text:
Biografia
Inizia la pratica dell'atletica leggera (dopo la danza moderna, la pallavolo ed il ciclismo) su invito di una sua compagna delle scuole medie nel 2006 (cominciando con il mezzofondo e passando subito dopo alla marcia) all'età di 11 anni (ultima annata nella categoria Esordienti) ed a partire dal 2007 sino al 2013 gareggia come tesserata FIDAL per la bergamasca Unione Sportiva Scanzorosciate; dal 2014 indossa i colori dell'Atletica Brescia 1950.

Viene allenata, dai tempi dell'U.S. Scanzorosciate, da Renato Cortinovis.

Nel biennio da cadetta 2009-2010, vince la prima medaglia ai campionati italiani giovanili, con il bronzo sulla marcia 3000 m ai nazionali under 16 ('09) e poi chiude settima l'anno seguente sulla stessa distanza.

Da allieva conquista il suo primo titolo italiano giovanile nel 2012 sulla marcia 5000 m ai campionati di categoria (dopo l'argento nella marcia 3000 m indoor nello stesso anno). In precedenza, sempre ai nazionali under 18, nel 2011 era stata vicecampionessa sulla marcia 5000 m, decima nella marcia 3000 m indoor e quarta nella marcia 10 km su strada (ottava nel 2012).

Alla prima annata nella categoria juniores nel 2013, ha indossato per la prima volta una maglia azzurra giovanile: nell'incontro internazionale di marcia a Poděbrady in Repubblica Ceca, ha gareggiato nella prova riservata alle under 20, chiudendo quinta (terza delle italiane, dietro Anna Clemente e Mariavittoria Becchetti), contribuendo così alla vittoria della classifica a squadre.

In Italia oltre un paio di piazzamenti (settima nella marcia 3000 m al suo esordio agli assoluti al coperto di Ancona e quinta sulla marcia 10000 m ai nazionali di categoria), ottiene il bronzo sulla marcia 3000 m indoor nei campionati italiani under 20.

2014, gareggia in Cina a Taicang alla Coppa del mondo juniores di marcia: finisce al 16º posto (seconda delle italiane, dietro Eleonora Dominici tredicesima) nei 10 km su strada e quinta nella classifica a squadre; prende parte poi ai Mondiali juniores di Eugene (Stati Uniti d'America) dove termina in 14ª posizione sulla marcia 10000 m.In Italia invece diventa campionessa nazionale juniores nella marcia 20 km su strada e conquista l'argento nella marcia 10000 m ai campionati italiani under 20.

Il 2015 la vede terminare al 10º posto nella marcia 20 km su strada agli Europei under 23 di Tallinn in Estonia.Altresì in Italia vince due medaglie di bronzo, entrambe sulla marcia 3000 m indoor, durante la stagione al coperto: prima ai campionati nazionali promesse e poi agli italiani assoluti di Padova; in seguito, ai nazionali di marcia 20 km su strada di Cassino, ottiene l'argento promesse ed il settimo posto assoluto.

Il 9 aprile del 2016 ha esordito con la Nazionale seniores in occasione dell'incontro internazionale di marcia che si tiene annualmente a Poděbrady in Repubblica Ceca: ha concluso la gara dei 20 km su strada in nona posizione (seconda tra le italiane, dietro Valentina Trapletti quinta) e contribuendo al secondo posto nella classifica a squadre.Il 7 maggio ha partecipato ai Mondiali a squadre di marcia tenutisi proprio in Italia a Roma: nei 20 km su strada è stata 58ª (terza fra le italiane, dopo Elisa Rigaudo e Valentina Trapletti) e come piazzamento nella classifica a squadre ha terminato in sesta posizione.Il 4 giugno è giunta quinta nella marcia 10000 m in Tunisia ai Mediterranei under 23 di Tunisi.

In Italia, nei campionati nazionali, ha vinto diverse medaglie: due volte campionessa promesse con altrettante medaglie d'oro (marcia 3000 m indoor e 20 km di marcia su strada), a livello di nazionali assoluti, è stata nell'ordine argento nella 20 km su strada di Cassino e poi bronzo sui 10 km (sempre su strada) agli assoluti di Rieti.

Il 21 maggio del 2017 ha preso parte alla Coppa Europa di marcia svoltasi in Repubblica Ceca a Poděbrady: con il 26º posto (terza delle italiane, dopo Antonella Palmisano e Valentina Trapletti) sui 20 km su strada, ha contribuito alla vittoria della medaglia d'argento nella classifica a squadre.Il 16 luglio ha gareggiato nella marcia 20 km su strada agli Europei under 23 di Bydgoszcz in Polonia, venendo però squalificata verso metà gara.

Ha fatto inoltre en plein di medaglie (cinque su cinque con tre titoli giovanili) nella marcia ai vari campionati italiani disputati: oro promesse rispettivamente su 3000 m indoor (vittoria per 2 centesimi su Eleonora Dominici), 20 km su strada e 10000 m; argento agli assoluti nei 20 km su strada a Cassino e bronzo agli assoluti di Trieste nei 10 km su strada.

Durante il bimestre febbraio-marzo del 2018 ha vinto due medaglie di bronzo ai campionati italiani: nella marcia 3000 m agli assoluti indoor e nella marcia 20 km su strada.

Nel mese di maggio contribuisce alla vittoria dell'argento a squadre nella marcia 20 km su strada (42ª classificata) nei Mondiali a squadre di marcia di Taicang in Cina.

Pur convocata per gli Europei di Berlino in Germania ha dovuto rinunciare all'esordio nella distanza dei 50 km di marcia su strada, a causa di problemi fisici.

Il 27 gennaio 2019, a Gioiosa Marea vince il suo primo titolo italiano assoluto, sulla distanza di 50 km di marcia, con il tempo di 4h27:38, che è anche il nuovo record italiano assoluto sulla distanza.

È stata medagliata ai campionati italiani in tutte e cinque le categorie: cadette (under 16), allieve (under 18), juniores (under 20), promesse (under 23) e seniores (over 23).

È presente nella top ten delle graduatorie italiane giovanili all time, sia in quelle juniores (due volte) che altrettante tra le promesse: quinto posto tra le juniores nella marcia 10000 metri con 47'38"82 (2014); ottava tra le under 20 nella marcia 20 km su strada con 1:43'06 (2014); decimo posto tra le promesse nella marcia 10 km su strada con 45'26 (2016) e terza sempre fra le under 23 nella marcia 20 km su strada con 1'33"39 (2016).

Nelle graduatorie italiane stagionali, è stata quasi sempre presente nella top ten delle ultime annate agonistiche: marcia 3000 metri indoor, terza nel biennio 2017-'16, settima nel 2015; marcia 5000 m: terza nel 2016 e quarta nel 2017-'18; marcia 10000 metri: terza nel 2017 e settima nel 2015; marcia 20 km su strada: quinta nel 2017-'18, sesta nel 2016, ottava nel 2014 e decima nel 2015.

In diverse occasioni sia ai vari campionati nazionali che in rassegne internazionali giovanili e seniores (in gare su pista, indoor e su strada), ha stabilito il proprio primato stagionale o quello personale.

