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Shipshape And Gloucester Fashion
David Graham chills out on a luxury canal cruise
Eating The Sea's Harvest In Glorious Devon
Our pick of the county's best fish restaurants and takeaways
Peppermint Mud Is Sheer Poetry At The Daffodil
Neil Sowerby has a satisfyingly sloppy spa treatment in Wordsworth country
Hotel Called Titanic Gives Shelter From The Storm
Plus Neil Sowerby's Ten Top Tips For Visitors to Liverpool
The Chic Of It – Chilling Out In Coastal Kent
Neil Sowerby gorges on oysters, ripe cherries and Charles Dickens
Luxury Scots Retreat That's Really Away From It All
Ruth Allan and twin tots go wild at Natural Retreats, John O'Groats
You are here: Planet Confidential › UK & Ireland.
Conwy: oh what a knight!
Britain's got talent, Wales has got castles
Written by Neil Sowerby. Published on April 20th 2011.
Britain's Got Talent is back on our screens. Travel editor Neil Sowerby meets a past BGT hero while on a crusade to enjoy himself in the wonderful walled town of Conwy...
CHOPPING wood, chopping wood, chopping, chopping wood. Who could forget that iconic Britain's Got Talent moment that poleaxed even Simon Cowell? Shaun Sheehan – one small talent, one large chopper, oh what a knight!
Encountering the grey-bearded sixtysomething BGT semi-finalist in his full chain mail outfit, in the shadow of Conwy Castle didn't seem quite so odd on a weekend when Wales's striking World Heritage Site was awash with medieval wannabes.
Cue archery contests, lute strumming, mead-swigging and many a hey nonny nonny no in the taverns. More Blackadder than Black Prince but, if that's not your bag, shield your eyes now
The town's annual food showcase, Gwledd Conwy Feast was in full swing, the £5 ticket for which allowed free access to the Castle. Hence the ramparts were rammed with revellers. Shaun, an automotive engineering lecturer turned Sean Connery impersonator had conquered judges Cowell, Holden and Morgan with his multi-tasking talents combining singing with kindling (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-alkwiGYy8).
Whether he had ventured across from his native Anglesey as a booked celebrity I had no idea. But I wouldn't have bet against him storming the dominating dark stone fortress – built by Edward I in the 13th century as part of his "iron ring" to contain the Welsh.
It really does dominate the yacht-strewn estuary with the mountains of Snowdonia forming its inland backdrop. Quite a perfect introduction to medieval English oppression, educative yet fun, while the rest of the town is an understated delight with individual shops (Edwards butchers on the High street a particular treat) and pubs. Even jollier during food festival weekend.
After mounting the castle's eight towers and hulking curtain wall, it's best to do the circuit of the town walls – three quarters of a mile long with 22 towers – before descending to the quayside.
Here, in stark contrast to the castle, you'll find the SMALLEST HOUSE IN GREAT BRITAIN. Despite the rain, a lady in Welsh costume, pointy hat and all, stood guard outside the very tiny, very red property. The Quay House is 10ft high by 6ft wide and was a residence from the 16th century until 1900 when council evicted the very tall fisherman who lived there. His descendants still run it as a tourist attraction. I visited as a very small child and was suitably underwhelmed.
One Conwy institution I had missed in the past was the Castle Hotel. For our visit to the Feast this hugely comfortable High Street coaching inn was our base. Yet another man in chain mail was checking in ahead of us ("One knight, only, with breakfast, please") but we were suitably medievalised by now.
The Castle has its own history. On the site of a Cistercian abbey, it was formed by the merger of two famous hostelries, The Castle and the 15th Century King's Head. A Victorian facelift of local granite and Ruabon brick gives it its distinctive appearance. Inside it's rambling and creaky in a nice way as it must have been when visited by luminaries such as Thomas Telford, George Stephenson, William Wordsworth... and the Queen of Romania, who lunched in the restaurant while visiting nearby Llandudno.
We had dinner in the hotel's Good Food Guide acclaimed but laid-back Dawsons restaurant. The Conwy mussel dishes are exceptional. You can order all the same food, masterminded by Graham Tinsley, manager of the Welsh culinary team, in the merry bar, which champions local microbreweries.
The Castle Hotel reputedly has a resident ghost – of a chambermaid – but for an altogether more chilling agenda walk up the High Street to Plas Mawr. This surviving Elizabethan merchant's house regularly features in lists of Britain's spookiest buildings.
Architecturally, it is a Grade 1-listed gem with its tall lime-rendered walls and an altogether more ornate interior with authentic plasterwork and furnishings. But it is the spirits reputed to haunt it that have led to popular Thursday night ghost tours in high season.
The watchtower is the spooky epicentre. Here Lady Dorothy Wynn would wait to glimpse her rich merchant husband Robert returning home from his latest voyage.
But on one stormy night in 1598, pregnant and carrying a young child in her arms, she stumbled down the ladders and was mortally injured. A doctor was sent for. Inexperienced, he tried to flee but was locked in by the maid. The returning Robert Wyatt found mother and child dead but the doctor had disappeared from the locked room. It is believed he had climbed up the chimney. His body was never found.
To this day, it is claimed the ghost of Robert Wynn still rages around the mansion, seeking revenge on the doctor. One of several spectres in Plas Mawr.
The estuary Robert Wynn sailed into is boat-lover's heaven. A bargain way to savour it today is to take a boat taxi across to Deganwy. A welcoming destination there is the Quay Hotel and Spa, with its modern waterfront facilities and stupendous views across to the Edward !'s fortress.
Only open since 2007, it has overtaken The Castle Hotel (and the Queen of Romania) as a celebrity bolthole. The Spa, best in these parts, is a major draw. My companion loved her hot stones massage – a more thorough experience than some and terrific value at £65.
Full day and half day spa packages, including a light lunch and use of Espa products, are just £149 and the hotel also offers residential spa packages. A welcome antidote to the excesses of Conwy at Feast time.
The most dramatic way to arrive in Conwy is by train on the Crewe to Holyhead line. You cross via a terrific bridge into the heart of the walled town. We drove via the more mundane A55, which has been bedeviled by bridge works near Rhyl for months Castle.
The Castle Hotel, High Street Conwy LL32 8DB (01492 582800 www.castlewales.co.uk). Club rooms start at £170, premium at £185, including breakfast, but out of season the hotel runs a series of special offers which bring prices down considerably.
The Quay Hotel and Spa, Deganwy Quay, Deganwy, Conway, North Wales, LL31 9DJ (01492 564 100; www.quayhotel.com). Courtyard twin rooms start at £175, rising to £285 for penthouse suites overlooking the Conwy Estuary and Castle. For prices of spa packages visit www.quayhotel.co.uk/quay-spa/non-resident-spa-packages/
Gwledd Conwy Feast 2011 will be held on October 22 and 23, 10m-5pm. To get a flavour of what to expect, visit www.gwleddconwyfeast.co.uk. This year it cost only a fiver for a day ticket – amazing value for a true showcase of local produce, everything within walking distance.
Conwy Castle. Adults £4.60, Reduced rate £4.10. Family Ticket £13.30 – admits 2 adults and up to 3 children under 16. For opening hours ring 01492 592358.
Plas Mawr. Adults £4.95. Reduced rate £4.60. Family Ticket £14.50 – admits 2 adults and up to 3 children under 16. For opening hours ring 01492 580167.
For full tourism information on North Wales, visit www.nwt.co.uk.
Lord of the PiesApril 21st 2011.
I like Guinness.
Tell me you didn't study English?
Soon to be foreign..NOT as of TODAY 19/09...!!!Was a student there and is a wonderful place...
Wow! You've certainly done a great job by posting this bit of information for the benefit of us…
I've just been there the prices were far too expensive no seasoning (salt/pepper)suppose to be…


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Joe Russo explains why Marvel movies get so many gags
author: Zbigniew Woźnicki
Avengers: Endgame Director Joe Russo explains why there is so much plot and humor in the MCU. It turns out that the main originator of this approach is Kevin Feige and he has his own way of being successful.
Source: YouTube, Marvel Studios Movies Channel, Avengers: Endgame | The Russo Brothers: A Journey to the Endgame
Special humor is a hallmark of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and thanks to an interview with Joe Russo on Delivery timeWe know what made CEO Kevin Feige make such a decision about the direction of the canon's development.
Why does Kevin Feige want the humor in Marvel movies?
Joe Russo has described decision-making in film development as "Kevin Feige's secret ingredient". Anyone expecting obscure accounts and cinematic experiences will be disappointed. The CEO of Marvel Studios just wants movies to be fun. Sam sits in the testing rooms and listens to the audience's reaction. He especially cares when the people in the room start laughing. According to Joe Russo, humor is a very important component of Kevin Feige.
Source: YouTube / FilmIsNow Movie Bloopers & Extras
Gags are a hallmark of Marvel
Fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe have always gotten used to the fact that their favorite movies contain a heavy dose of humor. The roots of this approach go back to the first Iron Man from 2008. then it Robert Downey Jr. He had to improvise because the script of the film was not finished and because the actor himself has the talent of a comedian. It's been 14 years since then and the following films have continued the tradition of funny situational gags that mesh well with the more serious dilemmas of superheroes..
See also Dwayne Johnson talks about how Black Adam will change the future of DCEU
At the moment, nothing indicates a change in Marvel Studios' approach and the upcoming films will remain in an entertaining atmosphere. We will know it soon, because it will premiere in July 2022 Thor: Love and ThunderAnd in November 2022 Black Panther: Wakanda in My Heart.
Previous ONLY ON THE BOX: Patrick Vega to produce a movie about Camille Dorchuk! "In his opinion, this is a character straight from DOSTOJEWSKI"
Next Asimov's galactic empire will return – naEKRANIE.pl

