text:
President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki on July 16, 2018. The special counsel's report details ways Kremlin intermediaries tried to woo those around Trump. | Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images
When Trump won, Putin deployed his oligarchs
After an election marred by Moscow's attempts to buoy Donald Trump's candidacy, the Russian president wanted to cash in.
By NATASHA BERTRAND
In December 2016, a few weeks after Donald Trump's surprise election victory, Russian president Vladimir Putin convened what a Russian oligarch described as an "all-hands" meeting with some of his country's top businessmen. A main topic of discussion: U.S. sanctions against Russia.
One of the oligarchs present was Petr Aven, co-founder of Alfa Bank, Russia's biggest commercial bank. Aven had recently met with with Putin one on one to discuss the sanctions and what to do about them. Putin said he had been struggling to get messages to Trump's inner circle, and urged Aven to take steps to protect his bank from additional U.S. penalties, according to special counsel Robert Mueller's report, which details the episode. Aven perceived that as an order, not a request, according to Mueller, and understood "that there would be consequences if he did not follow through."
Aven quickly understood that his mission was to contact the Trump transition team, and began an effort to contact Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
Mueller's nearly 450-page report granularly describes this and related episodes, revealing how Putin explicitly encouraged his country's wealthiest and most powerful businessmen to make contact with Trump's transition team after the election. The directives help explain the "flurry" of contact the oligarchs made with Trump's associates in the weeks following the reality TV star's unexpected victory, Mueller wrote.
Even though Mueller did not establish any conspiracy between Trump's team and Russia, the special counsel's report shows how important it was to Putin to establish a backchannel line of communication to Trump's transition team — and how receptive Trump's associates were to the overtures.
"As soon as news broke that Trump had been elected President, Russian government officials and prominent Russian businessmen began trying to make inroads into the new Administration," Mueller's team wrote in their final report.
In other words, after Trump pulled off his surprise victory in an election marred by Russia's attempts to sow discord and buoy Trump's candidacy, Putin wanted to cash in.
The attempts entailed outreaches "sanctioned at high levels of the Russian government, through business rather than political contacts." Putin's chief concern, according to Mueller, was getting the incoming Trump administration to roll back the U.S. sanctions hampering the Russian economy.
Among the oligarchs working to make inroads with Trump was Aven, the co-founder of Russia's biggest private financial institution, Alfa Bank; Kirill Dmitriev, the head of Russia's sovereign wealth fund; and Sergey Gorkov, the head of the Russian-government owned bank Vnesheconombank, or VEB.
Two of the wealthy moguls succeeded.
Dmitriev was able to get a Putin-approved U.S.-Russia "reconciliation plan" to Kushner, who passed it to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. And Gorkov scored a meeting with Kushner during the transition period to discuss U.S.-Russia relations, according to Mueller.
Andrew Weiss, the vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where he oversees research on Russia and Eurasia, called the details of this outreach "striking."
poster="http://v.politico.com/images/1155968404/201904/1766/1155968404_6027985514001_6027781660001-vs.jpg?pubId=1155968404"
"It wasn't just, 'we need to build bridges for the sake of future dialogue,'" Weiss told POLITICO. "It was designed to head off further sanctions and, in Dmitriev's case, to create a blueprint for recasting U.S. relations with Russia."
And although Aven was rebuffed in his overtures, it was not for a lack of effort. At one point, Aven enlisted an American business associate, Richard Burt, formerly a U.S. ambassador to Germany, to help get through to Kushner.
According to Mueller, Aven told Burt that "someone high in the Russian government" had expressed "interest in establishing a communication channel between the Kremlin and the Trump transition team."
Burt apparently found Aven's request odd, but nonetheless approached Dmitri Simes, head of the Center for the National Interest, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank founded by Richard Nixon, about setting up a meeting.
But Simes demurred, according to the report, citing the heightened media scrutiny surrounding Russia's election interference.
Aven then dropped the matter. Putin didn't.
The report says the Russian president "continued to inquire about Aven's efforts to connect to the Trump Administration in several subsequent quarterly meetings."
Steve Hall, who served as the CIA's chief of Russian operations during Barack Obama's second term, told POLITICO that tasking oligarchs to conduct "hybrid wars and information operations" is par for the course for Putin.
Trump allies who spoke freely to Mueller now in awkward position
By ANDREW RESTUCCIA, GABBY ORR and DANIEL LIPPMAN
But Hall, a public critic of Trump's attacks on the intelligence community, said it is "inconceivable" that the oligarchs were Putin's only method of infiltrating Trump's inner circle.
"He's going to rely on all the tools in his toolbox to go after these important targets," he said.
Indeed, Mueller's report includes a hefty section detailing the myriad ways Kremlin intermediaries — including fake online personas and others hiding their Moscow links — tried to woo those in and around the unlikely presidential candidate.
But the document did not address one of the most confounding mysteries that lingers from the election.
Alfa Bank, the institution Aven co-founded, had a computer server pinging a Trump Organization server during the 2016 race. The FBI reportedly investigated the pinging and said there could be an innocuous explanation, but never provided a conclusive reason for the server activity.
Still, where Aven failed, Dmitriev seemingly triumphed, using many of the same tactics.
Dmitriev scored meetings with both Erik Prince — an informal Trump campaign and transition team adviser — and a Kushner friend named Rick Gerson. Dmitriev, who Mueller says referred to Putin as his "boss," worked with Gerson on the reconciliation proposal, implying that Putin had blessed the plan.
The offer apparently involved "jointly fighting terrorism" and "developing 'win-win' economic and investment initiatives."
The Russian machinations portray "both how real that effort was and how much high-level buy-in it had within the Kremlin," said Weiss. "And the fact that Kushner passed this along to Tillerson suggests that these policies were not a nonstarter — they had the attention of Trump's senior-most staff."
Dmitriev's intermediary to Trump's team was George Nader, a business associate who worked for the United Arab Emirates' royal court.
Trump claims victory despite damning Mueller details
By NANCY COOK, DARREN SAMUELSOHN and ANDREW RESTUCCIA
Nader began cooperating with Mueller's team in March 2018 and was given at least partial immunity for his testimony. Nader told Mueller that Dmitriev pressed him for an introduction to Kushner and Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr. Dmitriev, Nader said, wanted Nader to convey to the incoming Trump administration that Russia wanted "to start rebuilding the relationship in whatever is a comfortable pace for them."
According to Mueller, Nader did just that over dinner with Erik Prince in January 2017. Prince then agreed to meet with Dmitriev in the Seychelles later that month.
In an interview with the House Intelligence Committee, however, Prince characterized that meeting as an impromptu encounter during an unrelated business trip. "I didn't fly there to meet any Russian guy," he told lawmakers.
He also told Congress that he met Dmitriev by chance at the bar and talked "over a beer." According to Mueller, however, the two met in Nader's villa for 30-45 minutes the same day Prince arrived. They met again at a restaurant to discuss Russia's involvement in Libya.
And then there's Sergey Gorkov, the CEO of Russia's state-owned Vnesheconombank.
Gorkov secured a meeting with Kushner in December 2016 through Russian ambassador Sergei Kislyak, who insisted that Kushner meet "with someone who had a direct line to Putin," according to Mueller. Kushner told the special counsel that he could not remember them discussing sanctions, and investigators were apparently unable to establish the true nature of their conversation.
The meeting, however, like the others, appears to have had Putin's blessing.
An investment bank executive who spoke with Gorkov before his trip to New York recalled Gorkov saying that the Russian president had approved of the meeting — and that he would be reporting back to Putin upon his return.
Dmitri Simes


text:
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Jenny Lin
Etudes Project
林佳静的简历
林佳靜的簡歷
Philip Glass Complete Piano Etudes
Jenny Lin, piano
Release date : November 2017
"Pianist Jenny Lin's commitment to new music and to working closely with leading composers of the 21st century shines through on her latest release for the Steinway & Sons label, Philip Glass's Complete Etudes for Solo Piano. The two-disc album will be released November 20, 2017 and was recorded shortly after the New York premiere of the complete set of Etudes, in which Lin was one of the performers.
Glass composed the complete Etudes between 1994 and 2012, many for his own purposes as a solo recitalist. Eventually coming to terms with the fact that his compositional duties would preclude him from ever learning Etudes 11-20, which have a higher degree of difficulty, Glass conscripted nine other pianists from a variety of backgrounds to join him for the first live performances of all 20 Etudes. Jenny Lin was among the group selected, alongside Nico Muhly, Timo Andres, jazz virtuoso Aaron Diehl, frequent Glass interpreters Maki Namekawa and Sally Whitwell, and others. The New York premiere took place in December 2014 at Brooklyn Academy of Music. Lin continues to join Glass on the ongoing world tour of the Etudes.
While some of the Etudes were composed partially as pedagogical exercises for Glass to address deficiencies in his own playing, they nevertheless include "some of the most beautiful and inventive music of his late period," according to WQXR. The Etudes reveal Glass's deeply personal relationship to the piano, and Lin brings a similar attachment to her own interpretations of these modern classics."
— Keyboard Mag
"Philip Glass' 20 études for piano were written in two sets, with Glass himself as the intended performer. Like Chopin's études, however, they are susceptible to an unusually wide range of possible interpretations. Jenny Lin has been close to Glass at various points in the works' development, but this does not mean that she is obligated to follow his lead in terms of interpretation. Indeed, it's the best possible news for his music that any prescriptions he may have laid down are now being discarded in favor of variety. Lin has performed on bills where the etudes are performed in a group to show their versatility. The etudes fit generally into Glass' late style, introducing Romantic elements into a harmonically varied minimalist language. Lin offers some of the widest dynamic ranges to be heard on recordings of Glass' keyboard and chamber music, and her performances are sweeping and powerful. Sample the spacious Etude No. 7, in which Glass' music takes on real epic stature, or the quiet conclusion to the whole (the Etude No. 20). Lin made the recordings on four separate occasions, all at the acoustically superb Steinway Hall, and the études, like Chopin's, were perhaps not meant to be played all together. Maybe this is a lot of Philip Glass at once, but the increasing variety of Glass recordings, beyond his own Orange Mountain Music label, is nothing but good news for lovers of his music, and this must be one of the strongest new entries in the field."
—AllMusic Review by James Manheim
Copyright © Jenny Lin. All Rights Reserved.