Progressione

Marcia 5000 metri

Marcia 10000 metri

Marcia 3000 metri indoor

Marcia 10 km su strada

Marcia 20 km su strada

Palmarès

Campionati nazionali
 1 volta campionessa assoluta nella marcia 10 km su strada (2021)
 1 volta campionessa assoluta nella marcia 50 km su strada (2019)
 1 volta campionessa promesse nella marcia 10000 m (2017)
 2 volte campionessa promesse nella marcia 20 km su strada (2016, 2017)
 2 volte campionessa promesse indoor nella marcia 3000 m (2016, 2017)
 1 volta campionessa juniores nella marcia 20 km su strada (2014)
 1 volta campionessa allieve nella marcia 5000 m (2012)

2009
  ai Campionati italiani cadetti e cadette, (Desenzano del Garda), Marcia 3000 m - 15'08"30

2010
 7ª ai Campionati italiani cadetti e cadette, (Cles), Marcia 3000 m - 15'45"77

2011
 10ª ai Campionati italiani allievi-juniores-promesse indoor, (Ancona), Marcia 3000 m - 15'55"41
  ai Campionati italiani allievi e allieve, (Rieti), Marcia 5000 m - 24'13"16
 4ª al Campionato italiano 10 km di marcia su strada allievi e allieve, (Grottammare), Marcia 10 km su strada - 55'45

2012
  ai Campionati italiani allievi e juniores indoor, (Ancona), Marcia 3000 m - 14'42"57
  ai Campionati italiani allievi e allieve, (Firenze), Marcia 5000 m - 24'20"71
 8ª al Campionato italiano 10 km di marcia su strada allievi e allieve, (Grottammare), Marcia 10 km su strada - 58'18

2013
 7ª ai Campionati italiani assoluti e promesse indoor, (Ancona), Marcia 3000 m - 14'24"39
  ai Campionati italiani allievi e juniores indoor, (Ancona), Marcia 3000 m - 14'28"97
 5ª ai Campionati italiani juniores e promesse, (Rieti), Marcia 10000 m - 52'44"77

2014
 8ª ai Campionati italiani juniores e promesse indoor, (Ancona), Marcia 3000 m - 15'17"60
 10ª ai Campionati italiani assoluti indoor, (Ancona), Marcia 3000 m - 14'45"86
  al Campionato italiano 20 km di marcia su strada, (Locorotondo), Marcia 20 km su strada - 1:43'06 (juniores)
  ai Campionati italiani juniores e promesse, (Torino), Marcia 10000 m - 49'54"19

2015
  ai Campionati italiani juniores e promesse indoor, (Ancona), Marcia 3000 m - 14'19"62
  ai Campionati italiani assoluti indoor, (Padova), Marcia 3000 m - 13'53"98
 7ª al Campionato italiano 20 km di marcia su strada, (Cassino), Marcia 20 km su strada - 1:40'02 (assolute)
  al Campionato italiano 20 km di marcia su strada, (Cassino), Marcia 20 km su strada - 1:40'02 (promesse)
 In finale ai Campionati italiani juniores e promesse, (Rieti), Marcia 10000 m -
 In finale ai Campionati italiani assoluti, (Torino), Marcia 10 km su strada -

2016
  ai Campionati italiani juniores e promesse indoor, (Ancona), Marcia 3000 m - 13'12"19
 In finale ai Campionati italiani assoluti indoor, (Ancona), Marcia 3000 m -
  al Campionato italiano 20 km di marcia su strada, (Cassino), Marcia 20 km su strada - 1:34'21 (assolute)
  al Campionato italiano 20 km di marcia su strada, (Cassino), Marcia 20 km su strada - 1:34'21 (promesse)
 In finale ai Campionati italiani juniores e promesse, (Bressanone), Marcia 10000 m -
  ai Campionati italiani assoluti, (Rieti), Marcia 10 km su strada - 48'29

2017
  ai Campionati italiani juniores e promesse indoor, (Ancona), Marcia 3000 m - 13'40"80
  al Campionato italiano 20 km di marcia su strada, (Cassino), Marcia 20 km su strada - 1:38'26 (assolute)
  al Campionato italiano 20 km di marcia su strada, (Cassino), Marcia 20 km su strada - 1:38'26 (promesse)
  ai Campionati italiani juniores e promesse, (Firenze), Marcia 10000 m - 46'11"77
  ai Campionati italiani assoluti, (Trieste), Marcia 10000 m - 46'28"34

2018
  ai Campionati italiani assoluti indoor, (Ancona), 3000 m - 13'22"26
  al Campionato italiano 20 km di marcia su strada, (Roma), Marcia 20 km su strada - 1:37'26

2019
  ai campionati italiani assoluti marcia 50 km su strada, (Gioiosa Marea), marcia 50 km su strada - 4:27'38

2020
  ai campionati italiani assoluti, marcia 10 km - 43'55"

2021
  ai campionati italiani assoluti, marcia 10 km - 45'36"

2022
  ai campionati italiani assoluti, marcia 35 km - 2h54'32"
  ai campionati italiani assoluti, marcia 10 km - 46'40"

Altre competizioni internazionali

2013
 5ª nell'Incontro internazionale di marcia su strada, ( Poděbrady), Marcia 10 km su strada - 49'18 (juniores)
  nell'Incontro internazionale di marcia su strada, ( Poděbrady), Classifica a squadre (juniores)

2014
 16ª nella Coppa del mondo juniores di marcia, ( Taicang), Marcia 10 km su strada - 48'22
 5ª nella Coppa del mondo juniores di marcia, ( Taicang), Classifica a squadre - 29 punti

2016
 9ª nell'Incontro internazionale di marcia su strada, ( Poděbrady), Marcia 20 km su strada - 1:33'39
  nell'Incontro internazionale di marcia su strada, ( Poděbrady), Classifica a squadre
 58ª nei Mondiali a squadre di marcia, ( Roma), Marcia 20 km su strada - 1:37'47
 6ª nei Mondiali a squadre di marcia, ( Roma), Classifica a squadre - 85 punti

2017
 26ª nella Coppa Europa di marcia, ( Poděbrady), Marcia 20 km su strada - 1:37'26
  nella Coppa Europa di marcia, ( Poděbrady), Classifica a squadre - 34 punti

2018
 42ª nei Mondiali a squadre di marcia, ( Taicang), Marcia 20 km su strada - 1:34'33
  nei Mondiali a squadre di marcia, ( Taicang), Classifica a squadre - 38 punti

Note

Collegamenti esterni

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Auntie Anne's wants to 'bring pretzels to the people'
The chain looks to catering and delivery as mall traffic declines
Jonathan Maze | Oct 19, 2017
Auntie Anne's wants consumers to eat pretzels, even if they're nowhere near the mall.
Lancaster, Pa.-based Auntie Anne's, part of Roark Capital Group's Focus Brands Inc., is a mainstay of America's shopping centers, where many of its more than 1,200 domestic units are located. The chain's pretzels, Pretzel Nuggets and Mini Dogs have become popular snacks for shoppers.
While Auntie Anne's is still promoting itself to mall shoppers — it recently began a promotion called "Shoptoberfest" — it's also working to attract customers outside malls. Efforts include catering, food trucks and, yes, delivery.
"Twenty-five years ago, we're not having this conversation," Heather Neary, Auntie Anne's president, said in an interview. "Malls were doing great. But today we've got to be more creative."
Auntie Anne's was founded in 1988, when "Auntie" Anne and Jonas Beiler bought a stand in a Downington, Pa., farmer's market and began selling pretzels and lemonade. The chain began franchising a year later and soon began expanding to malls across the country — and the world. Auntie Anne's has about 500 locations outside the U.S.
But retail foot traffic has been declining for years as more consumers stay home and shop online.
Last year's holiday shopping season was particularly tough for many retailers, leading to several bankruptcies, including Toys "R" Us, Radio Shack and Gander Mountain.
"At the end of the day, we're not going to argue there are less people outside the mall," Neary said.
Auntie Anne's internal mantra is to "bring pretzels to the people," she said, and the chain is finding more ways to do that.
One method is catering, a major industry trend. Auntie Anne's has offered catering for years, but is relaunching the program with new packaging and materials, and is investing in advertising.
Catering "takes us from an impulse purchase to a more logical solution to afternoon meetings, tailgates and business events," Neary said.
Events may include weddings and baby showers, where the pretzel's flexibility creates interesting opportunities. At weddings, pretzels can be made into the initial of the couple's last name. Or, they can be twisted into a "G" for girl or "B" for boy to serve at baby showers.
Auntie Anne's is employing food trucks and concession trailers. Some operators have gotten creative with delivery, tapping the growing number of delivery services. Neary suggested the chain is planning to roll delivery out nationwide.
"It's not national — yet," she said, "And I mean that with a big asterisk."
Delivery could provide more profitable orders because customers typically order more pretzels, hot dogs or nuggets than they would at a mall kiosk, for instance.
"Maybe you're sitting in the office one afternoon and decide you're hungry for a pretzel, and someone else says, 'I am, too,'" Neary said. "Soon you're ordering a couple of original pretzels, some Mini Dogs and lemonade, and having it delivered to your office space."
To be sure, malls aren't empty, and the upcoming holiday shopping season is still important for Auntie Anne's. The chain hasn't abandoned marketing to mall customers.
"We want to capitalize on foot traffic and make sure we are the snack of choice for folks who are shopping and work up an appetite," Neary said. "Shopping can be a stressful time with kids, and we want to make sure we're there as a great little respite."
Auntie Anne's "Shoptoberfest" promotion earlier this month let customers get a free pretzel if they ordered one through the chain's mobile app. The chain jokingly marketed a "Hands-Free Pretzel-Eating Apparatus" to make it possible to eat a pretzel while holding shopping bags.
Happy Shoptoberfest! (Yep, we invented a holiday) To celebrate, we launched our Hands-Free Pretzel-Eating Apparatus. Details on Facebook! pic.twitter.com/jPsELjhyDF
— Auntie Anne's (@AuntieAnnes) October 9, 2017
"We had fun with it," Neary said. 'At the end of the day, folks still spend time in malls. We want to make sure we capture everybody in malls."
Auntie Anne's is also highlighting innovation. The chain currently offers Pumpkin Pretzel Nuggets. And this summer, it collected ideas for its next pretzel flavor and received more than 1,200 entries. After picking the top 10, customers voted on the one they preferred. More than 1 million people voted for Sriracha, which will launch next week.
"There were so many votes, it crashed the site," Neary said. "Sriracha won by a landslide."
Correction: Oct. 20, 2017 An earlier version of this story misstated Auntie Anne's headquarters location and the timing of its "Shoptoberfest" promotion. The story has been updated.
TAGS: Quick Service Marketing Consumer Trends