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Arsenal Have Not Under Achieved
With the funds available for transfers, Arsenal fans should appreciate another top 4 finish this season, and shouldn't be classed as an under achievement.
bivlar
Wenger – Under achieving?
Another home defeat probably means that most blogs will be flooded by more 'Arsenal in crisis' articles. But surely, for a club that hasn't won a piece of silverware for seven years and has turned into a feeder club for Barcelona and City, being five points off fourth position with less than half of the season's games played cannot be termed as a 'crisis' situation.
Over the past couple of seasons, Arsenal have in fact done very well to finish in the top four given their squad, injuries suffered, and poor starts to the campaign (especially in the 11/12 season). The club seems to be shifting from genuine title contender to a team challenging for a place in Europe. This is also evident from transfer market dealings over the past couple of years where they have been looking to fill the void left by better players that have moved on. Players like Marouanne Chamakh, Andre Santos, Gervinho, and Per Mertesacker aren't as good as the players who they were bought to replace.
Recent performances also indicate that the team isn't performing well as a collective unit. Most title winning sides won't have a world class player in each position. It's the cohesive and collective effort that makes a title winning side. This was also the case with the 'Arsenal Invincibles' and the other title winning sides under Wenger. The team currently needs more leaders within the team who can bring up the performances of other players around them.
Though most Arsenal fans will always term the stars who left them as mercenaries, most of them have gone on to win trophies with other teams (Clichy, Nasri, Toure, Fabregas in recent years). These players were at their prime and wanted to cap their professional careers with trophies to match their reputations. Who is to say that players like Giggs and Scholes would have never left Manchester United had the club not won any trophies over a long period of time?
Yet, it isn't all doom and gloom for Arsenal fans. In a league where, in 15 games, the top side has lost three times and conceded 21 goals, there will most definitely be more points dropped by the teams currently above Arsenal. After promising starts to the season, both West Brom and Everton have started dropping points more regularly. Arsenal are in the quarter finals of the League Cup and should be among the favourites to win it. They have progressed through to the next round of the Champions League for the 13th year in a row.
There is still a long way to go in the season. With the consistency of the support shown to Wenger by the owners, the club can still recover this season and qualify for the Champions League spot, and could possibly win a trophy. Even if they don't win anything, given the change in personnel on the pitch, difference of opinions over funds available for transfers between the board and Wenger, and the financial clout exercised by their competitors, Arsenal fans and critics should appreciate another top 4 finish, which by no means, would be an under achievement.
Related TopicsArsenalArsene Wengergooner newsPremier League
Young Shizzle
Mr. wenger stop playing with our Emotions, we're begining to lose faith in our Arsenal team. It will only take a miracle if we win any Trophy this Season, with the result that we're having. " IN WENGER WE TRUST " And " IN ARSENAL WE TRUST ". Please let this season be of a Joy to Us the Fans and as a Club by winning a Trophy, not only by qualifying for Champions league and been on the top four is all that we want. We want a Trophy, as far as we still standout to be One of the Best teams in the World, we deserve same Glory.
Herb'sArmy
As one of the biggest clubs in world football, Arsenal have twice sold their fans short which can be directly linked to under-achieving.
The first of these instances came about in the summer of 1976. Terry Neill was a safe, uninspiring choice. A braver, more dynamic choice, and who would have taken Arsenal to the next level (IMO), would have been Bobby Robson. Or Brian Clough.
Similarly in 1986, the BoD again monumentally let the fans down. Alex Ferguson agreed terms with Arsenal's Board to become the clubs new manager. Arsenal's Board didn't have the patience to wait for Scotland's inevitable World Cup elimination, and chose George Graham.
Those two decisions individually and collectively go a long way to explaining why Arsenal haven't joined the world's elite clubs.
Arsenal have massively under-achieved, just in a different time-frame, and not in a way that is immediately obvious.
goonerboy
For a club with the fifth highest share value in the game – Arsenal have underachieved massively. Over 10 years Arsenal have invested less in player transfers than any other club in the EPL. They have wasted the money they received for champions league qualification on inflated salaries for players who are not good enough for their first team whilst being unable to offer competitive salaries to their top players.
Arsenal (Wenger especially) has opted out of the transfer market for top players by choice- not because of a lack of money- he simply hasn't prioritised expenditure on players. This regime only use the transfer market to sell our best players- who are never replaced with players of equivalent quality. What we are seeing now is the cumulative effect of replacing top players with cheap mediocre players who dont adapt well to EPL conditions.
Arsenal has become a selling club under the current regime. A state of affairs which is unacceptable. These complacent, arrogant custodians must be replaced, starting at the top and including the increasingly deluded manager.
Merlinho
Share value means nothing though. Look at the dotcom bubble for an example of that.
To use that as a measure is ridiculous; and in any case many clubs aren't even listed.
AyPeters
It is high time we stop asking for WENGER head, cal for Gazidis head. If AW refuse to bring in top players, the board should go for top players afterall, AW is an employee NOT an employer. AW is interested in winning trophies but He is dancing to the music played by ARSENAL BOARD led by Stan Kroenke n Gazidis. That is why i support Russian USMANOV to take over ARSENAL because he wil spend the money. Irrespective of our 7 years trophyless campaign, ARSENE WENGER is stil the MOSES and STEVE BOULD is the JOSHUA that will lead ARSENAL to a promise land. IN ARSENE WE TRUST.
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When you are denied coverage for a medical procedure that you know was necessary in the upkeep of your health, trying to fight for your right to benefits can be extremely stressful and mentally taxing. When formulating your appeal to this decision, an imperative aspect is the insurance claim letter. Writing an effective letter could make the difference between thousands of dollars in medical bills, or financial security.
Insurance claim letters are meant to help you plead your case to an insurance company. Writing one in the right format, with a professional yet informed tone will help present your case effectively. Making sure you stick with a professional presentation that lacks confrontational feelings is a first step. Making sure your letter provides all the information necessary, as well as a persuading reason why you deserve benefits is the second.
When writing insurance claim letters, you should make sure that you provide your name, your policy, the professional term for the procedure you underwent, and also how it would have affected your health if left untreated. The key to insurance claim letters is showing how the procedure you underwent, or are planning on undergoing will be a detriment to your health if left untreated. Often times insurance companies are trying to cut cost corners. Many times without realizing that many of the uncovered procedures were necessary to the health of their beneficiaries.
Proof read your insurance claim letter and make sure it reads accurately. Keep firm in the fact that you were denied coverage wrongfully, but stay respectful in tone. Show that you are simply trying to resolve their error before taking legal action. Type the letter out for a professional presentation and sign it yourself. This will provide a professional look for your insurance claim letter.
When it comes to mailing insurance claim letters, you should use certified mail. While it may be a little more expensive, it ensures that someone has to sign for your letter indicating they received it. Seeing as how many insurance companies claim they never got letters, or that it was received past the appeal date, this is a useful tip to ensure the process goes along as fast as possible.
The process of creating the right insurance claim letters can be overwhelming. Feeling like you have been cheated out of benefits you are entitled to is something that can put an individual under great pressure. Writing the right letter will allow to rest assured you are pleading your case in the best way possible. The right insurance claim letter will help you achieve the benefits you deserve. Stay professional and keep informed about the situation. Using the right letter is the first step to reclaiming your rights.
Insurance tips that'll educate you and help you save money.
Having the right information makes the difference between having great insurance and having insurance that is less than ideal. I'm Barbara Foster and I want to share my valuable knowledge with you! The information on my site will assist you when it comes to finding and making the best insurance decisions for you and your family. My mission is to teach you important information about insurance. It is beneficial for you to know my tips and tricks; the information on my site will highly benefit you and help educate you on insurance.


