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Home / News / AFRICA / Ethiopian and Eritrean leaders get medal for making peace
Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed (right), President Isaias Afwerki (middle) and Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in Abu Dhabi at the Royal Palace / Photo: Yemane G. Meskel/Twitter
Ethiopian and Eritrean leaders get medal for making peace
Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Eritrea's President Isaias Afwerki have been awarded the United Arab Emirates' highest honour. The two leaders were on Tuesday presented with the Zayed Award, "for their vision, courage and statesmanship to end war and bring about peace between the two countries".
The two men are in the UAE after their dramatic steps towards reconciliation since the beginning of the month. The UAE is reported to have played an important role in bringing the two countries together after two decades of tension
Ethiopia and Eritrea fought a border war from 1998 to 2000 that killed an estimated 70,000 people from both sides.
Abiy Ahmed and Isaias Afwerki both helped in resolving the conflict and recently restored diplomatic ties among their two countries.
Despite the peace agreement a tense armed standoff ensued with the two countries engaging in clashes occasionally. The emergence of Abiy as Ethiopian Prime Minister dramatically changed the relations between the two countries, culminating in the normalisation of relations.
Adira Kallo
Previous South Africa hosts the 10th Summit of the BRICS bloc
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Red Bulls reach semifinal
Oct 27, 2011 at 12:01 AM Oct 27, 2011 at 8:48 AM
FRISCO, Texas - Joel Lindpere scored in the 61st minute, and the New York Red Bulls beat FC Dallas 2-0 last night in a Major League Soccer wild-card playoff match.
FRISCO, Texas � Joel Lindpere scored in the 61st minute, and the New York Red Bulls beat FC Dallas 2-0 last night in a Major League Soccer wild-card playoff match.
New York advanced to face Los Angeles in a conference semifinal. Game 1 of the two-game aggregate-goal series is Sunday in Carson, Calif.
Frank Rost made eight saves for the shutout, despite the team playing a man down from the 79th minute on after Solli Jan Gunnar was ejected with a red card.
Thierry Henry scored on a breakaway in the 96th minute.
In the 61st minute, Mehdi Ballouchy fed a pass from the right side of the penalty area into the middle, where Lindpere slid feet-first to chip it past goalie Kevin Hartman.
It was the second career MLS playoff goal for Lindpere.


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Do you live in Providence Village? Did you know your neighborhood had a name?
Posted on April 2, 2010 by nphistory
The corner of Providence and Rose Valley Roads was known as Palmer's Corner. It marked a corner of the Palmer-Ryan farm.
In 1939, on 50 acres of the former farm, at Rose Valley Road and East Country Club Lane, Roach and Roach Builders began construction on Providence Village. The parcel was divided into 38 homesites of approximately 1/4 acre each. The developer seemed to be of two minds when marketing the location; in some ads calling the neighborhood "Providence Village of Swarthmore" and others calling it "Providence Village in Wallingford." In every ad, the bucolic setting was described – "The location…with its adjoining golf course and century old wooded section will appeal to you and your family and will maintain its present desirability for all time." The adjoining course was the public Mary Lyons Golf Course which had not yet been developed. Private Springhaven Club (at that time offering swimming, tennis and golf) was just to the south. The wooded section was described as "ten acres of virgin hardwood forest" within which were to be constructed the builder's "finer homes." With nothing but wide open space between, the College's Clothier Tower was "a majestic view across our windswept fields." That majestic view was to last about ten years, when the next development began construction.
Families were attracted by promises of "the finest schools in the county within walking distance" and "healthful recreation away from the dangers of highway traffic," with "canoeing and skating on nearby Crum Creek."
There were ten different styles, priced from $6,550 to $9,430, all featuring "ample closets, finest porcelain tile bath with overhead shower, Celotex insulation, copper plumbing, flashing and down-spouts." The Monterey was described as "the only California-style home adaptable to the new California furniture."
If you had a $900 down payment and were able to handle $51 per month (including mortgage, taxes, insurance and "all fixed expenses"), you could afford a home in Providence Village. 1939 was the end of The Great Depression. A 1938 Plymouth Road King sedan cost $685 and the average American salary was about $1,730. Calculated using the Consumer Price Index, $51 in 1939 would be $788 in 2010.
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Alexander Pechtold
Arie Slob
Gert-Jan Segers
Christian party leader Arie Slob resigns, PM: "Wish him all the best"
ChristenUnie leader Arie Slob has announced his resignation from national politics. Prime Minister Mark Rutte calls his decision "unfortunate, and wishes him all the best for the future. In an interview with the Nederlands Dagblad, Slob said that this was the right time for him to hand over the responsibility to someone else. The ChristenUnie has found its balance and has broad support. "I think the party is ready for it; I've worked hard to prepare people who can take over. I really appreciate the team I have around me. This is a very special time with all MPs rotating on the front lines. As a result, there is the spice and the confidence to transfer the responsibility." he said. He added that there are also personal reasons for him to step down. His 54th birthday is next week - the age that his father died and he wants to spend more time with his family. "The children are already out of the door, but now I just want to once again be able to do something n the church, celebrate birthdays I would otherwise have had to pass up, and go on vacation without being disturbed." According to Slob, the Christian party will announce Gert-Jan Segers as his successor later on Tuesday. Prime Minister Mark Rutte finds Slob's departure "unfortunate". "I understand and of course totally respect his decision, but it is unfortunate. I have always worked very well with him", he said to the Telegraaf, describing his cooperation with Slob over recent years as sometimes quite intense but always effective. "He is honest, solution oriented and knows how to use humor to break the ice when it gets tense. I'm going to miss that. I wish him all the best." D66 leader Alexander Pecthold wished Slob well on Twitter: "Thanks Arie Slob for many years of pleasant cooperation! Good luck with the new challenge!"
Dank @arieslob voor jarenlange prettige samenwerking! Succes met de nieuwe uitdaging.
— Alexander Pechtold (@APechtold) November 10, 2015


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Katie Lee Photography
I went to a city called Niteroi across the bay from Rio to work with a children's charity. The charity, along with many other things, ran a football school for a group of girls. The girls lived in the favellas or shanty towns and had extremely hard lives. They lived with alcoholism and drug abuse and suffered abuse themselves, within their families.
Most of them had to take care of siblings and go to work to feed their family. One way to escape the daily hardships was to attend the football school. It gave them a sense of belonging and helped them to forget about their troubles. I documented their lives both in the favellas and at the football school, looking at their contrasting lives.
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Record Herald on Facebook
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Posted on December 11, 2017 by Ashley Bunton
Trial continued for WCH man charged with abduction
By Ashley Bunton - and Ryan Carter
A 30-year-old Washington Court House man appeared in court Monday and asked for his bond to be reduced on charges that include abduction and tampering with evidence.
Joseph P. Simmons was transferred from the Fayette County Jail to the Fayette County Court of Common Pleas for a final hearing on third-degree felony charges of abduction and tampering with evidence, aggravated possession of drugs, a fifth-degree felony, and domestic violence, a first-degree misdemeanor.
Trial was set for Dec. 28 but Simmons' defense attorney , Kristina Oesterle, asked for a continuance and the trial date was moved to January.
Fayette County Prosecutor Jess Weade said the parties are waiting for the lab results from alleged methamphetamine and said case discovery will be complete once the lab results return, which could be as early as next week.
Judge Steven Beathard asked if there was any resolution pending in the case. Oesterle said there was an offer made by the state, but that Simmons plans to take the case to trial.
Addressing Simmons' $10,000 bond, Oesterle said Simmons has served 16 days in the Fayette County Jail and if released would be living with his mother.
"He's willing to check in with the court on a daily basis," said Oesterle.
"We believe the bond is set accordingly in this case and the state asks for the bond to stay the same," said Weade.
Beathard reduced bond to $5,000 cash/surety or $1,000 own-recognizance.
Simmons, shackled and padlocked, was then conveyed back to the Fayette County Jail at the conclusion of the hearing.
The charges stem from an incident alleged to have occurred Oct. 17 at720 Broadway St. in Washington C.H.
According to reports, a woman went to the Washington Police Department to report a domestic violence incident. Reports said the woman was "very emotional and had multiple visual signs of being assaulted with bruises on her body."
The alleged victim told police that her live-in boyfriend, Simmons, became angry with her on Oct. 13 after she had taken meth and a meth pipe that allegedly belonged to Simmons and threw it out, reports said. Simmons reportedly confronted the woman, who ran out of the house.
According to reports, Simmons grabbed the woman, pulled her to the ground and attempted to carry her inside the house. She told police that she continued to try to get away, but Simmons kept throwing her to the ground. She also said she screamed for help while outside, reports said.
Once they were inside the residence, Simmons allegedly slammed her head against the wall and threw her to the floor while making threats he was going to kill her if she left, reports said. She said she wasn't able to call for help because Simmons reportedly broke her phone in the process.
The woman informed police that Simmons made her take a shower with him so she could not be by herself and try to leave. Once in the shower, the woman said she attempted to grab a towel and run for the front door, but as she opened the front door, Simmons allegedly closed the door on her hand, causing small lacerations. Simmons again allegedly pushed her to the ground and then stomped on her foot.
When their children arrived home on the school bus, the woman said Simmons would not allow her to get the kids off of the bus. "He held the door open while the kids ran in and prevented her from getting the attention of the bus driver," the report states.
The woman told police that Simmons held her against her will all weekend "because she needed to earn his trust before she could leave and their children were present," reports said.
Then on Oct. 17, the alleged victim said she saw another pipe and another container of meth in the home, which caused an argument. She was able to get out of the house and get a ride to the police department.
After she spoke to police, a warrant for the arrest of Simmons was issued. Three officers went to 720 Broadway St. to make contact with Simmons. He arrived in a vehicle as officers were getting ready to leave the residence, reports said.
An officer ordered Simmons to exit the vehicle and as he did, he allegedly threw an item underneath the vehicle. Police found a clear container with a crystal-like substance inside.
Simmons was arrested on the domestic violence warrant. As he was searched, officers found a small baggie of marijuana and a marijuana grinder, according to reports.
The crystal-like substance field tested positive for methamphetamine and the narcotics have been sent to the Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
The new trial date in the case is now set for Jan. 17.
https://www.recordherald.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/27/2017/12/web1_MUGSHOTS_34433979-1.jpgSimmons
By Ashley Bunton
and Ryan Carter
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Q: Not able to install ubuntu-14.10-desktop-amd64
I have been trying to install Ubuntu on my PC which has a Intel 3rd gen i5 3570K and Asrock b75M motherboard. No dedicated GPU. But whenever I try to boot from a live USB or DVD I always get a error as shown in the screen shot. I cant make any sense of it.
However I am able to install Ubuntu 12 but there are many issues in that. it randomly freezes . Even ctrl+shift+F1 wont work when it freezes. I tried  upgrading the kernel. After that ubuntu 12 also stopped working. Even the latest fedora or Kubuntu is not able to boot. Is there any way how I can resolve this error?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