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I'm co-hosting a combination birthday dinner Saturday Aug 26, 2017 for 3 celebrants - all of whom enjoy wine but are not well versed in it at all. There will be approx 12 people at the dinner.
The other co-host is providing the food, she's an excellent cook and has created the menu below. I'm to pair and supply the wines.
I have some wine knowledge but the menu seems a bit challenging, and I'm somewhat stumped as to how to marry up so many different flavors with perhaps only a few wines that would appeal and work well with the menu.
And I have at least one diehard red wine drinker who at 79 years old is only satisfied with Malbec, or Cabernet etc.
Steamed asparagus & green beans w/mustard dipping sauce - Sancerre Rose or ?
Cold zucchini soup w/ crème fraiche & cilantro - Verdelho or stick with a Rose?
Grilled Flank steak with bourbon marinade - RED but what - would a Mourvedre or Mourvedre blend work?
Blueberry and Peach galettes with crème fraiche ice cream - likely only a few still drinking wine at this point. Any thoughts?


text:
Q: Crystal Report Won't Use Updated Parameter Value/Data Source When Created In Loop I've created a library in an attempt to handle all of the "quirks" of using Crystal Reports in a Visual Studio (VB.NET) project. I've pulled together all the elements that have presented challenges to me in the past - setting/updating parameter and formula values, printing (including page ranges), and setting logon credentials - and put them into reusable methods that all seem to work well when I generate the reports individually.
However, I've run into a scenario where I want to reuse the same report object in a loop to print multiple variations with different data sets/parameter(s) so that I can "easily" reuse the same printer settings and other options without re-prompting the user for each iteration. In this case, I'm working with an internally built DataSet object (built by someone other than me) and my Crystal Report file's Data Source is pointing to the .xsd file for structure.
EDIT: Forgot to mention that the report was created in CR Developer v11.5.12.1838 and the VB.NET library project is targetting the 4.7.2 .NET framework and using the v13.0.3500.0 (runtime v2.0.50727) of the Crystal libraries.
My intent is/was to instantiate a new report object outside the loop, then just re-set and refresh the report's data source and parameter values on each iteration of the loop. Unfortunately, it seems that if I do it this way, the report won't correctly pick up either the parameter values, the updated data source, or both. I've been trying several variations of code placement (because I know that the order in which things are done is very important to the Crystal Reports engine), but none of it seems to work the way I believe it should.
If I instantiate a new report object inside the loop, it will correctly generate the reports for each iteration with the correct data source and parameter values. Of course, it resets all of the internal properties of my class to "default", which kinda defeats the purpose. (Yes, I know I could pass additional/other parameters to a constructor to achieve the effect, but that seems an extremely "brute-force" solution, and I'd much rather get it to work the way I have in mind).

AND NOW FOR SOME CODE
Here is a pared-down/obfuscated version of the most recent iteration of the calling method (currently a part of a button click event handler). Every attempt I've made to instantiate a reusable object seems to result in some sort of failure. In this version, it loads the report and correctly passes along the parameter value, but the data source is completely empty resulting in a blank report. In other variations (I've discarded that code now), when I actually try to print/export/show the report, it fails with a COM exception: Missing parameter values.
I've tried using the .Refresh and .ReportClientDocument.VerifyDatabase methods separately, but those don't make a difference. When I check the parameters at runtime, it appears that the CR parameter/value and query results have been populated, but any method that makes any changes after the initialization just seems to "break" the report.
        Dim ReportName As String = "\\SERVERNAME\Applications\Reports\ClientActiveCustomerSummary.rpt"
        Dim Report As Common.CRReport = Nothing

        Try
            ReportData = ClientDataSet.Tables("ActiveSummary").Copy
            ReportData = GetClientActiveSummaryData
        Catch ex As Exception
            MessageBox.Show(ex.Message & vbCrLf & vbCrLf &
                "Error while retrieving client customer summary report data.",
                "ERROR", MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Error)
        End Try

       If ReportData.Rows.Count > 0 Then
            Report = New Common.CRReport(Common.CRReport.ReportSourceType.ADODataSet, New IO.FileInfo(ReportName), ClientDataSet)

            For Each LVItem As ListViewItem In checkItemsMP
                Dim ClientQuery = From ap In ReportData.AsEnumerable
                               Where ap.Field(Of Object)("mp") = LVItem.SubItems("mp").Text
                               Order By ap.Field(Of Object)("customername")
                               Select ap

                ClientDataSet.Tables("ActiveSummary").Merge(ClientQuery.CopyToDataTable)
                Report.ReportParameters.Clear()
                Report.AddReportParameter("ClientName", LVItem.SubItems("clientname").Text)
                Report.GenerateReport()
                ClientDataSet.Tables("ActiveSummary").Clear()
                ClientQuery = Nothing
            Next LVItem

            For Each LVItem As ListViewItem In checkItemsBN
                Dim BranchName As String = LVItem.SubItems("clientname").Text & " " & LVItem.SubItems("branchname").Text
                Dim BranchQuery = From ap In ReportData.AsEnumerable
                               Where (ap.Field(Of Object)("clientname") & " " & ap.Field(Of Object)("branchname")) = BranchName
                               Order By ap.Field(Of Object)("customername")
                               Select ap

                ClientDataSet.Tables("ActiveSummary").Merge(BranchQuery.CopyToDataTable)
                Report.ReportParameters.Clear()
                Report.AddReportParameter("ClientName", BranchName)
                Report.GenerateReport()
                ClientDataSet.Tables("ActiveSummary").Clear()
                BranchQuery = Nothing
            Next LVItem
        Else
            MessageBox.Show("NO RECORDS FOUND", "Information", MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Information)
            ReportData.Dispose()
            ReportData = Nothing
        End If

Obviously, in this case, I'm passing in an ADO.NET DataSet object and using a value retrieved from a ListView on the form itself for the value of the report's single parameter. Again, if I instantiate a new CRReport object on each iteration of the loop, the report will create normally with the correct data and parameter value, but it prompts the user each time for the report creation options (print/show/export, then - if "print" is selected - again for which printer to use).
And here is the reporting class. (Please understand that this is a work in progress and is far from "production quality" code):
REPORT OBJECT (CRReport)
Imports System.IO
Imports CrystalDecisions.Shared
Imports CrystalDecisions.CrystalReports.Engine
Imports CrystalDecisions.ReportAppServer.DataDefModel
Imports System.Drawing
Imports System.Windows.Forms

    Public Class CRReport
        Inherits ReportDocument

        Public Enum ReportSourceType
            PostgreSQL = 1
            MySQL = 2
            ADODataSet = 3
            XML = 4
            CSV = 5
            Access = 6
        End Enum

        Public Enum GenerateReportOption
            None = 0
            DisplayOnScreen = 1
            SendToPrinter = 2
            ExportToFile = 3
            MailToRecipient = 4
        End Enum

        Public Property ReportFile As FileInfo
        Public Property ExportPath As String
        Public Property ReportParameters As List(Of CRParameter)
        Public Property ReportFormulas As List(Of CRFormula)
        Public Property SourceType As ReportSourceType

        Private Property XMLDataSource As FileInfo
        Private Property ADODataSet As System.Data.DataSet
        Private Property ReportOption As GenerateReportOption
        Private WithEvents DocumentToPrint As Printing.PrintDocument

#Region "PUBLIC METHODS"
#Region "CONSTRUCTORS"
        Public Sub New(ByVal SourceType As ReportSourceType, ByVal CurrentReportFile As FileInfo)
            Me.Initialize()
            Me.SourceType = SourceType
            Me.ReportFile = CurrentReportFile
            PrepareReport()
        End Sub

        Public Sub New(ByVal SourceType As ReportSourceType, ByVal CurrentReportFile As FileInfo, ByVal XMLFile As FileInfo)
            Me.Initialize()
            Me.SourceType = SourceType
            Me.ReportFile = CurrentReportFile
            Me.XMLDataSource = XMLFile
            PrepareReport()
        End Sub

        Public Sub New(ByVal SourceType As ReportSourceType, ByVal CurrentReportFile As FileInfo, ByVal ADODataSource As System.Data.DataSet)
            Me.Initialize()
            Me.SourceType = SourceType
            Me.ReportFile = CurrentReportFile
            Me.ADODataSet = ADODataSource
            PrepareReport()
        End Sub

        Public Sub New(ByVal SourceType As ReportSourceType, ByVal CurrentReportFile As FileInfo, ByVal CurrentExportPath As String)
            Me.Initialize()
            Me.SourceType = SourceType
            Me.ReportFile = CurrentReportFile
            Me.ExportPath = CurrentExportPath

            If Not Me.ExportPath Is Nothing AndAlso Not String.IsNullOrEmpty(Me.ExportPath) Then
                Dim ExportFile As New IO.FileInfo(Me.ExportPath)

                If Not IO.Directory.Exists(ExportFile.DirectoryName) Then
                    IO.Directory.CreateDirectory(ExportFile.DirectoryName)
                End If
            End If

            PrepareReport()
        End Sub
#End Region

        Public Sub AddReportParameter(ByVal CurrentParameterName As String, ByVal CurrentParameterValue As Object)
            If Not String.IsNullOrEmpty(CurrentParameterName) Then
                Dim NewParameter As New CRParameter(Me, CurrentParameterName, CurrentParameterValue)

                Me.ReportParameters.Add(NewParameter)
            End If
        End Sub

        Public Sub AddReportFormula(ByVal CurrentFormulaName As String, ByVal CurrentFormulaValue As Object)
            If Not String.IsNullOrEmpty(CurrentFormulaName) Then
                Dim NewFormula As New CRFormula(Me, CurrentFormulaName, CurrentFormulaValue)

