Emerging Issues in State-Level School Finance. ERIC Digest.
Emerging Issues in State-Level School Finance. ERIC Digest Series Number EA 56.
Almost two decades have passed since the state role in funding schools became a major education policy issue. After years of dormancy, the controversy is heating up again. The evidence nationally is very thin, but what is available indicates that states have made little progress in reducing wealth-related expenditure disparities among school districts (Schwartz and Moskowitz 1988).
Three state finance systems were ruled unconstitutional early in the 1980s (Arkansas, West Virginia, and Wyoming) and four in the last twenty-four months (Kentucky, Montana, New Jersey, and Texas). It seems that America has yet to break the link between local wealth and the quality of a child's education.
WHAT ISSUES SURROUND THE PROPERTY TAX?
A key source of revenue for the public schools, the local property tax is the subject of regular debate in school finance. It is part of the general concern over sources of revenue for the public schools. Some say that property taxes should be abandoned as a source of revenue for schools. The argument is that taxing property is inefficient and unfair, as the value of one's home or business is not realized until it is sold. Property tax opponents suggest that income is the more appropriate measure of local wealth; it is what people use to pay their taxes.
Proponents of local property taxes call for the improved administration of this tax. Property taxes, it is argued, are as good a measure of fiscal capacity as income or any other measure of wealth, perhaps even easier to measure. Because property taxes are much less subject to short-term fluctuations in economic activity than sales or income tax receipts, they are considered reliable as a source of revenue for schools. Proponents further argue that property tax circuit breakers can be used to prevent an unfair burden on the poor or fixed income taxpayers. Expect the debate over appropriate sources of revenue for schools to continue. If school costs rise significantly during the 1990s, it will place continuing pressure on policy makers at the state and local levels to find new revenue for schools.
WHAT ARE OTHER REASONS FOR THE FOCUS ON SCHOOL FINANCE?
The property tax is not the only reason for this renewed interest in school finance at the state level. Most state aid systems are old, the majority of the basic formulas for distributing aid to school districts having been designed and implemented in the early to mid-1970s. As we enter the 1990s, much has changed. Enrollments--stable in the early 1970s and declining during the middle 1970s and 1980s--are now growing again in some parts of the country. Land values, particularly in agricultural states, are stable to declining, placing upward pressure on local tax rates. The program and service requirements of schools have changed also, particularly regarding the programs and services associated with various special student populations. There are many reasons why school funding formulas might need significant reform to bring them in line with the times.
A decade of emphasis on making qualitative improvements in the schools at the state and local levels may also explain the new focus on school finance. Efforts to raise graduation requirements, mandate expanded student testing and assessment, increase teacher salaries, and require new services for students (for example, early childhood, dropout prevention, employment training) have amplified concerns about the cost of education and highlighted existing differences in the resources from district to district.
Fuhrman, Clune, and Elmore (1988) concluded, in their review of state education reform initiatives, that the performance of state school finance systems (for example, their ability to provide equal resources) affects local ability to respond to education reform initiatives. Rosenholtz's (1988) research on initiatives designed to establish minimum competency standards for students and career ladder programs for teachers confirms that money is an important factor in the successful implementation of these initiatives. Research evidence, limited though it may be, suggests that providing adequate revenue in an equalized way is key to school improvement initiatives around the country.
HOW DOES SCHOOL RESTRUCTURING AFFECT SCHOOL FINANCE?
Complicating matters are several important themes running through the restructuring debate of the late 1980s and early 1990s. One has to do with enhancing the institutional competence of schools. This appears to mean a number of things--fostering the professional growth of teachers, providing time and structures that allow school staff to pay more attention to problems of teaching and learning, and allowing school staff, particularly teachers, to play a greater role in the day-to-day operation of schools.
Another theme has to do with "decision-making and governance in schools." A popular viewpoint is that schools are in the best position to decide how to use the resources at their disposal to meet school- and system-wide objectives. Schools should decide which services to purchase (such as testing or curriculum specialists) from the central district or from other sources and should determine their staffing needs and how to fill them. A key finance issue is the "fair share" of resources (in dollars) that are controlled at the school site. Should building administrators receive the monetary equivalent of their current staff allocations? How are the relative needs of schools determined and quantified so decentralization does not create intradistrict disparities in resources and opportunity?
Finally, restructuring seems to involve a basic shift in the incentive structure that drives behavior and resource allocation in schools. For most reformers, this means developing new forms of and mechanisms for accountability. It has been suggested that schools should develop assessment strategies designed to measure problem solving and cognitive development. Rewards and sanctions, it is argued, should be linked to these "robust" outcome measures so that the consequences of success and failure are clear and direct. There are many questions. How many of the rewards and sanctions involve money? If the high achieving schools are wealthy and the low achieving schools poor, how is the wealth-related difference in performance to be addressed--through rewards and sanctions or structural change in the finance formula? What are the costs of school-centered assessment instruments and strategies?
WHAT ARE IMPLICATIONS FOR LOCAL POLICY MAKERS?
There is little doubt that the traditional school finance equity issues--measuring educational needs and assessing the relative fiscal capacity of school districts--will receive attention in the 1990s as policy makers calibrate their finance systems to changing economic and demographic conditions and accommodate the new programs and standards implemented during the 1980s. School boards and administrators will need to assist state policy makers in appropriately defining the needs of schools in the new decade, helping to translate these needs into mechanisms that create fair and adequate distributions of resources.
Of course, education policy making in the 1980s has created new equity issues. We can expect policy makers at all levels to be held accountable not just for providing equal dollars per child but for (1) the distribution of excellent (master/lead) teachers; (2) access to curricular offerings and instructional experiences; and (3) the availability of high-quality facilities and instructional materials. When patterns emerge between inequities in these resources and variables like district size, location, student characteristics, and wealth, state school finance laws are sure to be challenged. Local officials must pay attention to the impact of these reform initiatives WITHIN district boundaries. Unequal distributions among schools within districts may also be challenged.
Finally, school boards and administrators must participate aggressively in the continuing debate on restructuring and education accountability. Recent developments in states like Kentucky, New Jersey, and Texas underscore the growing link between the allocation of resources and the use of those resources at the local level. Pressure to relate money to student outcomes may grow. Efforts to redefine power and authority relationships governing the allocation and use of resources will continue under the heading of "site-based decision-making" or related initiatives. The traditional school finance linkages between funding and local practice are already changing. Observe how fully funded state programs/mandates are giving way to "fiscal incentives" and other approaches for sharing fiscal responsibility for state education policy goals. Because many districts felt constrained by undue regulations, it is now popular to grant flexibility in the use of existing funds in lieu of providing "new" money. In the absence of clear knowledge about the success or appropriate use of these strategies, it behooves local leaders to frame local priorities carefully and to use skill in interpreting the objectives of state policy makers as they legislate in this area.
WHAT QUESTIONS STILL NEED TO BE RESOLVED?
What are the costs of restructuring the public schools? Can the schools be substantially improved without a significant infusion of resources? How do school finance formulas interact with attempts to manage resources at the school site? Will restructuring and site-based management force states to develop a new generation of funding mechanisms? To what extent can incentives and sanctions be used in a state funding formula?
Schwartz, Myron, and Jay Moskowitz. Fiscal Equity in the United States, 1984-85. Washington, D.C.: Decision Resources Corporation, February 1988.
LaMorte, Michael. "Courts Continue to Address the Wealth Disparity Issue." Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis 11, 1 (Spring 1989).
Furhman, Susan; William Clune; and Richard Elmore. "Research on Education Reform: Lessons on the Implementation of Policy." In Microlevel School Finance, edited by David Monk and Julie Underwood. Cambridge, MA: Ballinger Publishing Company, 1988.
Rosenholtz, Susan. "The Effects of Education Reform on the Professionalization of Teachers." In Microlevel School Finance, edited by David Monk and Julie Underwood. Cambridge, MA: Ballinger Publishing Company, 1988.


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Q: Bertini theorem for connectedness Let $X$ be a geometrically irreducible, possibly singular projective variety over an infinite field $k$. Assume that the dimension of $X$ is at least 2. Can there exist a hyperplane section of $X$ that is not geometrically connected?

A: Kevin Casto's comment appears to do the trick. But in case a reference would be helpful, here is a result from this paper by Martinelli, Naranjo, and Pirola:

Theorem 1.1: Let $k$ be an algebraically closed field, $X$ an irreducible projective variety over $k$, and $f:X\to\mathbb{P}_k^n$ a morphism. If $r\geq n+1-\text{dim}\,f(X)$, then for any $r$-dimensional linear subvariety $L\subseteq \mathbb{P}_k^n$, $f^{-1}(L)$ is connected.

In particular, if $\text{dim}\,f(X)\geq 2$, every hyperplane section is geometrically connected.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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August 13, 2022 - October 22, 2022
Private Domain
Sponsored by Toy and Joe Cobbe, Jo and Don Grayson, Nancy and Henry Moore, Barbara and Andy Parker, Barbara and Guy Stanley, Lynn and Noel Ward and Lynwood Artists
This exhibition of large-scale oil-on-canvas figure paintings by Virginia Derryberry explores contemporary aspects of alchemy, the forerunner of modern science. Many of the paintings are multi-panel pieces that use a Renaissance altarpiece format and question the nature of sequential narrative.
The intent is to suggest multiple interpretations rather than straightforward illustration of a specific narrative. At first glance, it seems that a "real" space is being defined, but in fact, the painted images are constructed from multiple viewpoints and lighting systems. Passages of volumetric rendering set next to more abstract, painterly areas result in the creation of a virtual, shifting world where nothing is quite what it seems.
Derryberry's work is shown regularly in solo and group exhibitions throughout the United States, and her paintings have been written about in an extensive list of publications including, New American Paintings magazine and Oxford American magazine. She has received such awards as Outstanding Artistic Achievement from the Southeastern College Art Association; Visiting Artist at the American Academy in Rome; Distinguished Teacher of the Year Award and the Feldman Professor Award for scholarship from UNC-Asheville; and the Annual Artist Fellowship from the Southeastern College Art Association.
Continuity (Color + Texture)
August 13, 2022 — October 22, 2022
Seasons and Colors of the Appalachian Trail
Works by Pat Coleman

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


American EFird Perma Spun Gunmetal A Sewing Thread, Lot on plastic cone.
Cone measures nearly 4 1/2, 2 3/4 and 2 1/2" inches (heigth, bottom base width, and top base width). This is great for someone who sews.
Label inside of cones reads as follows; 660976, American EFird, Perma Spun, 6,000 yards, 5486M, 32008, 45104, Tex 27, A, Gunmetal.


