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Tag Archives: European policy
Is Labour running out of time on Brexit
15th July 2018 otherBrexit, Europe, European policy, Labour Partyadmin
The Labour Party strategy on Brexit is to wait to see the deal which the government negotiates with the EU, measure it against the "six tests", and decide whether to support it. This maximises confusion in the Conservative Party and the prospect of a General Election. However, I believe that time is running out, the prospects of an election are very thin, and the Party should be taking a stronger and more public line.
The six tests were all proposed by leading leave campaigners, but it is clear that no possible Brexit agreement can meet them. So the Party will vote against the government's deal when it comes to Parliament. However, since the Conservatives, with the DUP, have an absolute majority, we will lose and it will go ahead. If there are any rebels, they are likely to cancel each other out. The result will probably be bad, and the Conservatives will have to take the blame, but by then Brexit will be over.
The Labour hope is that the Conservative Party will implode over this, leading to a General Election and a Labour government. However, losing the vote in Parliament does not bring down the government. Under the Fixed Term Parliaments Act a General Election is only called by a two thirds majority for a motion in the Commons, or if the government lose a vote of no confidence and no other leader can form a government. Either way, Labour strategy relies on Tory rebels, voting in the knowledge that they are probably putting Jeremy Corbyn in No 10, and I don't believe that even the most rabid Brexiters will risk that. That is the gamble that Theresa May has made, and I think she will win.
Meanwhile, the clock ticks on. At the end of March next year we will crash out of the EU unless one of three things happens:
A deal is agreed. The most likely deal now is going to be a version of the Norway agreement. People will be told that it is "real" Brexit, and many will accept that. However, it will not satisfy hard Brexiters, nor those Remainers who care about the UK's votes and influence.
The Article 50 notice is withdrawn. This is legally possible, but Parliament is unlikely to risk doing this for fear of appearing to defy "the will of the people", unless a referendum has given authority.
The EU agree to an extension of the Article 50 period This is only likely to be acceptable to the EU if they can see a prospect that we might decide to remain.
Virtually all MPs, and all interested parties in the UK and the rest of the EU agree that crashing out would be catastrophic, but the UK government claims to be preparing for it, and some commentators in Europe are beginning to think it is the only, or simplest, solution (since they already have systems in place for working with third countries).
The longer this takes, the less likely a deal (including remaining in the EU) is. There are a number of severe constraints:
There are 8 months left (including the dead summer holiday period, the party conference season and Christmas).
The EU says that 6 months are needed for ratification of any deal by the 30+ Parliaments and the institutions of the EU.
A UK General Election requires weeks of preparation, and is difficult to hold in mid-winter.
A Referendum requires at least two months for campaigning.
In May there are elections for the European Parliament. The UK's seats have already been distributed among the 27. Withdrawing Article 50 would severely disrupt the process.
Theresa May is gambling that the threat of a Corbyn government will, in the end, keep her MPs in line, and that if she drags the process out long enough, the only feasible option will be to accept a soft, Norway style deal. By delaying taking a clear stand, Labour risks us falling into that by default. Is that what we believe is best for the country, and the people?
The Labour Party position on Brexit
22nd May 2018 otherBrexit, Europe, European policy, Labour Partyadmin
On 19th May, Keir Starmer, Shadow Secretary of State for Brexit spoke at the Fabian Society Summer Conference. I found this the clearest and most explicable account I have read of the Labour Party's position, and for the first time I felt I understood the logic behind it – even if I disagree with it.
The key points are that the Labour Party:
– is concentrating on supporting the Lords amendments which give control back to Parliament.
– remains committed to its six tests of the Brexit deal (all of which have been promised by Theresa May), and will vote against the motion to approve the deal if it fails to meet them.
– is not supporting the People's Vote campaign, because the timescales make it impractical, and polling suggests it might deliver a divisive and inconclusive result.
However, nothing is ruled out, since things can change rapidly.
My full note is at: The Labour position Fabians May 18 web
What next on Brexit?
9th March 2018 otherBrexit, democracy, Europe, European policy, Labour Party, Referendumadmin
During the last year, my thinking about our relationship with the European Union has been evolving. I remain convinced that leaving is a major act of political, social, and economic self harm (in that order), which will damage most many of those who voted to leave. This is a (long) account of my views. I have written it against the background of a debate in the Broadland Constituency Labour Party about what the Party should do, but has wider implications.
A political project
For me, membership of the European Union is about values, peace and solidarity with our friends and neighbours. The European Union is probably the most ambitious political project ever attempted. It set out to create a community of shared values, among countries of widely differing sizes and cultures, operating in 24 official languages. Above all it set out to prevent Europe sliding back into the internal warfare which had been the norm for centuries, culminating in the horrors of two twentieth century wars. Since its creation we have seen the establishment of democracy across all the member states, and the longest period of peace in Europe since the Roman Empire. No one under 80 today has any real experience of what it was like to live with war, and we have come to think of peace as normal: it is not: we live in an increasingly dangerous world, where we need friends, not enemies.
One of the strategies of the Brexit campaigners, over the decades they have been fighting the battle, is to claim that the EU is fundamentally an economic union, and can therefore be judged by economic outcomes: a weighing of costs and benefits. But this is a (deliberate) mistake.
The EU was founded on a set of fundamentally social democratic values. It supports democracy, citizens' rights, equitable treatment of countries and organisations. Through the EU, the member states agree major, overarching goals for public policy. It recognises the role of government, at regional, national and European levels in regulating markets and ensuring fair treatment for all players. It aims to address big and complex issues which extend beyond the boundaries of nation states, like climate, demographic, technological and industrial change. It also aims to make it easy for people throughout the Union to behave as if they were in one country, with no barriers to movement, working and living.
A democratic institution
In any democracy there are competing views, interests and strategies. Good governance depends on maintaining a delicate balance between majority and minority interests, and between member states and the collective Union. Of course, it cannot always satisfy everyone. Complex compromises are essential. Sometimes this involves long implementation timescales, sometimes exceptions are made for individual member states. Reaching agreement with all the parties and countries can be mind numbingly slow and tedious, but is still better than war. Inevitably disputes arise about the interpretation of EU laws and regulations, and The European Court of Justice (to which each member state appoints a judge) exists to adjudicate on such disputes.
Negotiating and agreeing solutions involves complex work by the EU's civil service, the Commission (which is a relatively small for the size of the task: about the size of a middle sized UK Government Department). Sometimes the Commission funds research to understand the challenges and possible solutions. Where solutions call for significant legislation or regulation, the decisions are taken jointly by the member states (through the Council), and the elected Parliament. To pass, legislation must be supported by a majority of countries, representing a majority of the population, as well as a majority in the Parliament. Over time, the processes and institutions have evolved to increase transparency, accountability and democratic influence.
The Euro is a special, and difficult issue in the debate on the EU. In retrospect, many believe that it was a mistake to set it up without an accountable democratic system of governance, and the UK was certainly wise to opt out (another example of how the EU can adapt to a particular nation's issues). The result has been inappropriate lending policies followed by the imposition of punitive regulations on some member states. These problems have been exacerbated by the economic crisis of 2008 (not the fault of the EU), and as a result, public confidence in the Euro, and the EU as a whole has been badly shaken. Those who criticise the lack of democratic accountability in the management of the Euro have a case, but the Euro is not the EU.
Losing our influence
Since we voted to join the European Economic Community in 1975, the UK has always been one of the most influential members. Because it is the third largest country by population, very few significant decisions are taken without UK support, usually in alliance with Germany and France. On issues of particular sensitivity to the UK we have been given special treatment (exclusion from the Schengen Agreement on free movement, and from the Euro, and a large rebate on our notional subscriptions). British diplomats, lawyers and civil servants have a high reputation and significant roles in the workings of the EU. When the Lisbon Treaty established the role of High Representative on Foreign Affairs (to speak for the EU on international issues) the first appointee was a British Labour politician. It is ironic that it was a British lawyer who drafted Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, with the aim of appeasing the right wing of the British Conservative Party.
The suggestion that the UK has no influence over laws and regulations is a myth. Between 1999 and 2016, the EU passed 2592 laws. In the Council of Ministers, the UK voted in favour of 95% of these (2466). The level of disagreement is, of course, higher than this, since drafts are only presented to Parliament and the Council after lengthy diplomatic preliminary work, where some ideas are removed before even being published. UK Ministers have sometimes voted against the majority of elected UK MEPs.
The EU's evolving mission
Meanwhile, the EU continues to evolve, and will go on doing so after/if the UK leaves. The Union has agreed a set of ten future policy priorities:
Jobs, growth and investment
Energy union and climate
Internal market
Deeper and fairer economic and monetary union
A balanced and progressive trade policy to harness globalisation
Justice and fundamental rights
A stronger global actor
Democratic change
All of these issues matter to the UK, and to the electorate who voted in the referendum. If we stay within the EU, we would have the opportunity to influence the direction of these policies. Outside, we have no voice, but the EU will move on without us. For the last 43 years we have been "rule makers" in EU policy, and if we leave we will necessarily become "rule takers", since our economy depends so heavily of the EU, There is no option to ignore the policies of the EU. We are 60 million, the 27 countries are 440 million. It is absurd to think that we will continue to have as much influence over the issues which matter most to us after Brexit as we have now.
In 2019 elections will be held for the European Parliament. If Brexit goes ahead, the UK's parliamentary seats will be redistributed among the other member states, and we will lose our democratic voice.
The EU and the member states
The EU is a collaborative club of member states, who join for mutual benefit, and agree to contribute to the costs. The success of the common enterprise depends on everyone playing by the rules, but being prepared to tolerate compromises to meet the particular needs of individual states.
What is not negotiable is commitment to the "four freedoms" (freedom of movement of goods, services, money and people) which gives equal rights to all citizens, companies and organisations, and the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice, which adjudicates in disputes.
If any member state refuses to abide by these rules, it acquires an unfair advantage over the other members, which is precisely what the Union was created to avoid. It is therefore essential to the survival of the entire enterprise that no country breaks these rules. The EU has no interest in "punishing" the UK if it leaves, but it cannot reasonably be expected to agree to the UK having an unfair advantage over its members. If everyone leaves the club and expects to keep the benefits, there is no longer a club!
What did people vote for?
The Brexit referendum offered a simple binary choice. Campaigners on both side offered visions of the consequences of leaving or remaining, but most of this was inevitably speculation, and much was exaggerated. In a real sense, no one could know what they were voting for.
Opinion polls since have tried to investigate what people thought they were voting for, and the picture is not at all clear. Some thought it was primarily about immigration, while others prioritised "control" (though whose control over what was much less clear). One significant poll shortly after the referendum illustrates the problem. When asked whether people would prioritise remaining in the Single Market over controlling immigration, the balance was 2:1 in favour of remaining in the Single Market: a policy which the Government has repeatedly rejected.
What outcomes are possible?
In principle there can only be four outcomes from the Brexit negotiations:
meets the requirement to honour the referendum result, but it is inconceivable, and no one seriously believes that it will happen. If all existing agreements and treaties lapsed on 29th March 2019, there would be no legal authority to adjudicate in disputes between the UK and the rest of the EU, and businesses would be unlikely to risk operating across the border. Air traffic would stop, existing EU contracts would be in limbo, imports of medical isotopes for cancer treatment would stop, and financial services based in the UK would no longer be able to do business in the rest of the EU. The Irish border would be closed, with a threat to political stability. The legal status and rights of UK citizens living in the EU, and EU citizens living in the UK would be unclear. World Trade Organisation tariffs would be introduced immediately on UK exports to the EU (and probably EU imports to the UK), causing major delays at ports, given the need for large numbers of additional customs checks. Import delays would provoke serious food shortages. If businesses believed that this was at all likely, the emergency plans required to protect their commercial interests might cause significant unemployment and social disruption.
can also meet the requirement to "leave", though Brexit campaigners differ in what compromises they would accept. There are several variants of "soft Brexit" (including Norway, Canada, Switzerland), but all involve "cherry picking" which bits of EU rules and institutions we remain in, and what we pay for the privilege. All depend on the willingness of the other member states to agree, and all require us to renounce our seats on the Council, Parliament, Commission and Court of Justice, and to give up our votes on laws, regulations and the future direction of the Union. To continue to cooperate on issues like medicines, crime and air traffic we would need to create a large number of new institutions to parallel those which we are members of as members of the EU. We would need to create a new body to adjudicate in disputes, to replace the ECJ. Any realistic version of "soft Brexit" would thus be very expensive to implement and while it would satisfy the requirement to "leave", it would not actually increase control over anything significant.
Stop Brexit
is still an option, but would clearly not honour the expectations of those who voted for Brexit. Up until 29th March 2019, the UK can withdraw its notice to leave, and return to its previous status. The UK would retain unrestricted access to the EU market, and benefit from the EU's trade agreements with 70 odd other countries either agreed or in active negotiation. In return it must continue to contribute to the budget and subscribe to the four freedoms. Although Parliament has the constitutional right to decide to stop the Brexit process, it is unlikely to do so for fear of punishment by the electorate for abandoning the "will of the people". It therefore requires either a substantial change in public opinion (which is not yet evident) or a new mandate (through a general election or a new referendum on the terms on offer).
Leave and return.
The UK might decide to leave the EU on one of the bases listed above, and then, after some years, change its mind. Opinion polling suggests that public opinion is quite likely to support this, since opposition to membership is far greater among older people. However, under EU law, the UK would have to apply like any new applicant state, and abide by the rules. This would probably require us to join Schengen and the Euro, and lose the current budget rebate. This would be a very expensive option.
The Labour Party's policy
Finally, a comment on the parochial interests of the UK Labour Party. The last two years have shown the extraordinary irresponsibility of the British Conservative Party, prepared to put at risk the UK's economy, social welfare and standing in the world (all issues they claim to care about), to deal with an internal party squabble. Once again, they have demonstrated that retaining control of government in the party interest outbids any national interest. Against this, the Labour Party needs to be a strong voice for what is best for the UK as a whole. This should be a principled position, not based on our chances of tipping out a weak and divided government, desirable as that is.
Respected legal opinion is that nothing in the 2017 Labour Manifesto is prohibited by EU laws. Where there is any doubt, our chances of changing things are greater as members than as outsiders. It is also clear that there are many things that some on the political right would like that are prevented by membership. Freedom from EU laws and regulations would enable a Conservative UK government to repeal legislation protecting workers', citizens', and consumers' rights. It would also protect us from the EU's plans to regulate tax havens. It is not a coincidence that the leave campaign was led and funded by some of the richest people in the country, and supported by print media owned by tax exiles.
The referendum was limited, but legitimate. Although only 37% of the electorate voted leave, people were told that that a simple majority of those voting would be sufficient result, and 52% of them chose leave. They were told conflicting things about whether the result would be binding on the government, and about what leaving might mean. Only when the current negotiations are complete will anyone know what the real choice is.
Parliament has the constitutional right to stop Brexit when it sees the result of the negotiation, but to do so would be politically dangerous, not only for parties and MPs but for social cohesion and the national interest. I therefore believe that Parliament requires a new mandate on the terms actually available. This could be achieved by:
a general election where the parties took distinct clear positions, for and against Brexit on the terms negotiated
a general election where one party at least campaigned for a referendum on the terms negotiated
a referendum on the terms negotiated, without a general election
Each of these has risks and advantages, but to allow this government, with no Parliamentary majority, to put the future of our security, economy and rights at risk to resolve internal party disputes would be the height of irresponsibility.
The clock is ticking. The terms must be clear by October to allow them to be ratified by the other member states. Any of these three options is likely to require some extension of the Article 50 period beyond March 2019, and the other member states might be sympathetic to agreeing this, since most of them would prefer us to remain members, However, this causes problems for the European Parliament elections due in May 2019. It is vital, in the national interest, that the Labour Party makes its position as clear as possible, as quickly as possible.
My team: right or wrong
21st November 2017 otherBrexit, democracy, European policy, Labour Party, opinion polling, public policy, Referendumadmin
Why are people not changing their minds as the difficulties of Brexit become increasingly clear?
Since the referendum, exit negotiations have made almost no progress, and the Government is increasingly in disarray, with Ministers and MPs quarrelling about what they want, and what it might mean. Public dissatisfaction with progress has risen substantially, with a clear majority believing that the negotiations are being badly handled.
Yet public opinion remains stubbornly unchanged on the central issue. Those who voted to leave remain leavers, and many of those who voted remain accept the "will of the people" and believe that Brexit should happen, even if they believe it will be an economic and/or a social disaster.
Yet the "will of the people" is a lie, amplified by the passionate Brexiters and through the right wing press. Three quarters of the population (including those too young to vote, who will be most affected) did not vote for Brexit. Two thirds of the electorate did not vote for Brexit (either by voting against or not voting at all). Those who did vote divided almost equally between leavers and remainers, with a very small margin in favour of leave. A minority of MPs voted for Brexit, and two thirds of Labour supporters and voters did so.
It is also clear that those who did vote for Brexit did so for a wide range of, often incompatible, reasons, and the Government has already conceded that many of these will not be achieved. Immigration will not fall, because the economy and public services depend heavily on immigrant labour. There will not be more money for public services, since all commentators agree that the short term effect will be an economic contraction, as we see with UK growth falling behind the rest of the EU. "Control" by the people or by Parliament will not be increased, as we lose our MEPs and our seat on the Council of the EU, which will continue to set the rules for much of our trade, and the Government centralises power in the hands of Ministers. We will not see an expansion of trade with the rest of the world, as we struggle to renegotiate (from a position of weakness) the many trade deals which we are party to as EU members.
What is the explanation for this effective support for Brexit, despite the fact that it is increasingly difficult to do?
Firstly, most people do not understand much about the EU, and do not care much about it. Until two years ago, when opinion polls asked about what issues concern people, Europe always figured low down the list, far below the NHS, housing, schools, and employment. During the referendum campaign the EU rose up the list, but it has now returned to its previous low place. So until the referendum people took little interest. The achievement of the leave campaigners was to harness these other concerns to the idea of the EU, and persuade people that leaving the EU would in some way solve these problems, despite the fact that the EU has little or no impact on any of them.
Because most people know little, and care little, about the EU per se, when forced to take a simple yes/no position their decision was more emotional than rational. Because it was a binary choice, people came to see it as like a football match in which one side wins and the other loses. And like football supporters, they feel they have chosen their team, and they support it, even when it is badly managed, and constantly defeated. True supporters do not abandon their team just because it loses matches.
This is why evidence of the difficulties and the losses we might face from Brexit carry no weight. Opponents at home, or in the rest of Europe, are seen as an enemy to be defeated (despite the Government's rhetoric about "friends and partners"). Evidence of failure is seen as a new challenge to be fought against, not an argument for compromise. What the leavers want, with a passion, is to leave, whatever that might mean, and they are quite willing to accept changes in policy in the interests of winning. It seems that many, perhaps most, leavers will accept continued migration, devaluation and economic decline, perhaps even unemployment, in order to win. Furthermore, they have been repeatedly told, and they believe, that they represent the will of the people: all right thinking people are on their side, and the rest are traitors.
This presents all political parties with a challenge. Because the referendum was set up on a simple majority of those voting, and a marginal majority has come to be seen as the will of the people, they feel (wrongly in my view) that it would be undemocratic to resist. So ardent, and no so ardent, remainers support leaving as "democratic". For the large majority of professional politicians (who were remainers), the task has become to find a solution which demonstrates that we have "left" while doing the least social, economic, and diplomatic damage.
For the Conservatives this involves appeasing the extreme Brexiters, who for a range of ideological and personal reasons seriously want to leave. Although they remain a minority of Conservative MPs, and probably Conservative members, they will be constantly alert to betrayal, and they do understand the detail on issues they care about. With the right wing media, they will cry foul at the first opportunity, particularly if this fits with personal career advancement.
For the Labour Party the problem is different. Because the public opinion contest is not a rational one, anything which looks like resisting the will of the people will be seen (however spuriously) as betrayal of democracy. Despite the fact that a clear majority of members, supporters and MPs were remainers, and probably a majority remain so, the dangers of appearing to reject a democratic vote are seen as too great. Hence the current position, to repeat endlessly that we are leaving, while trying to ensure that we travel the shortest possible distance from membership. The risk is that the endless repetition of accepting the will of the people reinforces the belief that leaving is the will of the people, when this is plainly untrue. It is appeasing bullies.
The hope for Labour remainers is that somehow public opinion will shift to stopping Brexit, but the evidence is slim, for the reasons I have outlined. People have taken sides, and will die rather than admit that they were wrong.
So what would a Labour minimal Brexit look like? We would remain, for at least a "transition" period and perhaps indefinitely, in the single market and the customs union, because of the huge trade advantages, and because this is the only way of resolving the Irish border problem. This would require us to retain free movement of people and the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice, membership of most or all of the host of collaborative and regulatory institutions like the Medicines Agency, and continue to contribute to the budget. The Government has already conceded that the volume of migration will not change, we will simply have "control". Historically, the UK has chosen not to use the controls on movement which are available to it. As Belgium and Luxembourg demonstrate, "free movement" does not mean uncontrolled free movement, or unlimited access to housing or welfare benefits. The ECJ is a totemic issue for the far right, but most people care little about it. As long as we trade with the EU at all we will need a system to adjudicate on disputes, and it would be wasteful to create a parallel court to shadow the ECJ on this. On the budget, most people have no conception of the numbers: that our current contribution is tiny as a proportion of Government spending. Most will accept with a shrug a "divorce settlement" of £60bn rather that £20bn, since these are numbers beyond individual comprehension, and the scope for fudging over time is considerable.
The great and sad irony, is that the one thing we must do to demonstrate that we have left, is resign our formal democratic influence on the EU, its policies and rules. It is inconceivable that people will accept a Brexit which retains our seats on the Parliament and the Council. So we give up our position as one of the "big three" nations, without whose consent little has happened in the EU until now, and become "rule takers" like Norway, obliged to implement rules which we have no say in formulating. When this becomes clear, it might be the tipping point when people recognise this nonsense for what it is. It might be too late.
Stephen McNair's Website
5th July 2015 otheradult education, age and learning, ageing society, Careers guidance, demographic change, demography, education, European policy, higher education, JPI, learning and work, lifelong learning, NAEGA, NIACE, NICEC, older workforce, public policy, research, retirementadmin
This is my personal website. I have created it as a place to put some of the fruits of 47 years of work as a teacher, writer, manager and policy adviser in adult, higher and vocational education, careers and educational guidance, and in the last decade, on ageing and demographic change.
I have been prompted to create the site by people who have asked for copies of documents and reports which I have written in the past but which are no longer available online. It starts therefore as a repository of documents, published and unpublished, with a certain amount of commentary, but it also includes a blog, to provide an outlet (if only for me) for my thoughts on current issues. This is the first post of that blog.
I have worked for and with very many organisations and institutions. Four have involved the most time and effort:
the National Institute for Adult Continuing Education (NIACE),
the Unit for the Development of Adult Continuing Education (UDACE),
the National Association for Educational Guidance for Adults (NAEGA),
the National Institute for Careers Education and Counselling (NICEC).
Although much of the work has been within the UK, I have been involved in European and international activity since the early 1990s. Most recently I have been increasingly active in politics.
I hope you find something interesting and that it doesn't look too much like an ego trip. Feel free to comment on the site, or anything in it, and suggestions for additions or improvements would be very welcome