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Q: Return Loop Result PHP I'm trying to return the content of a loop in PHP (for a select)
Here is my code :
public function select($name, $field, $table) {
    $query = $this->db->query("SELECT $field FROM $table", []);
    $datas = $query->fetchAll();
    $number = $query->rowCount();
    return '<select class="form-control" name="' . $name . '">
                <option value="">' . $name . '</option>'
                    for ($i=0; $i < $number; $i++) {
                        '<option value="' . $datas[$i]->$field . '" >' . $datas[$i]->$field . '</option>'
                    }
            '</select>';
}

I get an error : ( ! ) Parse error: syntax error, unexpected 'for' (T_FOR)
I know my code is wrong, but I can't figure an easy solution to accomplish what I want.
Thanks for your help !

A: Do something like that:
$string = '';
$string .= '<select>';
$string .= '<option value="">xxx</option>';
for($i=0; $i < $number; $i++) {
    $string .= '<option value=""></option>';
}
$string .= '</select>';
return $string;

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Soul Consciousness
Directing Energy
Personal Dynamics
Do you remember a time when you felt totally at peace with yourself and focused in the present? Perhaps you were in the mountains, by the ocean, listening to music, or singing songs with a group of people. There is something guiding you to these experiences. Some call...
PREMONITION January 16, 2023
Ambition December 16, 2022
GROW November 15, 2022
Details October 15, 2022
Enlightened September 16, 2022
Theme of the Month (50)
Orientation Lecture
Technique Workshop
Workshops & Camps
Join the Inner Peace Movement of Canada on Facebook!
© Inner Peace Movement, Pty. Limited


text:
Događaji
 Početak vladavine kraljice Abeš Hatun u Perziji.

Rođenja

Smrti
14. studenog – Aleksandar Nevski, ruski knez (* 1220.)
Mindaugas (r. 1200.), jedini kralj srednjovjekovne Litve, te prvi poznati litvanski vladar.

Vanjske poveznice


* Egg wreaths are classic! This is a quail wreath from a shop I ordered years ago, I haven't seen one again like it but you can buy quail eggs on Etsy and egg wreaths are everywhere.
* Bunny pillows and greens (and another egg wreath) They had these adorable bunny pillows at Kirkland's this year. I also love putting some greenery in a white basket.
* The greens I can't stop talking about (Israeli ruscus -- look for it in your grocery store in a green bunch) are still going strong (3 weeks!) I think fresh greens instantly bring fresh in.


text:
CHRISTIAN ZERVOS & cahiers d'art exhibition
Why AthensExhibitionsCHRISTIAN ZERVOS & cahiers d'art exhibition
Where: Benaki Museum - Pireos St Annexe
When: On now until 1 March 2020
Why Go: See a private collection of masterpieces
A new exhibition 'Christian Zervos and Cahiers d'art' is presented at the Benaki Museum's Pireos St Annexe in Athens.
As one of the great unknown figures in art history, this presentation introduces the general public to Zervos' multifaceted and consequential work as a critic. His work will be correlated with modern Greek intellectual life, defining the foundations of his methodology in relation to his Greek origins and highlighting his importance in the reception of modernism in Greece.
Works taking part in the exhibition. Left: Black Figures on White, Wassily Kandinsky 1934; Right: Kings Head, Pablo Picasso 1969
Additionally, approximately 60 rare and unique works of modern art by Matisse, Miró, Picasso, Laurens, Calder, Lam, Kandinsky, Ghika, Sklavou, Giacometti, Brancusi and others from Zervos' personal collection will travel for the first time outside Vézelay to be presented in the exhibition. At the same time, documentation from the Musée Zervos and from archives and libraries in Greece and Paris will reveal the significance of the Cahiers d'art publications, in which he founded, in the development of modern art in Paris.
ABOUT CHRISTIAN ZERVOS
Christian Zervos (1889 – 1979) was a Greek-French art historian, critic, collector, writer and publisher. Better known as an art critic in his own right, Zervos founded the magazine Cahiers d'art in Paris, and ran an art gallery. He was a connoisseur of modern painting in his time, and of Greek and prehistoric art.
Find more events on in Athens.
Thursday , Sunday 10:00am – 6:00pm
Friday, Saturday 10:00am – 10:00pm
*Closed Monday – Wednesday
Disclaimer: We make every attempt to ensure information about events are accurate and obtained from reliable sources. Why Athens is neither the producer nor ticketing agent of any performances listed and is therefore not responsible for the outcomes of performances including if they appear contrary to how the production has been originally promoted or represented. See our editorial policy for further information.
Pireos Street Annexe
138 Pireos Street and Andronikou Street, Athens
ANCIENT EPIDAURUS THEATRE PROGRAMME & TICKETS
In "Festivals"
LYNDA BENGLIS at the Cycladic Museum
In "Exhibitions"
WOMEN OF PASSION, WOMEN OF GREECE
In "Theatre"


I've been truly remiss about both giving to charities and looking at websites promoting strong charities. I'm not sure how to attribute this, but I'd like to point out a site that, much like its bigger, more well-publicized sister, The Hunger Site, allows a click of the mouse to provide funds toward the organization. It sounds too easy, and it is, in fact, too easy. But it's a start and the content on this site is quite good for those interested in aiding and assisting our neglected animal cousins: The Animal Rescue Site.