The sunbaked countryside of Baja California. Picture courtesy of Shutterstock.com / Andrea Izzotti.
As a child, Matthew Robertson would run away from school in order to explore the forests and find peace in nature. After many years spent travelling the world, he founded Momentum Adventure, a boutique bespoke travel company creating unique experiences for others, from the Arctic to Antarctica and everywhere in between, sharing his extensive knowledge of the globe.
In the first of a series of Adventure Guru guides, Robertson explains why Baja California is one of the most extraordinary places on Earth.
I've been working in the luxury adventure world for more than 30 years and I have been incredibly fortunate to have seen and explored some of the most remote and stunning places on the planet. Over this time I have biked, climbed, hiked, or driven through more than 80 countries.
When researching new locations for off-road buggy driving experiences more than ten years ago, I stumbled across Baja California and found it had been described as the "Galapagos of North America" and had an incredible history dating back over 10,000 years. A seed was sown and I jumped on a plane to explore.
I believe that Baja, which sits almost 1,000 miles due south from the American border, will become a mecca for anyone looking to take a walk on wild side. The peninsula boasts different types of deserts covered by cactus, acacias and succulent plants that spread around the territory at the bottom of 1,800 metre peaks. Additionally, the peninsula has Maldivian style creamy sand beaches, pristine golf courses, and beautiful sleepy villages peppering the landscape.
Home to an outstanding array of marine life, areas of the western coastline — specifically the lagoons of Magdalena Bay, San Ignacio and Ojo de Liebre — act as a mating grounds and birthplace for the striking Pacific grey whale throughout February and March. Take a private car or helicopter to the San Ignacio Lagoon for kayaking tours, tide pool walks and whale watching trips and come face-to-face with these extraordinary mammals. This coast also has numerous diving bucket list sites loaded with colourful marine life spanning out beneath the ocean surface. Don't miss the Rosarito Underwater Park, a subaquatic theme park where divers can explore the military shipwreckUribe 121, sculpture gardens, artificial reefs and even museums.
Meanwhile, the east coast of Baja California is the only place in the world where it is possible to experience in the same habitat grey, blue, fin and humpback whales, pelagic sharks, whale sharks, sperm whales, sea lions and orcas. Jacques Cousteau once dubbed the Sea of Cortez, which is said to host around 30 per cent of living species of cetaceans and porpoises, 'The World's Aquarium'. Also known as the Gulf of California, this 1,126km stretch of smooth water provides excellent diving grounds. A brilliant spot for swimming with sharks, the area is known for hammerhead and whale sharks, in addition to manta rays, sea lions, jacks, baitballs, dolphins and eels.
Baja California offers a huge array of once-in-a-lifetime adventure activities. Blasting through cactus forests, deserts and remote beaches in 4x4 dune buggies is particularly exhilarating, while water babies should head to Costa Azul to enjoy the world class surfing or kayaking out to the famous Los Cabos Arch.
To truly immerse yourself in the surrounding nature, take to the treetops of the UNESCO World Heritage site Boca de Sierra National Park on a guided high-octane canopy expedition. Fly through the forest on a series of double zip wires over forest and canyons, spotting the native wildlife as you go. Alternatively, take to the skies with a heli-tour of the Guadalupe Valley with a welcome stop off for some wine tasting.
Superyachts are starting to trickle into this remote part of Mexico, with yachts such as 78.2 metre Venus, 78.4 metre M5 (formerly known as Mirabella V) and 86 metre Seven Seas have been spotted moored in La Paz' Costa Baja Marina.
Baja California is the perfect spot for anyone looking for a hair-raising experience while immersed in an untouched natural sanctuary. I fell in love with this spot because of its value and authenticity. Beautiful and rugged, this would not be your average superyacht vacation.


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Arts & Culture Featured - Home Page Our Scene
5Q: Motown The Musical
By Shane Lueck December 23, 2014
Categories: Arts & Culture, Featured - Home Page, Our Scene
"5Q" is an online-only column featuring five questions about stage productions in the Metro Area with a special focus on the GLBTQ community's relationship to the production. Periodically, "5Q" will take the form of an interview with actors, directors, writers, etc. to shed some light on the production process.
It began as one man's story, became everyone's music, and is now Broadway's musical. Motown The Musical is the true American dream story of Motown founder Berry Gordy's journey from featherweight boxer to the heavyweight music mogul who launched the careers of Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Smokey Robinson and many more. Motown shattered barriers, shaped the lives of a generation (and beyond!), and has influenced some of the most prolific entertainers of today. Now, experience it live on stage in the record-breaking smash hit Motown The Musical, written by Gordy himself!
Patrice Covington has graced the Orpheum stage before, notably in the touring cast of Dreamgirls, and returns again in the role of Martha Reeves with the cast of Motown. The musical spans the decades, evoking the images of hope and determination of the 50s right through to the riots and protests of the 60s and 70s (images which viewers can't help but draw parallels with recent protests). Now a Grammy nominated singer, Covington's star is shining brighter than ever and took the time to answer some questions.
Patrice Covington as Martha Reeves (center) performs "Dancing In The Streets" with the cast of Motown The Musical.
Photo by Joan Marcus
What goes into capturing the essence of your iconic, real-life characters compared to fictional characters in other shows?
PC: Performing is my whole soul and life! I don't know how to do anything else as well as I do performing. It's my chance to give back and share my blessing, to brighten a day, touch a life, and tell a story that may evoke someone else to be something great! Thankfully we live in a generation where YouTube holds the answers to so much! I watched clips of Martha Reeves' performances to capture her body language and style. My other character, Edna Anderson (Gordy's assistant), is alive and very well. I talk to her to check in with my Southern/West Virginia accent that she has. And the amazing and iconic Berry Gordy gave us an extremely wonderful opportunity to talk to him about EVERYTHING we need to know!
Tell us about your turn in Motown The Musical: What does it mean to you?
PC: Being a part of Motown is life changing. It's made me and my beautifully talented cast of dreamers a part of history. We are now a part of the Motown Family and History.
Do you have a favorite scene, or a difficult aspect?
PC: My favorite moment is actually when I sing "Dancing In The Streets." It's the one number that I feel screams BROADWAY! There are singers, dancers, set pieces moving, quick changes, great lights, and GLITTER! So much fun! Sometimes when we sing "What's Going On" by Marvin Gaye it really hits that this song isn't out of date. It unfortunately still means the same as it meant when it was recorded. It's hard. But we hope it inspires the audience members to make a change happen.
Who are some of your favorite Motown artists?
PC: I love the Jackson 5 and Micheal Jackson of course! The Temptations…especially Temptation Christmas music!
Who has inspired you as a singer, actress, and performer?
PC: My favorite singer of all time is Whitney Houston, like many 80's baby singers. She was THE VOICE and she was everything. I always tried to copy her! Not many singers can take it from recording to acting so flawlessly. I wish she had an opportunity to take the Broadway stage in her lifetime. It would have been epic. I still love her and in my head she was my Auntie.
Motown The Musical will appear at the Orpheum Theatre through December 28. For more information and to purchase tickets, head to www.hennepintheatretrust.org.


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The 5 Types of Selection
History Of Life On Earth
Evolution Scientists
The Evidence For Evolution
Habitat Profiles
Science, Tech, Math › Animals & Nature
Print Collector/Hulton Archive / Getty Images
by Heather Scoville
Heather Scoville is a high school science teacher and writes science curriculum for online science courses.
Charles Darwin was not the first scientist to explain evolution or that species change over time. However, he gets most of the credit simply because he was the first to publish a mechanism for how evolution happened. This mechanism is what he called Natural Selection.
As time passed, more and more information about natural selection and its different types were discovered. With the discovery of Genetics by Gregor Mendel, the mechanism of natural selection became even clearer than when Darwin first proposed it. It is now accepted as fact within the scientific community. Below is more information about 5 of the types of selection known today (both natural and not so natural).
Azcolvin429 (Selection_Types_Chart.png) / [GFDL]
The first type of natural selection is called directional selection. It derives its name from the shape of the approximate bell curve that is produced when all individuals' traits are plotted. Instead of the bell curve falling directly in the middle of the axes on which they are plotted, it skews either to the left or the right by varying degrees. Hence, it has moved one direction or the other.
Directional selection curves are most often seen when one coloring is favored over another for a species. This could be to help them blend into an environment, camouflage themselves from predators, or to mimic another species to trick predators. Other factors that may contribute to one extreme being selected for over the other include the amount and type of food available.
Disruptive selection is also named for the way the bell curve skews when individuals are plotted on a graph. To disrupt means to break apart and that is what happens to the bell curve of disruptive selection. Instead of the bell curve having one peak in the middle, disruptive selection's graph has two peaks with a valley in the middle of them.
The shape comes from the fact that both extremes are selected for during disruptive selection. The median is not the favorable trait in this case. Instead, it is desirable to have one extreme or the other, with no preference over which extreme is better for survival. This is the rarest of the types of natural selection.
Stabilizing Selection
Azcolvin429 (Selection_Types_Chart.png) / GFDL
The most common of the types of natural selection is stabilizing selection. In stabilizing selection, the median phenotype is the one selected for during natural selection. This does not skew the bell curve in any way. Instead, it makes the peak of the bell curve even higher than what would be considered normal.
Stabilizing selection is the type of natural selection that human skin color follows. Most humans are not extremely light skinned or extremely dark skinned. The majority of the species fall somewhere in the middle of those two extremes. This creates a very large peak right in the middle of the bell curve. This is usually caused by a blending of traits through incomplete or codominance of the alleles.
Rick Takagi Photography / Getty Images
Sexual Selection is another type of Natural Selection. However, it tends to skew the phenotype ratios in the population so they do not necessarily match what Gregor Mendel would predict for any given population. In sexual selection, the female of the species tends to choose mates based on traits they show that are more attractive. The fitness of the males is judged based on their attractiveness and those who are found more attractive will reproduce more and more of the offspring will also have those traits.
Artificial Selection
Mark Burnside / Getty Images
Artificial selection is not a type of natural selection, obviously, but it did help Charles Darwin obtain data for his theory of natural selection. Artificial selection mimics natural selection in that certain traits are chosen to be passed down to the next generation. However, instead of nature or the environment in which the species lives being the deciding factor for which traits are favorable and which are not, it is humans that do the selecting of traits during artificial selection.
Darwin was able to use artificial selection on his birds to show that desirable traits can be chosen through breeding. This helped back up the data he collected from his trip on the HMS Beagle through the Galapagos Islands and South America. There, Charles Darwin studied native finches and noticed those on the Galapagos Islands were very similar to the ones in South America, but they had unique beak shapes. He performed artificial selection on birds back in England to show how the traits changed over time.
Directional Selection in Evolutionary Biology
What Is Artificial Selection When It Comes to Animals?
What Is Disruptive Selection?
How Artificial Selection Helped Prove Darwin's Theory
5 Misconceptions About Natural Selection and Evolution
Know What You're Talking About With This Evolution Vocabulary
What Is Stabilizing Selection in Evolution?
How Does Breeding Plants Relate to Evolution?
Evidence Darwin Had for Evolution
What Is Divergent Evolution?
8 Great Thinkers Who Influenced Charles Darwin
A Brief Explanation of Evolution
How Finches Helped Darwin Develop His Theory of Evolution
Evolution: The Basics and Beyond
Is Natural Selection Random?
What Does 'Survival of the Fittest' Really Mean?