Pro-Ject Essential III review | What Hi-Fi?
For a small but loyal band of music lovers, vinyl is well and truly back on the menu – and turntable manufacturers are doing their best to make hay while the sun shines. Pro-Ject is one such brand.
A relative newcomer, the company has made its presence felt with an unrivalled stream of four- and five-star turntables over the last 20 years. The Pro-Ject Essential III is the latest addition to the roster.
The first Pro-Ject Essential range first appeared at the turn of the decade and went on to take home multiple five-star reviews and What Hi-Fi? Awards. This third incarnation has been four years in the making and joins a sub-£300 turntable market that's more crowded than ever.
Pro-Ject now has two models below the Essential – the Elemental (£150) and Primary (£190) – but calls the £240 Essential III "the first true hi-fi offering". Luckily, the Essential III has plenty to offer.
Four years is a long time and, sure enough, there have been a host of upgrades. The platter and plinth are now MDF rather than chipboard – as is the case on plenty of far more expensive decks – while the cartridge and cables have also been upgraded, with the Ortofon OM10 on board here.
From the pulley to the spindle bearings, the motor electronics to a new grounding link – Pro-Ject has gone to town on the tweaks.
A belt-drive deck remains a relatively simple machine and while it's not quite as easy to get started as some budget turntables, the little work required should be straightforward, dare we even say enjoyable, for the average vinyl enthusiast.
Just put the platter in place and feed the belt around it. Manually switch the belt between the inner and outer ring of the pulley to select 33 or 45 rpm.
Adjusting the counterweight to balance the cartridge is a little fiddly, while the anti-skating thread seems fussy, but follow the instructions and you'll be spinning records well within half an hour of unboxing.
And the result is a turntable that certainly looks better than a budget deck, even if the lightweight feel of the deck and tonearm is more in tune with its price.
Place a record on the platter – a mat is optional and there isn't one included – and you'll soon be treated to the trademark Pro-Ject sound. This is a good thing.
Listening to Stetsasonic's Talkin' All That Jazz is easy and enjoyable, thanks to good dynamics, an exciting treble, and a sonic balance that's on the bright side but never edgy.
Dial it down a notch with Carl Orff's Carmina Burana and the Essential III does an impressive job of placing instruments in the room, while showing decent scale and an open soundstage. What's not to like? Very little.
That is until we involve the Rega Planar 1, our sub-£300 Award-winner.
There's not much in it but the Rega does time a little better, skipping along at a pace that forces your toe to tap, while also delivering a better-organised, fuller-bodied sound.
Laurent Garnier's The Man With The Red Face affirms this in a matter of revolutions. Different strokes for different folks? Absolutely. We'd lean towards the Rega but we'd recommend hearing both.
But there's a twist. Also in Pro-Ject's arsenal is the Essential III A. That 'A' refers to an acrylic platter upgrade (called the Pro-Ject Acryl-IT E). The A turntable costs an extra £40 – but it's money well spent.
The sound is instantly bigger and more open, while bass notes are firmer for a more rounded presentation. And there's an extra layer of detail for good measure. The Essential III A and the Rega P1 are definitely something of a toss-up.