text:
US & Canada selected
Occupy police 'used pepper spray' Jump to media player An Occupy Wall Street protester has said police used tear gas and pepper spray to disrupt the camp at Zuccotti park.
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-us-canada-15733194/occupy-police-used-pepper-spray-says-protester
New York police clearing protest Jump to media player Hundreds of police officers have cleared the Occupy Wall Street camp in New York's Zuccotti Park.
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-us-canada-15733189/new-york-police-clearing-occupy-wall-street-protest
Police close Occupy Oakland camp Jump to media player Police have shut down a camp set up by Occupy Oakland protesters in Oakland's Frank Ogawa Plaza just a day after 50 people were arrested in a similar clear-out of a camp in Portland, Oregon
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-us-canada-15731135/police-close-occupy-camp-at-oakland-s-frank-ogawa-plaza
Sheriff of Wall Street on capitalism Jump to media player Eliot Spitzer made his name as the so-called Sheriff of Wall Street, an Attorney General who went after corrupt businessmen no matter how powerful they were.
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-us-canada-15731192/eliot-spitzer-sheriff-of-wall-street-on-capitalism
Occupy police used pepper spray, says protester
An Occupy Wall Street protester has said police used tear gas and pepper spray to disrupt the camp at Zuccotti park during a pre-dawn raid.
Occupy Wall Street was set up in September to protest against economic inequality and had been followed by dozens of protests around the world.
Hristo Voynov has now left the park, but says he intends to go back as soon as possible because he did not feel the movement's aims had yet been realised.
Go to next video: New York police clearing protest


text:
Hotel JAL City Fukuoka Tenjin to Open in 2021
19-Aug-2020 Intellasia | BusinessWire | 9:29 AM
New property will be located in the center of the Asia gateway city of Fukuoka
TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Okura Nikko Hotel Management Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Hotel Okura Co., Ltd., announced today that it will open Hotel JAL City Fukuoka Tenjin in 2021. The company has contracted with Fukuoka Tenjin Hotel Management GK to manage the new property, which will be located in the central Tenjin district of Fukuoka – one of Japan's largest and busiest cities, located strategically close to the Asian mainland. Sekisui House, Ltd., a renowned Japanese construction company, is now building the hotel and aiming to complete it by January 2021.
Based on Hotel JAL City's brand concept "smart simplicity", the new hotel will offer a smart and simple stay experience, providing check-in and check-out and room key functionality by means of guests' smartphones. It will also address customer needs with a wide range of tailored services. The property will offer 280 guest rooms ranging from 25 square meters in size as well as all-day dining facilities.
Toshihiro Ogita, President, Okura Nikko Hotel Management Co., Ltd., commented, "We are very pleased to be opening the third property of Okura Nikko Hotels in Fukuoka, a vibrant city that has become a gateway between Japan and Asia. We are confident that with our three hotel groups—Okura Hotels & Resorts, Nikko Hotels International and Hotel JAL City—we will be able to match all guests' requirements in Fukuoka."
Fukuoka is almost the same distance from Shanghai, Taipei, and Seoul as it is from major cities in Japan such as Osaka, Tokyo, and Sapporo. The city has been rapidly developing on the strength of its proximity to other major Asian cities, and is aiming to become a commercial hub in North Asia.
The hotel will be located adjacent to the dynamic Tenjin area, which is being revitalized as part of Fukuoka City's urban redevelopment project "Tenjin Big Bang", and will offer easy access from Fukuoka airport as well as from the city's Hakata shinkansen station.
The Tenjin Big Bang project will create new commercial facilities and employment, enhancing Fukuoka's attractiveness as a hub for the Asia region. The city aims to complete the reconstruction of offices and commercial facilities there by 2024, creating a comfortable and vibrant urban quarter. This project is expected to revitalize the area around Tenjin and further enhance the attractiveness of Fukuoka not only for business travelers but also for tourists from all over the world.
Hotel JAL City Fukuoka Tenjin
Daimyo 2-12, Chuo-ku, Fukuoka city
Total floor space:
Number of guest rooms:
Restaurants & bars:
Akasaka station, Kuko (airport) line: 1-minute walk
About Hotel Okura Co., Ltd. and Okura Nikko Hotel Management Co., Ltd.
Hotel Okura Co., Ltd., founded in 1958, opened its flagship Hotel Okura Tokyo in 1962 as a first-class hotel that quickly became renowned worldwide for its blending of traditional Japanese beauty with the very best in accommodation, cuisine and service. It closed its doors in August 2015, and after four years of rebuilding work, it reopened recently as The Okura Tokyo in September 2019.
Hotel Okura has extensive expertise in the hospitality world, including asset ownership and hotel development, as well as hotel management, the restaurant business and chain operations through its subsidiaries and other group companies. The brand unites member hotels under its "Best Accommodation, Cuisine and Service" philosophy to ensure that all guests enjoy Okura's signature hospitality, which combines Japanese attention to detail and Western functionality. Please visit: www.okura.com
Okura Nikko Hotel Management Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Hotel Okura operates 78 properties (52 in Japan and 26 overseas) encompassing some 24,350 guest rooms (as of August 19, 2020) under three hotel groups: Okura Hotels & Resorts, Nikko Hotels International and Hotel JAL City. Please visit: www.okura-nikko.com.
Ms. Ikuko Arai, Mr. Ryutaro Suzuki
Okura Nikko Hotel Management Co., Ltd.
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Asia Pacific Digital Advertising Market (2020 to 2026) – COVID-19 Impact and Growth Opportunities – ResearchAndMarkets.com
ComplyAdvantage Releases State Of Financial Crime Report For 2021


text:
=============================================================
Tutorial - Adding Python code to an existing ObjC application
=============================================================

In this tutorial we are going to take an existing ObjC application and
add Python and PyObjC to it.  One of the reasons why you may want to do
this is because some things are much simpler in Python than in ObjC, mainly
due to the rich library Python has.

To follow the tutorial you need:

 * PyObjC 1.3.1
 * py2app 0.2 or later (included in the binary installer for PyObjC)
 * Python 2.3 or later (note: PyObjC is NOT compatible with MacPython-OS9)
 * Mac OS X 10.3 or later
 * Xcode Tools

If you do not have a ``/Developer`` folder, then you do not have Xcode Tools
installed. On MacOSX 10.7 or later you can download Xcode from the App Store,
see `Apple's developer website <https://developer.apple.com/xcode/>` for
more information.

The application we are going to modify is Apple's SimpleComboBox example.
This example shows you how to use combo boxes, but that is not what interests
us right now: the application pretends to be a database application that allows
you to keep notes (such as track list) for your CD collection.  With such an
application it feels silly that even though you want to type notes on
the CD you are currently playing in iTunes you still have to retype
album title, artist and genre.  This is what we are going to fix: we
are going to add a button "ask iTunes", which will use Python's
AppleScript support to ask iTunes about the currently playing track
and fill in the fields for you.

Follow these steps:

.. note:: Before you start, download the :download:`reference source package <embedded_src.zip>` for this tutorial.

1. Make a copy of ``/Developer/Examples/AppKit/SimpleComboBox`` to work on.
   Let's call this ``SimpleComboBoxPlus``:

   .. sourcecode: sh

      $ cp -R /Developer/Examples/AppKit/SimpleComboBox SimpleComboBoxPlus

  From this point on, all shell commands take place from this
  ``SimpleComboBoxPlus`` folder.

2. Open it in Xcode, build it, and see what it does.

3. Open ``CDInfoDocument.nib``.  Select the Class View, ``NSObject``, subclass
   as ``ITunesCommunication``.  Give the class an ``askITunes:`` action.
   Instantiate the class as object ``ITunesCommunication``.  This wll be the
   class that we write in Python.

4. Go to the object view again, open the Window.

5. Move the text box down a bit to make space, add a button "ask iTunes".

6. Connect this button to the ``askITunes:`` action of the
   ``ITunesCommunication`` object.

7. We now need to write the code implementing the ``ITunesCommunication``
   class.  As this tutorial is about using PyObjC in existing ObjC programs
   and not about PyObjC itself, we are going to skip writing the code and
   simply copy ``ITunesCommunication_1.py`` to ``ITunesCommunication.py``.

8. Now we need to create the build script for our plugin, create a file named
   ``setup.py`` with the following contents:

   .. sourcecode:: python

        from distutils.core import setup
        import py2app

        setup(
            plugin = ['ITunesCommunication.py']
        )

   You may also copy this file from ``setup.py``.