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12th ZeGeVege Festival
March for Animals 2019
March for the Animals 2018
Campaign "I Love Animals"
Animals: A Parallel History
Ayurvedic Vegan Delicacies
01/13/20 In order help Koala bears, we need to stop eat meat
10/05/19 Vegan picnic
06/15/19 Love is Not for Sale!
06/01/19 Horses in Zagreb Turned into Walking Trucks
05/14/19 Vegan Meals are Good for Everyone
05/10/19 Find a Solution for Yourself and the Environment
04/26/19 Another Support to the Firecrackers Ban
04/23/19 Let's Ban Lightweight Plastic Bags!
01/29/19 A Delicious and Bountiful Vegan Dinner
12/24/18 Luka Oman Receives a Peace Prize
12/24/18 Second March for the Animals was a Success
12/19/18 Let's Put a Stop to Hurting People and Animals
12/08/18 Second March for the Animals in Zagreb
12/05/18 For the establishment of an Animal protection inspection!
08/16/18 When I Say Kindness, I Mean Veganism
08/03/18 11th ZeGeVege festival - Croatian Veganmania
05/12/18 Firecrackers are dangerous for both kids and animals
01/31/18 Appeal: Ban firecrackers
01/18/18 Allowing Cities to Ban Pyrotechnics
12/29/17 Be Kinder to Animals
12/26/17 Stop the Firecracker Terror!
12/09/17 March - International Animal Rights Day
12/04/17 Coordination working groups in each county
12/01/17 March for Animal Rights!
10/26/17 Enforcement of a New Act
10/04/17 Parliament Ratified the New Act
09/22/17 Animal Protection Act passes 2nd reading in Parliament
09/06/17 Everyone to 10th ZeGeVege festival
08/18/17 Vegan pizza looks good on everyone
08/02/17 Veganism Looks Good on Everyone
07/27/17 The Act On Explosive Substances Has Come Into Force
07/14/17 Invitation to the 10th ZegeVege festival!
06/30/17 Act Proposal Receives Approval
05/17/17 Animal Protection Act before the Government
04/20/17 Exhibition on Earth Day
03/30/17 Living in Harmony with Wild Animals
03/17/17 People and Wild Animals Must Coexist
03/09/17 Plastic Bags won't be Free!
12/10/16 The Earthlings Experience
12/03/16 Getting Closer to Plastic Bags Ban
10/16/16 Less Meat for Less Hunger and Poverty
10/04/16 Crvena Jabuka at Veggie Picnic!
09/09/16 Call for participation in public discussion
09/08/16 For the better Animal Protection Act
08/31/16 ZeGeVege 2016 is here!
04/23/16 Food and Ecology
02/25/16 Ayurvedic Vegan Delicacies
01/12/16 Plant-based Diet During Pregnancy
12/10/15 Animal Rights Day
11/03/15 Political Parties and Animals
10/20/15 Political Parties On Animal Welfare
09/02/15 ZeGeVege Veganmania Is Just Around the Corner
08/20/15 For a Positive list
07/15/15 Create the Law for Animals
06/18/15 Tell Them My Story, Friend
05/11/15 None Should Be Free!
04/23/15 New Victories
02/09/15 No to Fireworks and Firearms!
01/28/15 Volunteer for Animals!
01/16/15 Let Firecrackers Become History!
11/26/14 Tortured Horses on Velebit
11/03/14 Croatia is not Protecting Our Environment
09/03/14 ZeGeVege Festival
08/11/14 ZeGeVege 2014
05/27/14 The Rescued Animals Need Help!
05/21/14 People of Gunja: Rescue Our Animals!
05/19/14 Save the Animals in the Floods!
01/22/14 Animal Welfare at the European Elections!
01/03/14 Firecrackers
12/10/13 A Fight for the Rights of the Oppressed Majority
12/05/13 Our Environment is Paying for the Free Bag
10/01/13 Animal Friends Days 2013
09/06/13 Kebab Also At the ZeGeVege Festival!
08/23/13 Hempburghers at the ZeGeVege Festival!
08/14/13 ZeGeVege Festival of Sustainable Living!
06/12/13 Be an Animal Friend!
04/22/13 Confessions of an Eco-Terrorist
03/15/13 The Amendments have Helped Animals!
02/21/13 Animals as Political Questions!
02/15/13 Legislators Betrayed Animals!
02/01/13 Tell My Story, Friend!
01/25/13 Veterinary Inspectors Sue Animal Friends for Mental Distress!
01/08/13 Black Chronicle 2012
01/04/13 New Penal Code
12/20/12 Let's Give Anima as Gift!
11/09/12 Animal Friends Needs Your Help!
10/19/12 How to Help Animals?
10/16/12 More Meat, the Hungrier the World!
10/04/12 Changes Of The Animal Protection Act
09/07/12 Come All to the ZeGeVege!
08/09/12 ZeGeVege Festival 2012
05/23/12 S.O.S. for Captain Paul Watson
05/10/12 Plastic Bags are no Longer Free
04/22/12 Change Habits and Save the Planet
12/29/11 Life Saving New Year's Resolutions!
12/14/11 Youth for Animal Rights
06/30/11 Free the Spanish 12
05/15/11 Share the World
10/27/10 Stop Violating Human Rights In Austria
10/01/10 Animal Friends Days
09/17/10 ZeGeVege Festival of Sustainable Living
08/06/10 Stop Political Repression!
12/16/09 The Continuity of Consciousness
09/24/09 For the Ban of Plastic Bags
09/16/09 Speciesism
06/03/09 Animal Friends YouTube Channel
04/17/09 Cotton Bags Instead of Plastic Ones
04/14/09 Bag Monsters Against Plastic Bags
01/30/09 Shopping without Free Bags
12/19/08 With Plastic Bag Monsters Against Plastic Bags
09/20/08 Invitation to ZeGeVege Festival
09/16/08 Goodbye to Plastic Bags!
09/03/08 From Prison to the Austrian Parliament
07/30/08 Animal Friends Goes on YouTube
07/15/08 Ban Plastic Bags!
06/19/08 Austria Violates Human Rights?
06/13/08 Abolition and Moral Progress
04/22/08 Our Daily Waste
12/12/07 That Equal Creatures
11/09/07 Animal Rights on a Projection Screen
10/22/07 Animals Matter to Me
10/14/07 Salsa and Salsa
09/23/07 Earthlings and 3o/4tet
08/10/07 Death of Sheep on Kornati
07/09/07 Author of the Book "When Elephants Weep" in Croatia!
05/22/07 Protect Nature, Protect the Dolphins
02/04/07 Let's Save Wilbur's Friends
12/15/06 P!nk - Animal Rights Rebel
12/14/06 Animal Protection Act Has Been Passed
11/30/06 Parliament Voice for Animals
10/26/06 Animal Protection on Government's Agenda
07/16/06 Give the Horses a Life, Not New Wounds and Death!
07/03/06 Horses With Open Wounds Pull Wood
06/19/06 Horses in HNK???
05/25/06 The Animal Protection Act in the Parliament
05/04/06 Suffocation for Profit
03/27/06 Animal Protection According to the New Act
11/09/05 Horses in the 21st Century?!?
11/05/05 Performance "T4 - Work in Progress"
09/30/05 Wolves are not Numbers
09/16/05 Frida Becomes a Family Member!
09/14/05 Project Stado
08/24/05 Live Fish as Objects
07/25/05 Inspections are Sham or Non-Existing
05/12/05 Youth Associations Fair
01/08/05 Victims of Tsunami
12/21/04 Pre-Holiday Black Chronicle
10/13/04 Parliamentary Debate on Animal Welfare
09/09/04 Blood Drive
06/17/04 Animal Friends in Front of Parliament
06/03/04 Croatian Animals are Part of Europe Too!
04/22/04 For Clean Environment and Empty Labs
01/30/04 How Do I Understand Animal Protection
01/22/04 Animal Friends Virovitica
08/30/03 Say No to the Massacre of Kangaroos for Football Boots
08/04/03 A Moment in Time
06/26/03 Save the Kangaroos
03/07/03 Animal Welfare Act
02/02/03 Branches in Koprivnica and Osijek
10/14/02 Lecture About Animal Status
10/10/02 Promotion of the Web Site
10/09/02 Compassion is the Fashion
10/04/02 World Animal Protection Day
07/25/02 Tourism
05/29/02 Cruelties of High-Graduates
04/23/02 World Book Day
04/01/02 Six Months of Animal Friends
03/22/02 Water Protection Day
03/10/02 Statement
03/08/02 Press Conference
01/10/02 GMO
Animal Friends Croatia points to the cause of the mass tragedies and supports protests in Australia
- Scientists and the UN: A global shift towards veganism is necessary for the fight against climate change
Animal Friends Croatia has said they are deeply disturbed by the devastating wildfires in Australia, which is estimated to have swallowed more than 10.3 million hectares of land and killed more than a billion animals so far, and scientists say the number of animals killed could be in the trillions! "We sympathize with the victims and at the same time are concerned about the announcement by experts that some species will become completely extinct. The entire known world is literally disappearing before our eyes, and human species refuses to accept that it is caused by the large consumption of meat, which consumes huge resources and that the key to the survival of the planet and all species, including humans, is the transition to a vegan diet" warn Animal Friends Croatia.
"All of us who mourn the suffering and death of animals in fires in Australia and the Amazon, rising sea levels, floods and the mass extinction of species need to know that we are not helpless. If we want to save koalas and kangaroos, we stop eating cows, pigs, chickens and other animals. And a koala desperately trying to avoid the fire and the terrified lamb waiting to cut his neck equally feel fear and want to live. Veganism is a revolutionary diet because it can literally save the planet," Animal Friends Croatia said.
A number of Australian citizens who have walked out in the streets in recent days to protest governmental inaction on climate change believe Australia needs to take stronger measures to address global warming. Experts say they must act immediately and are worried about what the planet will look like when global temperatures rise by another two or three degrees Celsius if these tragedies occur even before that happened. Oxford University research agrees that reducing animal products in the diet is the "single largest way" to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Animal Friends Croatia points out that what we eat plays a huge and crucial role in climate change: "In the last 20 years, the number of humans has increased by almost two billion, the fastest increase in the number of humans on Earth in all of human history. Scientists say 10 billion people are expected to live on the planet by 2050. Many people eat meat every day, many in their daily meals because the taste of meat is more important to them than the animal who wanted to live. For farmed animals, it is necessary to provide large agricultural areas where grain is raised for their consumption instead of for the (hungry) people. That is why deforestation is necessary - to convert forests into pastures or arable land, leaving all the animal species that have been inhabited there, which ultimately leads to their extinction."
Furthermore, Animal Friends Croatia explains that it is necessary to provide plenty of water for raising so many animals. Also, farm waste, animal feces, and blood end up in the waters where they contaminate it. The production of meat, milk, and eggs causes about 50% of water pollution in Europe and ten times more pollution than populated areas and is a major cause of forest loss in many world regions. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), animal agriculture is a leading cause of climate change. Namely, the ammonia and methane gases coming from the barns, along with the CO2 emissions from the production of nitrogen fertilizers and the destruction of trees to raise animals, cause more damage and contribute to the greenhouse effect than all planes, trucks, ships, cars, and factories in the world combined. The UN says a global shift towards a vegan diet is needed to combat the worst effects of climate change and fires in Australia are just one of them.
Animal Friends Croatia reports that with increasing numbers of humans on Earth and further demand for meat, floods and fires will become more frequent. They conclude that the easiest way to combat unstoppable climate change is to stop eating meat and switch to a vegan diet, as it also prevents the death of animals in fires and slaughterhouses. Each of us holds in our hands the weapons of mass destruction or the tools to save the planet.