Anand Rathi Franchise is one of the well known Sub Broker Franchise business based out at Mumbai. Lets have a detailed Anand Rathi Franchise Review & in-depth understanding of Anand Rathi Sub Broker Offerings, Anand Rathi Revenue Sharing Models & other features of Anand Rathi Partner Program.
As we know that, Anand Rathi is a leading Full service broker, and was established in the year 1994 by Mr. Anandrathi. Since then, this financial firm has made its presence across India and also abroad (Dubai and Bangkok).
In the year 2007, CVCI group (Citigroup Venture Capital International) joined Anand Rathi as a financial partner. This company provides most of the financial and advisory services that includes equities, commodities, investment banking, mutual funds, wealth management, insurance and corporate advisory.
Their financial research team is very dedicated and powerful that maintains excellent standards for company's growth and client's benefits. At present, there are more than 450 outlets across India.
Minimum 2-3 years of experience in selling financial products, a person with good track record and reputation, capacity to invest 2-3 lakhs initially just to start the business.
Find the detailed discussion on Anand Rathi Franchise Revenue Sharing Models & Initial Investment Amount & Fees.
Anand Rathi offers a very decent revenue sharing of 70:30 with their Sub Brokers. For a big brand like Anand Rathi, this number is very big & they seem to be very aggressive on Franchise acquisition.
This revenue sharing is pretty decent in the initial stage of franchise opening. Later, if you are able to generate more brokerage volume, then chance of getting more percentage will rise after a year of performance.
The initial investment will cost you from Rs 2-5 lakhs, depending on the features of a particular type of Franchise. This amount is generally refundable during the time of exit process. Although they demand this amount as security deposit.
This company is rated very reliable and trustworthy. Here, the sub brokers clients can trade in NSE / BSE, MCX-SX / MCX and the amount one needs to pay for registration will be Rs.2360 x 6 = Rs.14160 only.
Also, for the office setup the franchisee will also have to invest for computers, UPS, scanner & printer, Broadband connection and other stationary. The Sub Broker office should be in the city's prime location with minimum 300 sq ft area.
Anand Rathi offers branding and marketing support from time to time, that also depends on the proposal you send to conduct any kind of event that can generate more revenue and business.
Sales support, Product support (NSE, BSE, F&O, MF, NSDL, CDSL & many more), centralized back-office access. Also get trading terminal Omnesys software for both BSE and NSE.
The Broking House provides robust training to their partners and their employees about the trading terminals. Anand Rathi train their partner for situation handling and other fundamental processes for business pitches.
They also provide centralized back office. They provide through training for various software's like trading terminal Omnesys software for both BSE / NSE and other inbuilt software and apps.
Why Partner with Anand Rathi?
How to become partner with Anand Rathi?
Educational certificate (minimum one should be 12th pass), and 21 years of age.
To complete the registration process in an easy manner, it is advised to visit a chartered accountant. Once the addendum is signed or registration is done, the partners gets the franchise code. Then the sub broker is authorized to open franchise office in that registered area. This entire process takes 2 weeks for registration.