9. Run the setup script to create a temporary plugin bundle for development:

   .. sourcecode: sh

        $ python setup.py py2app -A

   Note that we use the ``-A`` argument to create an alias plugin bundle at
   ``dist/ITunesCommunication.py``.  Alias bundles contain an alias to the
   main script (``ITunesCommunication.py``) and symlinks to the data files
   (none in this case).  This allows us to keep working on the source files
   without having to rebuild the application.  This alias bundle is similar
   to a ZeroLink executable in Xcode - it is for DEVELOPMENT ONLY, and will
   not work on other machines.

10. Add ``dist/ITunesCommunication.plugin`` to the Resources folder in your
    Xcode project.  You can do this by ctrl-clicking the Resources folder
    and choosing "Add Existing Files...".  Make sure to choose
    "Create Folder References for any added folders".

11. Open ``main.m``, it is in the "Other Sources" folder in your Xcode
    project, and change the main(...) function to the following:

    .. sourcecode:: objective-c

        int main(int argc, const char *argv[]) {
            NSAutoreleasePool *pool = [[NSAutoreleasePool alloc] init];
            NSString *pluginPath = [[NSBundle mainBundle]
                                        pathForResource:@"ITunesCommunication"
                                                 ofType:@"plugin"];
            NSBundle *pluginBundle = [NSBundle bundleWithPath:pluginPath];
            [pluginBundle load];
            [pool release];
            return NSApplicationMain(argc, argv);
        }

    You may also copy a full main.m from ``main.m``.  This code ensures
    that our ITunesCommunication plugin is loaded before the nib
    files.

12. Build and run.  When you press the "Ask iTunes" the "CD Title" and
    "Band Name" fields will be filled with one of the best albums of the last
    few years :-)

13. Now we need to make the program talk to iTunes.  The current MacPython
    interface to the Open Scripting Architecture requires an extra step when
    compared to AppleScript: you need to manually generate a Python package
    that wraps all the AppleScript terminology for an application.  To make
    matters more complicated iTunes is one of those special cases where the
    standard way to generate this package (start the application, ask it for
    its terminology) does not work, so we have to actually look into the
    bowels of ``iTunes.app``.  This leads to the following hefty command line
    which you should run in the ``SimpleComboBoxPlus`` directory:

    .. sourcecode:: sh

        $ cd SimpleComboBoxPlus
        $ pythonw -c "from gensuitemodule import main;main()" \
            --output iTunes --creator hook --resource \
            /Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/Resources/iTunes.rsrc

14. Finally, add the code to ``ITunesCommunication.py`` to actually communicate
    with iTunes.  We cop out and copy it from ``ITunesCommunication_2.py``.

15. Build and run.  If you press the button when iTunes is playing the Title
    and Band names will be filled, otherwise they will be cleared.  In a real
    application you would disable the "Ask iTunes" button unless iTunes was
    active.  All that is left as an exercise to the reader.

16. To make this application redistributable, perform the following commands
    to make the plugin redistributable:

    .. sourcecode:: sh

        $ rm -rf dist
        $ python setup.py py2app

    Then, from Xcode, clean your project (shift-cmd-K), switch to Deployment
    mode, and rebuild.

A minor variation
-----------------

There a several projects that improve upon the built-in AppleScript support
(or to be more precise "application scripting support").  One of those is
`AppScript`_.

.. _`AppScript`: http://appscript.sourceforge.net

When you have this module installed you can replace the contents of
``ITunesCommuncation.py`` with ``ITunesCommunication_AppScript.py``,
and you can skip step 13 entirely.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Atlantic City puede referirse a:

Geografía
 Atlantic City, localidad estadounidense de Nueva Jersey.
 Atlantic City, localidad estadounidense de Wyoming.
 Atlantic City Expressway, autopista de peaje estadounidense.

Medios audiovisuales
 Atlantic City Expressway, banda de rock estadounidense.
 «Atlantic City», canción del cantante estadounidense Bruce Springsteen.
 Atlantic City, película de 1944 de Ray McCarey.
 Atlantic City, película de 1980 de Louis Malle.


text:
Alfred Hitchcock Presents...
Alfred Hitchcock Presents - Back for Christmas (04/Mar/1956) - writer: story
Alfred Hitchcock Presents - Wet Saturday (30/Sep/1956) - writer: story
Alfred Hitchcock Presents - De Mortuis (14/Oct/1956) - writer: story
Alfred Hitchcock Presents - None Are So Blind (28/Oct/1956) - writer: story
Alfred Hitchcock Presents - Anniversary Gift (01/Nov/1959) - writer: story
Alfred Hitchcock Presents - Maria (24/Oct/1961) - writer: teleplay
Alfred Hitchcock Presents - I Spy (05/Dec/1961) - writer: teleplay
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour...
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour - The Magic Shop (10/Jan/1964) - writer: teleplay
Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine
Are You Too Late or Was I Too Early (October 1998)
Hitchcock Fiction Anthologies
"Little Memento" in Alfred Hitchcock's Fear and Trembling (1948)
"The Lady on the Grey" in Stories They Wouldn't Let Me Do on TV (1957)
"Evening Primrose" in Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Stories for Late at Night (1961)
"Witch's Money" in Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Stories My Mother Never Told Me (1963)
"In the Cards" in Alfred Hitchcock's Witches' Brew (1965)
"De Mortuis" in Alfred Hitchcock Presents: The Master's Choice (1979)
Retrieved from 'http://the.hitchcock.zone/w/index.php?title=John_Collier&oldid=114734'
Authors of Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine stories
Authors whose works appear in a Hitchcock anthology
Page ID: 76061


text:
Испано-марокканское акционерное общество воздушного транспорта — подразделение люфтваффе, принимавшее участие в гражданской войне в Испании.

Предшествующие события
Изначально, мятежники планировали использовать для переброски своих войск самолёты испанских ВВС, которые находились на аэродроме в Тетуане, однако командир аэродрома майор Рикардо де ла Пуэнте Баамонде сохранил верность Испанской республике и по его приказу все находившиеся на аэродроме самолёты были уничтожены. После того, как франкисты установили контроль над аэродромом, Баамонде был убит.

Представители Франко Luis Bolin и Luca de Tena передали Муссолини письмо с просьбой Франко о предоставлении самолётов, и он предоставил франкистам 20 самолётов «савойя-маркетти». 19 июля 1936 года франкисты начали переброску войск из Африки в Испанию на итальянских самолётах, однако их количество оказалось недостаточным для обеспечения деятельности «воздушного моста».

После этого, Франко написал Гитлеру письмо с просьбой предоставить дополнительное количество самолётов, которое вручил ортгруппенфюреру НСДАП в Мадриде А. Лангенгейму. Лангенгейм и Бернгардт на самолёте доставили письмо в Германию, после чего письмо было вручено Р. Гессу, который счёл необходимым ознакомить с ним Гитлера.

25 июля 1936 года Гитлер ознакомился с содержанием письма и распорядился удовлетворить просьбу Франко о предоставлении самолётов, решение об отправке самолётов поддержал также Г. Геринг, который считал желательным «испытать в Испании немецкую авиацию», однако представитель министерства иностранных дел Германии Г. Дикгоф рекомендовал не предоставлять помощь открыто, «поскольку такие действия могут иметь серьёзные последствия для рейха».

Испанский военный атташе в Берлине предложил оформить сделку о покупке Испанией у немецких частных фирм «нескольких транспортных самолётов большой вместимости».

История
26 июля 1936 года с целью координации всех действий по оказанию помощи франкистам при имперском министерстве авиации был создан особый штаб «W» (Sonderstab W) во главе с генералом авиации Гельмутом Вильбергом, который занимался вопросами переброски в Испанию военной техники, специалистов, оружия и иных грузов.