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Eugene Weekly : Music : 5.10.07
Gently Down the Third Stream
A loving partnership
BY BRETT CAMPBELL
Jazz and classical music have been flirting with each other since the former shimmied onto the American music scene. European composers from Milhaud to Stravinsky to Shostakovich winked at jazz, craving her populist vivacity, but she wouldn't let them buy her a drink. Americans such as Copland and Bernstein got to first base, but it was George Gershwin who really put the moves on her, creating a fabulous fusion that, despite the sneers of the classical old guard, in turn inspired several generations of jazzers. Later, always looking for expanded palettes, modernists like John Lewis (of the Modern Jazz Quartet), Gil Evans, Charles Mingus, Dave Brubeck, Bill Evans and Miles Davis consciously incorporated harmonies and other techniques from Bach as well as Debussy, Stravinsky and other post-Romantic composers.
In the late 1950s, a musician with cred in both camps, Gunther Schuller (he'd played on Davis' Birth of the Cool recordings and in the Metropolitan Opera orchestra), tried an arranged marriage between what he called First Stream (western classical music) and Second Stream (jazz). Third Stream would combine the improvisation and rhythmic power of jazz with the instruments, structures and techniques of classical music. After Schuller spearheaded a few recordings, the usual purist quibbling over definitions (the possibilities were endless) ensued, with accusations of selling out, dumbing down and, worst of all, failure to swing. Some of the so-called Third Stream experiments worked, some didn't; musicians kept on mixing and matching and miscegenating. A true marriage may never have happened, but the relationship produced some worthy offspring. Today the categories have broken down almost completely, and you hear plenty of musicians finding productive combinations of composition and improvisation, and Third Stream looks, in retrospect, prophetic. Which makes an excellent occasion for a concert that explores it. At the UO's Beall Concert Hall on Friday, May 11, the Jazz Piano Collective (UO prof Steve Larson, Keith Waters from Catholic University and University of Colorado's Steve Strunk) joins other musicians in music by Chick Corea, the MJQ, Bill Evans and improvisations on music of Erik Satie, Scott Joplin and more.
And speaking of the UO, music prof Robert Kyr is on a roll these days. His eleventh symphony just premiered in Los Angeles (when do we get to see and hear this audiovisual extravaganza here?), and his twelfth debuts in Portland May 19-21 when the Oregon Symphony performs his Armed Man Variations at Schnitzer Concert Hall along with Schubert's Symphony No. 8 and Strauss' A Hero's Life. A lifelong advocate for peace, Kyr has composed a "a cry against the destructive forces of war and, more important, an affirmation of life," based on the famed medieval tune "The Armed Man."
A video by New York's LoVid screens as part of the Eugene Noise Fest
Boy, it's sure getting noisy at DIVA lately. Hot on the squeals of the touring all-stars of so-called noise music, the art space at Olive and Broadway hosts the third annual Eugene Noise Fest May 17-20. Opening night is a video extravaganza featuring works by Nate Harrison (Los Angeles), Gijs Gieskes (Netherlands), LoVid (New York) and visiting Noise Fest artists. Friday features a baker's dozen of noisemakers from Vancouver to San Diego. Saturday boasts 16 more musicians from as far away as Georgia, Milwaukee, Seattle and San Francisco. Sunday features mostly Oregon artists, along with a Dane and a couple Californians. That's way too many acts to profile here, so check www.divanow.org or www.humanmonster.com for more info. But it's probably better just to wander in and experience various experiments in sound collage, found instruments (including everyday appliances) and all manner of adventures in sound textures. Noise is too vague a category to pigeonhole any of these performers in, but it's certainly a burgeoning international phenomenon, and worth exploring for anyone whose artistic tastes run to the unconventional.
The young Johann Sebastian Bach loved the music of Dietrich Buxtehude so much that he once walked more than 200 miles to hear the great Baroque master play the organ. We only have to make it over to St. Mary's Episcopal Church (13th & Pearl) on Friday, May 11, for a free show that includes solo cantatas, a trio sonata and solo keyboard works performed on harpsichord and portative organ by Julia Brown, who records for Naxos records, accompanied by local masters Alice Blankenship and Ali Luthmers (violin), Steven Pologe (cello) and Jamie Weaver (soprano).
Fans of world music and early jazz should head over to the WOW Hall on May 14 to see and hear Le Serpent Rouge, a show featuring the Bay Area's Indigo Belly Dance company accompanied by live gypsy, Middle Eastern, ragtime and vaudevillian music played by Inkwell Rhythm Makers and percussionist Tobias Roberson. They play the kind of 1920s and '30s jazz and country blues unsullied by them hifalutin classical influences — maybe they should call it upstream.


Vacuum pumps are used for a number of applications concerning, above all, De-Airing systems of water. Water vapour sucked by the vacuum pump and mixed with the oil, producing emulsion, may cause serious damage to the pump when in notable concentration. For this reason it is important, for such applications, to propose a suitable de-airing system as the Air drying unit 86-D2005 filled with the Silica gel (dessicator salt) 86-D0819 (see Air drying unit). Vacuum pumps can also be fit with a Vacuum gauge with pin regulating valve and bleed valve as our model 86-D2004/5 (see accessories) unless a similar gauge is not fit to the equipment to be connected as for example Large size pyknometer 75-D1122. For more detail about the de-airing systems see Additional information.
Vacuum gauge, range 0-760 mm/hg, complete with pin regulating valve and bleed valve.
Vacuum pumps can be fit, when needed, with a special made vacuum gauge complete with pin regulating valve and bleed valve which is very useful when disconnecting the tube from the system. It can be fit directly on top of vacuum pump.
Special oil for vacuum pumps. 500 cc can.


text:
By Roderic O'Gorman Wednesday 12 Jan 2022, 2:00 PM
Wed 12:00 PM 7,467 Views 7 Comments
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Roderic O'Gorman
Updated Wed 2:00 PM
FOR DECADES, ADOPTED people in Ireland have been denied a fundamental right many of us exercise without a second thought.
A court ruling in the late 1990s found that the adopted person's right to information had to be balanced with their parent's right to privacy.
In practice, this meant that adopted people who wanted to access their most basic documents – like their birth certificate – could be denied that on the basis it would be an infringement of their parent's right to privacy.
Previous attempts by successive governments to legislate to change this faltered, and the situation has long since remained the same.
Today's changes
Today, I believe we are on the cusp of righting this historic wrong. The Birth Information and Tracing Bill, published today, will provide a statutory right to every adopted person in Ireland, those adopted people now living abroad, and others with questions in relation to their origins, to full and complete information about their birth, their early life and their origins.
It will restore to adopted people, information that so many of us take for granted as part of our own, personal stories.
The legislation gives access to a wide range of critical information – including full and un-redacted access to birth certificates and baptismal certificates, something which has de facto been denied to thousands for decades.
As well as resolving the issue of access to personal information, the Bill establishes a national tracing service for the first time.
This will support adopted people, or those who have children who were adopted to others, to find, share information and make contact with family members, where that is the wish of both parties. This service will be used not just by a person who was adopted, boarded out or illegally registered, but also by their parents, grandparents, siblings, and other extended family and friends.
The new tracing service will work in conjunction with a new Contact Preference Register, whereby adopted people, those subject to illegal birth registrations, parents whose children were adopted and others can indicate if they would like to make contact, share information, or not have any contact.
12.01.22 Adopted people to get access to their birth certs and other records under new legislation
12.01.22 Adopted people will no longer have to attend mandatory information session when seeking records
12.01.22 Mother told daughter would 'get a needle in her arm every day' until she signed adoption papers
How will this work in practice?
If the legislation is passed by the Dáil and the Seanad and signed into law, we will run a national information campaign, informing adopted people and their parents or siblings that they can register whether they wish to have contact with their relation.
After three months, an adopted person can request their information from Tusla or the Adoption Authority of Ireland. If that person's parent has registered a no contact preference, the adopted person will receive a phone call informing them of that preference.
In this way, we are balancing those competing EU and constitutional rights of the person and their parent, but doing so in a manner that is fair, and will ensure people can always access their personal information.
The adopted person will then receive their information. While the legislation covers the most basic items of identity like birth certificates and baptism certs, it also covers much more.
It includes information about their early life circumstances, where they lived, if and when they were baptised, how long they spent with their mother and key medical information about themselves and their genetic relatives. It will also encompass any letters or mementoes that a parent may have left for their child.
Badly needed
Access to these vital records are long overdue for so many people, and I am determined to get this legislation passed as soon as possible. We will be bringing it into the Dáil next week and hope to see it passed and enacted within months.
In publishing this legislation today, it is important to acknowledge that we would not be at this point without the years of perseverance, campaigning and hard work of many thousands of adopted people in Ireland. This is a fight that they never should have had to engage in in the first place.
The State has, over decades, repeatedly failed to vindicate the most fundamental right of adopted people to know their origins. This bill represents a major step towards redressing this issue and finally providing adopted people with their full information.
Roderic O'Gorman is Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration, and Youth. He is Green Party TD for Dublin West.
@rodericogorman
See more articles by Roderic O'Gorman
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Q: python3 formatting SQL response from rows to string im trying to print values from database and im getting this output:
[('CPDK0NHYX9JUSZUYASRVFNOMKH',), ('CPDK0KUEQULOAYXHSGUEZQGNFK',), ('CPDK0MOBWIG0T5Z76BUVXU5Y5N',), ('CPDK0FZE3LDHXEJRREMR0QZ0MH',)]

but will like to have this fromat:
'CPDK0NHYX9JUSZUYASRVFNOMKH'|'CPDK0KUEQULOAYXHSGUEZQGNFK'|'CPDK0MOBWIG0T5Z76BUVXU5Y5N'|'CPDK0FZE3LDHXEJRREMR0QZ0MH'

Python3
existing code
from coinpayments import CoinPaymentsAPI
from datetime import datetime
from lib.connect import *
import argparse
import json

sql = 'SELECT txn_id FROM coinpayment_transactions WHERE status = 0 '

mycursor.execute(sql)

result = mycursor.fetchall()

mydb.close()

print(result)

A: What you are getting is a list of tuples and it is stored in result object. If you want the output to be formatted the way you say then do this
#Paste this instead of print(result)
output=''

for i in result:
    if (output!=''):
        output=output+'|'+"'"+i[0]+"'"
    else:
        output=output+"'"+i[0]+"'"
print(output)

The better way to do these kinds of thing is using join and format() methods of string.

A: Here is your solution:
output = '|'.join([f"'{row[0]}'" for row in result])
print(output)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Wired with 22 AWG vintage push-back wire for that vintage look and sound. Soldered connections to the input jack are insulated with heat-shrink to ensure durability and long life. If you are installing this on an import guitar with metric sized pots you may need to ream your pickguard holes to accept the slightly larger US-Spec pots and buy US-Spec knobs.


Squeezebox : Community : Forums > User Forums > General Discussion > Re: In anticipation of my new SQUEEZEBOX - what should Ido?
View Full Version : Re: In anticipation of my new SQUEEZEBOX - what should Ido?
will find inconsistencies and errors.
glitches in how SlimServer will list things.
differentiate the music according to your tastes.
you will notice the difference on decent speakers.
> Maxtor One Touch hard drive.
> stuff that I took off of my MP3 player.
> So, yes, I am ready to go on that front.
> how they get installed.
> Thanks so much for the advice here.
> just came out a few months ago.
> Are you saying that it's more complicated than that?
the GX is entirely different IIRC. MIMO and all that.
> and migrate that program to its receiver?
just the display and playback circuitry.