                Me.ReportFormulas.Add(NewFormula)
            End If
        End Sub

        Public Sub GenerateReport(ByVal ReportOption As GenerateReportOption)
            If Me.ReportOption = GenerateReportOption.None Then
                ' THIS DIALOG IS SOLELY FOR PROMPTING THE USER FOR HOW TO GENERATE THE REPORT
                Dim ReportDialog As New dlgGenerateReport

                Me.ReportOption = ReportDialog.GetReportGenerationOption()
            End If

            If Not Me.ReportOption = GenerateReportOption.None Then
                Select Case ReportOption
                    Case GenerateReportOption.DisplayOnScreen
                        Me.ShowReport()
                    Case GenerateReportOption.SendToPrinter
                        Me.PrintReport()
                    Case GenerateReportOption.ExportToFile
                        Me.ExportReport()
                End Select
            End If
        End Sub
#End Region

#Region "PRIVATE METHODS"
        Private Sub Initialize()
            Me.ReportFile = Nothing
            Me.ExportPath = String.Empty
            Me.ADODataSet = Nothing
            Me.XMLDataSource = Nothing
            Me.ReportParameters = New List(Of CRParameter)
            Me.ReportFormulas = New List(Of CRFormula)
            Me.SourceType = ReportSourceType.XML
            Me.ReportOption = GenerateReportOption.None
        End Sub

        Private Sub PrepareReport()
            If Not Me.ReportFile Is Nothing Then
                Me.Load(Me.ReportFile.FullName)
                Me.DataSourceConnections.Clear()
                SetReportConnectionInfo()

                If Me.ReportFormulas.Count > 0 Then
                    For Each Formula As CRFormula In Me.ReportFormulas
                        Formula.UpdateFormulaField()
                    Next Formula
                End If

                If Me.ReportParameters.Count > 0 Then
                    For Each Parameter As CRParameter In Me.ReportParameters
                        Parameter.UpdateReportParameter()
                    Next Parameter
                End If

                Me.Refresh()
                Me.ReportClientDocument.VerifyDatabase()
            End If
        End Sub

        Private Sub SetReportConnectionInfo()
            If Me.SourceType = ReportSourceType.PostgreSQL Then
                Dim CRDatabase As CrystalDecisions.CrystalReports.Engine.Database = Me.Database
                Dim CRTables As CrystalDecisions.CrystalReports.Engine.Tables = CRDatabase.Tables
                Dim CRConnectionInfo As New CrystalDecisions.Shared.ConnectionInfo
                Dim DBUsername As String = Utility.GetUsername
                Dim DBPassword As String = Utility.GetPassword

                With CRConnectionInfo
                    .DatabaseName = <DATABASENAME>
                    .ServerName = <HOSTNAME>
                    .UserID = DBUsername
                    .Password = DBPassword
                End With

                For Each CRTable As CrystalDecisions.CrystalReports.Engine.Table In CRTables
                    Dim CRTableLogonInfo As CrystalDecisions.Shared.TableLogOnInfo = CRTable.LogOnInfo

                    CRTableLogonInfo.ConnectionInfo = CRConnectionInfo
                    CRTable.ApplyLogOnInfo(CRTableLogonInfo)
                Next CRTable
            ElseIf Me.SourceType = ReportSourceType.ADODataSet Then
                Dim CRDatabase As CrystalDecisions.CrystalReports.Engine.Database = Me.Database
                Dim CRTables As CrystalDecisions.CrystalReports.Engine.Tables = CRDatabase.Tables

                For Each CRTable As CrystalDecisions.CrystalReports.Engine.Table In CRTables
                    For Each ADOTable As DataTable In ADODataSet.Tables
                        If CRTable.Name.ToUpper.Trim = ADOTable.TableName.ToUpper.Trim Then
                            CRTable.SetDataSource(ADOTable)
                            Exit For
                        End If
                    Next ADOTable
                Next CRTable

                Me.ReportClientDocument.VerifyDatabase()
            ElseIf Me.SourceType = ReportSourceType.XML Then
                If Not Me.XMLDataSource Is Nothing AndAlso Me.XMLDataSource.Exists Then
                    Dim CRDatabaseAttributes As New CrystalDecisions.ReportAppServer.DataDefModel.PropertyBag
                    Dim CRLogonProperties As New CrystalDecisions.ReportAppServer.DataDefModel.PropertyBag
                    Dim CRConnectionDetails As New CrystalDecisions.ReportAppServer.DataDefModel.ConnectionInfo
                    Dim CRTable As CrystalDecisions.ReportAppServer.DataDefModel.Table
                    Dim CRTables As CrystalDecisions.ReportAppServer.DataDefModel.Tables = Me.ReportClientDocument.DatabaseController.Database.Tables
                    Dim XMLData As New System.Data.DataSet

                    XMLData.ReadXml(Me.XMLDataSource.FullName)

                    With CRLogonProperties
                        .Add("File Path ", Me.XMLDataSource.FullName)
                        .Add("Internal Connection ID", "{be7cdac3-6a64-4923-8177-898ab55d0fa0}")
                    End With

                    With CRDatabaseAttributes
                        .Add("Database DLL", "crdb_adoplus.dll")
                        .Add("QE_DatabaseName", "")
                        .Add("QE_DatabaseType", "")
                        .Add("QE_LogonProperties", CRLogonProperties)
                        .Add("QE_ServerDescription", Me.XMLDataSource.Name.Substring(0, Me.XMLDataSource.Name.Length - Me.XMLDataSource.Extension.Length))
                        .Add("QE_SQLDB", "False")
                        .Add("SSO Enabled", "False")
                    End With

                    With CRConnectionDetails
                        .Attributes = CRDatabaseAttributes
                        .Kind = CrystalDecisions.ReportAppServer.DataDefModel.CrConnectionInfoKindEnum.crConnectionInfoKindCRQE
                        .UserName = ""
                        .Password = ""
                    End With

                    For I As Integer = 0 To XMLData.Tables.Count - 1
                        CRTable = New CrystalDecisions.ReportAppServer.DataDefModel.Table

                        With CRTable
                            .ConnectionInfo = CRConnectionDetails
                            .Name = XMLData.Tables(I).TableName
                            .QualifiedName = XMLData.Tables(I).TableName
                            .[Alias] = XMLData.Tables(I).TableName
                        End With

                        Me.ReportClientDocument.DatabaseController.SetTableLocation(CRTables(I), CRTable)
                    Next I

                    Me.ReportClientDocument.VerifyDatabase()
                End If
            End If
        End Sub

        Private Sub PrintReport()
            If Me.DocumentToPrint Is Nothing Then
                ' THIS IS WHY I WANT TO REUSE THE REPORTING OBJECT
                ' IF I CAN SET/SAVE THE PRINT DOCUMENT/SETTINGS WITHIN THE OBJECT,
                ' THE USER SHOULD ONLY HAVE TO RESPOND ONCE FOR ANY ITERATIONS
                ' USING THE SAME REPORT OBJECT
                Dim SelectPrinter As New PrintDialog
                Dim PrinterSelected As DialogResult = DialogResult.Cancel

                Me.DocumentToPrint = New Printing.PrintDocument

                With SelectPrinter
                    .Document = DocumentToPrint
                    .AllowPrintToFile = False
                    .AllowSelection = False
                    .AllowCurrentPage = False
                    .AllowSomePages = False
                    .PrintToFile = False
                    .UseEXDialog = True
                End With

                PrinterSelected = SelectPrinter.ShowDialog()

                If PrinterSelected = DialogResult.OK Then
                    SendToPrinter()
                End If
            Else
                SendToPrinter()
            End If
        End Sub

        Private Sub SendToPrinter()
            Dim Copies As Integer = DocumentToPrint.PrinterSettings.Copies
            Dim PrinterName As String = DocumentToPrint.PrinterSettings.PrinterName
            Dim LastPageNumber As Integer = 1

            ' IF THE PARAMETER VALUE DOESN'T GET PASSED/UPDATED PROPERLY
            ' THIS LINE WILL THROW A COM EXCEPTION 'MISSING PARAMETER VALUE'
            LastPageNumber = Me.FormatEngine.GetLastPageNumber(New CrystalDecisions.Shared.ReportPageRequestContext())
            Me.PrintOptions.CopyTo(DocumentToPrint.PrinterSettings, DocumentToPrint.DefaultPageSettings)

            If DocumentToPrint.PrinterSettings.SupportsColor Then
                DocumentToPrint.DefaultPageSettings.Color = True
            End If

            Me.PrintOptions.CopyFrom(DocumentToPrint.PrinterSettings, DocumentToPrint.DefaultPageSettings)
            Me.PrintOptions.PrinterName = PrinterName
            Me.PrintOptions.PrinterDuplex = CType(DocumentToPrint.PrinterSettings.Duplex, PrinterDuplex)
            Me.PrintToPrinter(Copies, True, 1, LastPageNumber)
        End Sub

        Private Function ExportReport() As IO.FileInfo
            Dim ExportFile As IO.FileInfo = Nothing

            If Not Me.ExportPath Is Nothing AndAlso Not String.IsNullOrEmpty(Me.ExportPath) Then
                ExportFile = New IO.FileInfo(Me.ExportPath)

                If Not ExportFile.Exists Then
                    Me.ExportToDisk(ExportFormatType.PortableDocFormat, ExportFile.FullName)
                Else
                    Dim Response As DialogResult = DialogResult.Cancel

                    Response = MessageBox.Show(ExportFile.Name & " already exists in this location." & vbCrLf & vbCrLf &
                                               "Do you want to overwrite the existing file?" & vbCrLf & vbCrLf &
                                               "Click [Y]ES to overwrite the existing file" & vbCrLf &
                                               "Click [N]O to create a new file" & vbCrLf &
                                               "Click [C]ANCEL to cancel the export process",
                                               "PDF ALREADY EXISTS",
                                               MessageBoxButtons.YesNoCancel, MessageBoxIcon.Exclamation, MessageBoxDefaultButton.Button2)