The GNOME Project recently announced the release of GNOME 3.12. This new version of GNOME provides updated versions of many of the core GNOME applications (notably, gedit, the GNOME text editor), as well as improvements to GNOME Shell. A full list of improvements and updates are available in the GNOME Release Notes.
However, with Fedora 21 being many months away from a release, how can GNOME users on Fedora 20 try out all the improvements developed by the GNOME Developers?
Luckily, Richard Hughes has packaged up GNOME 3.12 for Fedora 20 and distributes it in a COPR Repo.
Finally, reboot your system, and you should be running fedora 20 with all the GNOME 3.12 goodness.
I am running 3.12 on F-20 on one of my two production desktop machines for a few hours now. Up to now I did not encounter any issues (for sure some a hiding…). I have manually forced the shell extensions I use to work with 3.12 (by adding "3.12" to the respective metadata.json files under .local/share/gnome-shell/extensions/).
Is there any plans you know of to add the Gnome 3.12 as a regular upgrade to Fedora 20?
I don't mind using the corp-be repo at all, but I want to avoid any potential conflicts if Fedora 20 decides to provide 3.12 as a upgrade via their normal repos.
It's not been decided yet whether to try and ship it as an official update, but if that happens, it won't conflict with the COPR packaging (in fact the official update packages will just be continuations of the COPR builds).
I would like to see most people's extensions continue to work if we do a mid-release update.
So, a helpful thing to do is look at the extensions you use and report if they do (or don't) work to the extension authors. And fix them if you have the coding skills and knowledge. If the ones you use all work (or if you don't really rely on extensions), take a look at the most popular and test and work on those.
From my experience with running Gnome 3.11 in rawhide, I think this should go pretty smoothly. Of course general testing and bug reports help too.
First I have conflicts with rhythmbox and mpv and requires, then I remove both packages.
Ok, apparently i have some i686 packages, so I enable the [rhughes-f20-gnome-3-12-i386] repo and now it's works.
Seems like updates and rhughes-f20-gnome-3-12 have nm-connection-editor with the same version. Ensure that you have added cost=900 in rhughes-f20-gnome-3-12 then run "yum reinstall nm-connection-editor". That way it will be reinstalled with the package from rhughes-f20-gnome-3-12. Then "yum update".
That's what I did yesterday when I upgraded to this copr.
I had the same error Rich had and this fixed it right up and now I'm on 3.12!
Thank you it solved my problem as well!
Just a quick followup: I simply tried again the upgrade, and now it worked flawlessly =) So far, all seems to be working fine. Thks to all involved, it's really nice not having to wait for Fedora 21 to use GNOME 3.12.
Using the comments below, I added the i386 repo definition and added the cost variables and was able to successfullly install. Thanks all for the assistance.
it's duplicating a lot of x64 packages with their x86 equivalent, looks like there's a complete system reinstall ahead.
On two of the three systems that I've tried this on X doesn't seem to be starting correctly and the greeter is never shown. I started with a HP laptop with a dual Intel / Radeon combined chipset (although I don't think that the Radeon chipset is ever used) and that worked fine.
Then I tried a HP desktop system with a nVidia chipset (using the nouveau driver) and the problems started. I "fixed" that system by downgrading all of the F20/3.12 packages back to stock F20 and then upgrading to rawhide. That took a while because the upgrade crashed a couple of times in the middle leaving an inconsistent package database but once that was all sorted out everything worked as expected.
I just tried another HP desktop, this time with a Radeon chipset and am seeing the same problem. Unless I find a solution soon I'm probably going to go through the process of upgrading the system to rawhide as there are a couple of Gnome 3.12 features that will be very useful to me.
Why do we still have to edit .repo files manually?
also, i filed a bug requrest against COPR a while back to provide release RPMS, that would be close to one-click install from the browser.
Is there no something like screenshot tour? A GNOME posting is dry without many screenshots.
The GNOME release notes (linked in the first paragraph) provide an outline of the features and plenty of screenshots.
I was not able to resolve this, so removed Cairo-Dock and upgraded to Gnome 3.12. I then "configured" and "make" from the Cairo-Dock. It's working, but not completely.
I have followed the steps (adding both i386 and x86_64 repos) and everything went fine.
I did the install and in re-deployed 546 pacakges.
had problems with xorg-x11-server-Xorg-1.14.0-4.fc20 crashing.
Connessione ad un altro mirror in corso.
libwebkit2gtk-2.4.0-1.fc20.x86_64: [Errno 256] No more mirrors to try.
webkitgtk3-2.4.0-1.fc20.x86_64: [Errno 256] No more mirrors to try.
Me too. I think something has gone wrong with repository in recent days.
How do you back it out? ie. revert back to the original fedora 20 gnome packages?
I was able to upgrade on my dell adamo laptop with no hiccups.
From what I can gather, the software app is bonkers (not that I will miss it) but other than that it is working fine.
Installing 3.12 was no problem – eveything went perfectly and I quite like the 3.12 Gnome shell. However, evolution-ews 3.12.3.1 seems to have a bug in it (it says that any defined ews accounts are offline in the mail view but the calendar etc. works OK and imap & pop work OK). I tried rolling back evolution-ews but that breaks evolution. Rolling back evolution isn't possible because of all the gnome dependencies. Is there a way to rollback the entire 3.12 update? I'd rather have a functional evolution-ews even if it means staying on 3.10 for a while before upgrading to Gnome 3.12.
The problem with evolution-ews was actually caused by a bug in the evolution-data-server. The bug has been fixed and the new version is now included in the rhughes-f20-gnome-3-12 repository so anyone dependent on evolution-ews should be OK now. 3.12 seems pretty stable and I have had no problems with shell extensions with version validation switched off (gsettings set org.gnome.shell disable-extension-version-validation "true").
Richard – thanks for setting up the repo and keeping it current.
yesterday i tried to upgrade, but gdm won't start. dmesg says, gnome-shell has some problems with libmozjs24. Since I couldn't find any solution for this problem, I did a recovery and stay with gnome 3.10. Any idea, what went wrong?
I did this on July 28 in order to try something new out as Fedora 21 has been delayed to at least septermber. Everything is alright except NVidia driver, the old one which is not compatible with gnome 3.12 neither akmod does. Yet nouveau still can recover from suspand, so I have to install driver from Nvidia official site. People who don't want to bother installing driver should consider it.
Anyone else seeing them as well? Any workarounds?
Upgrade to 3.12 without any error. Awesome!


Learn how to create beautiful backgrounds using brushes in Photoshop. Make unique designs for postcards and ecards. Try out these great background ideas!
Step 1 : Open a new file by clicking on File>New. Give a size of 300px by 400px.
Step 2 : Select rectangular Marquee tool and drag it to make a rectangle of size 162px by 279px. Choose pink color with Eye dropper Tool. Click on OK. Select Paint Bucket Tool. Click on your canvas. It will fill the rectangle with pink color.
Step 3 : Add a new layer by clicking on the Add Layer icon in the Layers panel. If your Layers panel is not open then go to Window/Layers. Name the new layer design. Go to Select/Inverse.
Step 4 :Select Brush tool and this panel will appear.
Click on Brush drop down panel.
Select the drop down triangle. Select Special effect brushes/Azalea. Click on the canvas around the rectangle and fill it with scattered roses.
Step 5 : Add a new layer by clicking on the Add Layer icon in the Layers panel. Select Butterfly from the same drop-down menu and drag on canvas.
Step 6 : Now you can add text to your middle rectangle. Select Choose Horizontal Type Tool. A text layer is created automatically. Now enter the text as you want. Here it is "Become Someone' s Hero".
We have created more backgrounds using the same steps given above.
This brilliant postcard is having a fairy night look with shining stars. We have used in here the combination of Starburst Large and Star Large effect, which are both available in Assorted Brushes. Go to Assorted Brushes/Starburst Large and Assorted Brushes/Star Large.
This beautiful card is having a pink rose which you can get from Brush tool-Special effect brushes/Large Roses with Chroma. Make the Brush size as 292px.
This background design is used in this card by selecting Window/Styles and choosing Textures from the drop-down menu and then choosing Sunspots.
Add a new layer, click on the style, choose the paint bucket tool and click on the canvas. Isn't it so simple and beautiful?
Try many many backgrounds with all the styles that are available in there.