Mount Siguniang (Four Girls or Four Sisters), or Siguniang Mountain is lying at Xiaojin County, Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, in Northwestern Sichuan province, about 220km away from Chengdu city. After the discovery of this sacred mountain in 1980s, Mount Siguniang shined visitors' eyes for its steep peaks, breathtaking natural scenery, and abundant species that are similar to those in the "Alps" in Europe, as a result, it awarded the "Oriental Alps", "A Sacred Mountain in the East", "China's National Scenic Area", "China's National GEO-Park", "National AAAA Tourist Attraction", and "World Natural Heritage of Habitat of Giant Panda in Sichuan".
The whole Scenic area of about 450 square kilometers is composed with Mount Siguniang, Shuangqiao Valley, Changping Valley and Haizi Valley. Mount Siguniang consists with four peaks that are transformed from four fairy sisters are always covered with white snow, namely the Eldest Sister Peak, the Second Sister Peak, the Third Sister Peak, and the Fourth Sister Peak (or Yaomei Peak), like four girls wearing white veils. Among them, Yaomei Peak of 6250 meters high above the sea is the second highest mountain in Sichuan area and enjoys the reputation of the "Queen of Sichuan Mountains"and is listed as one of the "Top 10 Famous Climbing Mountains in China".
Maze of Trekker. Mount Siguniang has shaped its complex and particular terrain and there are 61 peaks over 5,000 meters connected by many lakes in this scenic area.
Paradise for Photographers. Eye-pleasing Sightseeing various based on the different altitude of the peak makes Mount Siguniang a pure young girl in an exquisite costume. Sapphire-like lakes, vigorous blossoms, white snow forests, etc.
Exhibition of Rare Species. Mount Siguniang is the cradle of 31 species of birds and beasts like giant panda, golden monkey, and more than 1,200 species of precious plants.
Mount Siguniang and three valleys that show the most beautiful and real view of this Scenic Area are the top classical attractions for tourists. Check them below for detailed information.
Most famous for Yaomei Peak that is the highest and fairest among other three and has rich natural resources, Mount Siguniang possesses lush forests, colorful flowers spreading the whole field, pure white snow mountains, adorable giant pandas, typical ethnic culture of Tibetan and Qiang people, etc.
Shuangqiao Valley is located at the northwest of Rilong Town, covering an area of 216.6 square kilometers. Since it has splendid scenery in autumn as well as amazing sea of flowers and tourists can see its different views at various locations, this valley becomes the most appealing spot in Mount Siguniang.
Also situated at the northwest of Rilong Town, Changping Valley is 29 km long. Numerous visitors and cameramen come to this treasure place to appreciate its splendid sightseeing of wide spread of grass field, blossoms as well as red cobblestones and ethnic custom of Jiarong Tibetan people.
Haizi Valley is at the east of Rilong Town and named so for its multiple "Haizi" (lakes). This valley is broad and smooth with original meadows and ancient Quaternary fishes. The more than ten "Haizi" of alpine lakes are very gorgeous and clear like crystals so that you can see the lakebeds.
Since Mount Siguniang is endowed with Tibetan and Qiang ethnic cultures, you can enjoy the featured local activities and special food in your trip here. Skim the following words to see the featured activities in this place.
Hiking is the best way to see the elegant south Europe sightseeing of Mount Siguniang. Along the way you can see the fascinating view of the super high snow peaks, azure sky, glittering and translucent lakes, bright-colored flowers, vigorous animals, dense forests, and so on.
A fair legend says that the four girls transformed into peaks on lunar May 4th, so people here gather together that day every year to worship the goddess of mountain for a better harvest the next year. During the festival, they will dress up in religious costumes, have a feast all together and dance enjoyably.
Guozhaung is a kind of circle dance with Tibetan traits. This typical art with strong power and graceful postures expresses the purity, industriousness, brave and kind of Tibetan people. It's the best time to enjoy this great perform at night, when a ring of people stand around a bonfire and dance in joy.
Mount Siguniang belongs to the subtropical monsoon climate area. But for the big altitude difference of terrains in the scenic area, there are temperate zone, cold temperate zone, subfrigid zone, frigid zone and permafrost zone. So it is said that there are four seasons in one peak and every 10 miles shows different climates in Mount Siguniang by local people. Mount Siguniang has an annually average temperature is 17.1℃. Dry seasons and rainy season are very distinctive here. Furthermore, it has an average annual precipitation of 931.5 millimeters and rich sunlight with a high percentage of 51%. As a result you are suggested to take enough clothes, common medicines, rain gears, sun cream and sunglasses.
It is recommended to visit Mount Siguniang during July and August when you can experience the full mountain of colorful blossoms and cool water floating from the mountain peaks. What's more, mid-October to mid-November is best period to enjoy the splendid view of autumn of Mount Siguniang.
Drive from Chengdu to Mount Siguniang for 245km and 10 hours via Chengguan Expressway, Duwen Expressway, Zhongtanbao Tunnel, G213 and s303 (via Pi County, Dujiangyan, Yingxiu and Wolong).
You can take a coach at Chengdu Chadianzi Bus Terminal for about 5 hours, and then take a local minibus to Mount Siguniangshan. Besides, we provide comfortable cars for you to get here directly, so that you can focus on the sightseeing.
Various hotels and hostels in Rilong Town near Mount Siguniang are all very comfortable and clean with reasonable prices. You can find 4-star hotel like Mingxing Garden Theme Hotel and Jinkun Hotel have nice room and high quality services. 3-star hotel like Jinfeng Hotel and Guishan Business Hotel are well equipped and tidy. Moreover, you can choose a special inn to enjoy the particular local custom, for example, Lotus Inn with Chinese and English Services enjoy beautiful landscape and have exquisitely decorated rooms. Changpingyi Inn is very close to Haizi Valley and Changing Valley, and you can view the appealing look of Yaomei Peak. Under the Heaven Inn with nice garden and cozy and artistic decorations is a Tibetan style house.
We have collected some very useful maps about Mount Siguniang to make you have a better understanding of location of Mount Siguniang. You can feel free to use them to plan your trip easily.
Besides Mount Siguniang, there is a list of top attractions not very far away, so you can spend more time to visit these places to experience the charm of Sichuan Discovery now!
You can plan your trip to Mount Siguniang for 2-3 days to appreciate the "Queen of Sichuan Mountains" - Yaomei Peak, the Eldest Sister Peak, the Second Sister Peak, the Third Sister Peak, Shuangqiao Valley, Changping Valley and Haizi Valley. But if you don't have enough time, it is recommended to spend 1 day to visit Yaomei Peak that is the essence of this scenery area.
Besides, you are recommended to go to other famous attractions like Jizhaigou Valley, Huanglong National Park, Dujiangyan and so on to discover more beautiful destinations in Sichuan province.
You can feel free to contact our professional travel consultants to customize your own itineraries which would perfectly suit your likes and requirements.


We need a part-time driver for delivering the orders to different customers in different area/locations. (all over Qatar).
Salary = 2500 QR/ including the petrol expenses.
Must be available from 3pm to 9pm.
Should be professional, and handle the packages carefully.