                    If Response = DialogResult.Yes Then
                        ExportFile.Delete()
                    ElseIf Response = DialogResult.No Then
                        ExportFile = New IO.FileInfo(Common.Utility.IncrementExistingFileName(Me.ExportPath))
                    Else
                        ExportFile = Nothing
                    End If

                    If Not ExportFile Is Nothing Then
                        Me.ExportToDisk(ExportFormatType.PortableDocFormat, ExportFile.FullName)
                    End If
                End If
            End If

            Return ExportFile
        End Function

        Private Sub ShowReport()
            Dim ReportViewer As New frmReportPreview

            With ReportViewer
                .rptViewer.ReportSource = Nothing
                .rptViewer.ReportSource = Me
                .WindowState = FormWindowState.Maximized
                .rptViewer.RefreshReport()

                ' Set zoom level: 1 = Page Width, 2 = Whole Page, 25-100 = zoom %
                .rptViewer.Zoom(1)
                .rptViewer.Show()
                .Show()
            End With
        End Sub

        Private Sub EmailReport(ByRef ReportMail As System.Net.Mail.MailMessage)
            Dim ReportAttachment As IO.FileInfo = ExportReport()

            If Not ReportAttachment Is Nothing AndAlso ReportAttachment.Exists Then
                ReportMail.Attachments.Add(New System.Net.Mail.Attachment(ReportAttachment.FullName))

                If Utility.SendEmailMessage(ReportMail) Then

                End If
            End If
        End Sub
#End Region

I've tried adding calls to the PrepareReport method (again) in the GenerateReport method of CRReport class so that it would reset the data source and parameter values, but it seems that it still doesn't get everything properly set up in the actual Crystal Report object for report generation. My experience so far has been that I have to set all of this on instantiation for some reason or it just fails completely.

For reference purposes, the parameters and formulae for Crystal are encapsulated in their own classes:
PARAMETER OBJECT (CRParameter)
#Region "CRYSTAL REPORTS PARAMETER CLASS"
    Public Class CRParameter
        Public Property CurrentReport As CRReport
        Public Property ParameterName As String
        Public Property ParameterValue As Object

        Public Sub New(ByVal Report As CRReport)
            Me.CurrentReport = Report
            Me.ParameterName = String.Empty
            Me.ParameterValue = Nothing
        End Sub

        Public Sub New(ByVal Report As CRReport, ByVal CurrentParameterName As String, ByVal CurrentParameterValue As Object)
            Me.CurrentReport = Report
            Me.ParameterName = CurrentParameterName
            Me.ParameterValue = CurrentParameterValue
            UpdateReportParameter()
        End Sub

        Friend Sub UpdateReportParameter()
            If Not Me.CurrentReport Is Nothing Then
                If Not String.IsNullOrEmpty(Me.ParameterName) Then
                    Dim CRFieldDefinitions As ParameterFieldDefinitions = Nothing
                    Dim CRFieldDefinition As ParameterFieldDefinition = Nothing
                    Dim CRValues As ParameterValues = Nothing
                    Dim CRDiscreteValue As ParameterDiscreteValue = Nothing

                    Try
                        CRFieldDefinitions = Me.CurrentReport.DataDefinition.ParameterFields
                        CRFieldDefinition = CRFieldDefinitions.Item(Me.ParameterName)
                        CRValues = CRFieldDefinition.CurrentValues

                        CRValues.Clear()
                        CRDiscreteValue = New ParameterDiscreteValue
                        CRDiscreteValue.Description = Me.ParameterName
                        CRDiscreteValue.Value = Me.ParameterValue
                        CRValues.Add(CRDiscreteValue)
                        CRFieldDefinition.ApplyCurrentValues(CRValues)
                        CRFieldDefinition.ApplyDefaultValues(CRValues)
                    Catch ex As Exception
                        Throw
                    Finally
                        If Not CRFieldDefinitions Is Nothing Then
                            CRFieldDefinitions.Dispose()
                        End If

                        If Not CRFieldDefinition Is Nothing Then
                            CRFieldDefinition.Dispose()
                        End If

                        If Not CRValues Is Nothing Then
                            CRValues = Nothing
                        End If

                        If Not CRDiscreteValue Is Nothing Then
                            CRDiscreteValue = Nothing
                        End If
                    End Try
                End If
            End If
        End Sub
    End Class
#End Region

FORMULA OBJECT (CRFormula)
I realize this falls outside the scope of the original question, but for the sake of completeness, I wanted to include it in case someone else might be looking for code to use.
#Region "CRYSTAL REPORTS FORMULA VALUE CLASS"
    Public Class CRFormula
        Public Property CurrentReport As CRReport
        Public Property FormulaName As String
        Public Property FormulaValue As Object

        Public Sub New(ByVal Report As CRReport)
            Me.CurrentReport = Report
            Me.FormulaName = String.Empty
            Me.FormulaValue = Nothing
        End Sub

        Public Sub New(ByVal Report As CRReport, ByVal NewFormulaName As String, ByVal NewFormulaValue As Object)
            Me.CurrentReport = Report
            Me.FormulaName = NewFormulaName
            Me.FormulaValue = NewFormulaValue
            'UpdateFormulaField()
        End Sub

        Friend Sub UpdateFormulaField()
            If Not Me.CurrentReport Is Nothing Then
                If Not String.IsNullOrEmpty(Me.FormulaName) Then
                    Try
                        If Me.FormulaValue Is Nothing Then
                            Me.FormulaValue = ""
                            Me.CurrentReport.DataDefinition.FormulaFields(Me.FormulaName).Text = Me.FormulaValue.ToString
                        ElseIf TypeOf Me.FormulaValue Is String AndAlso String.IsNullOrEmpty(Convert.ToString(Me.FormulaValue)) Then
                            Me.FormulaValue = ""
                            Me.CurrentReport.DataDefinition.FormulaFields(Me.FormulaName).Text = Me.FormulaValue.ToString
                        ElseIf TypeOf Me.FormulaValue Is String AndAlso Not String.IsNullOrEmpty(Convert.ToString(Me.FormulaValue)) Then
                            Me.FormulaValue = "'" & Me.FormulaValue.ToString & "'"
                            Me.CurrentReport.DataDefinition.FormulaFields(Me.FormulaName).Text = Me.FormulaValue.ToString
                        ElseIf TypeOf Me.FormulaValue Is Date Then
                            Me.FormulaValue = "'" & Convert.ToDateTime(Me.FormulaValue).ToString("yyyy-MM-dd") & "'"
                            Me.CurrentReport.DataDefinition.FormulaFields(Me.FormulaName).Text = Me.FormulaValue.ToString
                        Else
                            Me.CurrentReport.DataDefinition.FormulaFields(Me.FormulaName).Text = Me.FormulaValue.ToString
                        End If
                    Catch ex As Exception

                    End Try
                End If
            End If
        End Sub
    End Class
#End Region

I've tried to include as much detail and information about the challenge I'm facing as possible, but please feel free to ask any questions about any of it if you require clarification.

A: Okay, I believe I've found the cause of the problem, and it's one of those "quirks" I mentioned at the top of my question. The Crystal Reports engine is very particular about the order of certain events, and this is one of those cases. In my original PrepareReport() method, I had the calls to the .Refresh() and .VerifyDatabase() methods executing last. This (apparently) effectively "resets" the parameters/data source, so everything I had above it was basically nullified.
So, I went back through some older code to look at how I've worked with individual Crystal Reports in the past and found that calling the .Refresh() and .VerifyDatabase() methods prior to attempting to set parameter and/or formula values seems to work as expected, so I moved those two lines up in the PrepareReport() code and tried again. It all seemed to work correctly. Several tests later, and the order of execution appears to be the culprit here. Now my PrepareReport() method looks like this:
Private Sub PrepareReport()
    If Not Me.CRReportFile Is Nothing Then
        Me.CrystalReport = New CrystalDecisions.CrystalReports.Engine.ReportDocument
        Me.CrystalReport.Load(Me.CRReportFile.FullName)
        Me.CrystalReport.DataSourceConnections.Clear()
        SetReportConnectionInfo()

        'MOVED THIS UP IN THE EXECUTION ORDER
        Me.CrystalReport.Refresh()
        Me.CrystalReport.ReportClientDocument.VerifyDatabase()

        If Me.ReportFormulas.Count > 0 Then
            For Each Formula As CRFormula In Me.ReportFormulas
                Formula.UpdateFormulaField(Me.CrystalReport)
            Next Formula
        End If

        If Me.ReportParameters.Count > 0 Then
            For Each Parameter As CRParameter In Me.ReportParameters
                Parameter.UpdateReportParameter(Me.CrystalReport)
            Next Parameter
        End If

        ' THE REFRESH() & VERIFYDATABASE() METHOD CALLS USED TO BE DOWN HERE
    End If
End Sub

TL;DR VERSION FOR THOSE INTERESTED IN ADDITIONAL INFO
A couple of other things I tried while troubleshooting, none of which resulted in complete success, although some produced varying degrees:

*

*I tried disposing of the base object with MyBase.Dispose() (Obviously this was a bad idea). Of course, I couldn't instantiate a new base object without entirely recreating the CRReport object, which was what I was trying to avoid in the first place.

*I removed the inheritance from the class and created a private variable for a CrystalDecisions.CrystalReports.Engine.ReportDocument object that could be instantiated independently of my class. Even though it may seem unnecessary, this actually wasn't a horrible idea as I'll explain later.

*I tried several other variations of code placement that failed in one way or another.