When it comes to goodbye, I think I like the French "au revoir" better. In direct translation, it means "until I see you again." I love the idea that the French have a word for seeing someone again. Reseeing. I wish we had it in English. Reunion doesn't quite cut it.
I get tired of saying goodbyes. Why is that you have to say goodbye to one set of people in order to be back with another? Why is it that you have to leave one home to return to another? Why must there always be that trade off - losing something to gain something else?
I think it's not about the places you go, but the people you meet.
This year has undeniably changed me for the better. But it wasn't the place so much as the people. Places are only the backdrop for experiences, and experiences are largely dependent on the characters.
I know that distance is a relative thing, and I know that friendship can survive distance. But it's hard when things change. When you go from seeing someone nearly everyday to maybe once a year. It was hard when I came here, and now it will be hard when I return to Canada. The more places I go, the more homes I have… the more people I have to leave behind.
So I'll settle with an au revoir to Newcastle and my Newcastle cast of characters, because goodbye is too final and too sad.
My room is full of postcards, ticket stubs and brochures. A suitcase stuffed with travelling shoes and souvenirs.
I'm not really sure where I'm going from here.
And I feel like in just a few weeks I'll be looking at these fragments of one of the best years of my life and trying to piece together a time when I was free.
When I saw my life packed into a suitcase again, I sat down and cried.
I don't think it's because I'm sad to leave. It's because I'm sad that it's over. I need to leave because by the end of the week there will be nothing here for me anymore. But I wish it were January again and all of that possibility and adventure still lay ahead.
Because that was good possibility.
The possibility I have now is also called uncertainty and I am not good at uncertainty.
On Monday I heard Jeanette Winterson speak at the Edinburgh International Book Festival. She talked about how we all exist in three different times at once, that we are used to walking around made up of the past, the present and the future. And that this is what art does, it allows us to touch our inner selves, the ones that live in all of these times at once. The ones beyond the calendars and clocks. Clocks and calendars are human constructs with which to regulate the world, when really our lives are not linear. We can relive the past and change it, in our minds. We can affect the present while we think about the future and, essentially, affect that as well.
And it's interesting, to think of one's self as non-linear. There's something comforting in knowing that one hour leads to a next, that Wednesday follows Tuesday and March follows February.
But there's a reason why Jeanette Winterson's books speak to me, and I think she touched on it with this. While consciously I have trouble being non-linear, my inner self recognizes something about how the past, present and future are not fixed but simultaneous, are non-linear. Because, when it comes down to it, each moment we live is affected by our past experiences and our hopes or worries of the future just as much as it is affected by our present situation.
It gave me a lot to think about. And a lot of insight into Jeanette Winterson's unique writing style.


TANZFORUM BERLIN is an online video platform that features contemporary dance events in Berlin.
Despite the enormous variety of productions in Berlin, contemporary dance is underrepresented in the media and therefore unfortunately also in the public eye. At the same time, dance being a visual and highly dynamic art form makes it difficult to describe with the power of words alone and as such predestined for the moving image. The project was founded in April 2008 with the objective to produce and present short video trailers of current projects by renowned Berlin choreographers and young artists, as well as productions shown within the scope of established Berlin dance festivals.
TANZFORUM BERLIN aims to foster greater interest and curiosity in the theatre world, and to provide a tool for dance performers, directors, curators and event organisers to facilitate networking.
TANZFORUM BERLIN is administered by Kulturprojekte Berlin on behalf of the Senate of Berlin – Department of Culture and Europe.


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Home | Ira Stoll
Tags: Media Bias | duhigg | epi-pen | new york times
NYT Story Preys on Anti-Pharma Bias
In this July, 2016 photo, a package of EpiPens epinephrine auto-injector is displayed, a Mylan product, in Sacramento, Calif. Mylan CEO Heather Bresch has defended the cost for life-saving EpiPens and, at that time, offered no suggestion that there are plans to lower prices. (Rich Pedroncelli/AP)
By Ira Stoll Monday, 05 June 2017 11:53 AM Current | Bio | Archive
The misleading headline over Charles Duhigg's "Adventures in Capitalism" column in The New York Times Business Day section reads, "Outcry Over EpiPen Prices Hasn't Made Them Lower."
Mr. Duhigg writes, "I was surprised when my pharmacist informed me, months after those floggings and apologies had faded from the headlines, that I would still need to pay $609 for a box of two EpiPens."
That's the third paragraph of the story.
Twenty-six paragraphs later, way down toward the very end of the article, Mr. Duhigg discloses, "In fact, the company says that since it came under attack in August, nearly 90 percent of EpiPen buyers have paid less than $100 per box because of insurance, discounts or coupons."
So it sure looks as if, contrary to the headline, the outcry over EpiPen prices has made them lower.
I know something about this because I happen to have a family member who needs one of these things. This year, I was the one who went to the pharmacy to have the prescription filled. The price I paid out of pocket was less than it has been in years past and indeed, was less than $100 for the box of two.
So, at least in my personal experience, the Times headline is inaccurate.
An interesting question that the Times totally avoids is why Mr. Duhigg's health insurance is such that he has to pay $609 instead of the less than $100 that I paid.
Maybe he is rich enough — he speaks for companies like Bloomberg, Fairmont Hotels, and American Express via the Harry Walker Agency, and his book "The Power of Habit" spent "over 168 weeks" on The New York Times bestseller list — that he goes without health insurance, or has chosen a plan with a very high deductible, figuring he can effectively self-insure for all but catastrophic costs.
Maybe he gets his health insurance from The New York Times Company, and that company is under such financial duress, or so poorly managed, that it provides even star New York Times employees such as Mr. Duhigg with worse health coverage for prescription medicine than the insurance I purchase myself for my family. Maybe it was early in the calendar year, and Mr. Duhigg hadn't yet met his deductible for this sort of thing.
Mr. Duhigg's column is 2,000 words long, but it somehow manages to avoid all of those questions.
Mr. Duhigg does attack EpiPen manufacturer Mylan, asserting that the company "flouts the norms of good corporate behavior." He complains that the EpiPen costs "so much," and calls for investors to oust the company's board.
Yet consider that for $609, or, for about 90 percent of people, less than $100 out of pocket, the company is offering a year's worth of access to potentially life-saving medicine, in a reliable delivery system. Compare that to the pricing of The New York Times: $1,014 for a yearlong seven-day-a-week home delivery subscription to a newspaper that, rather than saving your life, might inflict life-shortening stress.
Times defenders might argue that very few people actually pay the full $1014 annual rate. Most people pay less because they buy online-only subscriptions, or get it through work or at the library, or have student or faculty discounts, or get cheaper introductory rates. That's like Mylan arguing that most people pay less than $100 rather than the full $609.
I'm looking forward to the Charles Duhigg column complaining that The New York Times subscription pricing structure "flouts the norms of good corporate behavior," and calling for investors to replace members of the Times Company board of directors. But I suspect I'll be waiting a long time for that one. At the very least, a follow-up column explaining why the price he paid for the EpiPen is so much higher than what nearly 90 percent of other buyers paid would be in order.
Otherwise, the "adventure in capitalism" here involves the Times itself ripping readers off for journalism that inaccurately portrays another company as rapacious.
Next time around, rather than joining the pile-on against Mylan, maybe the Times might consider exposing its readers to some unconventional thinking. At least one prominent healthcare industry consultant, David Williams, argues that even at $600, the EpiPen is underpriced.
If the item were priced even higher, it would create more incentives for competitors to enter the market with alternatives. Competition, after all, is a good thing for customers, whether in the pharmaceutical business or the journalism business.
Ira Stoll is editor of FutureOfCapitalism.com and author of "JFK, Conservative." Read more reports from Ira Stoll — Click Here Now.
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Ira-Stoll
Rather than pile-on against Mylan, maybe The New York Times might consider exposing readers to unconventional thinking. If the EpiPen were priced higher, it would create more incentives for competitors to enter the market with alternatives. Competition is good for consumers.
duhigg, epi-pen, new york times
Political View
Because It's All They Have, Democrats Cling to Trump Hatred
Michael Reagan
The Gipper's Corner
Is Pence Obvious, Logical Choice for Trump's On Deck Circle?
Dr. Alveda C. King
Civil Rights Today
Abandoning Hate Will Prevent Us From Perishing as Fools
Deroy Murdock
Libertarian View
Trump Deserves a Final, Fair Look at His Presidency
Mark Vargas
The Potomac Perspective
Trump Has Left US Better Off and Free
Patrice Lee Onwuka
New Agenda for Black Women
Dr. King Would Agree: Find Out What Needs to Change, Then Begin Reform
Dr. David Samadi
Requiring Kids Get a Coronavirus Vaccine to Return to School Is Premature
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Preserving Freedom Means Americans Must Loudly Speak Up
Drew Johnson
Waste Hunter
Elon Musk China's Biggest Cheerleader, Despite Human Rights Abuses
Movies From the Right
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This enduring symbol of American railroading returns to the RailKing line for 2011, complete with the industry-leading speed control, smoke output, and range of accurate sounds that characterize all MTH Proto-Sound 2.0 locomotives. Both engine and tender are constructed of die-cast metal and adorned with detail. Our model features two motors and four traction tires for pulling power and speed that rival the original Big Boy. Imperial features that set this model apart include legible builders plates, crew figures, cab interior light, painted backhead gauges, and a real coal load in the tender.