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Store/Books/Winters, Ben
Underground Airlines
Winters, Ben
A gifted young black man calling himself Victor has struck a bargain with federal law enforcement, working as a bounty hunter for the US Marshall Service. He's got plenty of work. In this version of America, slavery continues in four states called "the Hard Four." On the trail of a runaway known as Jackdaw, Victor arrives in Indianapolis knowing that something isn't right--with the case file, with his work, and with the country itself.
A mystery to himself, Victor suppresses his memories of his childhood on a plantation, and works to infiltrate the local cell of a abolitionist movement called the Underground Airlines. Tracking Jackdaw through the back rooms of churches, empty parking garages, hotels, and medical offices, Victor believes he's hot on the trail. But his strange, increasingly uncanny pursuit is complicated by a boss who won't reveal the extraordinary stakes of Jackdaw's case, as well as by a heartbreaking young woman and her child who may be Victor's salvation. Victor himself may be the biggest obstacle of all--though his true self remains buried, it threatens to surface.
Victor believes himself to be a good man doing bad work, unwilling to give up the freedom he has worked so hard to earn. But in pursuing Jackdaw, Victor discovers secrets at the core of the country's arrangement with the Hard Four, secrets the government will preserve at any cost.


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Home > Education, Education Technology & MOOCs > Education, EdTech + MOOCs Business Statistics Analysis
Education, EdTech + MOOCs Business Statistics Analysis, Business and Industry Statistics
Complete List of Statistics in This IndustryGlobal Education Statistics and Market Size OverviewSchool Enrollment of the Population 3 Years Old and Over, by Level of School, U.S.: 1964-2017U.S. Population Age 25 and Older, by Educational Attainment: 1940-2018PreK-12th Grade Student Enrollment, By School Level & Race/Ethnicity, U.S.: Selected Years, 1995-2017Number & Percent Distribution of All Children Ages 5-17 Who Were Homeschooled & Homeschooling Rate, By Selected Characteristics, U.S.: 2011-2012Number & Percent Distribution of Public Elementary & Secondary Students & Schools, By Traditional or Charter School Status & Selected Characteristics: 2000-2001 & 2016-2017Total & Current Expenditures Per Pupil in Public Elementary & Secondary Schools, U.S.: Selected Years, 1919-2016Government & Private Expenditures on All Education Institutions, as a Percent of GDP, By Country: Selected Years, 2005-2015Average PISA Test Scores for Mathematics, Selected OECD & Non-OECD Countries: 2015Average PISA Test Scores for Reading, Selected OECD & Non-OECD Countries: 2015Average PISA Test Scores for Science, Selected OECD & Non-OECD Countries: 2015Total Enrollment, Percent of Students Receiving Student Loans & Average Loan Amount at Public, Private Not-for-Profit & Private For-Profit 4-Year Colleges, U.S.: 2000-2012Average Annual Costs for Full-Time Undergraduates at Degree-Granting Post-Secondary Institutions, U.S.: 1966-2018Percentage of College Undergraduates Receiving Student Loans, By Selected Student Characteristics, U.S.: 1999–2000, 2011-12 & 2015–16Average Cumulative Loan Amount for College Undergraduates Receiving Student Loans, By Selected Student Characteristics, U.S.: 1999–2000, 2011-12 & 2015–16Educational Services Industry Revenue, U.S.: 2013-3rd Quarter 2018Employment in Education Occupations, U.S.: May 2018
U.S. Education Statistics Overview
(Latest Year Available)
I. Student Population K-12
Total Student Population: PreK-12th Grade, Public and Private
Mil.


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STS-37 e тридесет и деветата мисия на НАСА по програмата Спейс шатъл и осми полет на совалката Атлантис. Основната задача на тази мисия е извеждането в космоса на рентгеновата гама-обсерватория "Комптън".

Екипаж

 Броят на полетите е преди и включително тази мисия.

Полетът
Стартът на мисията е планиран и осъществен за 5 април 1991 г. в 14:18 UTC.

Основният полезен товар е гама-лъчевата обсерватория (CGRO) е изведен на третия ден от полета. Това е втората от четирите планирани големи космически обсерватории на НАСА (първата е космическия телескоп Хъбъл, стартирала с мисия STS-31 през април 1990 г.). С негова помощ се наблюдават в продължение на 2 години високоенергийни гама излъчвания, които не могат да проникнат през земната атмосфера. Със своето тегло от повече от 15 тона, той е най-тежкият спътник, намиращ се в ниска орбита и изведен от космическа совалка. Той е и първият спътник, имащ възможност за дозареждане с гориво от совалката. След пет месеца в космоса, през които носи името Gamma Ray Observatory е наречен на името на Нобеловия лауреат Артър Холи Комптън (Compton Gamma Ray Observatory)
След няколко месеца той е бил в чест на физик и Нобелов лауреат Артър Холи Комптън в Compton Gamma Ray обсерватория преименува.

При извеждането от товарния отсек се установява, че антената за контрол на телескопа не се е разтворила. Затова се налага да се направи извънредно излизане в открития космос. Това е първата непланирана космическа разходка от мисия STS-51D насам (април 1985 г.). На следващия ден се осъществява първата планирана космическа разходка от мисия STS-61B насам (ноември 1985 г.). По време на някое от излизанията се оказва, че ръкавицата на единия от астронавтите (не се разкрива кой от двамата) е пробита вероятно от космически боклук. Любопитното е, че пробивът е забелязан чак след приключване на мисията по излизането в открития космос и връщането на борда на совалката, тъй като не е имало спад на налягане в костюма.

Кацане става на 11 април 1991 г., в 13:55 UTC на писта 33 на военновъздушната база "Едуардс" в Калифорния. Заради лошото време в района на базата кацането е отложено с 1 ден. Седмица по-късно совалката е транспортирана до космическия център "Джон Ф. Кенеди".

Параметри на мисията
 Маса:
 При старта: 116 040 кг
 При кацането: 86 651 кг
 Полезен товар: 17 204 кг
 Перигей: 450 км
 Апогей: 462 км
 Инклинация: 28,5°
 Орбитален период: 93.7 мин

Космически разходки

Галерия

Външни препратки
 Хронология на мисията
 STS-37 Видеоакценти от мисията

А STS-037

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Overall HIV prevalence stabilises at 11% in South Africa, with decreases in younger age groups
This article is more than 12 years old. Click here for more recent articles on this topic
Results of three national HIV household surveys spanning six years, presented at the 17th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) in San Francisco, indicate that HIV prevalence has stabilised at 11% in South Africa, with signs that the rate of infection is falling in younger age groups.
Five and a half million South Africans live with HIV, almost a quarter of the total in sub-Saharan Africa.
The household surveys were conducted in 2002, 2005 and 2008, and another is planned for 2011. They collected data on HIV status, sociodemographic characteristics and behavioural factors of adults and children at 1000 sites throughout the country.
statistical significance
Statistical tests are used to judge whether the results of a study could be due to chance and would not be confirmed if the study was repeated. If result is probably not due to chance, the results are 'statistically significant'.
opportunistic infection (OI)
An infection that occurs more frequently or is more severe in people with weakened immune systems, such as people with low CD4 counts, than in people with healthy immune systems. Opportunistic infections common in people with advanced HIV disease include Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia; Kaposi sarcoma; cryptosporidiosis; histoplasmosis; other parasitic, viral, and fungal infections; and some types of cancer.
mother-to-child transmission (MTCT)
Transmission of HIV from a mother to her unborn child in the womb or during birth, or to infants via breast milk. Also known as vertical transmission.
The first survey tested saliva specimens for HIV while the second and third surveys tested dried blood spot specimens.
Nearly 8500 people were surveyed in 2002 and 16,000 and 15,000 respectively in 2005 and 2008.
Overall HIV prevalence has stabilised, with the surveys showing an HIV prevalence of 11.4% in 2002 and 10.9% in the other two years.
Among children aged 2 to 14, HIV prevalence decreased significantly from 5.6% in 2002 (95% confidence interval [CI], 3.7-7.4) to 2.5% in 2008 (95% CI, 1.9-3.5), probably due to increasing coverage of prevention of mother-to-child transmission.
HIV prevalence has stabilised, or is possibly starting to go down, in young people aged 15 to 24: it was 9.3% in 2002 and 8.7% in 2008. It increased in the core group of adults aged 15 to 49 from 15.5% in 2002 to 16.2% in 2005 and 16.8% in 2008. In neither of these age groups, however, were the changes statistically significant.
South Africa also now has the largest HIV treatment programme in the world, with an exponential expansion in the numbers of people taking treatment from nearly 33,000 in January 2005 to 744,000 in March 2009. Rather than ask people directly, the 2005 and 2008 surveys screened the blood specimens of HIV-positive people for antiretroviral drugs. In 2008, antiretroviral drugs were detected in 16.6% of specimens.
More news from South Africa
The researchers calculated that the effect of highly active antiretroviral treatment (HAART) at present was to increase HIV prevalence due to lower mortality: they estimated that without treatment prevalence among adults aged 15 to 49 would have been 1.7% lower in 2008, i.e. 15.2% instead of 16.9%.
HIV incidence was calculated using two methods. One, which calculated the incidence in young people by extrapolating directly from new infections and estimating the percentage that were recent, found that annual incidence in 18 year olds had declined from 1.8% in 2005, the peak incidence year, to 0.8% in 2008.
The second method of calculating incidence involved observing prevalence in sequential age groups. For instance, if prevalence is compared in 15 to 25 year olds in 2002 versus 18 to 28 year olds in 2005 and 21 to 31 year olds in 2008, an estimate can be made of the number of new infections that were occurring per year. The fact that three surveys have now been done then allows for this cumulative incidence to be compared with the same age groups in subsequent surveys.
More news from CROI 2010
This measure yielded an estimate of annual incidence of 2.0% in 2002-05 compared with 1.3% in 2005-08 in 15 to 49 year olds. This 35% decline did not reach statistical significance. However incidence declined more dramatically in young women aged 15 to 24, among whom there was a statistically significant decline in estimated annual incidence from 5.5% in 2003-05 to 2.2% in 2005-08.
Two trends are probably responsible for these estimated changes in incidence. Among survey respondents aged 15 to 49, reported condom use at last sex increased significantly from 31.3% in 2002 to 64.8% in 2008. There were particularly significant increases among women aged 15 to 49 and people aged over 50.
At the same time, the proportion of people who had ever been tested for HIV increased significantly from 25% to 56% between 2003 and 2008, while the proportion tested in the last twelve months increased from 12% in 2005 to 25% in 2008.
No changes were found in levels of other risk factors such as intergenerational sex or multiple partners.
Presenter Thomas Rehle commented that the observed figures for HIV prevalence masked two different trends, increasing coverage of ARVs and increased condom use, and these needed to be disentangled to unearth actual trends. A much higher coverage of ARVs over a longer period would have to happen for HIV treatment to have a positive effect on incidence, he added.
He recommended incorporating the testing of dried blood spots for antiretroviral drugs into routine surveillance as a means of estimating antiretroviral uptake levels.
You can view the abstract on the official conference website.
You can also view a webcast and slides of this session on the official conference website.
Rehle T et al. Trends in HIV prevalence, incidence, and risk behaviors among children, youth, and adults in South Africa, 2002 to 2008. Seventeenth Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections, San Francisco, abstract 37, 2010.
Ethnic & cultural minorities
Equity in HIV funding: the right thing to do, cheaper, and more effective
As HIV incidence declines in South Africa, new infections are concentrating in those over 25
US: Minority MSM Groups Need Increased Access to HIV Services
In order to reach established goals in reducing HIV infection in the US, access to HIV services must be improved for men who have sex with men (MSM) but especially Black, Hispanic/Latino and younger MSM, according to a recent Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).
Contagion Live
HIV prevention must be 'tailored to the needs of trans individuals'
The meta-study analyzed data from 98 existing studies conducted in 34 nations from January 2000 to January 2019. It concluded that 19.9% of trans feminine individuals were HIV positive, as were 2.56% of transmasculine people.
WHO and Global Fund Warn Inequalities Block Progress Towards Ending AIDS, TB and Malaria
The report shows that while national averages of HIV, TB and malaria indicators have generally improved in the past decade, the poorest, least educated and rural subgroups tend to remain at a disadvantage across most HIV, TB and malaria indicators.
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
Tuberculosis & HIV
Stop TB Partnership Warns of Increase in Tuberculosis Deaths Among People Living with HIV for the First Time in Over a Decade
Trend expected to continue without urgent investments in TB services to recover from impact of COVID-19
Stop TB Partnership
Health monitoring in resource-limited settings
Science of sequencing: the African researchers keeping pace with new Covid variants
In Africa, there are over 500 scientists working in 30 countries involved in sequencing, according to the South Africa-based Human Heredity and Health in Africa (H3Africa) initiative, which aims to create and support a pan-continental network of laboratories conducting research in genomic sciences. But the continent lags far behind the rest of the world when it comes to sequencing, said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa. "Only 1 per cent of over 3 million Covid-19 sequences conducted worldwide occur in Africa," she said in September.