text:
Q: Train score diminishes after polynomial regression degree increases I'm trying to use linear regression to fit a polynomium to a set of points from a sinusoidal signal with some noise added, using linear_model.LinearRegression from sklearn.
As expected, the training and validation scores increase as the degree of the polynomium increases, but after some degree around 20 things start getting weird and the scores start going down, and the model returns polynomiums that don't look at all like the data that I use to train it.
Below are some plots where this can be seen, as well as the code that generated both the regression models and the plots:
How the thing works well until degree=17. Original data VS predictions:

After that it just gets worse:

Validation curve, increasing the degree of the polynomium:

from sklearn.pipeline import make_pipeline
import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
from sklearn.linear_model import LinearRegression
from sklearn.preprocessing import PolynomialFeatures
from sklearn.learning_curve import validation_curve

def make_data(N, err=0.1, rseed=1):
    rng = np.random.RandomState(1)
    x = 10 * rng.rand(N)
    X = x[:, None]
    y = np.sin(x) + 0.1 * rng.randn(N)
    if err > 0:
        y += err * rng.randn(N)
    return X, y

def PolynomialRegression(degree=4):
    return make_pipeline(PolynomialFeatures(degree),
                         LinearRegression())

X, y = make_data(400)

X_test = np.linspace(0, 10, 500)[:, None]
degrees = np.arange(0, 40)

plt.figure(figsize=(16, 8))
plt.scatter(X.flatten(), y)
for degree in degrees:
    y_test = PolynomialRegression(degree).fit(X, y).predict(X_test)
    plt.plot(X_test, y_test, label='degre={0}'.format(degree))
plt.title('Original data VS predicted values for different degrees')
plt.legend(loc='best');

degree = np.arange(0, 40)
train_score, val_score = validation_curve(PolynomialRegression(), X, y,
                                                 'polynomialfeatures__degree',
                                                 degree, cv=7)

plt.figure(figsize=(12, 6))
plt.plot(degree, np.median(train_score, 1), marker='o',
         color='blue', label='training score')
plt.plot(degree, np.median(val_score, 1), marker='o',
         color='red', label='validation score')
plt.legend(loc='best')
plt.ylim(0, 1)
plt.title('Learning curve, increasing the degree of the polynomium')
plt.xlabel('degree')
plt.ylabel('score');

I know the expected thing is that the validation score goes down when the complexity of the model increases, but why does the training score goes down as well? What can I be missing here?