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This new harness lets military dogs parachute safely and with style
The canine is in a flight pod, and that pod rests in a taco-shell-like tray. (Paratec/)
Military dogs and their handlers play very important roles, significantly in covert operations. But when these missions happen miles away from base and the people parachute in, how do you get the canine there too?
The newest piece of equipment in Europe to allow this excessive maneuver is the K9F Para-fox, offered on the Defense Innovation Forum in Paris on December four of final 12 months.
The roots of the K9F date to 2015, however the growth of this line of tech might be traced again additional. When in early 2012 the German military, in search of an answer for parachuting with working dogs, approached an organization known as Paratec, "our research didn't yield any other [dog-parachuting] solutions out there," Ken Krueger, the enterprise growth supervisor for Paratec protection techniques, tells Popular Science. Paratec is a small German outfit that designs and manufactures high-tech parachutes for area of interest customers similar to skilled sky-divers and particular forces. The 45-employee firm in Wallerfangen, simply close to the borders with France and Luxembourg, is the unique gear producer for "mission specific" parachute gear for the German military and 18 different armed forces internationally.
By March of 2012 the corporate had an preliminary idea for its "Working Dog Freefall Harness," or K9A, by merely modifying an current canine vest that had handles on it in order that it may very well be hooked up to the entrance of the paratrooper's harness. The canine hung near the paratrooper's physique, all legs dangling, and the paratrooper wanted to carry the canine's legs bent on touchdown so that they didn't break. But that was laborious to do as a result of the paratrooper needed to management the chute, too. "And of course if the dog breaks a leg then it can't undertake its mission," Krueger explains.
Military dog-handlers the world over have parachuted with their dogs for decades; here's a Colombian canine doing it in 2015, for instance. And within the US, the Marine Corps has 23 Military Working Dog Harnesses for parachuting made by an organization known as Airborne Systems.
Between 2012 and 2014 Paratec tried completely different options. The second thought was an extended harness that gave extra help to the canine moderately than simply holding it up by its center. But the dangling legs had been nonetheless a problem.
The 12 months 2015 was a turning level for Paratec. It was then that the French military, particularly Captain Jérôme (final names of French military personnel are withheld for safety causes), commander of the 132nd dog-handling infantry regiment, approached Paratec with particular necessities. Captain Jérôme wished his pooch to have the ability to be extra comfy whereas parachuting.
In March of that 12 months got here the breakthrough thought of a sack, now in its sixth and ultimate model. Hence the identify "fox" which is brief for "fox-trot," the military designation of the sixth letter of the alphabet, and as this model was developed particularly with the French military, additionally F, the identify caught.
The sac is now termed a flight-pod. It is product of cordura, spandex, and webbing with softer lining to make it comfy. It opens up flat and the canine lays down on it with each hind and fore legs folded beneath itself—that is the best way military dogs are skilled to lie down in order that they will soar up sooner. The pod is zipped over the canine and a collar product of neoprene and spandex is closed across the canine's neck in order that it may well't wriggle out of the pod in mid-flight. The collar is closed with a specifically designed magnetic launch that the handler can activate, however the canine can't.
The flight pod, as seen from the highest. (Paratec/)
Two individuals are wanted to carry the dog-in-a-pod onto a help harness often called the pod-tray, formed considerably like a taco-shell, which is hooked up to the human jumper's harness. Two straps shut the tray across the canine. The system means the canine can wander across the airplane till a couple of minutes earlier than the soar when it's zipped into the flight-pod, then lifted onto the tray, and the group is able to fly!
"The animal's welfare was first and foremost. It had to be comfortable, ventilated, have its legs protected and be secure. We had to make sure that our equipment did not hinder the use of various accessories the dog may be wearing such as goggles, a leash, or a kevlar vest to protect it from being knifed after landing. The pod also had to be expandable to take account of different sized dogs," Krueger explains.
So why did it take years to develop what, at first, seems to be a reasonably easy piece of equipment? Well, it's not that straightforward. "Dog missions are not high on the priority list of conventional armed forces so they dedicate neither time nor funds to developing equipment for these missions. There are no R&D programs and there is no investment," Krueger factors out. So, the corporate developed the K9F by itself funds, "although the French were very dedicated in providing the dogs and organizing the jumps to test the equipment."
This testing was the largest problem and most time-consuming exercise. "One jump could take up to six months to organize," Krueger says. "Although we purchased stuffed toy dogs for the development phase, at some point one has to test everything with a real dog."
And as a result of that is military gear and the dog-handling paratrooper group (most frequently the dog-handler and his canine are "passengers" who soar in tandem with an skilled jumper, often called the tandem pilot) is simply too cumbersome to leap out of an plane's small side-door, the check must happen from an airplane with a ramp.
Once on the bottom an especially ingenious system permits the flight-pod "to open up like a flower and release the dog in less than 10 seconds after landing." Krueger explains {that a} deal with is hooked up to a silicone coated wire threaded by way of seam loops and when the deal with on high of the bag is squeezed the wire can slide out. "It's a bit like those seams that shut sacs of potatoes. When you pull on one thread the whole seam comes undone." Then all it's important to do is thread the wire by way of the seam loops and the flight-pod is prepared for use once more.
And what do the dogs suppose? "Well, all I can say is that the dogs come right over and jump in the pod with what looks like a smile on their faces," laughs Krueger.
iTel Vision 1 Pro launched in India: Priced at less than Rs 7000, check features
'Joe the Pigeon' gets reprieve from death, after leg band found to be fake
Internet in splits after 'Hyderabad Style' address goes viral, read what happened next


A big thanks to all our SUPPORTERS AND SPONSORS!
proceeds of our events are directed to Mackenzie Richmond Hill Hospital for Cancer Care, and held in trust for the new Mackenzie Vaughan Hospital.
Fabulous Food Stations with lots of fish, meat, pasta, risotto and vegetables.
We would like to thank everyone who has donated. If we have missed you please know that it is not intentional and we are grateful for everyone's efforts!
Copyright © 2018 Vaughan In Motion for Cancer Care - All Rights Reserved.


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> Scripps College Commencement > Commencement Speeches > Vivian Wei-Zhou Zhang
Scripps College Commencement 2019
2019 Scripps Commencement Schedule
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Vivian Wei-Zhou Zhang
"We Are More"
Dear friends, family, and family of friends:
Today, we're celebrating this moment in our journeys, and we're celebrating the journeys that have brought us to this moment. It's my honor to share with you some thoughts from the road.Our first semester here, Scripps publicly launched its "We Want More" fundraising campaign. I remember the black banners that went up proudly declaring "We Want More:" More Knowledge, More Truth, More Imagination, More Justice, More Opportunity. I remember the big whiteboard where some students added to that list: more bread pudding, more Greek yogurt, and more air conditioning.But next to those, other students wrote things like mental health resources, students of color, and financial aid. Some of these were the seniors, juniors, and sophomores we looked up to. They, along with faculty and staff, helped us find our voice to ask questions like, "What does it mean to want more, and for whom?"In our years here, we've learned to ask questions and to fight for where they lead. Sometimes in the open and out loud, like when we marched through the campuses on a Thursday afternoon in junior year fall. I will never forget what our voices sounded like, declaring to the world but also to each otherand to ourselves, that silence is violence. That Black lives matter.Sometimes the fight was in the quiet work of meetings in Balch and SCORE. In hours spent drafting and negotiating and imagining, and re-drafting and re-negotiating and re-imagining. For those of you who have spent your years here devoted to this unseen fight, the deepest admiration and appreciation are your due.The fight was also in our efforts to claim an education here. The 8 a.m. treks to class (which make you question how on earth you got through high school), the 11:59 p.m. paper submissions, the 4 p.m. tea breaks to keep yourself going through an afternoonseminar. And most recently, the efforts to channel this liberal arts education into a meaningful "next step."The four years we have spent here wanting and fighting and striving, those have shaped who we are. That's what I'm here to talk about today, really—not just the things that we want, but the things that we are.Who are we, the class of 2017? We are more.We are more than who we were when we started here. We are all the people we've met along the way, whether Scripps was our first time meeting people like us, or our first time meeting people different from us. We are the radiant laughter of these friends, our late night food adventures, and our chance encounters in the patchwork shade of Seal Court.
Beyond that, we are more than the [270] students you see around you and before you. We are—we hold with us—the communities that have made this moment possible. We are the tender and strong love of our families, whom we called in roommate-less stairwells (though I always forgot that people actually walk through stairways). We are the generous wisdom of our professors and mentors, who have kept their office doors wide open to us. We are the ever-present encouragement of our Dining Hall and Maintenance staff, who have unfailingly cared for us like their own family. Maria and Claudia, thank you for sharing your home-cooked food and pictures of babies with me. You have always been some of my favorite people to run into at Scripps. I know that I'm far from the only one.We are more than the things we have achieved, though today is about celebrating those achievements. We are the falling down and helping each other up along the way. We are the outrage we have protested in, side by side. We are the grief that we have carried together. Our first semester, we held candles in memory of Dean Bekki Lee,whom most of us hardly knew. In this our final semester, we held candles again for Tatissa Zunguze, whom many of us admired deeply and loved fiercely.Tatissa was supposed to graduate a year from now. She and I joked once that we would both get the loudest applause at our Commencement ceremonies, because our names each came last in alphabetical order. Though she won't get to hear that applause, the applause that we will hear ringing in our ears today is ringing for her too.I know that isn't enough. I'm learning that sometimes all the "more" that is within us, as individuals and as a community, it isn't enough to make up for all the loss, pain, and injustice around us. But to quote one of my readings this semester (because sometimes they really do prove useful): "If I lose my direction, I have to look for the North Star, and I go to the north. This does not mean I expect to arrive at the North Star. I just want to go in that direction."Dear fellow graduates, there will always be more distance to go. There will always be more chains to lose, more gardens to plant, more stories to hearand honor. There will always be further north. But I hope we have seen a clearer glimpse of the North Star in our years here. I hope we have found in each other companions to travel the journey with. And with that, on we go, into the great big "more."On we go, reaching out to the "more" beyond Scripps's wisteria-clad walls, as that "more" reaches out to us. It may not welcome us, it may not welcome our questions, it may not welcome our fight, but we will question, we will fight, and through it all we will love. We will do so with every "confident, courageous, and hopeful" fiber of our beings. Because that is who we are.Class of 2017, here's to our journeys. There is so much more to go.
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Q: Xamarin Forms SQLite SingleOrDefaultAsync How do I use SingleOrDefaultAsync() with my SQLite DB tables? I want to do something like this:
item = _connection.Table<Item>().SingleOrDefaultAsync(x => x.ItemRef == 123);
but I can't work out how to drag in the async extension methods.


New! International Table Tennis Skills DVD, hosted by professional table tennis athlete and coach Samson Dubina, covers advanced footwork, drills, strokes, serves, serve returns, looping, flipping, game strategy, training routines, mental strategies and much more. Samson explains each skill in a simple, step-by-step approach. Samson shares 19 years of knowledge that he has learned from 40 different coaches while traveling to Europe, Asia, and throughout North America.