Для переброски войск генерала Ф. Франко из Испанского Марокко в Андалусию при особом штабе «W» было создано специальное авиационное подразделение, получившее условное наименование «Испано-марокканское акционерное общество воздушного транспорта», которое возглавили отставной капитан Шееле и обер-лейтенант люфтваффе барон Рудольф фон Моро.

Из Германии в распоряжение Франко были отправлены 85 человек лётного персонала люфтваффе, 20 новых транспортных самолётов Ju-52c и шесть истребителей He-51. 31 июля 1936 первая группа немцев прибыла в Тетуан, в начале августа 1936 года сосредоточение было завершено.

До 15 сентября 1936 подразделение перебросило из Северной Африки в Испанию 12,5 тысяч солдат, 35 полевых орудий, 100 станковых пулемётов и 134 тонны боеприпасов. За всё время операции (получившей условное наименование «Волшебный огонь») подразделение не имело потерь в личном составе и авиатехнике.

В дальнейшем, в связи с увеличением немецкого присутствия в Испании необходимость тщательного соблюдения конспирации стала неактуальной (10 августа 1936 года испанская газета «» опубликовала фотоснимки немецких самолётов со свастикой, позднее информация о наличии у франкистов немецких самолётов была опубликована и в других печатных изданиях), и авиационное подразделение было включено в состав легиона «Кондор».

Результаты
Хотя организация и обеспечение деятельности подразделения потребовали от Германии дополнительных расходов (изначально не предусмотренных бюджетом на 1936 год), деятельность подразделения позволила получить ценный тактический (переброска войск Франко из Испанского Марокко в 1936 году стала первым в истории войн случаем применения транспортной авиации для транспортировки настолько крупных сил пехоты) и технический опыт.

Примечания

Военно-воздушные силы нацистской Германии
Гражданская война в Испании


This 2-channel Hybrid SACD is a live recording from 2009 of part of a large 'Composer Festival' featuring the music of Sergei Prokofiev. The Sydney Symphony Orchestra and its chief conductor Vladimir Ashkenazy perform well-known suites of music from two of the composer's works written for stage and screen, the film Lieutenant Kijé, and the opera The Love for Three Oranges along with his version of the fairlytale, The Ugly Duckling.
The Russian conductor Vladimir Ashkenazy is internationally renowned for his interpretation of the piano and orchestral music of the composers of his native country. Sadly, due to arthritis in his fingers he has been able to play the piano less and less in recent years, and during this period he has taken the opportunity to focus his attention on his role as a conductor. He became Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra at the time of these performances. Sergei Prokofiev composed the score for Lieutenant Kijé, in 1933 for the film of the same name, and compiled a suite of music from the soundtrack which became his opus 60. The "Love for Three Oranges" suite is taken from the opera that Prokofiev wrote in 1918. The story is based on a play by Gozzi that is written in the Commedia dell'Arte tradition.


Home / Thought leadership and the outlook / Investment Forum / Does a rise in market power explain the ills of developed economies?
The spectacular rise in market power of relatively few companies that practically monopolise their industries, especially in the US, is well documented. The adverse impact of this on the broader economy is a matter of concern.
A slowdown in output and GDP growth.
A significant body of research suggests that a number of the ills besetting developed economies in recent years is the result of a rise in market power. In the US economy, mark-ups (the difference between what a company pays for the inputs it uses and what it charges for the products it produces) rose from 18% in 1980 to 67% in 2014.
A working paper published in 2017 by Jan de Loecker of the University of Leuven and Jan Eeckhout of University College London presented evidence that a number of corporations have become powerful enough to see off competitors and charge more for their goods and services. The result is greater corporate concentration in the US economy since the early 1990s, with a limited number of players taking home a larger portion of revenues across industries.
This research notes that, at the same time, investment has fallen relative to profitability – capitalism without capital.
In an economy dominated by services, intangible capital (e.g. software, management practices) is vital. Intangible assets mean companies can grow very quickly (think of some of the tech companies that in 10 or 20 years have become world giants by market capitalisation).
In 1975, 109 companies collected half of the profits produced by publicly traded companies in the US; today, just 30 companies collect half the profits.
Greater market power for firms may also mean less bargaining power for workers, and hence lower wages. A study conducted by David Autor of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and four other economists found that workers' share of income in America has declined most steeply in the most concentrated sectors.
While these superstar companies operate in a competition-free environment, all the others struggle in a world where pricing power is increasingly rare, forcing them to keep prices low to attract customers – so there is greater polarisation in the corporate sphere.
An increase in wage inequality as wages for low-skilled jobs fall in contrast to an increase for skilled wages via profit-sharing among managers.
What's behind the rise in market power?
Rapid technological change, allowing companies to better create and preserve situations of market power, is the common factor among the candidate explanations for the rise of market power.
On this basis, it is not obvious why mark-ups should decrease even though they are already reaching heights many times above those previously seen (based on data since the second world war).


text:
Happy Birthday to one of the GREATEST comic book artists in history, George Pérez!!!
Thread: Happy Birthday to one of the GREATEST comic book artists in history, George Pérez!!!
616MarvelYear is LeapYear
The One Above All
Today is the birthday of one of the GREATEST comic book artists in history, George Pérez, born on this date in 1954.
George broke into the comic-book business as Rich Buckler's assistant. His first published work was on the Kilraven strip in Marvel's Amazing Adventures.
After a few more hits-and-mostly-misses, George was given the Man-Wolf strip in Creatures On The Loose. This was in 1974.
Things began to happen pretty quickly after that, with successive work on The Deadly Hands of Kung Fu, The Fantastic Four, and The Avengers.
In 1980 George moved to DC, where he of course helped co-create New Teen Titans (with Marv Wolman). And as DC's newest super-star, they asked him to do several covers for titles such as Green Lantern and Legion of Super-Heroes. This was his first published Legion work. Later, in the classic maxi-series Crisis On Infinite Earths, George drew several Legionnaires (notably Dawnstar and Colossal Boy, two you could always pick out of a crowd).
In 2007 George teamed-up with writer Mark Waid for an extended story-arc in Brave And The Bold (v3) that featured, among many others, the Legion and the Fatal Five.
However, it wasn't until The Legion of Three Worlds in 2008 that George actually drew a Legion of Super-Heroes story.
Clearly, however, he knew what he was doing. Seems like Mr. Perez is a secret Legion fan!
George still attends comic-book conventions pretty regularly. He is a personal, friendly guy, so if you do get to meet him ask him about his favorite Legionnaires and see what he says.
Last edited by 616MarvelYear is LeapYear; 06-09-2016 at 07:22 AM.
Imperius Rex!
http://www.tradingcarddb.com/Images/.../74396-9Bk.jpg
It's clobberin' time! Hulk is strongest one there is! Have at thee!
http://www.tradingcarddb.com/Images/...74396-51Bk.jpg
I'm the best there is at what I do, but what I do best isn't very nice.
Icefalcon
I'll second that!
Johnrevenge
Happy birthday George Pérez . Hope you have an awesome day today ^^
Particularly loved his New Teen Titans work.
CliffHanger2
Happy Bday George!!
ohsnapulon5000
Thanks for all the insanely cool artwork over the years, George Pérez! Happy Birthday!
http://www.allancarreon.com/2016/06/...-george-perez/
http://comicsalliance.com/tribute-george-perez/
http://13thdimension.com/13-covers-a...y-celebration/
http://www.comicsreporter.com/index....eorge_p233rez/
Happy Birthday George Pérez!!!
In 1987, George Pérez volunteered to revitalize the character of Wonder Woman for DC Comics.
The rest, they say, is history. Here's his take.
Happy Birthday George Perez!
Tien Long
The Celestial Dragon
NY/NJ Area
Happy birthday George Perez! For me, I'll always remember him for his and Kurt Busiek's Avengers run back in the late 90s, which led me to become an Avengers fan:
Also, there was a great story on George Perez's work on Wonder Woman featured on nymag.com:
http://www.vulture.com/2017/06/wonde...fined-her.html
Happy birthday to one of the best in the business!
"I am a man of peace."
"A man of peace...who fights like ten tigers."
mr_crisp
You guessed it
What can be said about the man that his artwork can't say.
The Gypsies had no home. The Doors had no bass.
Does our reality determine our fiction or does our fiction determine our reality?
Whenever the question comes up about who some mysterious person is or who is behind something the answer will always be Frank Stallone.
"This isn't a locking the barn doors after the horses ran way situation this is a burn the barn down after the horses ran away situation."
http://davescomicheroes.blogspot.nl/...rge-perez.html
kilderkin
A truly outstanding talent both as an artist and visual story teller
A true master of his craft