A: First of all, here is how you can fix it by setting normalization flag True for the model;
def PolynomialRegression(degree=4):
    return make_pipeline(PolynomialFeatures(degree),
                         LinearRegression(normalize=True))

But why? In linear regression fit() function finds best-fitting model with Moore–Penrose inverse which is a common way to compute least-square solution. When you add polynomials of the values, your augmented features become very large very quickly if you do not normalize. These large values dominate the cost computed by least-square and lead to a model fits to larger values i.e higher order polynomial values instead of the data.
Plots looks better and the way they are supposed to be.

A: Training score is expected to go down as well due to overfitting of the model on training data. Error on validation goes down due to sine function's Taylor series expansion. So, as you increase degree of polynomial, your model improves to fit the sine curve better.
In ideal scenario if you don't have a function that expands to infinite degrees, you see training error going down (not monotonically but in general) and validation error going up after some degree (high for lower degrees -> low for some higher degree -> increasing after that).

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


I'm still chugging along with the Olympic posts. After volleyball was the tube relay. It was a four person event and we had to swim on a tube in the swimming area and pass the tube to the next teammate then they swam it back and passed it on to the next person. They decided to make it a timed event instead of brackets because the water was freezing.
I was on the Bahamas team. Ryan was up with Addison and didn't get any pictures of me in action. I think that was a good thing because everyone kept commenting on my facial expressions. I was determined to smoke the competition. It made me realize that I really need to start exercising. I was really sore the next day and didn't have to swim very far.
Here are some pictures of our competition.
The award ceremony and me receiving my gold medal.
My friends Derek and Mandi are getting married in August. They are so cute together and perfect for each other.


How to watch Arrow: Season 6: The Fallout on Netflix Denmark!
Yes, Arrow: Season 6: The Fallout is now available on Danish Netflix. It arrived for online streaming on January 12, 2019.
We'll keep checking Netflix Denmark for Arrow: Season 6: The Fallout, and this page will be updated with any changes.
While Quentin struggles to make peace with his actions back on Lian Yu, Black Siren begins a bombing campaign against the SCPD and Team Green Arrow.


text:
Warm up to winter
By Xu Junqian ( China Daily)
Shanghai wildlife park makes sure their African guests kept healthy and warm over the icy winter months.
African chimpanzees with their keeper in Shanghai Wild Animal Park. [Photos by Gao Erqiang / China Daily]
As the wind sweeps across the plains of the Yangtze River Delta, swirling up fallen leaves and stirring debate about whether central heating is necessary in China's southern cities, about 500 inhabitants of Shanghai Wild Animal Park have already been promised a cosy winter.
Keepers have been busy making sure the more than 30 species from Africa have all the creature comforts for the cold months ahead.
With 24-hour air-conditioning in almost every enclosure, different species are afforded special care according to their needs. For animals, such as giraffes, who only stay indoors at night to sleep, the sleety winter that could last as long as four months in Shanghai is always tough.
Luckily, the tallest residents, who have been lodging at the city's only wildlife zoo since it opened in 1995, have almost grown immune to the low temperatures and dampness.
"We started by letting them move around outside for two hours on a sunny day, and then three, four hours, etc," says Shen Hao, the director of herbivore management for the African safari section.
"As they grow accustomed to the environment, they also have some outdoor sports to keep them fit and warm — stretching their necks, doing a few kicks and the like."
The 35-year-old zookeeper has been looking after the dozen giraffes, together with 100 other animals, since they arrived. Every day he and his colleagues take at least four tours in their camouflaged van around the 21-hectare African section, the largest one in the park, to make sure "everyone is fine".
"The first few days of every winter are usually the most difficult," Shen says.
Of course, the animals do not complain when they have a cold or fever, but veteran caretakers like Shen can tell from their behavior or droppings when something is wrong.
The giraffes' neighbors, the hippos, on the other hand, are much tougher, making them easier to take care of, although they only moved into the park, in Pudong New Area, about 35 kilometers from the city center, a couple of months ago.
All the three newbies, Jixiang, Shasha and Sibao, ask for is a hot spring with a constant temperature in which to loll away most of the day.
But the hot pool is just the wellness center of the 2,200-square-meter hippo "mansion", costing millions of yuan, to "prevent the three youngsters from becoming homesick". The home away from home features familiar grassland and palm tree forests, dotted with rocks resembling granite kopjes.
The custom of a tonic in winter, believed by many Chinese to provide energy to fight a tiger with bare hands, is also given to most of the animals in the wildlife park, including the tiger.
Vegetarians such as rhinoceros, oryx and zebra are fed extra portions of highly nutrient alfalfa to enable them to store more energy. Supplements of vitamins and trace elements are also added to their staple diets.
Chimpanzees and monkeys are given more in the way of snacks, such as eggs, peanuts and milk, while chefs prepare lamb and beef platters for the carnivores — the lions and leopards.
"They may not necessarily eat more, but they are equipped with more nutrition and energy to get through the hard season," says Ni Li, spokeswoman for the park. Three tons of food is consumed daily by the thousands of animals in the park.
To create an environment that is more in keeping with their wild habitats, keepers at the park have started an environmental enrichment strategy, used by many zoos around the world in recent years to allow animals to "demonstrate their species-typical behavior".
Feeding-enrichment, the most widely used form, helps animals get through the season.
"It's like playing hide and seek," says Zhang Weiping, the keeper of fennec foxes, migrants from the deserts of northern Africa. Zhang has been working for months designing different ways of presenting food, to push the newcomers to investigate, dig, and finally enjoy their tasty discoveries.
Methods developed by Zhang and other keepers at the park include hiding food high in trees for agile climbers, burying it deep in caves for persevering miners, and spreading it around the grounds for careful observers.
"The main purpose is to bring out their natural instincts when looking for food, and, ideally, to get them up doing more exercise in winter, instead of being a couch potato in an air-conditioned room," Zhang says.
But not all creatures find the winter months unbearable. Some with the wherewithal to cope with cold conditions may even revel in a more active lifestyle, such as Siberian tigers, native to areas with temperatures as low as -30 C. Their keeper says the big cats seem to have been enchanted by the rare snow and ice last winter in Shanghai.
Be that as it may, the keepers generally agree that spring is the most joyful season for the animals, wherever they come from. They claim they can tell from the creatures' behavior.
"Spring is the season that nature is revivified and everything comes into itself," one of the keepers says, quoting a Chinese saying.
Contact the writer at xujun-qian@chinadaily.com.cn.
Peace Ark answers call in Philippines
12 China-made helicopters delivered to Cambodia
Iran nuke deal has positive impacts on Syria
US concerned about rising tension in Thailand
Aircraft carrier begins training
The Gift Charity Bazaar 2013
9 people die in snowstorm-caused collapse
Can't stop the fire
Overzealous fans steal the thunder
Bitter pill

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Report: Sean Spicer Searching For His Own Replacement
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer is reportedly searching for someone to replace him at the White House briefing room podium.
An unidentified White House official told Politico that Spicer and White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus recently talked to conservative talk show host Laura Ingraham about taking over as press secretary.
The White House official also said that Daily Mail editor David Martosko is under consideration as communications director, a job vacated by Mike Dubke in May.
Chief White House strategist Steve Bannon reportedly had a meeting with Martosko.
Neither Ingraham nor Martosko offered comment to Politico.
According to people familiar with the job searches, Fox News host Kimberly Guilfoyle was considered for press secretary, but is not interested.
Two White House sources said Trump and his senior staff blamed Spicer and Dubke for their responses to the firing of FBI Director James Corey, which caught most people by surprise, including Comey.
Spicer and Dubke were blamed for not lining up Trump surrogates to defend Comey's firing by attacking Democrats for criticizing Comey in October 2016 for announcing a new investigation that included Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton's emails only days before the 2016 election. The investigation turned out to be a probe into Clinton aide Huma Abedin's husband Anthony Weiner.
Spicer and Deputy White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders have been alternating in the role of giving White House press briefings.
Sanders addressed Politico's report on June 19: "We have sought input from many people as we look to expand our communications operation. As he did in the beginning, Sean Spicer is managing both the communications and press office."
Sanders has reportedly said that she does not want to be the White House press secretary.
A White House official said: "Spicer should be elevated and if he's not, I would not blame him for leaving. The president owes him this much for all he's done for him. Sean is indispensable and I think the president knows that."
Spicer, White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, and former "Apprentice" star/current Trump communications liaison Omarosa Manigault told White House reporters on June 19 not to broadcast live video or audio during the afternoon White House press briefing, notes the Daily Beast.
"I've said it since the beginning -- the president spoke today, he was on camera," Spicer stated. "He'll make another comment today at the technology summit. And there are days that I'll decide that the president's voice should be the one that speaks, and iterate his priorities."
CNN reporter Jim Acosta told CNN anchor Brooke Baldwin how the White House briefings were becoming "bizarre" because of the media blackout:
I don't know what world we're living in right now, Brooke, where we're standing at the White House and they bring us into the briefing room here at the White House, and they won't answer these questions on camera or let us record the audio ...
I don't understand why we covered that gaggle today, quite honestly, Brooke. If they can't give us the answers to the questions on camera or where we can record the audio, they're basically pointless.
Sources: Politico, Daily Beast / Photo credit: Gage Skidmore/Flickr
politicsSean SpicerWhite House Press SecretaryLaura IngrahamDonald Trump