It is out with the old and in with the new at Omaha's downtown arena.
On Tuesday morning, crews began work to remove the CenturyLink Center name from the building.
As of Sept. 1, the arena was officially known as the CHI Health Center Omaha and some residents say the change may take some getting used to.
"When I hear CHI Health Center it makes me think of a health center, not an event center," one Omaha resident said.
Earlier in the summer, it was announced the Denver-based health system acquired the naming rights . The company will retain them for 20 years.
For the rest of the week, traffic is expected to be one lane northbound on 10th Street between Capitol and Cass.


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Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur refines the most powerful Macan Français
Porsche Cars Canada
Macan Turbo Exclusive Performance Edition with 440 hp and customized details
TORONTO, Oct. 20, 2017 /CNW/ - With the Porsche Macan Turbo Exclusive Performance Edition, Porsche is introducing a particularly elegant version in the Macan line-up. The Edition model is based on the Macan Turbo with Performance Package, which features a 3.6-litre V6 turbo engine capable of producing 440 hp. Exclusive exterior and interior design features underline the highly sporty character of the most powerful derivative in the model line. The sports car amongst SUVs is carefully finished by hand in the Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur department at the Leipzig production site.
Porsche Macan Turbo Exclusive Performance Edition with 440 hp and customized details. (CNW Group/Porsche Cars Canada)
The standard Turbo exterior package is the foundation for the unique appearance of the Macan Turbo Exclusive Performance Edition. This package includes features such as 21-inch 911 Turbo Design wheels with lateral spokes painted in Black (high-gloss), LED headlights, and tinted LED rear lights. Additional design components created specifically for this Edition model underline the exclusive character of the vehicle. Elements on the front spoiler, rear apron and side blades painted in Carmine Red are just one example of such exclusive details. The "Macan turbo" model designation is also painted in Carmine Red underneath the Black (high-gloss) "PORSCHE" logo on the rear end.
The elegant passenger compartment also features accents in black and red. The standard Exclusive Performance Edition interior package in Garnet Red combines a black leather interior with several Alcantara elements. The Garnet Red bolsters for the front seats have been designed exclusively for the Edition model. This colour is also used for other elements, including the contrasting stitching, the embroidered "turbo" lettering on the headrests, the seat belts, the ring of the Sport Chrono stopwatch and the vehicle key wallet. The aluminium PDK gear selector has also been intricately finished with leather in Garnet Red, and a "Macan Turbo Exclusive Performance Edition" logo has been added to the customized door entry trim strips and the dashboard trim. The front seats, rear bench seat and steering wheel are all heated as standard.
The Macan Turbo Exclusive Performance Edition is based on the most powerful derivative in the model line: the Macan Turbo with Performance Package. Its 3.6-litre V6 engine with twin turbocharging delivers 440 hp; 40 more than the Macan Turbo. The Macan Turbo Exclusive Performance Edition accelerates from zero to 100 km/h in just 4.4 seconds and achieves a top speed of 272 km/h. A maximum torque of 443 lb-ft. is available to the driver across a broad speed range of between 1,500 and 4,500 rpm. An impressive amount of tractive force is also guaranteed: It takes just 2.9 seconds to accelerate from 80 km/h to 120 km/h. The standard equipment includes a high-performance brake system with grooved brake discs that are 390 millimetres in diameter, the controlled Air Suspension including Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM) chassis, which is perfectly tuned to account for the fact that the body has been lowered by 10 millimetres, the Sport Chrono Package and the sport exhaust system.
The Macan Turbo Exclusive Performance Edition is available to order now, with prices starting from $117,600. It is slated to arrive in Canada in the first quarter of 2018.
Porsche Cars Canada, Ltd., a dedicated subsidiary of Porsche AG, imports and distributes Porsche vehicles in Canada. The company employs a team of more than 50 in sales, aftersales, finance, marketing, network development, and public relations. In 2016, Porsche sold an unprecedented 7,061 units in Canada, up 10% over the prior year.
SOURCE Porsche Cars Canada
For further information: Public Relations: Patrick Saint-Pierre, (647) 940-9990, [email protected]
www.porsche.ca
Porsche marks mid-engine milestone with special 718 Boxster model...


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Proprioseiulus paxi är en spindeldjursart som först beskrevs av Muma 1965.  Proprioseiulus paxi ingår i släktet Proprioseiulus och familjen Phytoseiidae. Inga underarter finns listade i Catalogue of Life.

Källor

Spindeldjur
paxi

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


#MarineWildlife - Places are going fast for a special cruise on board the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group's Celtic Mist to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Ireland's whale and dolphin sanctuary.
Celtic Mist will depart Fenit, Co Kerry next Saturday 7 May with a team of IWDG members and marine science experts on an almost three-month circumnavigation of Ireland, first heading north along the Wild Atlantic Way and around to the Irish Sea, calling on Dublin on 7 June to mark the 25th anniversary of the Irish Government's official declaration of this island's waters as a sanctuary for cetaceans.
The declaration came only three months after it was proposed by the then newly formed IWDG, and both have been instrumental in raising awareness of the bounty of marine wildlife in Irish waters.
Though berths on the voyage are filling fast, everyone will have the opportunity to participate by assisting in outreach events along the cruise route, or by tracking its progress online. Details on how to get involved can be found on the IWDG website HERE.
Along the way passengers on Celtic Mist may be treated to some of the incredible wildlife the sanctuary was created to protect, such as humpback whales – a number of which were spotted on an early visit to West Kerry earlier this month, likely attracted by schools of sand eels, as the IWDG reports.
In other marine wildlife news, locals near a beach close to Ballyshannon in Co Donegal have complained after a whale carcass was left rotting on rocks three days after it was reported to authorities.
According to the Irish Mirror, successive high tides had failed to shift the 25ft minke whale, though Donegal County Council says it is arranging for the animal's disposal.


This elegant home with open plan living areas flowing onto a veranda with beautiful views on water ponds and open green space is the ideal opportunity for those that chooses a secure life style. Pebble Rock Golf Village is a mere 17 km North East of Pretoria C.B.C. perfectly set on a Northern slope near Roodeplaat dam and boats with a 18 hole golf course and well equipped clubhouse. Schools low and high grades bordering the estate and the estate is near all other amenities.
This is one is for you…. Call me Now !!!!


This étude, No. 6 of the first book of Ernesto Köhler's Progress in Flute Playing, is a nice exercise in octave-jumping, but also contains arpeggios and short chromatic runs. After a development of the ideas stated in the introduction and a repetition of the initial theme, the piece ends in a fast coda, marked "Vivace".


Attention students! the NEET PG 2017 result has been declared.
The result of NEET-PG 2017 has been declared and can be seen at Notice Board at Ansari Nagar Office of National Board of Examinations, New Delhi and website www.nbe.edu.in .
Qualified candidates have been assigned a unique All India NEET-PG Rank in descending order of their scores and utilizing the tie breaker criteria mentioned in para 14.4 of NEET-PG Information Bulletin.
The score card of all the candidates who appeared in NEET-PG 2017 can be downloaded from NEET-PG website www.nbe.edu.in. Score card will not be sent individually to the candidates. Candidates are requested to download their score cards from website www.nbe.edu.in .
Candidature is purely provisional subject to fulfillment of eligibility criteria as mentioned in NEET-PG 2017 Information Bulletin.
The result for All India 50% quota MD/MS/Post Diploma Seats shall be declared by 15 th January 2017.
State Quota Seats: The result of NEET-PG 2017 shall also be shared with all States/UT of India. The final merit list/category wise merit list for State quota seats shall be generated by the States/UT/Institutes as per their qualifying/eligibility criteria, applicable guidelines/Regulations & reservation policy.


In the tradition of "The Zola Story" and "Chrissy Teigen Orders Pie," a new tale written by a rising Twitter raconteur who lived everyone's worst nightmare is teaching us all to be grateful this story isn't our own.
Toronto resident Makela hoped to hit it off on a date on Monday with a handsome stranger, but ended up spending the night harboring a dark, smelly secret.
She began her story with a light content warning.
What starts as a stroke of Beyoncé-level self-assuredness turns disastrous fast.
Time ticked by, and Makela needed to take action.
She did the only thing she could do in the given forest fire of a situation.
Mmm yeah, back to the romance, y'all.
With the Ghost of Poops Past haunting her, Makela texted her sister for advice.
Finally, a light appeared at the end of the septic tunnel.
Sweet relief. Her date never has to know there was another guest in the room that night.
On the bright side, Makela developed a reputation outside of her breathtaking good looks.
Dating is a rough game. The competition can be stiff. There are plenty of hotties out there, but very few hotties with nail-biting poo sagas to tell.
Congratulations, Makela the Poop Girl. You fought for survival in a moment when most of us would have collapsed in defeat.
There's a "Shawshank Redemption" joke in here somewhere, I just know it.


The addition of a floor on an existing building and the upgrading of the building were conducted to increase office space. The expansion yielded 7,000 square feet of space and required the addition of a stairwell accessing 5 floors, as well as the replacement of two elevators. Work was performed in fast-track mode while the building was kept in operation; plans and specifications were prepared concurrently with construction activities (3 months for the preparation of plans and specifications and 6 months for construction work).


text:
Melton Mowbray Performing Arts
Burton On Trent Performing Arts
Stage School
Little Stars age 4-7
Bright Stars age 6-10
Shining Stars age 9-13
Performing Stars age 12-16
Graded Tap and Ballet
Ballet Exams
Tap Exams
Commercial/Street
Competition Troupes
Tumble and Acro
LAMDA Grades
Melton Mowbray Choir
Ukulele Orchestra
Performing Arts SchoolDrama, Dance & Singing
"STARS ARE BORN, WE HELP THEM SHINE"
Shining Stars is a programme designed for children aged 9 to 12, bridging the gap between Primary and Secondary school. During this stage, we focus on audience engagement, supporting our students to develop their physical expression through the three key disciplines to deliver more believable performances.
The session will start with 30 minutes of preperation exercises in which Bright Stars, Shining stars and Performing Stars will work together. This will be followed by three micro sessions lasting 45 minutes each.
Performing Stars Academy
SPACE 2B STUDIOS
Leics
LE13 1AX
Drama:
Shining Stars will learn about how to connect with the audience in order to engage them with the story and will learn how to convey a range of complex emotions. Students will also receive speech and vocal training, covering projection, accents and diction. Classes will be taught using a variety of scripted and improvisation exercises.
Singing:
Children at this stage will be introduced to vocal harmonies, helping them strengthen their vocal ability and allowing them to perform more complex pieces. Singing tuition covers a range of styles from musical theatre to modern pop and rock songs.
Dance:
Dance classes at this stage are designed to improve coordination and technique. Students have the chance to perform solos as well as ensemble routines, covering a range of styles including Street, Modern, Jazz, Indian, Urban, Contemporary and Ballet. At this stage students will also have the opportunity to devise and perform their own routines.
Students will be taught in a professional dance studio with mirrored wall, drama studio and music room to maximise their ability to learn.
Teachers will recognise and nurture individual talent and children who excel in all three areas will be invited to move up to the next stage, from the age of 12.
Copyright © Forrester Academies Ltd, All rights reserved. Website built by Provident IT Solutions Ltd.