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Standing up for Human Rights
Human rights defenders come under attack everday as your Member of Parliament I do my best to raise their cases. As Human Rights Watch have noted, human rights are under threat across the world from both traditional authoritarian regimes like Saudi Arabia and new authoritarians who bolster their power by demonizing and attacking minorities like Durente in the Philippines or Donald Trump in …
Killing of Protestors in Gaza
I have been horrified by slaughter of children, women and men by the Israeli Defence Force in Gaza. I have publicly condemned the actions of the IDF on the instructions of the Israeli government. I wrote to the Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson on the 31st March demanding to know why he had remained silent on the atrocities that weekend and what action the UK …
The BBC and the Israel – Palestine Conflict
I get emails from people who support both sides of the Israel – Palestine conflict alleging that the BBC is biased against "their" side and minimising violence by the other side. This reflects the importance of this issue and the deep emotions on both sides of the debate concerning the ongoing violence, injury and death. It is not for me as a …
I woke up this morning to the overnight news that the UK had taken part in air strikes in Syria alongside the USA and France. I believe this action is illegal under international law. It has not been requested by the Syrian Government. There is no UN Security Resolution authorising it. It is not an act of self-defence. Those are …
Time is Long Overdue for Reform of Weapons Export Rules
In her speech to Labour Party conference this week, my colleague, Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry MP made the very welcome announcement that the next Labour Government will completely reform the legal and regulatory framework governing the export of arms from the UK to foreign governments. All over the world the place you are most likely to find "Made in …
My Letter to Theresa May about Aid Airdrops in Syria
Last month, along with several of my Labour colleagues, I wrote to Prime Minister Theresa May about the unfolding humanitarian catastrophe in Syria. Responding to the calls for airdrops in Syria, the UK Government said that "preparations for airdrops will now take place and go forward rapidly because there isn't a moment to lose". Almost 200 days later, thousands of Syrians are …
Air Strikes in Syria – Vote
Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to contact me with their views about the Government's proposal to carry out air strikes in Syria and the likely vote in parliament. We have all been horrified by the massacres in Paris, Beirut, Tunisia and elsewhere and are united in our desire to see the defeat of ISIL/Daesh. Hundreds and …


Amsterdam is a city with a big history and culture. There's always something interesting to see and do here. Visit the museum of one of the great Dutch painters, learn all about the story of Anne Frank and be where she lived in 'the Achterhuis'. Enjoy our cultural & musical festivals, lasting through spring & summer and visit the various local markets or take a tour on the canals.


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Facts So Romantic On Biology
Why Do Amputees Feel the Ache of Nothingness?
Posted By Eliza Strickland on Aug 18, 2014
An amputation guide for surgeons from 1739The Hagströmer Medico-Historical Library
For amputees, it's adding insult to injury. They've already lost pieces of themselves that they thought they could always count on, limbs that they first discovered while waving the chubby things in their cribs. Yet after that life-changing loss comes a new kind of suffering: They begin to feel pain in the voids, in the places where their limbs used to be.
The phenomenon of phantom limb pain is both cruel and common; some studies have estimated that about 75 percent of amputees feel pain in their nonexistent limbs. It's also so mysterious that psychologists, doctors, and neuroscientists have argued for centuries about the pain's cause, with some asserting that the trouble is manufactured in the mind, and others insisting that it comes from a bodily malfunction. Now a study by Israeli and Albanian researchers has brought a new twist.
The affliction, which was described as early as the 1500s, was long thought to be a product of a mind twisted by loss; in the early 20th century, psychologists formalized this idea with arguments that the pain stemmed from some "neurotic process" or "obsession" with the missing limb. In later decades, scientists began to spurn psychoanalytic explanations for mental problems and turned instead toward neurological explanations. Doctors identified overgrowths of nerve fibers in amputees' limb stumps, called neuromas, and declared that phantom limb pain must originate in signals from those misfiring peripheral nerves.
Then the pendulum swung back again. Over the last 20 years, as brain science has increasingly taken the spotlight, researchers consensed around a top-down explanation for the phenomenon. Imaging techniques revealed that the area of the cortex responsible for receiving signals from the amputated limb gets taken over, essentially colonized, by neurons associated with other body parts. Why that "cortical reorganization" should result in phantom pain—well, that scientists couldn't exactly say. But there was strong evidence for a relationship. One influential paper, published in 1995 in Nature, found that amputees with more extensive brain changes experienced greater pain in their phantom limbs.
The new research, published in the journal Pain, clashes with the modern consensus around a neurological cause—and also with the old ideas about psychological causes. The study involved amputees in Albania, many of whom had lost legs when they stepped on landmines, and Israel. These 31 amputees described a variety of agonies in their phantom limbs, including "electric shock–like," "shooting," "constricting," and "pulsating" pains.
The researchers didn't focus on the nerves in these patients' limb stumps, but rather on clusters of neurons near the spinal cord called dorsal root ganglia, which relay sensory information from the peripheral nervous system on toward the brain. When the researchers injected an anesthetic in the ganglia associated with the amputees' missing limbs, the subjects swiftly reported that their phantom limb pains vanished—as, indeed, did the whole sensation of having phantom limbs. Sham injections had no effect.
The findings support a "bottom-up" theory of phantom pain, the researchers write: If the pain originated in the brain, blocking the activity of neurons way down the spinal cord would provide no relief. While the conscious perception of pain "undoubtedly" involves processing in the central nervous system (the brain and spinal cord), the authors write, "the raw feel of a phantom limb" comes from activity in the peripheral nervous system (nerves beyond beyond the brain and spinal cord). The researchers also posit that the cortical reorganization that's been observed isn't the cause of the pain; rather, both the brain changes and the pain may stem from irregular activity in the peripheral nerves.
The well-known neuroscientist V.S. Ramachandran, of the University of California, San Diego, has conducted research on ways to modulate phantom limb sensations with brain tricks alone, potentially implicating the central nervous system as the origin of phantom pain. But when asked about the new research, Ramachandran replies that a "false dichotomy" has been set up between peripheral- and central-nervous-system explanations. Instead, he says, we should consider an amputee's perception of a twinge in his missing leg as akin to his perception of the red color of a fire engine. In color vision, the cone cells in the retina respond to the wavelengths of light, but "the final perception of color depends on the brain."
Regardless of the etiology, the new research could lead to real therapeutic benefits for amputees. The researchers note that a low dose of anesthetic was sufficient to provide relief to the subjects in their experiment, and they suggest that existing implantable pump systems could be used to provide extended pain relief. And really, amputees who suffer from shooting pains in their phantom limbs probably don't care where the pain comes from—they just want it to stop.
Eliza Strickland is an associate editor for the science and technology magazine IEEE Spectrum. Find her on Twitter @NewsBeagle.
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from the studio of dorothy donna parker: * House update ..
We are now into the chinking stage. I'm not really sure what you call it, however it's makes a lot of noise. A chisel is held in one hand, a hammer in the other, and bits of the plaster are removed making holes. Now that I have two a two story house the bottom plaster must match the top and in order to do that the chinks must be made. After that the plaster is applied, the old and new plaster will be seamless.
Men at work. Front of house facing street.
Here you can really see the chinks. Every chick is a very solid pound of a hammer. You can imagine my days.
Homage to Frida is complete. I will have a wall of nichos in my studio. They are very addictive and fun to do.
Wow - I have been trying to leave a comment and I seem to just get a series of ever-continuing "9"s rolling across the screen. Just realized that my "9" was stuck! Is this the universe trying to tell me something?? 9 is my lucky number?? or perhaps it's time for a new keyboard!
Anyway, I'm so happy to see this progress. But what a pain with the chinking! This too will pass! I can relate to the noise. It's now one year since our neighbors started their current project with the constant trucks roaring up the driveway. Oh well. Could be worse. I'm glad to be back and look forward to catching up on things!!
HA HA Patty! Still laughing about number '9'. How is the 'growth' going with the noise at your neighbours? I still have another couple of days of 'chinking' inside the walls - should be interesting. Glad your home. Look forward to hearing more about your journey.