Achy Obejas is the author of The Tower of the Antilles, which was nominated for a PEN/Faulkner award. Her other books include Ruins and Days of Awe. As a translator, she's worked with Wendy Guerra, Rita Indiana, Junot Díaz and Megan Maxwell, among others. A native of Havana, she currently lives in the San Francisco Bay area.


text:
More expensive litigation to be funded by taxpayers under "laissez faire" Attorney General
Sep 30, 2022 | Hon Nick Goiran MLC, State News
Shadow Attorney General Nick Goiran has once again called on Premier McGowan to put his friendship with John Quigley aside and remove him as Attorney General following revelations that there is to be a sequel in the curious case of the Magistrate vs the Judge.
"West Aussie taxpayers will once again be forced to pick up the tab for expensive legal fees created in part as a result of the Premier continuing to allow his retiring friend Mr Quigley the luxury of remaining in his Ministerial departure lounge."
In 2021 Children's Court Magistrate Catherine Crawford lodged a writ in the Supreme Court of Western Australia against Children's Court President Hylton Quail who had been seeking to have her transferred from the Children's Court to the Magistrates Court. In the first two days of the trial in October 2021, the Court heard explosive allegations of evidence tampering and bullying.
It is understood that the matter was settled on a confidential basis with the trial discontinued and the Magistrate continuing in her full-time role in the Magistrates Court, albeit in metropolitan locations away from the central chambers in Perth.
Following persistent parliamentary questions from Mr Goiran, the Attorney General was forced to finally reveal to the one parliamentary committee not controlled by the Government that "the total costs in relation to the Crawford v Quail matter are
$499,185.31".
However, the ongoing feud is now headed to the High Court.
"It is difficult to contemplate signs of greater dysfunction within a State's justice system than to have a Children's Court Magistrate allege "bullying" by her boss and for him in turn to allege that she had tampered with evidence, all while the Attorney General does nothing about these allegations", stated Mr Goiran.
While the original "Crawford v Quail" case was on foot, the McGowan Labor Government introduced a Bill to enable the President of the Children's Court to, amongst other things, inform the Chief Magistrate that a particular Magistrate was no longer needed.
With the Law Society and others expressing concerns about the Bill, the Opposition sought to have it referred to the Standing Committee on Legislation. The Government used its numbers to defeat the referral resulting in that Committee continuing to never have had a single Bill referred to it in the current 41st Parliament.
Magistrate Crawford's High Court Writ claims that the powers granted to the Children's Court President in this new legislation (Courts Legislation Amendment (Magistrates) Act 2022), "impair and detract from the reality and appearance of the independence" of the courts and "the institutional integrity of those courts."
"While this sequel plays out in the High Court, three questions need answering. How much will this cost taxpayers? When will the allegations of evidence tampering and bullying be addressed? When will the Government introduce a Bill to create a Judicial Commission which it has delayed for more than 5 years?" asked Mr Goiran.
"The problem is that whenever these questions are asked both Mr McGowan and Mr Quigley run and hide being their favourite political shield pleading the right to silence while a matter is before the courts.
"This begs the question, where have they been? Why have they been so derelict in their duty to allow this judicial human resource dispute to reach this level? And in any event, how can they possibly allow allegations made in open court of evidence tampering and bullying to go unaddressed? If they are true, then individuals need to be removed. If they are false, then individuals need to be removed. What cannot happen, is nothing."
Meanwhile, the Premier and the Attorney General have continued to refuse to disclose how much they have spent on other high profile cases, including:
The unfair dismissal claim brought by the Member for Kwinana's former electorate officer;
The Premier's failed defence in the defamation claim of Mr Palmer; and
The Premier's optional cross-claim against Mr Palmer.
"Premier McGowan needs to stop the free flow of taxpayers' money on extremely expensive avoidable court actions by removing his friend as Attorney General. Our State cannot afford this political luxury of someone remaining in a Ministerial departure lounge. Sadly for our justice system this is just the latest episode demonstrating that he is no longer up to the task." said Mr Goiran.
Deteriorating housing crisis while Minister Carey sits on his hands
18 Jan 2023 | State News, Steve Martin MLC
Western Australia's housing crisis has continued to worsen with recent figures revealing the tightest market in more than 40 years. WA's already tough rental market has now hit a new low with the...
Kimberley recovery must learn from Cyclone Seroja flaws
9 Jan 2023 | Neil Thomson MLC, State News
The Opposition has welcomed the announcement that flood effected Kimberley communities would be eligible for assistance through the Commonwealth-State Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA)...
Flooding in the Fitzroy Valley just the beginning.
"This is an unprecedented flooding event and remote communities and pastoral stations downstream of Fitzroy Crossing should be taking heed of all warnings now", said the Hon Neil Thomson MLC....


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Reviewed by Amy Johnson on Apr 9.
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The incentive ITC was eligible to be earned on qualified investments in Idaho that were placed in service in tax years beginning in 2001 only. Although the credit can no longer be earned, it may be carried over from 2001 or acquired by transfer from another taxpayer who earned the credit in 2001.
A taxpayer who earned the incentive ITC may transfer the credit to another taxpayer. The transferor must submit Form 70, Idaho Statement of Credit Transfer, to the Tax Commission at least 60 days prior to the date of transfer. The Tax Commission will verify the amount of credit available for transfer and the number of carryover years. The transferee may first claim the transferred credit on his income tax return originally filed during the calendar year in which the transfer takes place. However, the credit may not be claimed on a tax return that begins prior to January 1, 2001. The transferee must attach a copy of Form 70 to each income tax return in which the credit is claimed or carried over.
The credit carry-over is limited to 14 tax years. A transferee is entitled to the same carry-over period that would have been allowed to the transferor.


text:
namespace gwrld {
class Shot {
public:
	Shot(gm_serv::Context* pContext, Ship &pShip,
			const gm_serv::shot_type &pShotType,
			const gm_serv::shot_location &pShotLocation);

	void spawn();
	void update();

	float getPosY();
	float getPosX();

	void setIsFlying(bool pIsFlying);
	bool isFlying();

	void setSpawnCoordinates();
	void setShip(gwrld::Ship& pShip);
	static float time_life;

private:
	gm_serv::GraphicsService* mGraphicsService;
	gm_serv::ServiceTime* mTimeService;

	gm_serv::GraphicsSprite* mSprite;
	gm_serv::Location mLocation;
	gm_serv::Location mLocationSpawn;

	gm_serv::shot_type mTypeShot;
	gm_serv::shot_location mLocationShot;

	float mSpeed;
	bool mIsFlying;
	Ship& mShip;

};
}
#endif

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


SENIORS! This information is ONLY FOR YOU!
There's a lot to know about and to remember as a Senior. We want to make sure that you have one place where you can keep track of it all. You'll find new and information, forms, deadlines and other stuff here throughout the year. Please check back often.