text:
2004 Q-Z
Gabrielle Union Biography
Born Gabrielle Monique Union, October 29, 1972, in Omaha, NB; daughter of Sylvester E. (a military sergeant and business executive) and Teresa (a phone company manager) Union; married Chris Howard (a sports therapist), May 5, 2001. Education: Attended the University of Nebraska–Lincoln; University of California at Los Angeles, B.S. (sociology), c. 1995; attended Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA.
Fan mail —4570 Van Nuys Blvd., Ste. 171, Sherman Oaks, CA 91403.
Actress in films, including: She's All That, 1999; 10 Things I Hate About You, 1999; Love & Basketball, 2000; Bring It On, 2000; The Brothers, 2001; Two Can Play That Game, 2001; Deliver Us from Eva, 2002; Abandon, 2002; Welcome to Collinwood, 2002; Cradle 2 the Grave, 2003; Bad Boys II, 2003. Television appearances include: 7th Heaven, 1996–99; H–E Double Hockey Sticks (movie), 1999; City of Angels, 2000. Television guest appearances include: Saved by the Bell: The New Class, 1995; Moesha, 1996; Malibu Shores, 1996; Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, 1997; ER, 2000; Friends, 2001; Sister, Sister ; Clueless ; Good Behavior ; Dave's World ; Hitz.
AOL Time Warner Rising Star Award, American Black Film Festival's Film Life Movie Awards, 2003.
Although actress Gabrielle Union did not intend to have a career in acting, an internship at a modeling agency in Los Angeles, California, led to a guest role on the television series Saved by the Bell: The New Class in 1995, a number of other television roles, and a promising film career. After appearing in a number of roles in teen movies such as 1999's She's All That and 2000's Bring It On, Union had roles in successful ensemble works, including 2001's Two Can Play That Game and 2002's Deliver Us from Eva. She co–starred in her first blockbuster film Bad Boys II in 2003. Union also had the distinction of being the first African–American actor or actress to appear on NBC's hit situation comedy Friends in 2001, as a woman who dated two of the male characters on the show.
Union is the middle of three daughters of Sylvester E. Union, and his wife, Teresa; she was born in 1972. Union's father served in the military to the rank of sergeant, and later worked as a manager at Western Union and AT&T. Union's mother also worked as a manager at the phone company. Union was born into one of the most famous black families in Omaha, Nebraska, a descendant of Emma Early Bryant–Fisher.
In 1981, Union's father was transferred to an office in Pleasanton, California, where she spent the rest of her childhood. Though she grew up in California, she spent her summers in Nebraska. Her heartland roots remained important to her. Union told Tony Moton of the Omaha World Herald, "From the time we left, it was important to my parents I stay familiar with my family. Basically, I didn't want to lose my Midwestern values. Home is where the heart is, and we are very much Nebraskans, rather than Californians."
In both Nebraska and California, sports were an important part of Union's childhood. She played basketball, softball, and soccer, among other sports. By the time she was in high school, she focused on soccer, basketball, and track. Union's father especially encouraged her in her pursuit of athletics, but taught her a lesson that helped her when she began acting in Hollywood. Union told Clarissa Cruz in Entertainment Weekly, "[My father] said, 'You are the only black person in the whole class. You're gonna have to prove to them every day that you're just as smart, if not smarter. Just as good, if not better. Just as fast, if not faster.' So not only am I trying to beat all my classmates, I'm trying to prove to my dad that I'm living up to his expectations."
After graduating from high school in Pleasanton, Union went back to Nebraska for college. She spent a semester at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, where she played soccer. She then returned to California, where she transferred to the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). Union also attended Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo, California.
While a young college student, Union was the victim of a horrific crime. In 1992, when she was 19 years old, Union had a summer job at a Payless shoe store. As she was closing the store one night, a man with a gun came in, robbed the store, and sexually assaulted her. The rapist was an employee of another Payless store and had also raped another female Payless employee. He later turned himself in, and was convicted of the crime. Because Payless had not told its employees of the potential problem, Union was able to win a lawsuit against the company for gross negligence. Union was able to overcome the emotional trauma of the assault with the help of a college rape survivor group, and she later spoke out in support of rape victims after she began her acting career.
Union studied sociology at UCLA, and intended to go to law school after completing her degree. During her senior year, she had an internship at a modeling agency, where she was often mistaken for a model. After Union earned her bachelor's degree, her former employer asked her if she wanted to try modeling. Facing the burden of student loans and still hoping to go do law school, she agreed. This led to an acting career. Though she had no training in drama, Union soon had an agent and was auditioning for acting roles.
On Union's first audition, she impressed the casting agent and landed her first television role: a guest spot on the syndicated show Saved by the Bell: The New Class. Union continued to work in television in the late 1990s, primarily in guest–starring roles on programs such as Sister, Sister and Moesha. In 1996, Union had her first recurring role on television, playing Keesha Hamilton, the eldest daughter of the Reverend Hamilton, an African Methodist Episcopal minister, on the family oriented drama 7th Heaven. She credited her success in acting in part to her photographic memory as well as her outgoing personality.
In 1999, Union landed her first film role in the teen comedy She's All That, as Katie, the mean friend of the lead played by Freddie Prinze, Jr. Many of Union's early film roles were as teenagers, though by this time Union was in her mid–twenties. Despite her age, she was believable in these parts because of her youthful appearance. Other roles Union played in the teen genre included Chastity in 1999's 10 Things I Hate About You and a groupie after Omar Epps' character Q in 2000's Love & Basketball.
Many of Union's teen roles were as mean–spirited girls. In 10 Things I Hate About You —a modern teen version of William Shakespeare's play The Taming of the Shrew —Union's Chastity betrays her best friend Bianca (played by Larisa Oleynik) by stealing her boyfriend. Of her roles as the bad girl in teen movies, Union told the Omaha World–Herald 's Moton, "I would rather play a snobby black girl going to school and being [cruel] rather than being a drug dealer's pregnant girlfriend. I don't want to be involved in anything that perpetuates stereotypes of minorities."
In 2000, Union appeared in her breakthrough film, Bring It On. While this was again a teen flick, it was also athletic, focusing on cheerleading, and Union had a leading role. She played Isis, the head of an inner–city cheerleading squad, the Comets. She and her team aspire to make the national competition with their flashy moves despite the lack of funds to get there. Even though Union had been athletic for much of her life, she found that training for the role was demanding. Her hard work paid off when her performance was praised in the press, and Bring It On did well at the box office.
After this teen film role, Union briefly returned to television for her first lead in a television series. She played Dr. Courtney Ellis on the short–lived medical drama series City of Angels on CBS in 2000. Though the show was cancelled after a half season, Union was the primary female and it was her first real adult role. The following year, she had a breakthrough role as the first black character in her guest–starring role on the long–running NBC hit situation comedy Friends. Her character dated two of the male leads, Joey and Ross, on the show.
When Union returned to film in 2001, she appeared in adult roles in several ensemble films featuring primarily African–American casts. In 2001's The Brothers, a film about four men and their relationships with women, Union played freelance photographer Denise Johnson, an independent and self–sufficient woman. Union's Johnson is attempting to convince her boyfriend, a pediatrician named Jackson (played by Morris Chestnut) to commit to a relationship, though this was something he has desperately shied away from as he preferred to play the field. Later that year, Union appeared in the ensemble comedy Two Can Play That Game as Conny, a woman attempting to steal Keith, the boyfriend of the main character and narrator, Shante Smith (played by Vivica A. Fox). Smith declares war to win back her man from Conny, her professional nemesis.
As Union's professional life continued to soar, her personal life was also blossoming. On May 5, 2001, she married Chris Howard, a former professional football player who had played for the Jacksonville Jaguars. The running back became a sport therapist and worked for Fox Sports after his athletic career ended. The pair had met at a party in Jacksonville in 1999.
In 2002, Union had the leading role in another black ensemble comedy, Deliver Us from Eva. As the title character, Eva Dandridge, she played the oldest of four sisters who gave up her life to raise them after the death of their parents in a car accident. When the movie begins, the women are adults, but Union's Eva still rules their lives. The younger sisters' boyfriends and husbands conspire to get rid of Eva by paying Ray (played by rapper/actor LL Cool J) to romance her and get her out of town. They eventually fall in love with each other in this loose take on Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew.
Union's next film roles were smaller, but more challenging and diverse. In 2002, she played the best friend of the lead character played by Katie Holmes in Abandon, a psychological thriller set at a college. Union was similarly challenged in that year's Welcome to Collinwood, playing a teenaged blind girl named Michelle. The film starred William H. Macy, and her character was the younger sister of a character played by Isaiah Washington. Union researched the role by spending time with a young, blind, African–American girl at the Braille Institute. Union went to the opposite end of the movie spectrum in 2003, when she co–starred in the action film Cradle 2 the Grave, which also featured Chinese martial arts star Jet Li and rapper/actor DMX. This film, which opened at number one at the box office, focused on a jewel theft.
While many of Union's films to this point in her career had been small to medium Hollywood pictures, in 2003, she co–starred in her first Hollywood blockbuster. She had the high–profile role of Sydney Burnett in Bad Boys II, the sequel to the 1995 box office smash, Bad Boys. Her character was the younger half–sister of Marcus Burnett (played by comedian/actor Martin Lawrence) and the love interest of his Miami Police Department partner, Mike Lowrey (played by actor/rapper Will Smith). Union's character is an undercover federal agent on assignment to bust a drug dealer in Miami, whose life and career are put in jeopardy. Union's success in this film was seen as paving the way to bigger projects in the future.
Though a rising starlet in Hollywood, Union remains down to earth, enjoying shopping at Target and sipping Capri Sun juice drink. She insists on living very practically, and remains levelheaded about money. Though her future in acting looks bright, she has plans if her career ever ends, including perhaps getting a master's degree. Of her prospects in show business, Mark Brown, the director of Two Can Play That Game, told Kelly Carter of USA Today, "She just came on the scene and exploded. I think she has a very promising future, certainly as a leading lady. She has star appeal."
Celebrity Biographies, Baseline II, 2003.
Chicago Sun–Times, March 23, 2001, p. 31; September 7, 2001, p. 33; January 29, 2003, p. 39; February 7, 2003, p. 30.
Daily News (New York), February 7, 2003, p. 60.
Entertainment Weekly, April 25, 2003, pp. 71–72.
Hollywood Reporter, July 18, 2002.
Jet, February 17, 2003, p. 58; August 4, 2003, p. 34.
Newsday (New York), July 18, 2003, p. B3.
Omaha World Herald (Nebraska), July 11, 1999, p. 1e.
People, March 10, 2003, p. 37; August 11, 2003, pp. 75–76.
USA Today, September 7, 2001, p. 2E; July 18, 2003, p. 4E.
"Sizzlin' Sixteen 2002," E! Online, http://www.eonline.com/Features/Features/Sizzlin2002/Girls/union.html (December 18, 2003).
— A. Petruso
Gabrielle Union Biography forum
Tim Tully Biography Jay Walker Biography