Since everything seems to be working now with the revised PrepareReport() code, I've done a bit of refactoring. Instead of calling this method multiple times (once at instantiation and once at report generation), I removed the calls from the constructors and put a single call to it in the GenerateReport() method.
A SLIGHT "HICCUP"
I did some additional testing using the ShowReport() method (display it on the screen instead of printing it on paper), and there was some "weirdness", so I had to make adjustments. In my calling method (the button click event), I tried to dispose of the CRReport object after generating all of the reports, but that caused me not to be able to switch pages after the reports were generated/displayed (I got a NullReferenceException - Object reference not set to an instance of an object). A minor tweak later, and I could get the reports to stay instantiated but, due to the data set being overridden by later iterations, it wasn't always showing the correct data in each window.
This is where my removing of the inheritance comes into play. I created a private CrystalDecisions.CrystalReports.Engine.ReportDocument object for the class that could be reinstantiated and passed around a bit that would retain only the data associated with that particular instance of the report. I refactored the code for the CRReport, CRParameter, and CRFormula objects to use that new private variable instead, and everything looks like it's behaving exactly as expected.

HERE'S THE FULL REVISED CODE
Please remember, not all of this has been fully tested. I've yet to test the ExportReport() method b/c I need to clean up a couple of things there, and the EmailReport() method has a long way to go. I've only tested it with the ADO.NET DataSet during this run, although the code used for XML and PostgreSQL has worked in the past.
REPORT OBJECT (CRReport)
Public Class CRReport
    Public Property CRReportFile As FileInfo
    Public Property ReportParameters As List(Of CRParameter)
    Public Property ReportFormulas As List(Of CRFormula)
    Public Property SourceType As ReportSourceType

    Public Property ExportPath As String
        Get
            Return ExportReportToPath
        End Get

        Set(value As String)
            If Not value Is Nothing AndAlso Not String.IsNullOrEmpty(value) Then
                Dim ExportFile As New IO.FileInfo(value)

                If Not IO.Directory.Exists(ExportFile.DirectoryName) Then
                    IO.Directory.CreateDirectory(ExportFile.DirectoryName)
                End If

                ExportReportToPath = ExportFile.FullName
            End If
        End Set
    End Property

    Private Property XMLDataSource As FileInfo
    Private Property ADODataSet As System.Data.DataSet
    Private Property ReportOption As GenerateReportOption

    Private CrystalReport As CrystalDecisions.CrystalReports.Engine.ReportDocument
    Private ExportReportToPath As String

    Public Enum ReportSourceType
        PostgreSQL = 1
        MySQL = 2
        ADODataSet = 3
        XML = 4
        CSV = 5
        Access = 6
    End Enum

    Public Enum GenerateReportOption
        None = 0
        DisplayOnScreen = 1
        SendToPrinter = 2
        ExportToFile = 3
        MailToRecipient = 4
    End Enum

    Private WithEvents DocumentToPrint As Printing.PrintDocument

#Region "PUBLIC METHODS"
    Public Sub New(ByVal CurrentReportFile As FileInfo, ByVal XMLFile As FileInfo)
        Me.Initialize()
        Me.SourceType = ReportSourceType.XML
        Me.CRReportFile = CurrentReportFile
        Me.XMLDataSource = XMLFile
    End Sub

    Public Sub New(ByVal CurrentReportFile As FileInfo, ByVal ADODataSource As System.Data.DataSet)
        Me.Initialize()
        Me.SourceType = ReportSourceType.ADODataSet
        Me.CRReportFile = CurrentReportFile
        Me.ADODataSet = ADODataSource
    End Sub

    Public Sub AddReportParameter(ByVal CurrentParameterName As String, ByVal CurrentParameterValue As Object)
        If Not String.IsNullOrEmpty(CurrentParameterName) Then
            Dim NewParameter As New CRParameter(CurrentParameterName, CurrentParameterValue)

            Me.ReportParameters.Add(NewParameter)
        End If
    End Sub

    Public Sub AddReportFormula(ByVal CurrentFormulaName As String, ByVal CurrentFormulaValue As Object)
        If Not String.IsNullOrEmpty(CurrentFormulaName) Then
            Dim NewFormula As New CRFormula(CurrentFormulaName, CurrentFormulaValue)

            Me.ReportFormulas.Add(NewFormula)
        End If
    End Sub

    Public Sub GenerateReport()
        If Me.ReportOption = GenerateReportOption.None Then
            Dim ReportDialog As New dlgGenerateReport

            Me.ReportOption = ReportDialog.GetReportGenerationOption()
        End If

        If Not Me.ReportOption = GenerateReportOption.None Then
            GenerateReport(Me.ReportOption)
        End If
    End Sub

    Public Sub GenerateReport(ByVal ReportOption As GenerateReportOption)
        If Me.ReportOption = GenerateReportOption.None Then
            Dim ReportDialog As New dlgGenerateReport

            Me.ReportOption = ReportDialog.GetReportGenerationOption()
        End If

        If Not Me.ReportOption = GenerateReportOption.None Then
            PrepareReport()

            Select Case ReportOption
                Case GenerateReportOption.DisplayOnScreen
                    Me.ShowReport()
                Case GenerateReportOption.SendToPrinter
                    Me.PrintReport()
                Case GenerateReportOption.ExportToFile
                    Me.ExportReport()
            End Select
        End If
    End Sub

    Private Sub PrintReport()
        If Me.DocumentToPrint Is Nothing Then
            Dim SelectPrinter As New PrintDialog
            Dim PrinterSelected As DialogResult = DialogResult.Cancel

            Me.DocumentToPrint = New Printing.PrintDocument
            Me.CrystalReport.PrintOptions.CopyTo(Me.DocumentToPrint.PrinterSettings, Me.DocumentToPrint.DefaultPageSettings)

            With SelectPrinter
                .Document = DocumentToPrint
                .AllowPrintToFile = False
                .AllowSelection = False
                .AllowCurrentPage = False
                .AllowSomePages = False
                .PrintToFile = False
                .UseEXDialog = True
            End With

            PrinterSelected = SelectPrinter.ShowDialog()

            If PrinterSelected = DialogResult.OK Then
                SendToPrinter()
            End If
        Else
            SendToPrinter()
        End If
    End Sub

    Private Sub SendToPrinter()
        If Not Me.DocumentToPrint Is Nothing Then
            Dim Copies As Integer = Me.DocumentToPrint.PrinterSettings.Copies
            Dim PrinterName As String = Me.DocumentToPrint.PrinterSettings.PrinterName
            Dim LastPageNumber As Integer = 1

            LastPageNumber = Me.CrystalReport.FormatEngine.GetLastPageNumber(New CrystalDecisions.Shared.ReportPageRequestContext())
            Me.CrystalReport.PrintOptions.CopyFrom(Me.DocumentToPrint.PrinterSettings, Me.DocumentToPrint.DefaultPageSettings)
            Me.CrystalReport.PrintOptions.PrinterName = PrinterName
            Me.CrystalReport.PrintOptions.PrinterDuplex = CType(Me.DocumentToPrint.PrinterSettings.Duplex, PrinterDuplex)
            Me.CrystalReport.PrintToPrinter(Copies, True, 1, LastPageNumber)
        End If
    End Sub

    Private Function ExportReport() As IO.FileInfo
        Dim ExportFile As IO.FileInfo = Nothing

        If Not Me.ExportPath Is Nothing AndAlso Not String.IsNullOrEmpty(Me.ExportPath) Then
            ExportFile = New IO.FileInfo(Me.ExportPath)

            If Not ExportFile.Exists Then
                Me.CrystalReport.ExportToDisk(ExportFormatType.PortableDocFormat, ExportFile.FullName)
            Else
                Dim Response As DialogResult = DialogResult.Cancel

                Response = MessageBox.Show(ExportFile.Name & " already exists in this location." & vbCrLf & vbCrLf &
                                           "Do you want to overwrite the existing file?" & vbCrLf & vbCrLf &
                                           "Click [Y]ES to overwrite the existing file" & vbCrLf &
                                           "Click [N]O to create a new file" & vbCrLf &
                                           "Click [C]ANCEL to cancel the export process",
                                           "PDF ALREADY EXISTS",
                                           MessageBoxButtons.YesNoCancel, MessageBoxIcon.Exclamation, MessageBoxDefaultButton.Button2)

                If Response = DialogResult.Yes Then
                    ExportFile.Delete()
                ElseIf Response = DialogResult.No Then
                    ExportFile = New IO.FileInfo(Common.Utility.IncrementExistingFileName(Me.ExportPath))
                Else
                    ExportFile = Nothing
                End If

                If Not ExportFile Is Nothing Then
                    Me.CrystalReport.ExportToDisk(ExportFormatType.PortableDocFormat, ExportFile.FullName)
                End If
            End If
        End If

        Return ExportFile
    End Function

    Private Sub ShowReport()
        Dim ReportViewer As New frmReportPreview

        With ReportViewer
            .rptViewer.ReportSource = Nothing
            .rptViewer.ReportSource = Me.CrystalReport
            .WindowState = FormWindowState.Maximized
            .rptViewer.RefreshReport()

            ' Set zoom level: 1 = Page Width, 2 = Whole Page, 25-100 = zoom %
            .rptViewer.Zoom(1)
            .rptViewer.Show()
            .Show()
        End With
    End Sub

    Private Sub EmailReport(ByRef ReportMail As System.Net.Mail.MailMessage)
        Dim ReportAttachment As IO.FileInfo = ExportReport()

        If Not ReportAttachment Is Nothing AndAlso ReportAttachment.Exists Then
            ReportMail.Attachments.Add(New System.Net.Mail.Attachment(ReportAttachment.FullName))

            If Utility.SendEmailMessage(ReportMail) Then

            End If
        End If
    End Sub

    Public Overloads Sub Dispose()
        Me.CrystalReport.Dispose()

        If Not Me.DocumentToPrint Is Nothing Then
            Me.DocumentToPrint.Dispose()
        End If
    End Sub
#End Region