This place was nice and clean and quiet! Perfect spot in the old town. Staff was friendly. Would recommend.
Close to the Palace. Great location!
Centrally locates. Perfect for walking tourism. All the sites of interest are within walking distance. Historical architecture in a cobbled street.
We arrived in the middle of the night and they were able to check us in. During this process an old man (the owner) walked around the lobby in just his underwear. The shower was moldy and the whole room was damp. The beds were under slanted walls so we kept hitting our heads when we sat up.


This tutorial covers the basic workflows for using solid and non-solid bodies in Phoenix FD for 3ds Max. By the end of this tutorial, you will be able to use solid and non-solid bodies to control interactions and customize simulations.
To download the files used toward the end of this tutorial, please click the button below.
This tutorial shows how to use solid and non-solid bodies in simulation for greater flexibility and control over simulation particles. First, we will start with a simple scene, and then apply the same concepts to a practical setting: a spaceship crashing into an ocean.
In a blank scene, create a Sphere with a Radius of about 12.5cm. The exact size is not crucial.
With the sphere still selected, click the Large-scale Smoke sim preset icon in the toolbar.
In the Modify panel, open the Grid rollout. Adjust the sim's resolution by clicking the Decrease resolution button six times to get a Total cells size of about 5000 voxels as seen below. This allows for faster sim feedback.
Disable the Adaptive Grid and set the X / Y / Z size of the Simulator to 20, 60, 60. This way the simulation is fairly flat and at a very low resolution that will resolve quickly.
Maximize the viewport for a better view of the sim.
Create a Box and place it above the sphere, slightly off to the right side as shown below.
Open the Time Configuration dialog (shown below) and change End Time to 1000 so we have more frames to play with.
Now click the Start Simulation button in the toolbar. Let the simulation run while you continue with the next few steps.
In order to better see how the smoke interacts with the Simulation, go to the Preview rollout, and under GPU Preview, turn Off Enable In Viewport. Then, enable Draw Just a Slice with the Axis set to X as shown below.
We can clearly see that the smoke collides with the box, and goes around it. And we didn't need to do anything to make that happen. That's because, by default, meshes are treated by Phoenix FD as Solid Objects, which means the object becomes an obstacle to the fluid's motion.
A word of advice here: make sure that any mesh you want to use in this manner is closed; don't use planes or flat sheets of geometry. If you need to use flat geometry, you can use 3ds Max's Shell modifier to make that geometry into a closed volume to use in the sim.
In the upper left-hand corner of the viewport, change the mode from Realistic to Wireframe for better visibility.
The inside of the object is empty, and the smoke goes around the volume.
Now, select the object and right-click on it, and select the Phoenix FD Properties. A checkbox for Solid Object parameter is enabled by default. Turn it Off and click OK.
The smoke passes right through the box. This box is a Non-Solid, which means the box is a part of the simulation, but won't interact with it.
There is another way to make objects not interact with the simulation, one that offer different results. With the simulator selected, go to the Interaction rollout. You can manage objects that do or don't interact with the simulation in this rollout shown below.
There is a difference between having a non-solid object, like we have right now, and excluding an object from the interaction. A non-solid object, such as the one in the scene, can still be used with Forces (e.g. as an attractor for the Body Force) and also as an Emitter by Source objects. it can also be used as a Render Cutter, or a Birth (or ignition) Volume, and so on. On the other hand, objects excluded through the Interaction rollout will not interact at all with the simulation.
Now we'll make the smoke inside the non-solid box disappear.
Right-Click the box and open the Phoenix FD Properties. Enable the Clear Inside option, which lists the different channels of the sim that are affected. You can edit this list to control what kind of particle channels are cleared inside the non-solid.
Click OK and you can see that the smoke inside the box is gone.
The difference between the Solid object that we had before, and this Non-solid with Clear Inside, is that the fluid moves around solids but passes right through the non-solids. This way you can use Non-solids with Clear Inside to erase smoke, temperature, liquid, or different particles from certain areas of the Simulator without effecting the fluid's behavior.
While the simulation continues, create another Box in the scene that is a similar size to the first one. Move it up, inside the container in the path of the smoke, and it traps some of the smoke inside it, as in the image below.
When creating or moving a solid object inside a Fire/Smoke simulation container, it can trap fluid channels inside itself. Note that this behavior does not apply to a Liquid Simulator.
Move this box around some more and you can see that some of the smoke trapped inside the volume earlier is still stuck inside, and it may capture more. Again, that's because by default, all objects are treated as solid objects, so the smoke can't escape once inside.
Right-click on that second box, choose Phoenix FD Properties. Turn on Clear Inside and press OK and the smoke is gone from inside that box.
Finally, select the first box and disable the Clear Inside, so the smoke goes right through it.
The box on the left is a Solid object and the box on the right is a Non-solid object. Moving the non-solid box inside (as shown below) the Simulator changes nothing; it does not change the behavior of the simulation.
But if you move the Solid object box, it effects the smoke simulation as shown below. If you move it around, the smoke gets pushed to the side.
You can control how strongly a moving solid effects the simulation from its Phoenix FD Properties using the Motion Velocity Effect parameter. We will take a look at this in our next example.
Let's apply these same concepts as we crash a spaceship into a body of water. We will use solids, see how the Motion Velocity Effect works, and add foam and splashes in our simulation.
Open the provided scene file Spaceship_Crash_2014_start.max. Seen below is a spaceship crashing into the ocean.
The ocean geometry plane is just for preview purposes; select the plane, right click to open the Quad Menu, and select Hide Selection.
Next, create a Phoenix Ocean: Select the spaceship and choose the Setup an Ocean preset from the PhoenixFD Toolbar shown below.
Select the simulator and navigate to the Grid rollout seen in the image below. Make the simulation grid a bit smaller with an X / Y / Z Size of 150, 150, 93.
Reposition the Simulator around the spaceship's path, moving it closer to the camera in Y, and a little lower in Z to give the spaceship more space to splash down.
The Ocean preset assumes that the geometry in the simulation is a large sea vessel, but the spaceship is much smaller than this. So in the Dynamics rollout, decrease the Scene Scale to 0.04.
Now Start the simulation. Let it run, then Stop the simulation around frame 68 or so.
Switch to Perspective view and scrub the timeline to see the result. When the spaceship crashes, it makes a pretty small splash; not quite the magnitude for a dramatic effect.
In this case, it's not desirable to change the existing animation of the spaceship, so the only way to get a bigger splash is to adjust the simulation to react as if it produces a massive splash.
Select the ship and right-click for the Quad Menu and select Phoenix FD Properties.
Shown below is the Motion Velocity Effect parameter, and this will make the simulation act as if the speed of the ship is multiplied. Enter a value of 5. This means that the ship will affect the splash as if it were moving five times faster than its animation. Then click OK.
Re-position the grid a bit as needed to better center the splashdown on frame 49.
Start the sim. Notice that the ship creates much bigger and more dramatic splash.
Stop the sim around frame 35 and scrub the animation to study the new splash. You can see that there are some particles leaving the Simulator.
Let's say we don't need these splash and foam particles that go outside the simulator. We can even speed up the simulation time by deleting them once they leave the grid.
Go into the Create Panel and create a Box object. Make the box taller than the simulator and place it against the side of the grid where the particles are escaping. Position it so it overlaps into the simulator grid, making sure to have full coverage of the side. Note that the particle deletion only occurs where the box and Simulator overlap; the box cannot kill these particles once they leave the simulation grid.
The plan is to delete only the Foam and Splashes particles while leaving the liquid particles unaffected.
Right-click on the Box, and choose Phoenix FD Properties. Uncheck Solid Object, so the box won't affect the simulation. Turn on Clear Inside and then type in Foam,Splashes to clear only those types of particles from the sim. Then press OK.
Start the sim again and notice that the particles that were going through this side are killed when they come into contact with the box. There are still a few rogue particles coming from the bottom and the sides, however. More "kill boxes" can easily be created in the same way as the steps above to take care of those as well.
Switch to the Camera view and see how the splash looks when it is going to render it out.
First, a few rendering tips. Open the Scene Explorer and select the first PHXFoam object.
Change the Mode parameter to Point. Repeat this for the second PHXFoam object as well. This speeds up rendering quite a bit.
In the Point rollout shown below, change the Point Alpha to 0.3, and Shadow Strength to 20. Again, do this for both the foam objects and close the Scene Explorer. This makes the particles more opaque in the render, making them look nicer.
Open Render Settings and render out the view. Pretty quickly you will see the ocean, the splash, and a giant box! Stop the render.
Right click on the Box and choose Object Properties. Disable Renderable for the box as shown below, and now we can render the scene properly.


<Food Essay> features Korean celebrities who are famous for their cooking skills. And the real attraction of this program is not the celebrities themselves but the dishes they prepare. The celebrities, while unveiling their original recipes, will also unfold their thoughts on food and life.
Celebrity line up includes Chang Min (2AM) and Alex Chu (Korean singer).


text:
<!--
   This file is part of the X12Parser library that provides tools to
   manipulate X12 messages using Ruby native syntax.

   http://x12parser.rubyforge.org

   Copyright (C) 2009 APP Design, Inc.