Amanda Cooper Benbow has spent the last 10 plus years working with businesses. A native Houstonian, she has helped more than 2,500 businesses increase productivity and profitability with a servant leadership approach. Amanda successfully partners with business leaders across the nation to identify areas in which their businesses can maximize their organizational success through time-tested employment strategies and business services – all of which are designed to shift management focus away from administrative headaches and towards achieving and exceeding company goals.
With Insperity, Amanda has a multi-disciplinary team of experts at her disposal to empower business leaders to be more systematic and strategic regarding employees and the role they play in the success of their companies. Insperity, a trusted advisor to America's best businesses for over 30 years, provides an array of human resources and business solutions designed to help improve business performance. Serving more than 100,000 businesses with over 2 million employees in all 50 states, Insperity's mission is to help businesses succeed so that communities prosper.
Additionally Amanda is working with numerous private equity firms handling mergers and acquisitions with relative ease, whether it's providing the human resources infrastructure necessary to bring on a new business successfully or doing the due diligence required to ensure that the human capital side of the business is sound enough to facilitate a sale.
While not at the office, Amanda is mother to one adorable little girl, a wife to an oil & gas entrepreneur and dedicated philanthropist. She enjoys traveling with her family, is an enthusiastic about competitive BBQ contest. Amanda always has the best interest of her peers and clients at heart!


Melee attack while reloading and attempting to shoot breaks reload, I'm not talking about how a melee strike should interrupt / cancel the reload in progress.
This results the weapon with what ever amount of ammo left can't fire and hitting the reload button will not trigger a reload rendering it useless.
Under the same circumstance a weapon can also glitch out, indicate it has fully reloaded but isn't consuming any ammo when fired and stops dealing damage despite impact animation playing.
If the weapons stops functioning and doesn't want to reload it can be fixed by executing a melee strike first, typically reload will function after this.
When the weapon is stuck at full ammo and isn't dealing any damage, then there is no known workaround that I'm aware off that resolves this issue in game ending match and rejoining the session.
Thank you for your feedback. I've also seen your post on the Steam thread.
We are testing a fix for this issue.
The repro on our side is to get hit a lot by ennemies while reloading. Then your ammo stays full and you deal no damage until you stop shooting.


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CAIRO -- Egypt officially reopened its airspace to Qatari aircraft on Tuesday, ending over three years' airspace ban on the Gulf state, official news agency MENA reported on Tuesday.
"The move allows EgyptAir, the country's flag carrier, and Qatar Airways to resume air traffic and exchange flight schedules between the Egyptian and Qatari civil authorities for approval," chairman of Egypt's Civil Aviation Authority Ashraf Noweir was quoted by MENA as saying. (Egypt-Qatar-Airspace)
TOKYO -- Domestic violence cases in Japan marked a record high of over 130,000 in fiscal 2020, as people were more stressed and worried about life amid the COVID-19 pandemic that forced them to spend more time at home, a government survey showed on Tuesday.
The total number of cases amounted to 132,355 from April to November in 2020, four months before the end of the fiscal year on March 31, surpassing the fiscal 2019 level by 13,000. (Japan-Domestic-Violence)
CAIRO -- Egypt's foreign ministry condemned on Tuesday the Israeli government approval for building 800 new settlement units in the occupied West Bank.
"It is a new violation of international legitimacy decisions," Ahmed Hafez, spokesperson of the ministry said. (Egypt-FM-Israel Settlements)
BAGHDAD -- Seven militants of the Islamic State (IS) group were killed on Tuesday in U.S.-led coalition airstrikes on an IS hideout in Iraq's northern province of Kirkuk, the Iraqi military said.
The International coalition aircraft conducted two airstrikes at dawn on an IS position in a rugged area named Wadi al-Shay in the southern part of the province, the media office of the Joint Operations Command (JOC) said in a statement. (Iraq-IS-Airstrikes) Enditem


Many diseases begin long before symptoms appear in your pet. Animals cannot talk, and instinctively hide their pain, making it difficult to assess symptoms of disease or illness. For these reasons, the vets at Melton Veterinary Hospital in Bastrop, Louisiana, encourage all our clients to gain a complete picture of their pet's health through Early Disease Detection Testing. We believe it is vital to have regular early disease detection testing to monitor your pet's overall health.
Blood Chemistry Panel to measure a variety of substances in the blood; helpful in diagnosing diabetes, liver and kidney disease.
Complete Blood Count for a comprehensive look at blood cells; helpful in diagnosing conditions such as anemia, infection, and dehydration.
Urinalysis for specific data about kidney and urinary tract function, any abnormalities associated with the kidney or bladder, including kidney and urinary tract infections, diabetes, and kidney stones.
With Early Detection Panels, we can diagnose diseases before your pet displasy any symptoms. By catching these diseases early, we can give your pet the best possible quality of life through environmental and dietary changes and any necessary treatments. To schedule an EDP for your pet, call our office today at Melton Veterinary Hospital in Bastrop, Louisiana.


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Former Pitbull Manager Opens World Famous House of Mac
by Kevin Ross January 18, 2018 August 9, 2018 0
Former Pitbull Manager Strikes Up His own Success with Eatery
Two years of phenomenal food truck success, die-hard celebrity fans, and over 31K Instagram followers, the World Famous House of Mac opens its first ever free-standing restaurant in South Beach, Miami on Friday, Dec. 2nd.
Known for their unique spin on traditional cuisine, owner Derrick Turton, also known as "Chef Teach", whips up succulent delights like jerk salmon pasta, fried chicken & pumpkin spice waffles, and his signature World Famous Mac & Cheese.
Since World Famous House of Mac's inception in 2015, Teach could be spotted in his mobile food truck bearing his trademark logo, delivering his irresistible dishes at the Wynwood Yard in South Florida. The mac and cheese-centric eatery took Miami's dining scene to exciting new heights as fans lined around for blocks to sample the mouthwatering mixed-style Caribbean soul-food. His elaborate Caribbean flair has enticed locals and celebrities alike to claim Chef Teach as their "go-to guy" for catering events.
Teach attended culinary school in 1998, but began his professional career in the music industry – he was Pitbull's Manager for more than 13 years while working alongside other hip-hop royalty such as A$AP Rocky and Yo Gotti. During his time in the music industry, Teach developed friendships with artists such as N.O.R.E. and Fat Joe in and out of the studio. Next thing you know, he often found himself cooking amazing dishes for his friends.
After devouring Teach's decadent variations of mac and cheese and discovering his unsurpassed culinary talent, friends like Bun B encouraged Teach to "take the cooking thing more seriously." Bun B convinced Teach to prepare some of his signature dishes for his guests and observe their reactions, just to show Teach how good he really was.
Then after his father's passing in 2013, Teach felt an immense urge to do something meaningful with his life, inspiring him to take his friends' advice, circle back to his culinary roots, and build his legacy as "Chef Teach." In honor of his beloved father, Teach designed a caricature of his father's face, which is now the renowned World Famous Mac and Cheese logo.
Celebrities like Rick Ross, Serena Williams, NORE, Yo Gatti, Fat Joe and A$AP Mob are huge fans of Chef Teach's scrumptious dishes. The coolest recognition yet? According to Teach himself, the Venus and Serena Williams Invitational was amongst his biggest and most prestigious events thus far.
World Famous House of Mac top picks include the World-Famous Five Cheese Truffle Mac, pizza mac, lobster mac, and the buttermilk fried chicken with waffles. With pescatarian, vegetarian and vegan options, everyone can find delicious dishes to devour.
Located in the in the heart of South Beach at 1216 Washington Ave in Miami Beach, World Famous House of Mac is an up-beat restaurant designed with rich, rustic wood treatments and oversized leather banquets, giving the space a relaxed speakeasy vibe with vintage, industrial flair. The ambiance and chef-driven comfort food places World Famous House of Mac amongst Miami's most popular dining spots.
Chef TeachDerrick TurtonWorld Famous House of Mac
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Gordon Ramsay HELL'S KITCHEN Restaurant Grand Opening at Caesars Palace Las Vegas
HOW FORMER MUSIC MANAGER, DERRICK TURTON, BECAME A MAC & CHEESE MOGUL WITH A STAR STUDDED FAN BASE
ace October 28, 2019 October 28, 2019


The Pearl Single Drop Necklace combines all of the features that Melissa Joy Manning is best known for. Here she uses both recycled silver and gold in her design. With the primary chain being made out of silver, she then mixes in larger loops made out of gold. The pearl itself sits on a gold loop and has been left in its natural and raw state.
Recycled sterling silver and 14 k gold.


