." He also sent a telegram to Italy's Fascist leader, Benito Mussolini, asking him to intercede with Hitler on his behalf. Mussolini then contacted Hitler and proposed a joint summit that would include Germany, Britain, France, and Italy. Hitler agreed to it. The location chosen was Munich.
Before leaving England for his third and final trip to Germany, Chamberlain declared: "When I was a little boy, I used to repeat, 'If at first you don't succeed, try, try, try again.' That's what I am doing. When I come back I hope I may be able to say, as Hotspur says in Henry IV, 'Out of this nettle, danger, we plucked this flower, safely.' "
The Munich conference took place inside a brand new Nazi building called the Führerbau on September 29th and lasted into the early morning hours of the 30th. It was attended by Hitler, Chamberlain, Mussolini, and French Prime Minister, Edouard Daladier. Czech representatives were also there but had to wait outside the meeting room because Hitler refused to let them inside to participate.
At the conference, Mussolini said he had his own proposal which might help to resolve things quickly. Unknown to Chamberlain and Daladier, that proposal had been supplied to Mussolini by the Nazis and essentially contained the same demands as Hitler's ultimatum. However, Chamberlain and Daladier accepted this proposal without hesitation in their overwhelming desire to avoid bloodshed.
Upon the announcement of the Munich Agreement, Nazi supporters in the Sudetenland rip down border posts separating them from Germany. Below: Amid much fanfare, a delighted Führer passes through the town of Graslitz in the Sudetenland on October 4th.
Just after 1 a.m. on September 30th, the four leaders signed the Munich Agreement allowing the German Army to occupy the Sudetenland beginning on October 1st, to be completed by October 10th. About 1:30 a.m., the Czech representatives were informed of the terms by Chamberlain and Daladier. They had no say in the matter and had no choice but to comply.
Upon arriving back home in London, Chamberlain declared: "The settlement of the Czechoslovakian problem which has now been achieved is in my view only the prelude to a larger settlement in which all Europe may find peace."
Few politicians in Britain disagreed. Winston Churchill voiced the loudest single protest, calling the Munich Agreement "a total, unmitigated defeat."
Back in Germany, the Army generals who had been preparing to oust Hitler gave up in complete dismay. All plans concerning the overthrow of the Führer were shelved. The generals now resigned themselves to follow Hitler into the abyss that lay ahead for Germany.
On Saturday, October 1st, the German Army rolled into the Sudetenland on schedule. Many of the Czechs living there fled their homes in panic with only the clothes on their back.
Once again Hitler had gotten everything he wanted without firing a single shot. Incredibly, this time he would have welcomed a fight. Somewhat exasperated, he said: "I did not think it possible that Czechoslovakia would be virtually served up to me on a plate by her friends."
Regarding his impression of the Western Allies, Hitler would later say: "Our enemies are little worms. I saw them at Munich."
Regarding his final impression of Hitler, Chamberlain said: "Hitler is the commonest little swine I have ever encountered."
But by now, success after success had made Hitler and the Nazis drunk with power. They were beginning to think they could do anything, even conquer the world.
Hitler's primary goal of Lebensraum was being achieved step by step, just as he had planned. Now it was time to pay some attention to his secondary goal, a reckoning with the Jews. Up till now, the Nazis had largely held off out of concern for international opinion. But that didn't seem to matter so much anymore.
And so, in November 1938, five years of pent-up hate were let loose in an event which stunned the world and marked the beginning of what became known as the Holocaust – the Night of Broken Glass.
NEXT SECTION - The Night of Broken Glass
Triumph of Hitler Index