   This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
   modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
   License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
   version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

   This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
   but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
   MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
   Lesser General Public License for more details.

   You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
   License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software
   Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA  02110-1301  USA

   $Id: XD.xml 78 2009-05-12 22:27:26Z ikk $
-->

<Segment name="XD" comment="To define the status and positioning of cars within the location">
  <Field name="SwitchTypeCode" required="y" min="2" max="2" validation="T617" comment="Code identifying type of switch movement desired or accomplished"/>
  <Field name="LocationIdentifier1" required="y" min="1" max="30" comment="Code which identifies a specific location"/>
  <Field name="LocationIdentifier2" required="y" min="1" max="30" comment="Code which identifies a specific location"/>
  <Field name="LoadEmptyStatusCode" required="y" min="1" max="1" validation="T322" comment="Code which specifies the loaded condition of transportation equipment"/>
  <Field name="RejectReasonCode" required="y" min="2" max="2" validation="T901" comment="Code assigned by issuer to identify reason for rejection"/>
</Segment>

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Dan Speerin was one of the first YouTube Partners in Canada, and the first Canadian host on The Young Turks Network. He's the co-creator and producer of several successful multiplatform series, from the narrative series Twixters, which aired on television in over 60 countries, to the award-winning digital series Truth Mashup, to the panel discussion-based series on Millennial issues called The What Is.
A sought-after pundit on Millennial and digital culture, and a seasoned specialist in digital strategy and communication, Dan has created digital content for Rogers, Bell, CBC and VH1 among others. With experience in the development, production, distribution and promotion of content that transcends platforms, Dan Speerin is also the Chair of the Independent Web Creators of Canada — IWCC-CIWC.
Liza Vespi, Executive Director at Raindance Canada, sat down with Dan to chat about his work, the state of web creation today, where it's going and why you need to jump in with both feet.
Liza: How did you get into being a YouTuber?
Dan: Timing. I moved to Toronto right out of high school to get into comedy, I was doing stand up and sketch comedy in the clubs. But I found out I was more into filmmaking and storytelling. In 2005, I had made a few short films that were making the festival rounds and we began uploading our comedy shorts to this website CBC made for their TV series ZeD – but sadly they cancelled it. Luckily for us – we had all these shorts so when YouTube came out of nowhere, we had this amazing head start. Soon enough, I was doing TV spots explaining what this "YouTube thing" was and then fell into an odd life of being the token "Millennial" spokesperson.
What have been some of your biggest challenges as a filmmaker and web creator?
The challenging thing for me was coming up in an era where nobody knew where things were going. YouTube life was always volatile because digital life is always evolving and you have to try and predict where things are going, to really succeed. But opportunities were also hard to come by in traditional, because they felt threatened by digital. More often than not, they saw you as a "digital influencer" as opposed to a filmmaker, showrunner/director/writer, etc. So the challenge is always to avoid being pigeonholed. That's why I've always chosen to do a bit of everything from art films to television series to CBC radio specials. I've even run social media campaigns for TV and web projects I really believed in.
You had great success with Twixters, The What Is and Truth Mashup going multiplatform. What's the key to bridging the media gap?
A lot of hard work. In some ways it's easier now, because my peer group had to blindly wander into the woods, but we've done our best to leave breadcrumbs. Whether it was the TV projects you spoke of or digital projects for the CBC or The Young Turks branching out to Canada, etc., my co-writer and production partner Vince Kesavamoorthy and I were the guinea pigs for a lot of things. We spent a good 10 years of our creative lives explaining the Internet to traditional media behind the scenes. That could be tough, because you weren't just a creator – you were basically a content marketer and executive mind for half your day. Ironically, we ended up writing the rules for this new era and now there are much more cut-and-dry expectations of what companies expect from creators and digital projects. The audience is so fractured now, you have to be a lot more disciplined and have a very specific audience focus. Every platform needs its own strategy and its own content suited to that audience. But because so many of us have been doing this for a decade now, we know what works – or at least what doesn't. So there's an upside to starting now, because you benefit from all of us who fell on our faces before you. So please, let it be good for something.
Tell us a bit about the IWCC-CWIC and what's on the org's radar these days.
I think the Logan Paul scandal shows us that we have a long way to go on informing media about the problems of platform labour — the coverage was just embarrassing. What I'm looking forward to is our annual Connect event in January — where 14 web series creators get to pitch industry professionals from Crave, CBC, Studio71 and more — for a chance to take their idea to the next level. We're always on the look out for ways to help new voices find a spotlight — whether that's with salon chats, podcast or our annual creator celebration T.O. WebFest.
The loss of net neutrality may be the biggest web story of 2017. What's a creator to do?
Well, if you're Canadian, you can feel a bit better that our laws protect net neutrality. But considering when we talk "the Internet" we're usually speaking about many companies based in America, we need to be more aware of the climate we live in. We've spent the last 50 years trying hard to protect our culture because we live next door to an entertainment giant — but in the digital age, we seem to be giving into the States and hoping it all works out. The government has decided this generation of creators can go it alone, so creators need to get together and get louder. There's a sea of content and if there isn't more of a collective effort to collaborate in all aspects of creation — including marketing — it will be hard to be seen against the flood of content from Silicon Valley behemoths. We really need to strengthen the bond between YouTubers, podcasters and digital series creators — and when that happens, we can have an ecosystem that can be more self-sustaining and hopefully thrive.
Parting words for someone starting out as a web creator?
Fail out loud. Don't be afraid to jump in and just create — it's the only way you learn. And learn — always be learning. Don't be afraid to ask for help. You need so many tools in the Swiss army knife now — not just the traditional filmmaking skills. How will people find your project? Understanding social media, marketing, PR and tech trends is key to breaking through. I host a podcast called Creatortown, where top creators explain their process as well as their failures and successes in digital, because if we can help one creator not fall into the same mistake as someone before them — that's huge. There's so much information out there at your disposal — but it's up to you to use it to your advantage.
Raindance Toronto's Web Series Foundation Certificate course led by Dan Speerin starts January 23. Register now!
Liza Vespi is Executive Director at Raindance Canada, entrepreneur, mom, partner, co-director/producer of the award-winning feature documentary Slaughter Nick for President... not necessarily in that order.


text:
Camden Riversharks to Fold
WTXF - The Camden Riversharks, an independent minor league baseball team that had played on the Camden waterfront since 2001, will cease operations immediately, the team announced on its website.
The team, which played at Campbell's Field, made an announcement after it failed to reach an agreement on a new lease with the ballpark's owner, the Camden County Improvement Authority (CCIA).
"We would like to thank our partners and fans for supporting the club for 15 memorable seasons," the club said in a statement. "We did everything we could to keep affordable, family entertainment alive and well in Camden."
Prominent major leaguers who have suited up for the Riversharks over the years include 2008 Phillie Pedro Feliz, as well as Stephen Drew, Jered Weaver, Wilson Valdez and Jose Lima.
A team merchandise sale has been scheduled for Ocotber 22 and 23 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., at the ballpark, as well as October 24 from 9 a.m. to noon.


The Four-Minute History Of Economics.
The author of A Beautiful Mind and Grand Pursuit – The Story of Economic Genius, Sylvia Nasar, is the narrator of this great video. This is not the same video as the Economic History of the World in 4 Minutes, another great video.
Currently President of The Independent Market Observer. Chief Economist and Vice-President at the Caisse de dépôt from 2001 to 2008. Chief Financial Officer and Vice-President, Corporate Strategy for Mediagrif Interactive Technologies from 1999 to 2001 – MDF.TO. Deputy Treasurer at Canadian National Railways, 1997-1999. Associate Professor of Applied Economics at l'École des Hautes Études Commerciales (HEC) in Montréal, 1989-96. Consultant for the World Bank, the Canadian government, the Quebec government and the City of Montreal. Deputy director of the Center for International Studies, 1993-1996. Adviser to the investment banking division of Société Générale in Canada, 1996. President of ASDEQ in 2005-06. Member of the National Statistics Council of Statistics Canada, 2008-now. Ph.D. (1989) in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.