#Region "PRIVATE METHODS"
    Private Sub Initialize()
        Me.CrystalReport = Nothing
        Me.CRReportFile = Nothing
        Me.ExportPath = String.Empty
        Me.ADODataSet = Nothing
        Me.XMLDataSource = Nothing
        Me.ReportParameters = New List(Of CRParameter)
        Me.ReportFormulas = New List(Of CRFormula)
        Me.SourceType = ReportSourceType.XML
        Me.ReportOption = GenerateReportOption.None
    End Sub

    Private Sub PrepareReport()
        If Not Me.CRReportFile Is Nothing Then
            Me.CrystalReport = New CrystalDecisions.CrystalReports.Engine.ReportDocument
            Me.CrystalReport.Load(Me.CRReportFile.FullName)
            Me.CrystalReport.DataSourceConnections.Clear()
            SetReportConnectionInfo()

            Me.CrystalReport.Refresh()
            Me.CrystalReport.ReportClientDocument.VerifyDatabase()

            If Me.ReportFormulas.Count > 0 Then
                For Each Formula As CRFormula In Me.ReportFormulas
                    Formula.UpdateFormulaField(Me.CrystalReport)
                Next Formula
            End If

            If Me.ReportParameters.Count > 0 Then
                For Each Parameter As CRParameter In Me.ReportParameters
                    Parameter.UpdateReportParameter(Me.CrystalReport)
                Next Parameter
            End If
        End If
    End Sub

    Private Sub SetReportConnectionInfo()
        If Me.SourceType = ReportSourceType.PostgreSQL Then
            Dim CRDatabase As CrystalDecisions.CrystalReports.Engine.Database = Me.CrystalReport.Database
            Dim CRTables As CrystalDecisions.CrystalReports.Engine.Tables = CRDatabase.Tables
            Dim CRConnectionInfo As New CrystalDecisions.Shared.ConnectionInfo

            With CRConnectionInfo
                .DatabaseName = <DBNAME>
                .ServerName = <HOSTNAME>
                .UserID = Utility.GetDBUsername
                .Password = Utility.GetDBPassword
            End With

            For Each CRTable As CrystalDecisions.CrystalReports.Engine.Table In CRTables
                Dim CRTableLogonInfo As CrystalDecisions.Shared.TableLogOnInfo = CRTable.LogOnInfo

                CRTableLogonInfo.ConnectionInfo = CRConnectionInfo
                CRTable.ApplyLogOnInfo(CRTableLogonInfo)
            Next CRTable
        ElseIf Me.SourceType = ReportSourceType.ADODataSet Then
            Dim CRDatabase As CrystalDecisions.CrystalReports.Engine.Database = Me.CrystalReport.Database
            Dim CRTables As CrystalDecisions.CrystalReports.Engine.Tables = CRDatabase.Tables

            For Each CRTable As CrystalDecisions.CrystalReports.Engine.Table In CRTables
                For Each ADOTable As DataTable In ADODataSet.Tables
                    If CRTable.Name.ToUpper.Trim = ADOTable.TableName.ToUpper.Trim Then
                        CRTable.SetDataSource(ADOTable)
                        Exit For
                    End If
                Next ADOTable
            Next CRTable
        ElseIf Me.SourceType = ReportSourceType.XML Then
            If Not Me.XMLDataSource Is Nothing AndAlso Me.XMLDataSource.Exists Then
                Dim CRDatabaseAttributes As New CrystalDecisions.ReportAppServer.DataDefModel.PropertyBag
                Dim CRLogonProperties As New CrystalDecisions.ReportAppServer.DataDefModel.PropertyBag
                Dim CRConnectionDetails As New CrystalDecisions.ReportAppServer.DataDefModel.ConnectionInfo
                Dim CRTable As CrystalDecisions.ReportAppServer.DataDefModel.Table
                Dim CRTables As CrystalDecisions.ReportAppServer.DataDefModel.Tables = Me.CrystalReport.ReportClientDocument.DatabaseController.Database.Tables
                Dim XMLData As New System.Data.DataSet

                XMLData.ReadXml(Me.XMLDataSource.FullName)

                With CRLogonProperties
                    .Add("File Path ", Me.XMLDataSource.FullName)
                    .Add("Internal Connection ID", "{be7cdac3-6a64-4923-8177-898ab55d0fa0}")
                End With

                With CRDatabaseAttributes
                    .Add("Database DLL", "crdb_adoplus.dll")
                    .Add("QE_DatabaseName", "")
                    .Add("QE_DatabaseType", "")
                    .Add("QE_LogonProperties", CRLogonProperties)
                    .Add("QE_ServerDescription", Me.XMLDataSource.Name.Substring(0, Me.XMLDataSource.Name.Length - Me.XMLDataSource.Extension.Length))
                    .Add("QE_SQLDB", "False")
                    .Add("SSO Enabled", "False")
                End With

                With CRConnectionDetails
                    .Attributes = CRDatabaseAttributes
                    .Kind = CrystalDecisions.ReportAppServer.DataDefModel.CrConnectionInfoKindEnum.crConnectionInfoKindCRQE
                    .UserName = ""
                    .Password = ""
                End With

                For I As Integer = 0 To XMLData.Tables.Count - 1
                    CRTable = New CrystalDecisions.ReportAppServer.DataDefModel.Table

                    With CRTable
                        .ConnectionInfo = CRConnectionDetails
                        .Name = XMLData.Tables(I).TableName
                        .QualifiedName = XMLData.Tables(I).TableName
                        .[Alias] = XMLData.Tables(I).TableName
                    End With

                    Me.CrystalReport.ReportClientDocument.DatabaseController.SetTableLocation(CRTables(I), CRTable)
                Next I
            End If
        End If
    End Sub
#End Region
End Class

PARAMETER OBJECT (CRParameter)
#Region "CRYSTAL REPORTS PARAMETER CLASS"
Public Class CRParameter
    Public Property ParameterName As String
    Public Property ParameterValue As Object

    Public Sub New(ByVal CurrentParameterName As String, ByVal CurrentParameterValue As Object)
        Me.ParameterName = CurrentParameterName
        Me.ParameterValue = CurrentParameterValue
    End Sub

    Friend Sub UpdateReportParameter(ByRef CurrentReport As CrystalDecisions.CrystalReports.Engine.ReportDocument)
        If Not CurrentReport Is Nothing Then
            If Not String.IsNullOrEmpty(Me.ParameterName) Then
                Using ReportFieldDefinitions As ParameterFieldDefinitions = CurrentReport.DataDefinition.ParameterFields
                    Using ReportParameter As ParameterFieldDefinition = ReportFieldDefinitions.Item(Me.ParameterName)
                        Dim ReportValues As ParameterValues = ReportParameter.CurrentValues
                        Dim NewValue As New ParameterDiscreteValue

                        ReportValues.Clear()
                        NewValue.Description = Me.ParameterName
                        NewValue.Value = Me.ParameterValue
                        ReportValues.Add(NewValue)
                        ReportParameter.ApplyCurrentValues(ReportValues)
                        ReportParameter.ApplyDefaultValues(ReportValues)
                    End Using
                End Using
            End If
        End If
    End Sub
End Class
#End Region

FORMULA OBJECT (CRFormula)
#Region "CRYSTAL REPORTS FORMULA VALUE CLASS"
Public Class CRFormula
    Public Property FormulaName As String
    Public Property FormulaValue As Object

    Public Sub New(ByVal NewFormulaName As String, ByVal NewFormulaValue As Object)
        Me.FormulaName = NewFormulaName
        Me.FormulaValue = NewFormulaValue
    End Sub

    Friend Sub UpdateFormulaField(ByRef CurrentReport As CrystalDecisions.CrystalReports.Engine.ReportDocument)
        If Not CurrentReport Is Nothing Then
            If Not String.IsNullOrEmpty(Me.FormulaName) Then
                Try
                    If Me.FormulaValue Is Nothing Then
                        Me.FormulaValue = ""
                        CurrentReport.DataDefinition.FormulaFields(Me.FormulaName).Text = Me.FormulaValue.ToString
                    ElseIf TypeOf Me.FormulaValue Is String AndAlso String.IsNullOrEmpty(Convert.ToString(Me.FormulaValue)) Then
                        Me.FormulaValue = ""
                        CurrentReport.DataDefinition.FormulaFields(Me.FormulaName).Text = Me.FormulaValue.ToString
                    ElseIf TypeOf Me.FormulaValue Is String AndAlso Not String.IsNullOrEmpty(Convert.ToString(Me.FormulaValue)) Then
                        Me.FormulaValue = "'" & Me.FormulaValue.ToString & "'"
                        CurrentReport.DataDefinition.FormulaFields(Me.FormulaName).Text = Me.FormulaValue.ToString
                    ElseIf TypeOf Me.FormulaValue Is Date Then
                        Me.FormulaValue = "'" & Convert.ToDateTime(Me.FormulaValue).ToString("yyyy-MM-dd") & "'"
                        CurrentReport.DataDefinition.FormulaFields(Me.FormulaName).Text = Me.FormulaValue.ToString
                    Else
                        CurrentReport.DataDefinition.FormulaFields(Me.FormulaName).Text = Me.FormulaValue.ToString
                    End If
                Catch ex As Exception

                End Try
            End If
        End If
    End Sub
End Class
#End Region

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


The SL640C is designed to replace the conventional diode ring modulator, in RF and other communications systems, at frequencies of up to 75MHz. It offers a performance competitive with that of the diode ring while eliminating the associated transformers and heavy carrier drive power requirements.
At 30 MHz, carrier and signal leaks are typically -40dB referred to the desired output product frequency. Intermodulation products are -45dB with a 60 mV rms input signal.
The SL640 has an integral output load resistor (Pin 5) together with an emitter follower output (Pin 6) whereas the SL641 has a single output designed as a current drive to a tuned circuit.
The SL640C and SL641C require input and output coupling capacitors which generally should be chosen to present a low reactance compared with the input and output impedances (see Electrical Characteristics). However, for minimum carrier leak at high frequencies, the signal input should be driven from a low impedance source, in which case the signal input capacitor reactance should be comparable with the source impedance. Pin 2 must be decoupled to earth via a capacitor which presents the lowest possible impedance at both carrier and signal frequencies. The presence of these frequencies at Pin 2 would give rise to poor rejection figures and distortion.
followers act as detectors under such circumstances with resultant distortion and harmonic generation. Frequency shaping components may be connected to the voltage output and the shaped signal taken from the emitter follower.
The AC load should not be less than 250Ω.
Signal and carrier leak may be reduced by altering the bias on the carrier and signal input pins, as shown in Fig.4. With the carrier, but no signal, R1 is adjusted for minimum carrier leak.
A similar network is connected to the carrier input, and with signal and carrier present, the signal leak is minimised trimming R2.