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Title Execution of Jews in the former Jewish colony Lenindorf
1 Execution site(s)
Kind of place before :
Silo pit
Memorials :
Period of occupation:
Number of victims :
Witness interview
Alexandra B., born in 1935, says: "All the local Jews were gathered at school. They stayed there overnight. The victims did not suspect they would be killed. However, before the Germans' arrival, they were warned. There were posters everywhere in the village. As a result, some Jews managed to evacuate. The Jews understood what was happening in the morning when the first groups were taken away to be shot. They could hear them screaming." (Testimony n°291 interviewed in Leninske on January 15th, 2006)
Soviet archives
"On October 3rd, 1941, about 30 Germans arrived in Lenindorf from the Skadovsk district by truck. They entered the houses looking for Jewish families. After they had gathered all the Jews, they rounded-up to the selsoviet. In all, they gathered 450 Jews, including men, women, children, elder people and the sick. They were all transported to the silo pits outside the village and shot. The silo pits were located 1 kilometer north of Lenindorf. According to Hryhorii I., the victims were thrown into the pits and shot inside. [Deposition of witness Yevdokiia L. given to the State Extraordinary Commission on September 29th, 1944; RG 22.002M: 7021-77-419]
Leninske, known as Karabulat and Lenindorf, is located 60 km south of Kherson. It was founded in 1924 as a Jewish agricultural colony following the policy of the Russian government to resettle the Jews from the northwestern regions of Russian Empire to cultivate the deserted land in southern Ukraine. At the beginning the economic situation of the residents of newly-created colony was difficult because of lack of agricultural experience. Most of the settlers were peasants, some were artisans. The colony was run by starosta. According to the census of 1931, 867 persons lived in Lenindorf, the majority of them were Jewish. There was a Yiddish school. The Jewish international organizations such as The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and the Jewish Colonization Association played an important role in the development of local economic situation supplying the colonists with agricultural equipment, seeds, and helping them to buy livestock. In 1941, a lot of Jews living in western regions of Ukraine evacuated to the south, as a result the population of Lenindorf increased to 2,000 people. After the war, the village of Lenindorf was renamed in Leninske.
Holocaust by bullets in figures
Leninske was occupied in mid-September, 1941. The majority of Jews managed to evacuate east by that time. Those who stayed behind, 450 Jews, were rounded-up the day before the shooting and locked up in the local school, where they spent a night. The following day, they were taken in groups to the silo pits, located 1km away north of the village and shot. The execution was carried out on October 3rd, 1941 by Einzatzgruppe D. After the war, the corpses were reburied in Mykhailivka.
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text:
Naming Conventions in Angular2
---

In general Angular2 should follow Java naming conventions.

Classes:
  - Example: `Compiler`, `ApplicationMetadata`
  - Camel case with first letter upper-case
  - In general prefer single words. (This is so that when appending `Proto` or `Factory` the class
    is still reasonable to work with.)
  - Should not end with `Impl` or any other word which describes a specific implemenation of an
    interface.

Interfaces:
  - Follow the same rules as Classes
  - Should not have `I` or `Interface` in the name or any other way of identifing it as an interface.

Methods and functions:
  - Example: `bootstrap`, `ngProbe`
  - Should be camel case with first lower case

Constants
  - Example: `CORE_DIRECTIVES`
  - Should be all uppercase with SNAKE_CASE

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Arizona's Vulture Mine and Vulture City
Author(s): Lynn Downey
Related Topics: Arizona, America Through Time, West, Latest
Discovered by Henry Wickenburg in 1863, the Vulture Mine was one of the greatest gold strikes in Western history, and went through many owners during its long life.
The first was its founder, who gave his name to the city of Wickenburg, which today thrives fifteen miles away on the Hassayampa River. Vulture City, which grew up around the mine beginning in 1880, had everything that miners, engineers, families, and absentee owners could want, from saloons to schools.
The Vulture Mine's fortunes waxed and waned from the Gilded Age through the Jazz Age, the Depression and two World Wars. As the twenty-first century dawned, Vulture City began to crumble into the desert. Today, the old mining town is being restored as a historic site.
In this book, author Lynn Downey brings the Vulture Mine and Vulture City to life through stories of fantastic ore strikes, murderous bandits, the struggle for water, and the men who came from as far away as Mexico and China to find their fortunes.
Lynn Downey is a Western historian and writer, the author of books such as Levi Strauss: The Man Who Gave Blue Jeans to the World and Arequipa Sanatorium: Life in California's Lung Resort for Women. She is also a consulting archivist and historian, and works with museums, libraries, and corporations to organize archives and create exhibits. Her clients include the Charles Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa, California, the Desert Caballeros Western Museum in Wickenburg, Arizona, and the Chemehuevi Indian tribe in Havasu Lake, California. She lives in Sonoma County, California.