What tempts a band to use "beach" as an adjective in their name? A question that may forever go unanswered. Hollywood, Florida's Beach Day are a young trio, who play sunny surf garage rock inspired tunes. Lead vocalist/guitarist Kimmy Drake commands each track showing off her vocal range and ability to instantly draw in the listener.
The band use a big '60s pop influence at the base of their songs, similar to what Tennis has perfected. These sweet melodies and harmonies are also met with a faster pace at times not unlike the Dum Dum Girls. The song "Beach Day" begs to be played loudly on a beautiful hot summer day. "Seventeen" is a more subtle ballad, that could have easily been played during high school dances in the 1960s. "Little Weird" sees the band speeding up the tempo slightly to show off there more edgier side. The most interesting track is the album closing song "We've Gotta Go." The song starts off with Natalie Smallish's thumping bass, and leads into a less sunny garage rock jam. Still possessing the catchiness of their other songs, but letting go of the sweetness and embracing their edgier side. A very solid effort of a record for a young band, that can hopefully only get better with time.


text:
/*************************************************************************
**                                                                      **
**      Description                                                     **
**                                                                      **
** The XWin* files provide an interface to Bruker XWinNMR (uxnmr) data  **
** sets. This class embodies two Bruker binary data files, 1r & 1i,	**
** associated with a spectrum generated during processing of a 1D	**
** acquisition. There is not anything fancy about such files, they	**
** just contain a series of 32-bit integers. Two important aspects are	**
** 1.) How many points they contain , and 2.) The data byte order. That	**
** information is normally contained in an associated parameter file,	**
** procs. Below	is a typical Bruker directory structure associated with	**
** a 1D	acquisiton that has been processed.				**
**                                                                      **
**                          __ acqu  (changable parameter file)		**
**			   / 						**
**                        /___ acqus (static parameter file)		**
**			 /						**
**  expname -- expnum --< ---- fid (binary data)			**
**			 \						**
**			  \___ pdata -- 1 -- proc, procs, meta, 	**
**                                           1r,   1i,    outd		**
**									**
** This class would then handle the files "1r" & "1i".  It will NOT	**
** deal with the directory hierarchy shown above nor with any of the 	**
** associated ASCII parameter files.  That is left up to higher level 	**
** classes supporting XWinNMR. 						**
**                                                                      **
** Note that this is a DISK entity, not a row_vector. That is, when	**
** this is instructed to write a spectrum it must be given a row_vector	**
** & some basic info as to how it should be written.  Similarly, it can	**
** read the two files into a row_vector if needed.			**
**                                                                      **
*************************************************************************/

#ifndef   XWinSpec_H_ 				// Is file already included?
#  define XWinSpec_H_ 1				// If no, then remember it
#  if defined(GAMPRAGMA)			// Using the GNU compiler?
#    pragma interface				// This is the implementation
#  endif

#include <GamGen.h>				// Know MSVCDLL (__declspec)
#include <fstream>                              // File streams from libstdc++
#include <string>				// Include libstdc++ strings
#include <Matrix/row_vector.h>			// Know about row vectors
#include <Matrix/matrix.h>			// Know about matrices

class XWinSpec

// ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
// ------------------------------- STRUCTURE ----------------------------------
// ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

  {
  std::fstream    sfpre;	// Input/Output binary file stream (reals)
  std::fstream    sfpim;	// Input/Output binary file stream (imags)
  std::string     sfname;	// Bruker Spectrum base file name
  bool	     sbigend;		// Flag for big- vs. little-endian (this arch)
  bool       sbyteordin;	// Flag for big- vs. little-endian input
  int        stotpts;		// Total points per spectrum (real + imag)
  int        spadding;		// Bytes needed for padding to 256 pt boundary
  int        sfsize;		// Our total file size (bytes)
  row_vector sdata;		// The spectrum data points

// ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
// ----------------------------- PRIVATE FUNCTIONS ----------------------------
// ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

// ____________________________________________________________________________
// i                      XWinNMR Fid File Error Handling
// ____________________________________________________________________________

/* These functions take care of any errors encountered when reading, writing,
   and setting parameters in Bruker acquisition parameter files.

	Input		FidPar  : XWinNMR acqusition parameters (this)
			eidx    : Error index
                        pname   : Additional error message
                        noret   : Flag for linefeed (0=linefeed)
        Output          void    : An error message is output                 */

         void XWSerror(int eidx, int noret=0) const;
         void XWSerror(int eidx, const std::string& pname, int noret=0) const;
volatile void XWSfatal(int eidx) const;
volatile void XWSfatal(int eidx, const std::string& pname) const;

// ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
// ii                      Mode Checking Functions
// ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

/* These functions check the mode specified when opening a Bruker binary file.
   We do not allow all of the possible modes availble to C++ filestreams.  In
   particular, we do not allow users to append to an existing file (since this
   would be bad if the existing data was written with a different byte order).
   Additonally, there seems to be some discrepancy between compilers as to
   what modes are available to fstream, so we just stick to the basics.

        in  = 1 (0x01)  out       = 2  (0x02)   ate      = 4   (0x03)
        app = 8 (0x08)  trunc     = 16 (0x10)   nocreate = 32  (0x20)
                        noreplace = 64 (0x40)   binary   = 128 (0x80)

   Use of noreplace & nocreate maybe didn't make it to ANSI standard...      */

void CheckMode(int mode);
int  CheckSize(int warn=2);

// ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
// iii                 File Padding & Boundary Functions
// ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

/* Regardless of the FID size, a Bruker serial file (ser) enforces the rule
   that each FID must begin on a 1024 byte block boundary (256 points).  So,
   when writing serial files we will pad the output file with zeros until the
   boundary is reached. Similarly, we will check that all FIDs are all written
   written into the file beginning at such a boundary.                       */

void SetPadding();
bool CheckBoundary();
void SkipPadding();
void AddPadding();

public:
// ____________________________________________________________________________
// A                  XWinSpec File Constructors, Destructor
// ____________________________________________________________________________

/* These are the constructors of the class handling Bruker XWinNMR 1D
   acquisition binary files.  The default name such files is "fid". The
   output byte order is automatically set for the computer architecture.

        //                      name    : External filename
	//			vx	: Data vector
	//			SI	: Total points (real + imag)
	//			byteord : Input byte order                   */

        XWinSpec();
        XWinSpec(const std::string& name, const row_vector& vx);
        XWinSpec(const std::string& name, int SI, bool byteord);
        XWinSpec(const XWinSpec& XWF);
virtual ~XWinSpec();
void    operator= (const XWinSpec& XWF);

// ____________________________________________________________________________
// B                   XWinNMR Fid File Access Functions
// ____________________________________________________________________________

/* These functions allow users to get some simple intformation regarding the
   contents of the Bruker data acquisition file.                             */

        std::string     specname()  const;	// Base file name
        std::string     specrname() const;	// Reals file name
        std::string     speciname() const;	// Imagins. file name
virtual int             size()      const;	// No. complex points
        int             SSI()       const;	// No. total points
virtual bool            order()     const;	// Data byte order
virtual int             bytes()     const;	// File size in bytes
virtual int             blocks()    const;	// No. FIDs
virtual int             pad()       const;	// No. padding bytes
virtual row_vector      data()      const;	// Data points

// ____________________________________________________________________________
// C                       XWinSpec Input Functions
// ____________________________________________________________________________

/* This function will read in a binary spectrum from a Bruker 1D data set
   in XWinNMR.  Typically this is just done during construction of the class.
   However, it is convenient to have an empty class constructor which can be
   used in conjunction with read/write to perform the same feat.  The Bruker
   files "1r" and "1i" contain real and imaginary values respectively. Each point
   stored as a 32-bit integer.  It is very important that we know the number
   of points in an FID and the byte order used in storing the data.  This
   information must be supplied, either when calling the read function or when
   constructing objects of this class type.  Such information is usually stored
   in corresponding ASCII parameter file, typically named acqu and acqus. Such
   details should be attended to in higher classes utilizing these functions.*/

virtual bool read(const std::string& name, bool bord,
                                                          int SI=0, int wrn=2);

// ____________________________________________________________________________
// D                       XWinSpec Output Functions
// ____________________________________________________________________________

/* These functions will write a binary spectrum to (two) files in Bruker
   XWinNMR format. This is done by directly writing a row vector to the files.
   Note that ususally there is a parameter file associated with such files,
   called procss in the case of a single spectrum.                           */

virtual int write(const std::string& F, const row_vector& dat, int wrn=2);

// ____________________________________________________________________________
// E                    XWinSpec Standard Output Functions
// ____________________________________________________________________________

 /* These functions allow users to have a quick peek at the "fid" contents.
    They do not do any manipulations to the file whatsoever, they will only
    report on what in known about the data values and file sizes.             */

virtual std::ostream& print(std::ostream& ostr, int full=0, int hdr=1) const;
friend  std::ostream& operator<< (std::ostream& O, const XWinSpec& F);
};

#endif 								// XWinSpec.h


text:
The 2023 Suzuki Polish Basketball Cup () was the 59th edition of Poland's national cup competition for men basketball teams. It is managed by the Polish Basketball League (PLK) and was held in Lublin, in the Globus.

Qualified teams
The eight participants qualified for the tournament after the first half of the 2022–23 PLK season. The highest-placed three teams joined Start Lublin and would play against the four low-seeded teams in the quarter-finals. As host of the tournament, Start Lublin gained automatic qualification.

Draw
The draw was held on 8 July 2022 in Lublin at Lublin Conference Center.