Welcome to my page. My online world on the internet, where many people know me as JeeWeetje. But you may also call me Jan Willem Groenenberg.
As IoT Integration Architect at Atos, I work in the field of cloud and Internet of Things (IoT) where I try to accomplish innovative solutions for the manufacturing and transportation markets. The solutions I work on are often build using Microsoft technologies like Azure IoT platform and the Azure IoT Edge.
With more than 15 years of experience in web development (I earned my dinosaur badge with pride) it was 2014 that I was in the need for something new. Via a short route in mobile app development I added 'Internet of Things' to my interest and field of work. And I love it till today.
I like to share my knowledge with others. That is why I am a public speaker at Atos (Atos Experts Community) and several user groups (Azure IoT Community, SDN and dotNed) and events (Experts Live, Codecamp Romania, Future Tech, Microsoft TechDays, IoT Tech Days and Dev Nation) in the Netherlands and abroad.
I also share feedback as an active Windows Insider and a member of the Azure Advisory Board.
Besides being a geek, I am also a husband, a dad of a girl and a boy, an owner of an English Cocker Spaniel, a foodie, a former Coca Cola junkie (trying to go going cold turkey), a recreational trail runner, a snowboarder, a hobby chef, and gadgets freak.
In 2013, I have been diagnosed as an autistic with Asperger syndrome, which gave helpful insights about the origin of my weaknesses and strengths.
I, JeeWeetje, the author of the content that can be found here within, can assure you, the reader that any of the opinions expressed here are my own and are a result of the way in which my highly disorganized and somewhat dysfunctional mind interprets a particular situation and or concept. Because I have Asperger syndrome my opinions and observations can be different than those from "normal" people. The usefulness of any type of information on this site is a matter of your opinion. I shared it, it is up to you to do something with it. Reading or skipping it are the blue and red pill options at hand at any time.
To make sure my current employer, Atos, stays out of, hopefully never happening, future legal charges I hereby guarantee that the only connection with this site is the fact Atos is my employer and I occasionally write about my work. At least the parts that are not covered by NDAs (No Disclosure Agreements). If you seek for Atos company secrets here, you might be better of in a dark alley looking for that mysterious guy in a raincoat. It is my work that pays the mortgage, not this site.
I would like to expressly convey to you (the still reading reader) that were I to accidentally defame, purge, humiliate and or hurt someone's person or feelings as a result of them reading and or acting upon any or all of the information and or advice found here at my site, it is entirely unintentional of me to do so.
Any comments that may be found here at, jeeweetje.net, runninggeek.nl or pomtiedom.com are the express opinions and or the property of their individual authors. Therefore, I the owner/author of this site can not be held responsible for the fact that the minds of the respected authors may just well be as dysfunctional as my own. If not more….
And it is not a practice of my own, let alone I have the time for it, to edit any comments left here by others (like you, regretting that last comment).
Should you (the hurt reader, reading how to handle me, the brute) identify any such content that is harmful, malicious, sensitive or unnecessary, I request that you contact me so I may rectify the problem. Failing that you may like to just sit and weep incessantly! Please do note; I do not offer hankies if you just sit and weep incessantly.
In the case of any legal issue, contact me first and please don't sue me instantly! I, as a Dutch citizen, try to respect Dutch laws, copyrights and intellectual properties of rightful owners. If I fail to do so, I did it by mistake.
For commenting I require you (the comment giving reader, in fact, a writer) to give a name and an email address. That is only for identifying yourself on this site and for me being able to contact you if needed. I do not harvest email addresses for mailing lists or to fill your inbox with spam.
Technical protocols told the easy way; Your IP address is known by this site. You (the visitor, hopefully reading and commenting) know the IP address of this site (most likely by a more meaningful alias, like the domain name). Both IP addresses are needed to be able to communicate, nothing more.
Everybody needs cookies. The tastefulness of cookies is a matter of personal taste. I do my best to only serve the most tasteful cookies in order to keep you happy.
Selling or sharing with third parties of the above-mentioned data would give me a revenue not even near to the wages of my daytime job. So there is no reason to do it.
But above all, be aware that anything you share on the internet might be publicly available to a certain degree. Safeguard your privacy, please.
If you made it to here, reading all of the above, you earned my instant respect.


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Spurs Over Cavaliers and Saturday's Free NBA Picks for 1/21
The NBA action piles onto the hardwood on Saturday, as basketball fans are graced with an intense 11-game slate to kick off the weekend. The stars come out to play early on Saturday, as the Blazers and Celtics face off in Boston at 4:00 pm ET.
It's a full night of NBA action, which gives us plenty of opportunities to win big. The only question, of course, is which spreads are worth targeting and which upsets aren't the worst bets. We do have to watch out for some potential blowouts (three games with 8.5-point spreads or worse), but overall Saturday could be handing us a long list of barn burners (three games listed with 1.5-point spreads or lower and six games below 6-point spreads).
It's going to be a fun and wild night of NBA basketball, so let's dive in and see where we should go with our NBA picks:
Portland Trail Blazers (+8.5)
Boston Celtics (-8.5)
The first game of the night goes down at TD Garden between the Celtics and the visiting Blazers. This spread isn't kind to Portland, who have been terrible (7-18) on the road and are sliding right now in the midst of a four-game skid.
Boston, meanwhile, is one of the better teams in the league and tends to take care of business (13-7) on their home floor. The Celtics do have one knock on them for this matchup, of course, as star shooting guard Avery Bradley has already been ruled out due to a foot injury:
Avery Bradley is out Saturday vs. Blazers. Brad: "The Achilles is structurally fine, but he has a lot of soreness around it."
— Chris Forsberg (@ESPNForsberg) January 20, 2017
Boston has been completely fine even when Bradley has missed time, however, as Isaiah Thomas has continued firing away as the team's top scorer and Marcus Smart has enjoyed success when thrust into the starting five. Portland will need a huge effort from Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum to keep this one close, but their road issues and atrocious defense have that looking like a pipe dream.
Washington Wizards (+1)
Detroit Pistons (-1)
The second game for Saturday has John Wall and the red hot Wizards visiting Detroit. The Pistons tend to be at their best on their home floor, but they're still just 11-9 at home this year and have been shaky for most of the year. That's bad news as they welcome the Wiz, who have morphed into a top playoff contender behind four straight wins and a nice 7-3 run over their last 10 games.
Washington has fared well in this series, as well, taking 5 of the last 6 games. Detroit could also be struggling from a team chemistry perspective, as there are growing rumors that Reggie Jackson could be on the move:
San Antonio's Pau Gasol undergoing surgery to repair fracture of fourth metacarpal in his left hand today, league sources tell @TheVertical.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojVerticalNBA) January 20, 2017
Whether or not that's true, the Pistons have been tough to trust for a while due to their inconsistency and the Wiz are a different team than they were earlier in the year. Detroit could step up with some stiff defense at home, but we still like the Wiz as mild underdogs.
Philadelphia 76ers (+10)
Atlanta Hawks (-10)
Total: 200.5
Joel Embiid will almost surely be resting after playing last night, which should put the Sixers in a tough position as they try to win on the road against the Hawks. The 76ers have been a great surprise lately, having won three straight and 8 of their last 10 games.
This looks like a logical spot for their torrid run to hit a wall, though, as the Sixers are just 5-12 away from home on the year and won't have their best player. It doesn't help that the Hawks are healthy, at home (where they're a solid 12-8) and have ripped off five straight wins in the series.
The only thing possibly working against Atlanta is if they rest veteran center Dwight Howard, but even that shouldn't keep them from getting a nice home win. Philly has been playing their hearts out of course, so a 10-point spread might be a little rich here.
Brooklyn Nets (+12)
Charlotte Hornets (-12)
The Nets and Hornets are set to compete in Charlotte tonight and both could be a little worn down after playing last night. Both teams did net blowout wins, however, so it's also possible we get a good, high-scoring affair.
Brooklyn will be pressing their road luck, of course, as they just beat the Pelicans on the road to grab their second road victory (2-18) on the year. Getting a third on the second of a back-to-back set feels like a reach, especially with Jeremy Lin (hamstring) still out and the distinct possibility of veteran big men Trevor Booker and/or Brook Lopez being rested.
Charlotte also tends to get the job done at home (14-7) and is the far more cohesive team. The Hornets have also done very well in this specific matchup, winning 5 of the last 6 meetings. Brooklyn edged them out in an explosive 120-118 game at the Barclays Center earlier this year, so it makes sense to see Charlotte getting them back with a nice home win.
Milwaukee Bucks (+1.5)
Miami Heat (-1.5)
The Bucks head down to South Beach to battle the Heat for the second time this month. Milwaukee hosted (and routed) Miami back on January 13th and will be looking to take a 2-1 season series lead.
Neither game has been close yet this year, with the home team winning easily in both games. It's hard to know if that trend continues, as Miami has not been a reliable team at all lately (just 7-13 at home and 3-7 over their last 10 games), while the Bucks are shaky (8-12) on the road, as well.
Milwaukee is not in a good spot right now, as they've dropped four straight games and none of them have been particularly close. Miami has a nice two-game winning streak, but they're basically a two-man show and we all know that can't last forever. The Bucks are too good to keep sliding like this, and after how easily they took down Miami just a week ago, we like their chances to make it two straight in this series.
Phoenix Suns (+5.5)
New York Knicks (-5.5)
Devin Booker tries to keep his hot run going on Saturday, as he leads his Suns into the Madison Square Garden to take on the Knicks. Neither the Suns or Knicks are consistently winning right now, but it's going to be hard to deny New York, who tend to play their best ball at home and have a healthy Kristaps Porzingis (Achilles) back in the fold.
New York certainly has been floundering lately (3-7 over their last 10 games), but they did just get a nice win over the Celtics recently and have been competing. Phoenix is in the same boat, but they are terrible on defense and do not always perform well on the road (5-17 away from home). With both teams being impossible to trust these days, we'll roll with the Knicks at MSG.
Houston Rockets (+1)
Memphis Grizzlies (-1)
James Harden and co. got housed by the Warriors last night and could be a little tired as they head into Memphis to take on the Grizzlies. That could be problematic, as tonight could easily end up serving as a trap game.
Vegas certainly notes the risk either way, as Memphis is very good on their home floor (15-8) and is already up 2-0 in the season series. While that's important to note, it stands to reason the Rockets would snag a win at some point in this series. Memphis not really being in top form lately contributes to that logic, as the Grizzlies are just 5-5 over their last 10 games.
Houston went into last night on a solid roll (7-3 in their previous 10 contests) and they can really fill it up offensively. We like them as the mild underdog as they get a win in this season series.
San Antonio Spurs (n/a)
Cleveland Cavaliers (n/a)
Total: n/a
The first game on this slate without any betting information is quite arguably the best if everyone suits up, but we know right off the bat that two guys could be out. The Spurs will definitely be without star center Pau Gasol (hand), who hurt himself during warmups in his last game and is going to miss significant time:
Kevin Love is still iffy for the other side, too, as he's had his back flare up and it's caused him to miss his last game and half of the previous one. There hasn't been any ruling on his status for Saturday yet, but it does sound like he could sit out again.
The Spurs have the depth to make up for Gasol, who was receiving erratic minutes to begin with, while they also can lean harder offensively on LaMarcus Aldridge and Kawhi Leonard. Cleveland is elite at home (19-3), but they could be in a tough spot against the Spurs' stingy defense if Love can't go. With Leonard possibly locking down LeBron James, this game could come down to how well Kyrie Irving performs.
Spread aside, we like the Spurs to get a big road upset here, provided Love is out again.
Sacramento Kings (+6)
Chicago Bulls (-6)
DeMarcus Cousins and the Kings go to work in Chicago on Saturday night, as they try to snap a 4-game skid. That may not be easy to do in the United Center, where Jimmy Butler and the Bulls are a solid 13-9.
Chicago certainly hasn't been a formidable matchup this year on a regular basis, but they tend to play well at home and should be a little more focused after getting thrashed in Atlanta last night. They don't have the ability to stop Boogie down low, but the Kings are severely shorthanded without star forward Rudy Gay (Achilles) and don't get the job done (8-13) on the road. We like the Kings to make it a game and beat the spread, but this is Chicago's game to lose.
Los Angeles Clippers (n/a)
Denver Nuggets (n/a)
This showdown between the Clippers and Nuggets is just the second game on Saturday's schedule that's in doubt from a betting perspective. L.A. is still without Chris Paul and Blake Griffin, but the real question is in Denver, where a litany of players aren't locks yet for tonight.
Nikola Jokic (ankle) is probably the biggest name, but he played last game and thrived (35 points vs. Spurs) and is fully expected to suit up:
Nikola Jokic (ankle) probable for Saturday. https://t.co/OlYyTPNdj3
— FantasyLabs NBA (@FantasyLabsNBA) January 20, 2017
Jokic isn't the only Nuggets player somewhat in doubt, however, as Danilo Gallinari, Gary Harris, Darrell Arthur and Wilson Chandler have all been banged up.
The good news is Denver's top player is likely to hit the floor and the Nuggets will be at home. With the Clips even more depleted and this series split right down the middle (2-2) over the last four meetings, it's tough to go against The Joker in this one.
Indiana Pacers (+6)
Utah Jazz (-6)
There just doesn't seem to be any getting around Indiana's road woes. Paul George and co. had been heating up (7-3 in their previous 10 games), but they coughed up a loss last night to the lowly Lakers. That drops Indy to 6-15 on the road this year and now they'll head into Utah on the second night of a back-to-back set.
Normally Utah might be in some trouble after going into overtime in Dallas last night, but with the Pacers just as tired and seemingly unable to get road wins, the Jazz are an easy call here.