I'm a mildly autistic dude from the south who's a rebel, but is willing to slide into what seems like fringe, but find the grains of truth they are founded on.
I'm from Louisiana, born on August 25th 1992, I'm intrigued in dynamics theories of the universe that can bypass the Einsteinian perspectives while explaining the same relativistic effects observed in our universe and the possible multivers we're a mere speck in and I've had experience in freelancing engineering by working with many shade tree mechanics on projects, did various manual labor under the table, dabbled in diatetics, pharmacognosy, chemistry, electrical stuff, herbalism(the actual thing, not the goddamned homeopathic ****), and a variety of other fields.
I'm here to expand my knowledge, provide some research I've found or pieced together, I also willing to pose some questions I'd like to see answered by everyone around so we can exchange what we know practicing Voluntaryism and advance ourselves and each other.
Singing, helping others, entertain people, freelance dabbling in circuitry, Herbal research, diatetics reading to keep up to date on things, gamer, messing with chemicals, ICE tech, permaculture, tonic herbs, sustainability, questioning everything.
Study the Universe, maybe open-source my works for enough people to notice, and sing for people.
It's a choice between a chat with either Aaron Murakami, Eric P. Dollard, or Willie Nelson.
Either Cliff Edwards' "When You Wish Upon A Star" or Frank Sinatra's "Strangers in the Night".


text:
Tom Cruise Rips 'Mission: Impossible' Crewmembers Over COVID Safety Concerns
In audio released from the U.K. set of 'Mission: Impossible,' Tom Cruise says that anyone who breaks COVID protocols will be fired.
Aaron Couch, Pamela McClintock
Tom Cruise has lambasted certain crewmembers on the U.K. set of Mission: Impossible 7 for not following proper COVID-19 safety procedures. The Sun, which published audio on Tuesday of the incident, revealed Cruise's blistering attack after some members of the set huddled around a computer monitor without standing more than the six feet apart, as recommended by experts, in order to prevent transmission of the novel coronavirus.
"I don't ever want to see it again, ever. And if you don't do it you're fired, if I see you do it again you're f—ing gone," Cruise said in the audio.
The actor and producer has been a champion of both the theatrical experience and of getting productions back on track amid the coronavirus pandemic. In the audio, Cruise notes that he has been speaking with contacts in Hollywood about how Mission: Impossible and its safety protocols can be a model for the rest of the industry.
"They're back there in Hollywood making movies right now because of us. Because they believe in us and what we're doing," Cruise said in the audio. "I'm on the phone with every f—ing studio at night, insurance companies, producers, and they're looking at us and using us to make their movies."
The actor noted that if any crew member saw someone not following safety protocols, their names should be reported to Matt Spooner, who is the COVID-19 supervisor on set.
Mission: Impossible 7 shut down in February due to the coronavirus outbreak in Italy, making it at the time the highest-profile project to shutter due to the virus. Other productions around the globe followed suit in March. The film resumed production in September, helping pioneer safety procedures on set.
Paramount and Skydance are behind the Mission sequel, which has Fallout filmmaker Christopher McQuarrie back in the director's chair for two more installments. Cruise again stars as IMF agent Ethan Hunt, with the cast also including Rebecca Ferguson, Esai Morales, Hayley Atwell, Shea Whigham, Pom Klementieff and Henry Czerny.
Cruise's rep did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Paramount likewise didn't have a comment.
The film is slated for release on Nov. 19, 2021.
Sundance: Regina Hall, Sterling K. Brown, Eva Longoria and Keke Palmer Set for Macro Lodge Virtual Events
Get the scoops first! Breaking news and interviews on comics, sci-fi, horror and more
Glen Powell, Chris Morgan Team for Sci-Fi Action-Thriller 'Deputy X' at Universal (Exclusive)
DC Senior VP and General Manager Daniel Cherry III Exits
Allison Williams Thriller 'M3GAN' Sets January 2023 Release in Theaters
By Pamela McClintock


Italians are feeling upbeat about their health and can expect to live a long life despite their economic worries, according to the latest government statistics released on Tuesday.
Seventy percent of Italians said they felt positive about their health and well-being this year, even though more than a third (38.9 percent) said they suffered from a chronic health condition, according to the 2014 yearbook released by statistics agency Istat. The figure is down slightly from the 70.4 percent recorded in 2013.
Apart from the Swedes, Italians have the highest life expectancy of any European country. Italian men can expect to live to 79.8 years while Italian women are expected to live until age 84.6.
They are also smoking less - with the number of smokers falling 1.9 percent to 19.5 percent in 2014. Nevertheless, one third of young people (33.5 percent) aged between 25 and 34 still call themselves regular smokers.
Of the 38.9 percent of Italians who reported chronic illnesses, 17.4 percent said they suffered from high blood pressure. Sixteen percent had arthritis while allergies affected 10.3 percent of the population.
They were also concerned about the impact of traffic and pollution on family life. More than a third of Italians (36.9 percent) said they lived in areas full of traffic and 34.4 percent complained about pollution.
The report showed that Italians still relish the tradition of dining at home. Nearly three-quarters of the population (73.6 percent) said they dined at home and 67.8 percent prefer to make lunch their biggest meal of the day.
The rate of divorces and separations were also down in Istat figures that noted 2012 figures. Legal separations fell from 88,797 in 2011 to 88,288 in 2012, while divorces dropped from 53,806 to 51,319 in 2012.


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Choosing yarn colors for your next crochet project can become a project unto itself. Without guidance from patterns, choosing the "right" set of colors can leave you with a lot of questions. Which colors look good together? How many colors should you choose? Should you use pastels, bolds, or neutrals? And so on.
If you often find yourself at a loss on where to start with colors, check out Sandra Eng's new book, Crochet Kaleidoscope. Filled with helpful tips on color choice, combining colors, and many other color "hacks," this book will become your go-to guide for colorful crochet. Read on to discover what Sandra says about getting started with crocheting with color.
If we want to get more technical [with choosing colors for crochet], we can turn to color theory for guidance. Open up any beginning art techniques book, and you're sure to come across a color wheel, onto which the entire spectrum of colors is mapped. Color theory, as related to the color wheel, can tell us about how colors mix and which groupings of colors appear more harmonious than others.
A color wheel can help you choose and group colors.
Before we delve into using the color wheel to guide color choice, let's review some relevant terminology. Hue refers to the position of a particular color on the color wheel; when we say "blue," or "red," or "yellow," what we are referring to is hue. Analogous colors are those that lie adjacent to each other on the color wheel. For example, red and orange are analogous to each other. By contrast, complementary colors are found directly across from each other on the color wheel. These include pairings such as red and green, or blue and orange. Finally, different variations of hues can be created by adding white or black to lighten or darken a particular color. You can create different tints by adding white to a color, and different shades by adding black. When it comes to yarn, "adding" white or black simply refers to choosing a lighter or darker variation of a color.
Color theorists assert that both complementary and analogous pairings of colors can contribute to aesthetically pleasing palettes. Depending on your taste, groupings of complementary colors might seem too bold of a contrast. In this case, a palette based on split complementary colors can lead to a more visually pleasing combination. Split complementary refers to pairing one hue with another hue that is analogous to the complementary color of the first hue. For example, combining blue with red-orange and/or yellow-orange, rather than with pure orange.
One rule of thumb on which I rely often in choosing colors for motifs is to start with a main color, add one or two different shades or tints of the same color (darker or lighter), one or two complementary (PALETTE 1) or split complementary (PALETTE 2) colors, and a neutral color, such as white, cream, grey, or tan.
Discover these and a bounty of other crochet color tips in Crochet Kaleidoscope!


text:
Q: Is one preposition enough for multiple months? A colleague of mine has written her thesis and requested me to read and correct its grammar. I have seen some sentences like

The maximum deviation of the concentration values were obtained in the growing season, especially in May, in July, in August and in September.

As you see there is one 'in' for each month. I think that one preposition would be enough for all:

The maximum deviation of the concentration values were obtained in the growing season, especially in May, July, August and September.

Which one is more suitable?