Bracket

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Finals

See also
 2022–23 PLK season

References

External links
Official Site
Results page for 2022–23

Polish Basketball Cup
Cup

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
— fiction by David Landrum
Martin Rollins thought he had performed well as the opening act for Nickel Creek, but a local journalist cut him to shreds in a review the next day. He called his music notable for technical proficiency but for nothing else. "No tone, no dynamic, no melodic qualities," he had written, "just a lot of speedy runs and dexterous strumming, which grows dull after five minutes. Thank God Rollins was only opening the show and was not the feature performer"—that despite the fact that the audience had liked him, Nickel Creek had lavishly praised him afterwards and wanted to check their concert itinerary to see if he could open for them again. But when he got an email from Talia Metzger, it erased all the consternation from his mind. He read it over and over, unable to believe what he saw on the small screen of his iPhone.
"Martin, this in Talia. Remember me? Just kidding. I wonder if we can see each other. I'm in town for a friend's wedding. Repost. I'd love to see you."
Sitting at an outdoor table at Starbucks, feeling the cool breezes blow on him, he quickly replied."Talia! How could I forget you? Let me know where we can get together. Martin."
The reply came instantaneously.
"How about Wealthy Bakery at 3:00? By the way, I thought that guy who did the review in The Press was a real asshole."
He texted a reply: "So did I. 3:00 at WB is good. I'll see you there."
She wrote back: "OK."
He sat back in the wrought iron chair. Noticing his coffee, he took a sip. He had not seen Talia Metzger in ten years. They had dated and bee lovers in high school. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever known. Their physical relationship was at once the oddest and the sweetest he had ever experienced. Talia was deaf.
His thoughts went back. They had sat next to each other in chemistry class and were lab partners. Despite her disability, her parents had mainstreamed her in regular school. She did well as a student. She was beautiful and accomplished. And she had taken a fancy to him.
Her mother was Israeli, her father American. Martin had been on the tennis team with her brother. She had a grown sister who lived in Tel Aviv and worked for the Israeli government.
He finished his coffee. He had a performance scheduled tonight and had to practice. He went back to his motel room, got out his guitar, and began to play. He had a lot of trouble concentrating on the pieces he needed to work on as memories of the two years they had been together flooded his mind.
At first their communications were smiles and looks. He was uncomfortable around because he did not know how to relate to her because she could not hear him. He did not want to be condescending, wanted to treat her as he would treat anyone else, but she was not like anyone else he had met. She could speak, but her speech was imperfect because she could not hear what she was saying. She did not talk a lot to him, he noticed, even when they were working on an experiment in class as lab partners. Gesture and facial expressions conveyed what she wanted to say to him (though he noticed she talked quite a bit to the instructor and the other students). The two of them developed a whole vocabulary of non-verbal markers. Occasionally she scribbled notes, but mostly they used their bodies to talk rather than using their voices.
Sometimes he reflected on a quote he had heard—he thought it might have been Isaac Stern who said it. "It's not the black notes on the page that are the most important thing. It's the white space in between them." This was usually interpreted to mean timing is everything in music performance, and this was probably what the author of the statement meant. But for Martin, the quote underscored the recognition of silence as important—in music and communication, and particularly in the way he spoke with Talia. They spoke with silence, at least with silence of words. Their sharing, like the white spaces in music, created a beauty more than the precision of sound could ever manufacture.
Her parents were not enthused about their friendship. Martin came from a religiously mixed home. His father was a non-practicing Jew. His mother was a communicant of the Orthodox Church. To eliminate the chance of religious conflict, they had kept a religiously neutral home. He smiled to remember how they celebrated both Christmas and Hanukkah—his family would be festive for a whole month. He went to his mother's church on Orthodox Easter (a week later than Protestant and Catholics celebrated it) and occasionally went to synagogue on Holy Days. Religion did not become an issue in their home until his older brother and younger sister opted for Judaism and became regular worshippers and Sabbath-keepers.
This bothered his mother, who said she did not want him going to synagogue anymore and exerted low-level pressure on him to be baptized Orthodox. He responded by refusing to attend services at either house of worship. Word of his lack of faith got back to Talia's parents through his brother and sister, who attended their synagogue.
The first time she invited him over he sensed her parents' iciness. He watched Talia as she and her mother and father spoke in sign language and realized they were in a heated argument over him. Her folks realized after a while that he could read their daughter's expressions, backed off, and were cordial. At school the next day her face told him she was mortified and afraid he might close up to her. He assured her—non-verbally—that this would not be. She passed him a note. "Come to my place tonight. OK?" He nodded to tell her he would.
That was the night he first made love to her.
He turned his concentration to his guitar and used all his self-discipline to think only of his music. After a fruitful practice, he checked the time, showered, and changed clothes. He got in his car and headed for Wealthy Bakery, a bakery and coffee bar. It had not been open when the two of them were in high school.
He had come to her house that night so many years ago with a bouquet of flowers for her—and partially as a peace offering to her parents, whom he thought might apologize to him for their behavior yesterday. They were not there. She met him at the door. She had on a white long-sleeved blouse and shorts. Her eyes widened with pleasure when he gave her the flowers. She laid them on the table and threw her arms around him. He felt her strength, warmth, and softness and hazarded a kiss. She did not push him away but responded. She led him over to the sofa. They sat down and made out.
Talia Metzger won the prize of the most beautiful woman he had ever known. Tall and lithe, she combined the strength of an athlete (she ran track) and the gentle shape of a beautiful seventeen year-old. He had seen her run and had marveled at her body—the very way her body was put together and moved suggested grace. She could not hear the starting gun but could feel its vibration. Martin would marvel as she sprinted off the starting line with the grace of a gazelle and the ferocity of a jaguar. She excelled as one of the school's top women runners. When she wore miniskirts or shorts to class he had trouble keeping his eyes off her legs. As they kissed, she touched him gently. It was then that he first realized the dynamic of silence in their relationship.
He turned into the Wealthy Bakery parking lot. He had realized back then she was not merely touching him but expressing herself—her touch told him her passion, her emotion, the outpouring of love she felt him. He also realized how much sound and speech went into passion. Talia gasped as they kissed, but no words, no sound, no groans or languid noises that expressed arousal, came from her throat. Her expressions of these things came from her fingers, her lips, her tongue, and her cheeks as she rubbed them against his.
His hands went to her breasts—too quickly, he thought. He took them away but she took his wrists and guided them back. He unbuttoned two buttons on her blouse then stopped, again thinking he was going too quickly. She reached down, unbuttoned the rest of them, and pulled her tucked-in shirt out of her shorts. He reached back and unhooked her bra. She had the loveliest breasts he had ever looked on or touched. Pear-shaped, not large but not small, delicate but full (like the rest of her body), sweet, exquisite melons with small, pale nipples, they compelled his touch. He caressed and squeezed them. The feel of her hands on him grew more intense. She did not nod but he could read her large brown eyes. They stood. She cocked her head toward the stairs.
Martin had started early with women. Sometimes he wondered if he really had got laid by a randy older cousin at age fifteen (she was eighteen). He had never lacked since then. Talia was a virgin. He remembered her shedding the shorts, dark blue panties, unbuttoning the long sleeves of her cotton blouse and throwing that and her unhooked orange bra to the floor. He marveled at how her slender thighs joined her upper body and her pubic mound rose from her opening and curved through a light tuft of hair to her flat stomach. She told him by her gaze that she was a virgin and he made sure he was gentle with her. She gasped when he pushed into her and bled a little, but he felt her quickly leave her pain and respond to him. The peculiar beauty of loving her was birthed.
As with kissing—much more than with kissing—sex was verbal. He had not thought about this much before his first time with Talia. You talked in the lead-up. The woman said yes. You commented all the way through. How many discourses had he heard in bed (or elsewhere) locked together with the different women he had loved? O my God, O that feels good, Slowly, slowly, Let it go—and the groans, squeals, the articulations of pleasure? When his lovers got their joy, they shouted and moaned. When an orgasm came, God and Jesus were frequently evoked. One girl he slept with would yell, Sweetness! A Muslim girl from India had shouted, Name of the Prophet! And women cooed, murmured and spoke softly in the afterglow.
Talia, of course, could not speak. This in itself would make loving her unique enough. What pierced him to the core, however, was the way she did the same things other women did but did it without voice.
She touched him. She rubbed her face against him and licked his neck and chin. She raised and lowered her body, not just in the way women did to maximize pleasure, but to speak, to respond, to communicate her ecstasy. It startled him that he could understand what she said without words, with the word of her body and the vocabulary of her movements.
Her orgasm came silently—at least as far as words went. She stiffened, of course, arched and shook as the spasm ran through her. No shout or declaration came, but her expression vividly enunciated the joy that tore through her. She seized two handfuls of flesh on his back and held them, then sank down when the surge of pleasure had passed through her and ended.
When this happened, it startled Martin so much he stopped for a moment but then went on, holding her tightly, thrusting deep and hard, finally coming to his own pleasure. She would not hear him shout, he thought, though she might feel the vibration of his voice. But she would feel his body. She would read and understand all that his physical frame said in a way no one else could—the language of the body, the language she primarily knew.
He locked his car and went inside. He saw her at the table, reading a book, looking lovelier in her maturity than she had looked at seventeen and eighteen, the years the two of them had dated.
She stood when she saw him. He gazed just a moment. Talia had lost the youthful, girlish lines but retained the graceful strength he remembered. Her eyes shone with love, her face radiating not just emotion but the silence that spoke to him and that he realized, with a surge of poignancy, he could still understand.
He put his arms around her. Recollection flooded his heart as he felt her strength, her softness, the communicating energy flowing out of her. Since they were in a public place neither wanted to make a show of affection. They pulled apart. She leaned forward and gave him a sisterly kiss on the lips. He sat down and took her hands. She pushed a yellow pad of paper toward him. In her even handwriting he saw, "So happy" and a heart drawn next to it.
The natural thing would be to talk, but Martin did not return her written greeting. He squeezed her hands. At least for a while, he thought, it would be like it was before. They would speak with silences and with their surfaces and motions of their bodies.