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Presidential Election & Polling — Would Be Nice to See Some More Swing State Polls!
Aug 27, 2020 Election, Nice, Polling, Polls, Presidential, State, Swing
Joe Biden in South Carolina in February, President Trump at the White House in April (Elizabeth Frantz, Joshua Roberts/Reuters)
I'm hoping that after the Republican national convention concludes this week, the nation's pollsters go out and start conducting more surveys, because it feels like we're not getting as many as we usually do in the late summer of a presidential campaign year and in a political culture that obsessively devours new polling results and pores over them for signs of significant change.
Today is August 27. No one has polled Colorado since July 26. No one has polled voters on Trump and Biden in Iowa since August 2. We've had one poll of Trump and Biden in Minnesota since August 10, and it showed a tie. We've had one poll of New Hampshire since July 28.
The only new state poll out so far today is from Franklin and Marshall, surveying 681 registered voters in Pennsylvania from August 17 to 21 and finding Biden ahead, 49 percent to 42 percent. Obviously, that's not what the Trump campaign wants to see in a key swing state. But the previous Franklin and Marshall survey had Biden head, 50 percent to 41 percent — so maybe there's been a little movement in Trump's direction, or maybe it's just noise within the margin of error. If there's any factor that should make the Biden campaign a little less confident, it's that the new survey was conducted during the days of the Democratic National Convention, when for two hours a night, the Democratic Party had the stage to itself to make the case for Biden. A poll conducted during convention week is just about the ideal circumstances for a candidate. And once again, there's no discernable bounce or bump from the selection of Kamala Harris, although Biden may have simply not had that much more room to bounce or bump.
It's possible that the race is stable and headed towards a Biden landslide, and that the next round of polling in a week or so will show no movement towards Trump or GOP convention "bump." But those CNBC polls from yesterday suggest that the swing state numbers are closer than the national numbers, and in some cases, much closer. We would have a better sense of where things stand with more survey results. But . . . we must wait.


text:
Hearing loss linked to worse cognitive function in Hispanic/Latino American adults
Hearing loss is associated with worse scores on learning and memory tests, according to a recent study conducted in Hispanic/Latino Americans between the ages of 45 and 74. The study also detected a link between poor learning and memory performance and high levels of sugar in the blood, which is a sign of diabetes and a risk factor for heart disease. The findings were published recently in JAMA Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery.
Why Black And Latino People Still Lag On COVID Vaccines — And How To Fix It
There are a lot of ways Dr. Kent Bream would describe the lines of people waiting, sometimes for hours, for COVID-19 vaccines at his community health clinic in West Philadelphia. Eager. Impatient. Frustrated, even. But "hesitant" doesn't come to mind.
Lost in Translation: Language Barriers Hinder Vaccine Access
April 23, 2021 -- the Virginia Department of Health website in January reassured English-speaking readers that the COVID-19 vaccine "will not be required for Virginians."
But the Spanish-language translation, through a Google Translate widget at the top of the page, said something else: The vaccine "no sera necesario," or "won't be necessary."
Pandemic Worries Have Black and Latina Women Focusing on Self-Care
by Nancy Kerr
AARP survey finds 63% of women 50+ put more emphasis on inner health than outward appearances.


(Newser) – The newest amenity coming to Starbucks is a depressing one: needle disposal boxes. The company says that they will be installed at some locations because employees have found discarded bloody needles and syringes in bathrooms, USA Today reports. More than 3,750 workers have signed a petition asking for the boxes to be installed in "high-risk" bathrooms. Starbucks says it trains its employees how to deal with needles safely, Business Insider reports, but the petition claims that "employees risk getting poked, and DO get poked, even when following 'protocol' of using gloves and tongs to dispose of used needles left in bathrooms, tampon disposal boxes, and diaper changing stations." Starbucks' bathrooms are now open to the public, which some workers say has made them more prone to safety issues.
Starbucks just lost a customer..."open to the public" means hey junkies come and do your business here..
Still lovin' the guys in the sweatpants, "doin' business" at the Starbucks. Yeah, right.


text:
Q: AccountContactRelation won't deploy to Scratch Org even with feature enabled in Scratch Org Definition I am trying to migrate my team to scratch orgs from individual dev sandboxes.  The final barrier seems to be the fact that we're using the AccountContactRelation object.  Whenever I do a push to a scratch org the first error I get is:
Error    force-app\main\default\objects\AccountContactRelation\AccountContactRelation.object-meta.xml      Invalid fullName, must end in a custom suffix ( for ex. __c )

I also get errors like:
Error    force-app\main\default\classes\AccountContact_RelationTriggerHandler.cls                   Invalid type: AccountContactRelation (14:13)

So the object clearly is not in the org.  Below is my project-scratch-def.json file.
{
  "orgName": "Lazard Scratch",
  "sourceOrg": "00D1N000001i9f2UAA",
  "features": [
    "AuthorApex",
    "ContactsToMultipleAccounts",
    "DevelopmentWave",
    "FieldAuditTrail",
    "Interaction",
    "MultiCurrency",
    "ProcessBuilder",
    "StateAndCountryPicklist",
    "Workflow",
    "WorkflowFlowActionFeature"
  ],
  "settings": {
    "accountSettings": {
      "enableRelateContactToMultipleAccounts": true
    },
    "activitiesSettings": {
      "allowUsersToRelateMultipleContactsToTasksAndEvents":true
    },
    "entitlementSettings": {
      "enableEntitlements": true
    },
    "lightningExperienceSettings": {
      "enableS1DesktopEnabled": true
    },
    "languageSettings": {
      "enableTranslationWorkbench":  true,
      "enableEndUserLanguages": true
    },
    "mobileSettings": {
      "enableS1EncryptedStoragePref2": false
    },
    "nameSettings":{
      "enableMiddleName": true,
      "enableNameSuffix": true
    },
    "quoteSettings": {
      "enableQuote": true
    },
    "territory2Settings": {
      "enableTerritoryManagement2": true
    }
  }
}

Can anyone tell me what I should be doing differently to allow this object to deploy?

A: I think this is linked to a Known Issue (two actually, but I assume the root cause is the same) where the AccountContactRelation feature is randomly not activated on Scratch Orgs:

*

*https://trailblazer.salesforce.com/issues_view?id=a1p4V000001s8OlQAI

*https://trailblazer.salesforce.com/issues_view?id=a1p3A000001PYYlQAO