A: Omitting subsequent inclusions of the preposition is best when all the elements are objects of the same preposition. You would only supply prepositions with each list element if two or more list elements are the objects of different prepositions, such as saying, "I found toys all throughout the house--under the bed, on top of the refrigerator, and even behind the oven!"


text:
Q: Unable to call wcf service from javascript Hi everyone I am trying to calla wcf service from a javascript function for some reason asp.net is not recognizing the namespace and give me an error on runtime, any help will be greatly appreciated following is code:
Default aspx page
<form id="form1" runat="server">
<asp:ScriptManager ID="ScriptManager1" runat="server">
        <Services>
            <asp:ServiceReference Path="~/WeatherService.svc"/>
        </Services>
    </asp:ScriptManager>

    Enter a zipcode:
    <input id="zipCodeInput" type="text" />

    <input id="getForecastButton" type="button" value="Get Forecast" onclick="onGetForecast()"/>

</form>

Javasript

WeatherService.cs file(codebehind)
 using System;
 using System.Collections.Generic;
 using System.Linq;
 using System.Runtime.Serialization;
 using System.ServiceModel;
 using System.ServiceModel.Activation;
 using System.ServiceModel.Web;
 using System.Text;

 [ServiceContract(Namespace = "UltimateServices")]
 [AspNetCompatibilityRequirements(RequirementsMode =         AspNetCompatibilityRequirementsMode.Allowed)]
 public class WeatherService
 {

private static Random _rand = new Random();

[OperationContract]
public string GetForecast(string zipcode)
{
    string forecast = "";
    switch(_rand.Next(3))
    {
        case 0:
            forecast = "Sunny and Warm";
            break;

        case 1:
            forecast = "Chilly and overcast";
            break;

        case 2:
            forecast = "Hot and humid";
            break;
    }
    return forecast;
}

// Add more operations here and mark them with [OperationContract]

}
web.config file
 <system.serviceModel>
<behaviors>
  <endpointBehaviors>
    <behavior name="WeatherServiceAspNetAjaxBehavior">
      <enableWebScript />
    </behavior>
  </endpointBehaviors>
</behaviors>
<serviceHostingEnvironment aspNetCompatibilityEnabled="true"
  multipleSiteBindingsEnabled="true" />
<services>
  <service name="WeatherService">
    <endpoint address="" behaviorConfiguration="WeatherServiceAspNetAjaxBehavior"
      binding="webHttpBinding" contract="WeatherService" />
  </service>
</services>
  </system.serviceModel>

A: here i call simple hello world from WCF using javascript
Service.cs
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;`
using System.Runtime.Serialization;
using System.ServiceModel;
using System.ServiceModel.Web;
using System.Text;
using System.ServiceModel.Activation;

// NOTE: You can use the "Rename" command on the "Refactor" menu to change the class name "Service" in code, svc and config file together.
[AspNetCompatibilityRequirements(RequirementsMode = AspNetCompatibilityRequirementsMode.Allowed)]
public class Service : IService
{
 [WebGet(ResponseFormat = WebMessageFormat.Json)]
    public string helloworld(string name)
    {
        name = "Hello " + name;
        return  name;
    }
}

web.config
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<configuration>
  <system.web>
    <compilation debug="true" targetFramework="4.0"/>
  </system.web>
  <system.serviceModel>
    <services>
      <service name="Service" behaviorConfiguration="DefaultBehavior">
        <endpoint address="" binding="webHttpBinding" contract="IService" name="RunningBarbus.Services.RunningBarbusService" behaviorConfiguration="AjaxBehavior">
          <identity>
            <dns value="localhost"/>
          </identity>
        </endpoint>
        <endpoint contract="IMetadataExchange" binding="mexHttpBinding" address="mex"/>
      </service>
    </services>
    <bindings>
      <webHttpBinding>
        <binding crossDomainScriptAccessEnabled="true">
          <security mode="None"/>
        </binding>
      </webHttpBinding>
    </bindings>
    <behaviors>
      <serviceBehaviors>
        <behavior name="DefaultBehavior">

          <serviceMetadata httpGetEnabled="true"/>

          <serviceDebug includeExceptionDetailInFaults="true"/>
        </behavior>
      </serviceBehaviors>
      <endpointBehaviors>
        <behavior name="AjaxBehavior">

          <webHttp  helpEnabled="true" automaticFormatSelectionEnabled="false" />
        </behavior>
      </endpointBehaviors>
    </behaviors>
    <serviceHostingEnvironment aspNetCompatibilityEnabled="true" multipleSiteBindingsEnabled="true" />
    <standardEndpoints>
      <webScriptEndpoint>
        <standardEndpoint crossDomainScriptAccessEnabled="true" name="">
        </standardEndpoint>
      </webScriptEndpoint>
    </standardEndpoints>
   </system.serviceModel>
  <system.webServer>
    <httpProtocol>
      <customHeaders>
        <add name="access-control-allow-headers" value="content-type, Accept" />
        <add name="Access-Control-Allow-Origin" value="*" />
        <add name="Access-Control-Allow-Methods" value="POST,GET,OPTIONS" />
        <add name="Access-Control-Max-Age" value="1728000" />
      </customHeaders>
    </httpProtocol>
    <modules runAllManagedModulesForAllRequests="true"/>

  </system.webServer>
</configuration>

javascript code
<%@ Page Language="C#" AutoEventWireup="true" CodeFile="jsonp.aspx.cs" Inherits="jsonp" %>

<!DOCTYPE html >

    <title></title>

    <form id="form1" runat="server">

    </form>

A: You seem to lack the ScriptService/ScriptMethod attributes on your service/service methods.


Hubble is reprising one of its greatest hits. Twenty years after the release of its iconic image of the Eagle nebula's "Pillars of Creation", the space telescope – which turns 25 this year – has captured two new, even sharper views that peer through the pillars' shrouds of dust.
The original image, taken in 1995 with Hubble's Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2, revealed three towering "elephant trunks" of gas and dust that are in the process of forming new stars. The columns are also being sculpted and eroded by winds from nearby young stars.
These are normal features for star-forming regions, but "this particular image became rather popular", says Paul Scowen at Arizona State University in Tempe, one of the astronomers responsible for the original photo. Not only has the image itself been used in everything from movies to bedsheets, but even its colour scheme – ionised oxygen in blue, ionised hydrogen in green, and ionised sulphur in red – has been replicated in countless astronomical images since.
Now Scowen and his colleagues have taken another look at the pillars with Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3. Installed in 2009, it has twice the resolution of the earlier camera. Scowen presented the images on Monday at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Seattle, Washington.
The new camera makes clear that the gas and dust at the pillars' edges become denser abruptly, rather than gradually as had been expected.
The Hubble team also photographed the region at infrared wavelengths (below), which can reveal infant stars inside the gas and dust. That should help astronomers work out whether the nebula is an efficient star-former.


text:
Antony is a Walkley award-winning journalist and broadcaster. He is also the author of the newly-released book The Future and Related Nonsense (published by Harper Collins). Antony has been the presenter of Future Tense since 2009; prior to that he fronted Media Report. He also presents the monthly education podcast EdPod for RN.
Over the past two decades he has worked for many of the country's leading news and current affairs programs, including AM, PM, the7.30 Report, Background Briefing and Radio National Breakfast. In the late 1990s he was the senior producer for Australia Television News - ABC TV's nightly satellite news service into the Asia Pacific region.
A wanderer at heart, Antony has travelled and reported for the ABC from a diverse range of places—from the Russian border in Outer Mongolia to the isolated community of Ali Curung in the Northern Territory.
He won his Walkley in 2006 for a documentary entitled The Financial Abuse of the Elderly. The Walkleys are Australia's premier journalism awards. He was also a finalist in 2003. In that same year he won the United Nations' Media Peace Prize (Best Radio) for a half-hour program he produced on Aboriginal customary law. He won the same UN award in 2007 for his coverage of issues relating to the then political crisis in Zimbabwe. Other awards include the New York Festival's Silver World Medal, a NSW Bar Association Media Award for coverage of legal issues and a Worldfest Flagstaff International Film Festival Award (USA) for Television production.
For three years in the 1990s he worked for the international humanitarian aid agency CARE. His last role with that organisation was as the director of external relations for the organisation's Australian branch.


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