Talia understood. They went over and ordered drinks. She did talk to the barista. Martin noted how much her speech had improved since they were together. She spoke as articulately as anyone who could hear. A tiny bit of slurring punctuated a word now and then, but he doubted the clerk suspected Talia might be deaf. When the barista asked her if she wanted room for cream in her coffee, she could read his lips enough to tell him no. Back at their table, they drank and shared, though neither of them spoke.
Through his travels as a musician, he had occasionally heard about Talia. Magazines ran articles on her. She had a webpage and was on Facebook. She went to Brandeis and then earned a business degree at the London School of Economics. While there she began dating a Brit she married two years after graduating. They had two children. Talia ran a small investment firm and managed a chain of charter schools in Indiana and Ohio. She was active in organizations that provided support and education for deaf children and their families in the United States, Canada, Israel and the Palestinian Territories. More than once he had seen profiles in magazines by journalists presenting her in the incessantly attractive role of a woman who had overcome a handicap and succeeded admirably. Besides that, she was pretty (he noted how good she looked in the short blue dress she had on). He rejoiced at how well she had done. Such journalistic affirmations annoyed him because they focused on what she lacked and how she had not allowed this to hinder her. He had known what she did have—on how her lack of hearing had birthed in her an ability that, when he entered it, seemed nothing short of miraculous. It was the ability to communicate and to express herself without words. No one knew of it because they did not assume it even existed. Now he was entering it once again.
As they drank, the melding of their spirits took place once more. In high school he had tried to explain to a buddy of his how they communicated. "Oh, the Vulcan mind meld, like Mr. Spock does on Star Trek," his friend had quipped. Martin dropped him as a friend. When he and Talia had been dating a year, her father had said one evening at their home when Talia went inside to change to a bathing suit (they had a pool), "Do you enjoying fucking my youngest child, Mr. Rollins?" Martin reacted with appropriate shock. Talia's father laughed. "Don't be afraid. I'm not going to beat you up or cut off your balls. In fact, I'm glad she started out with someone who is considerate and seems to be a gentleman. I do wish, though, you were a little bit more like David or like Leah."
David and Leah were his brother and sister. Martin felt she should answer.
"If we're being frank," he said, "yes, sir, I do like fucking her. I like it a lot. I am a blessed man. I may become more like my sister, but David seems to be transforming to a fanatic."
"Can I tell him you said that?"
"I've told him as much myself."
"I admire him for his zeal."
That was the only time they discussed the matter. Talia returned with her mother at that moment, both of them decked out in next-to-nothing bikinis, her mother looking very good even with her forty-eight years and three children. Martin, Talia and her father and mother swam, ate by the poolside, and talked cordially until past midnight.
As Martin sat in Wealthy Bakery, he sensed the difference in her now that she was a married woman and had children. The energy she exuded felt different. It was not singular. He experienced it now as a mixture, more complex and mysterious, like blended wine, with nuances he had not known in her before. He knew, too, as they sat close and held hands, she was pleased at the progress of his career as a musician. For an hour, as people came and went, as the baristas prepared drinks and people bought coffee and talked, the two of them remembered. They understood. Finally, she stroked his wrist in a way that said she had to go. He nodded and kissed her. She pressed a small envelope in his hand. When she had gone out the door he opened the letter that looked like a thank you card you get from giving a gift at a wedding or graduation.
"I'm staying at City Flats Hotel. If you come at eleven tonight after your concert, it will be okay. We can be together again. Love, Talia."
Martin folded the note and placed it in his pocket.
Their senior year, their relationship began to waver. It was not family pressure and not the question of Martin's religious commitments. It was something he had never imagined, when they first met, would cause trouble and ultimately split them apart. A simple condition undid them: Talia could not hear his music.
The realization that this was a problem came gradually. It came silently as well, as all their understandings of one another did. Martin had begun to play guitar at age eleven. He never particularly enjoyed classical style but continued taking lessons until he was in high school. His sophomore year, he discovered fingerstyle guitar: guitar playing that used classical technique on a steel-string folk guitar. He listened to John Fahey, Chris Proctor, Pat Donahue, and a host of other artists who played that style. He began to learn it himself. In a year he had mastered open tunings and the fast techniques of the artists he admired. Martin found himself in demand at receptions and outdoor weddings. He played supper clubs and coffee bars that wanted ambiance music. He did blues and played venues that promoted music in that style. As he played and practiced, as his skill developed to a high level, he entertained thoughts of trying to make it as a professional musician.
Talia, of course, could not hear what he played.
She was puzzled at what to do about this. He knew there were ways the deaf enjoyed music—people stood and signed the lyrics to songs while colored lights represented the cadence and harmonies of a composition. Talia did not seem interested in this. Genuine to herself, she simply excluded music from her life and found beauty in areas of art she could see or touch. As the conviction that he would pursue a career as a guitarist grew stronger, he felt the strain of it on their relationship. It was, simply, an area they could not share. That they could not share it raised debate and the necessity of Talia talking to him or typing out messages as they attempted to reconcile the issue. They failed to reconcile and ended up splitting. One day they both simply understood it would not work. They agreed on this, their silent mode of understanding one another coming into play again. They made love one last time in her room when her family had gone away. She nodded good-bye to him. He kissed her on the forehead and drove away into the night.
A few days later he was sitting in the Kava House in East Town when Talia's father burst in. Martin thought for a moment he meant to start a fight because he had seduced and then dumped his daughter, but he sat down, a worried look on his face, and said he wanted to talk. His manner and tone of voice were conciliatory. He said Talia had told them they had split. She was heartbroken.
"I hope," he said, brushing his hair back with one hand, "it was not something I said or Tzipora said. I know I might have been a little hard on you at times, but we both like you, Martin, and we were very disappointed that you and Talia broke up."
For the sake of their parents, he and Talia had dinner at her home with them. Martin remembered how difficult it was and how being with Talia again only confirmed it was over. She went to Brandeis; he went on the road to establish himself as a musician. He reflected upon it as one of those things in life that wrench your soul but you have to endure. Now she wanted to see him again.
He felt waves of deep emotion but had a show that night. He again summoned his discipline to get ready. Starting out as a musician had been tough and lean. Now he had a reputation as one of the top guitarists in fingerstyle, attracted good crowds for concerts, and had solid sales of his CDs and teaching tapes.
And the performance went well. The auditorium sold out. He did his standard numbers, some vocals, and some new compositions. It was hard to get Talia off his mind, but he drew on the ability he had developed over the years to blot out distractions and let the music take him. He felt the adulation of the audience and felt the creative flow that must be released for a successful performance. At the end, he did two encores, talked with fans, signed CDs, and then drove downtown to City Flats. He found a parking place on Ionia Street and walked to the hotel. She had left word for the people at the front desk to admit him. He rode the elevator up to the fourth floor and knocked. The door opened immediately. He knew she had not heard his knocking but knew the time and knew his habit of punctuality ("Musicians are always on time," he had often quipped to her). He came inside. She closed the door and threw her arms around him. She had on a light blue robe.
He had not kissed her with a lover's kiss in ten years. The innocent eagerness of her lips took him back. Nothing had changed—their bodies, yes, were older, but that was not a limiting factor. She kissed him with hunger and abandon. The silence (he did her faint gasping) made him exclaim his—exclaim it with speech that did not use verbal utterance.
Talia pulled him into a luxurious bedroom filled with a plush bed, the curtains closed tight. He undid the rope of her kimono-style robe, pulled it off her shoulders, and let it fall to the floor. Once more he saw her beauty of her body, still trim from athletics (he had read that she still ran and played sports). Once more he marveled at how she was put together—how her body fit, how graceful and complimentary were the proportions of her physical frame. He saw her beautiful breasts, the strong shoulders and flat stomach, powerful thighs and graceful intimate parts, the long legs. Apportioned like a statue of Artemis or Daphne, her physical frame communicated strength, elegance, and femininity. He felt her arms, her breasts against him, her hands quick and adroit to remove his clothing.
No words—like where the Bible said heaven heavens declared the glory of God but without speech or language. Once again, he heard the utterances of her body, the elocution of her touch, her nakedness the tone of what she said, her touch the sentences and phrases. After so many years, he knew the magic, the miracle of it once again.
They sank into the bed. Their lovemaking was quiet and full, enveloping them in its rapture, in the work of grace only the two of them knew. He gripped her and felt the writhing, smelled the scents, knew the little movements, the touch of fingers and of her face that spoke.
She was a married now. He was violating the seventh commandment. He knew, though—she told him—her husband loved her but did not understand her. She loved him but he could not reach one spot in her heart. It sat like an empty room, sending tiny impulses of discord into her soul. Only he could fill that empty space. Only the love he offered to her could complete and make her spirit whole. She told him this. She told him with her body.
When they were finished they lay side by side—silence, but no silence as their selves interchanged, as the sorcery of their relationship worked its spell.
Martin realized something else. She understood his music now. Though she could not hear, she knew it. Before she had not known it, and this was the thing that had split them up.
She ran her left hand over his shoulders to say "Yes" to the thought that had just passed through his mind. In their high school days, when they became lovers, when they fell in love and established their bond, he had just begun his endeavor to make it as a musician. He had only played as a performer for a year or so. The passion for music had not yet taken full root in him and he had not at that point fully committed himself to becoming an artist who lived by his music. She could feel and sense it now. It possessed him to the degree that she could know it. The thing that had pulled them apart no longer existed. They could be together again. No barriers interdicted their love.
All the same, he knew it would be a liaison, an affair. He would see her now and then. She would be able to get his performance schedule from his website. She would notify him when they could rendezvous. She could not sacrifice her marriage, her career, or her reputation for him. He could not interrupt his career for the emotional turmoil that marrying her would bring. It would be a different sort of beauty, and all the more so for its secrecy.
They lay in bed together, arms around each other, speaking with silence, their words more sure than any he had known before.
David Landrum's fiction has appeared in many journals and anthologies--most recently in Foliate Oak, Sorceress Signals, Eunoia Review, and Intellectual Refuge.
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