text:
Featured articlesIn-DepthPolitics
Evidence, Justice, and Peace-Making in Syria
We need to remember that there have been other cases in recent history -- such as Chile and Argentina -- where conflicts had to be resolved by ignoring justice partially or fully, initially, only to come back on the agenda later. This is when archives become crucial.
Sune Haugbolle
Sune Haugbolle is Associate Professor in Global Studies at Roskilde University, Denmark. His research deals with political culture in the modern Middle East and include 'War and Memory in Lebanon' (Cambridge University Press 2010).
A 'Pyrrhic Victory'
That is what the UN's special envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura called the Syrian regime offensive in East Aleppo in an interview published on November 15, 2016. At a time when we are lost for words, those were well-chosen words.
A victory achieved at too high a cost it will certainly be: all humanitarian standards and accepted conducts of war have been transgressed in this offensive, and in the war in general. The regime may win ground and improve their strategic position, but they have tainted themselves in the eyes of Syrians and in the eyes of the world. Their allies have tainted themselves badly too, as have all parties who have committed war crimes in Syria.
Can these criminal actions ever be the basis for ruling Syria? On one level it may happen. But only if by 'rule' we mean suppress and dominate in a constant violation of the popular will backed by draconian security.
The notion of a pyrrhic victory is a good starting point for thinking about peace-making in a situation where the evidence of war crimes is clear and considerable. The question that everyone will have to reckon with in peace-making Syria is what to do with the evidence. Of course the answer to that question will largely depend on the conditions under which peace-making takes place, the military positions won and the diplomatic game on the international stage.
But whatever the conditions -- a full victory for the regime, or local control of territories as a basis for renegotiating the political order in Syria -- it is unthinkable that peace-making can ignore the archived evidence. What will happen to this material, and what kind of political work must take place to organize it and prepare legal processes? This question is likely to become a crucial one once the war is over, and even while it is going on.
No One Can Say: "We Didn't Know"
Because Syria is now one of the most documented conflicts in history, and a scattered archive of the war is under construction. Hundreds of thousands of videos, testimonies, and images exist on the internet, much of it documenting transgression of international humanitarian law. The incriminated parties are primarily the Syrian regime, but also count opposition and rebel groups, regional armies and mercenaries, and Russia and the US.
To date, hardly any research has been done to collect, compare and converge the material gathered by the many Syrian and international organizations, commissions and groups that since 2011 have recorded and catalogued war crimes, including torture, forced disappearances, bombardment of the civilian population with conventional and non-conventional weapons, massacres and wanton killing. Their aim is to ensure that an archive of human rights abuses exists which may produce some form of justice in the future.
Syrian activists and artists, and forums like SyriaUntold, have also created a substantive body of evidence and reflection on the war, which could potentially complement legal evidence in a transitional justice process aimed at retribution, healing, or both. As a whole, violence documentation in Syria constitutes an emerging and 'hybrid' archive in the sense that it consists of many types of material motivated by multiple ideological and political interests.
These acts of archiving represent a range of emotional and legalistic visions of transitional justice. Whereas Syrians and others documenting violence on the ground often seek to provoke an emotional response in the audience, legalistic advocacy seeks to "stay the hand of vengeance"1Bass, Gary J. 2000. Stay the Hand of Vengeance: The Politics of War Crimes Tribunals. Princeton: Princeton University Press. through non-emotional bureaucratic language and long-term juridical processes instituting global norms. Both approaches overlap in their insistence on creating archives for the war.
The Internet Abounds with Evidence
Atrocities filmed with mobile phones, YouTube videos, blogs, webpages and the intense media coverage of the fighting in Syria provide a raw material that organizations can mine for evidence, even if the evidence would mostly be too flimsy for it to hold up in court.
Therefore, organizations such as the Commission for International Justice and Accountability (CIJA) collect more oral and written evidence of the chain of command from top officials in the regime to special police forces and soldiers who executed and tortured protesters and opposition fighters.
These documents, smuggled out of Syria and now in multiple locations in Europe and the West, can be supplemented by violence documentation such as the Caesar files, a collection of 53,000 photos smuggled out by a regime defector, and in the end a legal case can potentially be made, either at the International Criminal Court or against individual regime members residing in Western countries. The photos show abuse and murder of prisoners by the Syrian regime.
[Photo: Images of dead bodies in Syrian prisons, taken by a Syrian government photographer, are displayed at the United Nations on March 10. The photographer, who goes by the pseudonym Caesar, took the pictures between 2011, when the Syrian uprising began, and 2013, when he fled the country. His photos will be on display at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday - 14-7-2015 (Lucas Jackson/Reuters/Landov/Fair use. All rights reserved to the author)].
Using satellite imagery and geolocation techniques, Human Rights Watch has confirmed that some of the photographs of the dead were taken in the courtyard of the 601 Military Hospital in Mezze, Damascus.
Other material, ranging from meticulous reports of every bombing and murder to forensic evidence gathering, is being put together by a complex landscape of Syrian activists, foreign states, international and national non-government organizations, as well as international institutions such as United Nations agencies. Different political interests and forces seek to remember, restore, and archive the war in Syria.
The Syrian actors include among others the Kawakibi Center for Documenting Violations, Center for Documentation of Violations in Syria, Centre for Civil Society and Democracy, Damascus Center for Human Rights Studies, Dawlaty, Local Coordination Committees in Syria, Syrian Center for Documentation, Syria Justice & Accountability Centre (SJAC), Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and Syrian Shuhada.
International organizations include the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, in addition to international NGOs such as Alkarama, Amnesty International, Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, Medicines Sans Frontiers, United States Institute of Peace, CIJA, Human Rights Watch, International Crisis Group, Justice for Syria, Reporters Without Borders, Syrian Emergency Task Force, and Syrian Human Rights Committee. This list is far from complete. All in all more than 40 documentation groups exist.
Transitional Justice and Its Various Motivations
Syrians tend to have personal reasons for collecting evidence, and many of them have close connections to opposition groups. They want to maintain the momentum of the uprising and hope for justice to be done and for regime members to be tried as part of a transition of power.
Outside actors often frame their intervention in terms of abstract notions of universal justice, preserving a workable international system, maintaining historical progression of humankind, and similar lofty ideals.
For example, the director of CIJA Bill Wiley recently told The New Yorker that his work to retrieve documentation of crimes against humanity was not about removing leaders such as Saddam Hussein and Bashar al-Assad as such, but "about sending a signal to a conflict-affected society that, from here on out, this nation will be governed on the basis of the rule of law." Of course the two aims are overlapping, which explains the collusion between Syrian and international groups.
[Photo: Former and deposed President of Iraq, Saddam Hussein, sits before an Iraqi judge at a courthouse in Baghdad, Iraq, where he has his initial interview to inform him of what he is being investigated for and his legal rights read to him - 1-7-2014 (SSGT D. MYLES CULLEN, USAF [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons)].
Where Syrian and foreign actors in the field of transitional justice evidence agree is in their reading of the Syrian conflict. They find that Syria has become emblematic of the failure of the Arab uprisings, but also of the failure of international institutions to react adequately.
The human suffering that continues apace at a staggering level undermines faith in the ability of the international legal and diplomatic community to end the fighting and begin addressing the multiple emergencies in Syria and in the region.
In that sense the situation in Syria constitutes not just a crisis for Syrians, but also for international conflict resolution. It puts into question the ability of the current international system to address the thousands of documented war crimes and crimes against humanity, defined in the ICC Rome Statute as acts "committed as part of a widespread systematic attack against any civilian population"2Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, art. 7 (1). 1998..
The "dilemmas of protection"3Stahn, Carsten. 2014. "Between Law-breaking and Law-making: Syria, Humanitarian Intervention and 'What the Law Ought to Be'". Journal of Conflict and Security Law 19 (1): 25-48. have not been resolved by existing measures such as the Responsibility to Protect doctrine and the UN Security Council.
Many actors in the conflict, from the local level of peaceful activists alienated by the militarization of their struggle, to international actors with no real belief in the diplomatic or military effort to stop the war, have instead turned to the collection of evidence as an attempt to establish a just international system. The archive they create has become an alternative location for ambitions of restoring global morality, as well as for keeping alive the original revolutionary project in Syria.
Transitional Justice Is No Miracle Cure
In fact, the paradigm has been heavily critisiced in recent years, and there are reasons to be skeptical. When it comes to Syria, I do understand the reservations some may have about focusing on transitional justice when bombs are falling in Aleppo.
Some would even argue that the focus on social and political relations in a future post-conflict setting could impede the necessary work to bring these relations about in the present. Transitional justice can become a distraction from the realities of war, a pie in the sky when the sky is filled with MIGs.
There is another way to formulate the critique. If we look at the failed peace-making attempts of the last five years, the international community and Western diplomats have never offered a vision that was both realistic and acceptable to all parties. Perhaps this was due to a basic miscalculation of the strength and tenacity of the Syrian regime and its allies Hezbollah, Iran and Russia. When the U.S., the UN envoys and key allies of the armed groups fighting the regime have talked about Syria as they imagine it after the war, they consistently assumed the defeat of the Asad regime or, at a minimum, the departure of Asad.
By weaving the thread of defeat – and a transitional phase on the road to a new political order - into their diplomatic narrative, they hoped it would become the accepted, expected outcome. The apparent failure of this teleology has gradually, since the summer of 2013, meant that diplomatic scenarios jarred with reality and could not become a platform for the coveted 'political solution'.
This Is Not a Pro-Regime Argument
In fact, I have heard it most bitterly made by members of the peaceful uprising. Looking through my field notes from summer 2013, I find a recording of a conversation with a Syrian friend who had recently arrived in Beirut.
This was shortly after the regime and Hezbollah won the battle of Qusayr, cutting supply lines between Lebanon and Homs. The Islamic State group [back then known as Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant] had appeared on the scene as an important player, and an air of defeat hang over the Syrian revolutionary community in Beirut.
From my friend's point of view, and from the point of view of many likeminded secular protestors, the tide had turned decisively on their revolution. Not only had their peaceful protests become militarized, while they were being brutalized by the regime. What was worse, the turn to armed struggle had transformed their struggle into an intractable, endless muddle of regional and international powers slugging it out by proxy.
A protracted civil war, in which the other revolutionaries -- Islamist in coloring -- were stronger and better connected, and therefore better equipped to drive the struggle against the Asad regime forward. In this disconsolate perspective, which has only become gloomier over the last three years, he hardly saw any point of talking about the revolution. War had replaced it, and that war looked like defeat.
I suggested that what needed to be done, at least, was to document the atrocities committed against civilians in the hope that justice would be done after the war. I mentioned the Violence Documentation Centre, headed by Razan Zaitouneh, as a model for revolutionary work in this protracted conflict, and as an example of the necessary work to assemble an archive of human rights abuses and, eventually, achieve transitional justice.
That remark triggered him off. "Transitional justice! This is for people who don't want to get their hands dirty. You can dream about transitional government like Kofi Annan [the UN Special Envoy to Syria 2011-12] but this is not what we need. This isn't what we needed, I mean. Like transitional government is already there and they are all sitting down together. It's not!
"And he [Bashar al-Asad] is laughing, you know. We don't need these sugarcoated words, he [Asad] will take them with his coffee, yaʻtik al-afiye [and say thank you very much]. No way. You know? We lost, it was because of these lies."
Perhaps He Had a Point
The inability of the international community to back talks of transition with diplomatic and military pressure has made a mockery of liberal political visions. When diplomat-speak provides no tangible results for the work to keep the revolution and its central ambition of a new political culture alive, it is easy to become despondent. About justice in particular.
At the same time, we need to remember that there have been other cases in recent history -- such as Chile and Argentina -- where conflicts had to be resolved by ignoring justice partially or fully, initially, only to come back on the agenda later. This is when archives become crucial.
[Photo: Collections of photos from (Argentinian) families whose children and grandchildren had disappeared - 21-11-2015 (Giselle Bordoy WMAR - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0)].
In Lebanon, where a civil society campaign after the civil war pushed for remembering and discussing the conflict, the lack of organized archives has been a serious detriment.
Seen in a larger perspective, any political peace agreement is only ever a starting point for an equally difficult transitional process of societal reconstruction and reconciliation, in which the past looms large. It is never possible to fully neglect the past. Even when a regime tries to bury them, past violations tend to return at some point.
How Could Peace-Making in Syria Begin?
The prospect of President Trump taking office in January has left the regime's main armed opponents in a dire situation. Even if Trump's policies remain to be seen, they appear to move American support further away from the Free Syrian Army, and completely away from most Islamist-oriented movements, and to favor strong cooperation with Russia.
If the current Aleppo offensive continues at its current gruesome velocity, chances are that opposition control of East Aleppo will be finished before Trump takes office, setting the scene for new conditions for peace talks.
Under such circumstances, it is hard to imagine that the UN could return to the terms stipulated in the Geneva I or II conferences of 2013 and 2014. That could provide a backs-against-the wall situation in which negotiation will be the only other option than total defeat. Nonetheless, the regime may even push for a complete victory in Idlib and the remaining rebel-held territories.
In order to avoid absolute defeat, opposition forces are likely to demand power-sharing. This, again, would follow a pattern we have seen in other transitions from war. Many peace negotiations have focused on ending violence by giving power-sharing incentives to warring parties. Lebanon is a near case in point, or, more recently, Colombia.
So far, however, the regime has tried to foreclose this opportunity by closing down dialogue over the legitimacy of all opposition groups – by calling them terrorist and denying their popular base.
This has led to a "radical disagreement". According to one of the world's leading peace researchers, Oliver Ramsbotham, a "radical disagreement" is when parties refuse to distinguish positions from interest and needs, and therefore object to reframe competition into shared problem-solving which could reshape adversarial debate into constructive controversy4Ramsbotham, Oliver. 2010. Transforming Violent Conflict: Radical Disagreement, Dialogue and Survival. London: Routledge.. In short, when there is no capacity for mutual understanding, a future political settlement seems impossible.
For the sake of Syria's future, we must hope that a settlement will come. If it does, it must also include crimes committed by regional powers, by Western countries, and indeed all involved. But pointing to violations by the U.S. and other Western armies will only amplify the infinitely larger evidence of regime violence. The regime cannot erase the war. It destroyed Hama in 1982, and managed to erase the evidence and close down discussion. But we are living in different times.
The archive of the Syrian war is there, and its workers are many and committed, even if the hard work to connect its many bodies of evidence is still to be done. That work is urgent so that the ground is prepared for reckoning with the past in peace-making Syria.
[Main image: Animated film describes how post-conflict justice could develop in Syria - 9-10-2013 (Institute for War & Peace Reporting/Fair use. All rights reserved to the author)].
Tags: Caesarfiles documentation ICC Lebanon negotiations peacemaking Syria syrianregime transitionaljustice VDC


North Amercian Release Date: September 15, 2015.
The next DLC for Bungie's MMO-like FPS is now available, so what are you waiting for, download it or buy the physical copy now.
Fans can tune in to see more of what is to come in the next Destiny update, and have a chance to interact with Bungie in various ways.
Very drastic changes are being made to Destiny in a few short weeks. Here's what you need to know!