text:
using System;
using System.IO;

namespace NBitcoin.BouncyCastle.Utilities.IO.Pem
{
	public interface PemObjectParser
	{
		/// <param name="obj">
		/// A <see cref="PemObject"/>
		/// </param>
		/// <returns>
		/// A <see cref="System.Object"/>
		/// </returns>
		/// <exception cref="IOException"></exception>
		object ParseObject(PemObject obj);
	}
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Alonso needed new team, says Massa
Fernando Alonso Felipe Massa
Fernando Alonso needed new Formula 1 team, reckons former team-mate Felipe Massa.
Fernando Alonso needed a change of scene in Formula 1 as neither he nor Ferrari were getting the best out of each other, reckons former team-mate Felipe Massa.
Williams racer Massa drove alongside Alonso at Ferrari for four years from 2010, before dropped in favour of Kimi Raikkonen at the end of 2013.
Alonso followed Massa to the Ferrari exit this year after reaching a mutual agreement with the team to end his contract early and move to McLaren. Sebastian Vettel will take Alonso's place.
AUTOSPORT revealed in early October that Alonso and Ferrari had agreed to split, and Massa said it was clear long before the official announcements in late November that the relationship had run its course.
"Everybody knew he was going to leave Ferrari, so it wasn't exactly breaking news," Massa told AUTOSPORT.
"Maybe we saw that Ferrari didn't give him the best car that he expected, but maybe also he didn't help Ferrari to grow.
"So maybe now is the time for him to change."
Massa suspects that Ferrari will miss Alonso, though he still wishes his long-time employer success.
"If it is going to be any worse or better for Ferrari, I don't know," added the Brazilian.
"Fernando is perhaps the best driver on the grid, so we don't know if it will be enough for Ferrari to make the step forward [without him].
"We need to wait and see. But I just hope for the best for Ferrari, anyway."
Williams's technical chief Pat Symonds agreed with Massa's verdict, having worked with Alonso during his title-winning years at Renault.
"He obviously wasn't happy at Ferrari and if you're not happy then it's best to move on," said Symonds.
"He does seem to have been in the wrong place at the wrong time [since he left Renault], which is a shame.
"The guy is incredibly quick."
BOTTAS COMPARISON
Massa said his new partnership with Valtteri Bottas at Williams had advantages over working with Alonso as their driving styles are more compatible.
"He was good for me, but what was good for him as well is that our driving style is not so different," Massa said of Bottas.
"So many races we had a very similar set-up and if something was working for me, then he could see, and it was the same the other way around."
He said by comparison Alonso's style was 'very different'.
"Fernando is very aggressive with the front of the car, so he uses more of the front tyre than maybe anybody in Formula 1.
"But by being so aggressive, he sometimes helps the rear, which is good at certain tracks.
"[Bottas] has a completely different driving style to Fernando."


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text:
A Replicated Typo
Language, its evolution and anything in-between
About Winters
The School of Wintz
New Domain: http://www.replicatedtypo.com . Please update your feeds as I'll no longer be posting on this blog.
from → Irreverant and Irrelevant
Some Links #11: Linguistic Diversity or Homogeneity?
tags: Hip Hop, language evolution, life without language, Linguistic Diversity, Neuroanthropology, New York Times, Susan Schaller
Linguistic Diversity = Poverty. Razib Khan basically argues, correctly in my opinion, that linguistic homogeneity is good for economic development and general prosperity. From the perspective of a linguist, however, I do like the idea of really obscure linguistic communities, ready and waiting to be discovered and documented. On the flip side, it is selfish of me to want these small communities to remain in a bubble, free from the very same benefits I enjoy in belonging to a modern, post-industrialised society. Our goal, then, should probably be more focused on documenting, as opposed to saving, these languages. Razib has recently posted another, quite lengthy post on the topic: Knowledge is not value-free.
When did we first 'Rock the Mic'? A meeting of my two favourite interests over at the New York Times: Linguistics and Hip Hop. Ben Zimmer writes:
In "Rapper's Delight," the M.C. Big Bank Hank raps, "I'm gonna rock the mic till you can't resist," using what was then a novel sense of rock, defined by the O.E.D. as "to handle effectively and impressively; to use or wield effectively, esp. with style or self-assurance." To be sure, singers in the prerap era often used rock as a transitive verb, whether it was Bill Haley promising, "We're gonna rock this joint tonight," or the bluesman Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup more suggestively wailing, "Rock me, mama." But the M.C.'s of early hip-hop took the verb in a new direction, transforming the microphone (abbreviated in rap circles as mic, not mike) into an emblem of stylish display. Later elaborations on the theme would allow clothes and other accessories to serve as the objects of rock, as when Kanye West boasted in a 2008 issue of Spin magazine, "I rock a bespoke suit and I go to Harold's for fried chicken."
It'd be nice to see more stuff on linguistics and hip hop, and, having said that, I might write a bit on the subject. In fact, I would go as far as to say that hip hop is part of reason why I fell into linguistics: the eloquent word play encouraged, and perhaps moulded, my fascination with language. To demonstrate why, here's a track by Maryland rapper, Edan, who certainly knows how to rock the mic:
Edan — One Man Arsenal
Life without language. Neuroanthropology provides yet another great read. This time it's on the topic of life without language — something that's always crept into my thoughts, yet seems impossible to imagine (as I'm already so embedded within a language-using society). The post goes on to discuss Susan Schaller and the case of a profoundly deaf Mexican immigrant who did not learn sign language:
The man she would call, 'Ildefonso,' had figured out how to survive, in part by simply copying those around him, but he had no idea what language was. Schaller found that he observed people's lips and mouth moving, unaware that they were making sound, unaware that there was sound, trying to figure out what was happening from the movements of the mouths. She felt that he was frustrated because he thought everyone else could figure things out from looking at each others' moving mouths.
One problem for Schaller's efforts was that Ildefonso's survival strategy, imitation, actually got in the way of him learning how to sign because it short-circuited the possibility of conversation. As she puts, Ildefonso acted as if he had a kind of visual echolalia (we sometimes call it 'echopraxia'), simply copying the actions he saw
One Man's Take on the Facts of the Matter. Babel's Dawn takes a look at Tecumseh Fitch's book, The Evolution of Language, and concisely explains a clear departure between two camps in evolutionary linguistics:
One clear difference between the scenarios is in the role of the individual in relation to language. Language is somehow built into the brain in Chomsky's thought-first scenario, while it is learned from others in the topics-first approach. Empiricists, like Morten Christiansen and Nicholas Chater, see language as 'out there' to be learned while nativists, like Fitch and Chomsky, say there is an internal, I-language, and the language out there is merely the sum of all those little I-languages. How to settle the dispute? Look for factual evidence.
from → Links, Science
Noam Chomsky: Inventor of Linguistics… Huh?
tags: Johann Hari, linguistics, Noam Chomsky
I just started reading Johann Hari's latest article about Noam Chomsky, and I was welcomed to this interesting fact:
Noam Chomsky is one of the most hysterically abused figures in the world today. Even his critics have to concede that his work inventing the field of linguistics — and so beginning to decode the structure of how language is formed in the human brain — makes him one of the most important intellectuals alive.
I agree that Chomsky is an important intellectual figure, and his massive contributions to linguistics are well-documented, but he did not invent the field. Some might say reinvented… Although, I'm not sure how favourably history will view Chomsky's shadow having loomed over linguistics for such a long time. My own opinion, for what it's worth, is that he's largely been a positive influence, even if I find myself disagreeing with a lot of his major ideas.
A history of evolution pt.1: Ancient Greece to Lamarck
tags: al-Jahiz, argument from design, Aristotle, Carolus Linnaeus, catastrophists, change, Charles Darwin, essentialism, evolution, Georges Cuvier, Great Chain of Being, Immanuel Kant, James Hutton, Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck, Lord Kelvin, Megalosaurus, Mount Etna, phenotypic inheritance, Philosophie Zoologique, Plato, scala naturae, Systema Naturae, Thomas Aquinas, uniformitarians
The limitations of geological periods, imposed by physical science, cannot, of course, disprove the hypothesis of transmutation of species; but it does seem sufficient to disprove the doctrine that transmutation has taken place through 'descent with modification by natural selection'. — Lord Kelvin (Of Geological Dynamics, 1869).
It might seem odd that I start a post about evolution with a quote claiming natural selection is inadequate to account for the transmutation of species. It is, though, highly relevant to what I'm going to discuss in the post, and strikes at the heart of why it's fundamental for us to understand the theory of evolution by natural selection. See, in 1869, Lord Kelvin's position was fairly reasonable, and, as you'd expect for a man of such high scientific standing, the available evidence in physics did seem to conflict with Darwin's theory. The Sun was one particularly salient point of contention: to get the diversity of species we see on Earth, evolution needs a long time to work (on the order of hundreds of millions, if not billions of years), yet according to 19th-century physics the Sun could only have been burning for 40-million years.
from → 101, Evolution
Some Links #10: Poo lady tweets shit
tags: cultural evolution, cumulative cultural evolution, George Price, Gillian McKeith, H. P. Lovecraft, Health food, Ideas, Matt Ridley, Poo lady, Price equation, Regulation, Trade
Gillian McKeith: You are what you tweet. If you thought the subject of my title was some five-year who just discovered various nouns for his excrement, then you're not far off: Gillian McKeith is back, and like any bad-sequel she's saying the same shit, just repackaged into an eerily similar set of events. What I particularly loved about this article is McKeith's denial that she's actually the McKeith in question. Confused? Head over and read the article. It's short and fun.
A strong dose of regulation will keep the health food industry regular. Interesting article by Martin Robbins (of Lay Scientist) over at the Guardian. I'm not normally one for regulation: I think it's often a backwards way of looking at an issue. And I'm definitely against our ridiculous zeal for legislation-only solutions. But I do think in the case of the health food industry regulation and legislation are fantastically effective. To bring it back to the post above: McKeith has literally made millions through the exploitation of a weakly controlled industry. Ultimately, though, I do think we need to also consider the other effective weapon against these erroneous claims: education. After all, those who know, know not to buy.
I Write Like… H.P. Lovecraft, apparently. It probably explains the lack of comments on my posts: people are scared shitless. It's okay, I'm not a venomous wordsmith, just a former linguistics student searching for a new university to call home. See, not so scary now… Click the link if you fancy wasting a minute or so of your time.
The Price of Altruism. I always remember first learning about the Price equation at university, and the sad story of its progenitor, George Price, who committed suicide in 1975. Over a Gene Expression, Razib Khan has written a fantastic, in-depth review of Oren Harman's book, The Price of Altruism. There are too many snippets of information to pick out for a summary, but here's an ironically amusing section:
The "hawk" and "dove" morphs made famous by Richard Dawkins in The Selfish Gene go back to Maynard Smith's work, but the terms themselves were of Price's invention according to Harman. If I read Harman's chronology correctly Price was already a fervent Christian by this time, having left atheism in the same period as he launched his career as an evolutionary biologist, and there is some hint that the term "dove" may have been influenced by his particular religious leanings. This possibility seems all the more amusing in light of Dawkins' later career as an atheist polemicist.
Matt Ridley: When Ideas Have Sex. Love him for his biology, or loathe him for his economics, you can't help but nod in agreement with Matt Ridley's TED talk. I think he over emphasizes this apparent trend of good times to come. He clearly hasn't read Taleb's Black Swan (and probably isn't all too interested given his risk-taking strategies at Northern Rock). But his stuff on trade and cultural evolution is fairly rock solid from my perspective.
Words as alleles: A null-model for language evolution?
tags: bayesian learning, iterated learning, language evolution
For me, recent computational accounts of language evolution provide a compelling rationale that cultural, as opposed to biological, evolution is fundamental in understanding the design features of language. The basis for this rests on the simple notion of language being not only a conveyor of cultural information, but also a socially learned and culturally transmitted system: that is, an individual's linguistic knowledge is the result of observing the linguistic behaviour of others. Here, this well-attested process of language acquisition, often termed Iterated Learning, emphasises the effects of differential learnability on competing linguistic variants. Sounds, words and grammatical structures are therefore seen to be the products of selection and directed mutation. As you can see from the use of terms such as selection and mutation it's clear we can draw many parallels between the literature on language evolution and analogous processes in biology. Indeed, Darwin himself noted such similarities in the Descent of Man. However, one aspect evolutionary linguists don't seem to borrow is that of a null model. Is it possible that the changes we see in languages over time are just the products of processes analogous to genetic drift?
from → Research Blogging, Science
Some Links #9: Sowing the Seed of doubt
tags: Chromosome Evolution, Dow Chemical, Gaia Vince, Gulf Oil Spill, SCAMs, Science and Politics, Seed
This isn't the first time Seed has sacrificed editorial independence. A worrying article about scienceblogs' parent company, Seed, and how they restricted the publication of a column on the basis of it being critical of Dow Chemical — someone they were seeking an advertising contract with. As Gaia Vince points out in an email she received from Seed:
We're not running the bhopal piece, and we're passing on the Maldive shark ban (a bit late now… Too bad it got caught up in prod week… ). As for Bhopal, it's a cautionary call on our part as we're in the midst of advertising negotiations with Dow (who have been inspired by Seed's photography in their own brand campaigns). RE: the payment, as you're on a scheduled direct-payment, the bhopal fee covers the Kerry/Carbon trading news piece fee that was outstanding. Let me know if that's clear.
It's a great article that's not only revealing about Seed, but the underlying motivations of the journalism industry in general. I never thought I'd find myself linking to Chomsky's politics, yet, given the nature of this article, maybe it's time I dug out my copy of Manufacturing Consent.
Scientific Certainty Argumentation Methods (SCAMs): Science and the politics of doubt. H/T: Ben Goldacre. A good paper looking at what happens when science and politics mix, and how the two have different expectations of what science is. Here's the abstract:
At least since the time of Popper, scientists have understood that science provides falsification, but not "proof." In the world of environmental and technological controversies, however, many observers continue to call precisely for "proof," often under the guise of "scientific certainty." Closer examination of real-world disputes suggests that such calls may reflect not just a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of science, but a clever and surprisingly effective political-economic tactic—"Scientific Certainty" Argumentation Methods, or SCAMs. Given that most scientific findings are inherently probabilistic and ambiguous, if agencies can be prevented from imposing any regulations until they are unambiguously "justified," most regulations can be defeated or postponed, often for decades, allowing profitable but potentially risky activities to continue unabated. An exploratory examination of previously documented controversies suggests that SCAMs are more widespread than has been recognized in the past, and that they deserve greater attention in the future.
The secret history of X and Z. An excellent article from Ed Yong on Chromosome evolution in humans and birds. Key paragraph:
Why the similarities? It's possible that both X and Z evolved from autosomes with features that made them more likely to become sex chromosomes. Perhaps, for example, their genes were already sparsely distributed. But Bellott ruled out this idea. He compared X to its closest counterpart in chicken, and Z to its equivalents in humans – none of these relatives had any structural features that made them stand out among other autosomes. There's nothing that singles them out as ideal candidates for the role of sex chromosome.
You are not authorized to see these pictures of the oil spill, citizen… Do not look. Washington's Blog has some fairly harrowing photos of the recent gulf oil spill and the damage it's doing to wildlife. Here's one example:
The Movius Line repr… on The Movius Line represents the…
Arcuate fasciculus |… on Discerning the role of the arc…
Rich on ASPM, Microcephalin and T…
MiniFeed
Babel's Dawn
Been There, Played That!
Cognition and Culture
Deric Bownds' MindBlog
Dienekes' Anthropology Blog
Gene Expression @ Discover
Language Continuity
Neurophilosophy
Peter Frost's weblog on his research into human evolution
Science Blogs
Shared Symbolic Storage
Talking Brains
The Adventures of Auck
The hairy nipple of the angry walrus
Categories Select Category 101 Abstracts Bad Science Economics Evolution Irreverant and Irrelevant Links Mathematical Modelling Politics Research Blogging Science Science News Uncategorized


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text:
Clubmates: a web series
(Last Updated On: December 9, 2013)
Clubmates is a web series about a group of social misfits doing whatever it takes to save their poetry club from disbandment and the hilarity that ensues as they receive some bad news in the form of a white letter. Friendships are made, alliances forged, relationships tested, and over the course of the season, challenges will be met by the full force of the Clubmates.
With your support, we will make an awesome web series that will serve as a platform to showcase the diversity and talent available in the local and regional film & entertainment industry.
What We Need & What You Get
In order to complete Season 1 (episodes 2 – 5) we need to raise at least $12,000. When you watch the pilot episode and the campaign video you will see this is not your typical web series. Rather, it is an ambitious show that will feature a large ensemble cast and a unique perspective on the value of creative thinking and the importance of teamwork.
Tracie Jenkins (show creator and writer) wanted to develop a show making use of the diversity she has known her whole life. As with many "misfit" kids, artistic clubs provided the validity and camaraderie she was seeking as a young adult and Clubmates reflects, in an entertaining and poignant way, the process by which creative people come to terms with themselves and others. Oh yeah, it's also pretty funny.
We need your financial support, but that's not the only way you can help! Spread the word about our campaign – talk to friends and family, let people know that you support Clubmates.
Money Under the Couch
We thank you by name on the Roux Network website.
Access to private behind the scenes videos available only for you (new Behind-the-scenes videos posted weekly) on YouTube. Plus, we thank you by name on the website.
Drew's Wallet
Invitation to private premiere screening of the first season (location TBA). Plus, access to private behind the scenes videos available only for you (new Behind-the-scenes videos posted weekly) on YouTube and we thank you by name on the website.
First season DVD signed by the cast and crew mailed to you. Plus above.
Visit the Clubmates set and have dinner with show runner and producer (transportation, airfare, hotel accommodations not provided). Plus above.
Edgar's Ring
Guest appearance on a future episode of Clubmates. Plus above.
Associate Producer credit on the web series. Plus above.
Co-Producer credit on the web series. Plus above.
Club Mates: a webseries
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text:
Saint-Louis-lès-Bitche (, literally St. Louis near Bitche; ; Lorraine Franconian: Minzdal) is a commune in the Moselle department of the Grand Est administrative region in north-eastern France.

The village belongs to the Pays de Bitche and to the Northern Vosges Regional Nature Park. As of the 2013 France census, the village's population is 512. The inhabitants of the commune are known as Ludoviciens and Ludoviciennes.

The village is famous for its Saint-Louis Glass Manufacture, as it is the oldest glass manufacturer in France with roots dating back to 1586 and the first crystal glass manufacturer in continental Europe (1781).

See also
 Communes of the Moselle department
 Saint-Louis (glass manufacturer)

References

External links

Communes of Moselle (department)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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The MVCC Forensics Team (speech team) perform sections of the book We Believe You: Survivors of Campus Sexual Assault Speak Out by Annie E. Clark and Andrea L. Pino. This event is intended to give voice to the survivors in the book. This event is part of our One Book, We Believe You program.
Performed and posted on YouTube with the permission of the authors and Henry Holt and Company.


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