text:
Bible > Nehemiah > Chapter 3 > Verse 11
◄ Nehemiah 3:11 ►
Malchijah the son of Harim and Hasshub the son of Pahath-moab repaired another section and the Tower of Furnaces.
Malchijah the son of Harim, and Hashub the son of Pahathmoab, repaired the other piece, and the tower of the furnaces.
Malchijah the son of Harim and Hasshub the son of Pahath-Moab repaired a second piece, and the tower of the furnaces.
Malchijah the son of Harim, and Hasshub the son of Pahathmoab, repaired another portion, and the tower of the furnaces.
A second measure hath Malchijah son of Harim strengthened, and Hashub son of Pahath-Moab, even the tower of the furnaces.
Nehemiah 3:11 Parallel
The other piece - Rather, "another piece" (as in Nehemiah 3:19, Nehemiah 3:21, Nehemiah 3:27, Nehemiah 3:30). It is conjectured that a verse has fallen out in which Malchijah's and Hashub's "first piece" was mentioned.
The tower of the furnaces - Either a tower at the northwestern angle of the city; or, midway in the western wall. The origin of the name is uncertain.
Nehemiah 3:11 Parallel Commentaries
Divers Matters.
I. Beth-cerem, Nehemiah 3:14. "The stones, as well of the altar, as of the ascent to the altar, were from the valley of Beth-cerem, which they digged out beneath the barren land. And thence they are wont to bring whole stones, upon which the working iron came not." The fathers of the traditions, treating concerning the blood of women's terms, reckon up five colours of it; among which that, "which is like the water of the earth, out of the valley of Beth-cerem."--Where the Gloss writes thus, "Beth-cerem …
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica
Gihon, the Same with the Fountain of Siloam.
I. In 1 Kings 1:33,38, that which is, in the Hebrew, "Bring ye Solomon to Gihon: and they brought him to Gihon"; is rendered by the Chaldee, "Bring ye him to Siloam: and they brought him to Siloam." Where Kimchi thus; "Gihon is Siloam, and it is called by a double name. And David commanded, that they should anoint Solomon at Gihon for a good omen, to wit, that, as the waters of the fountain are everlasting, so might his kingdom be." So also the Jerusalem writers; "They do not anoint the king, but …
and of the sons of Harim: Eliezer, Isshijah, Malchijah, Shemaiah, Shimeon,
Next to them Jedaiah the son of Harumaph made repairs opposite his house. And next to him Hattush the son of Hashabneiah made repairs.
The second choir proceeded to the left, while I followed them with half of the people on the wall, above the Tower of Furnaces, to the Broad Wall,
Walk about Zion and go around her; Count her towers;
Furnaces Harim Hashub Hasshub Malchijah Malchi'jah Malkijah Measure Ovens Pahathmoab Pahath-Moab Pa'hath-Mo'ab Part Piece Portion Repaired Second Section Strengthened Tower Working
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text:
Democracy Does Not Equal Freedom
While I was away in an oven posing as a country, I read an article on the BBC which briefly threatened to be the most enlightened they have ever featured.
Detailing the childhood experience of Isaiah Berlin in post-revolution Russia as a preamble, it hinted that equating democracy with freedom might be a flawed way of thinking.
We believe that freedom and democracy are inseparable, so that when a dictator is toppled the result is not only a more accountable type of government but also greater liberty throughout society.
This belief forms the justification of the repeated attempts by Western governments to export their own political model to countries such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya. In this simple and seemingly compelling story, freedom and democracy are a package that can be delivered anywhere in the world.
At this point, many will be nodding their heads in agreement - it is, after all, what we are told by western politicians on a regular basis - but it's quite wrong to believe that.
An older generation of thinkers recognised that freedom and democracy don't always go hand in hand. The 19th Century liberal John Stuart Mill was a life-long campaigner for greater democracy, but he also worried that personal liberty would shrink once governments could claim to express the will of the majority.
Born in 1872 and dying in 1970 at the age of 98, Mill's godson Bertrand Russell agreed and shocked many people when he observed that while Britain after World War II was a more democratic society than the one he'd grown up in, it was also in some ways less free. For Russell, as for Mill, liberty was one thing, democracy another. It's a deeply unfashionable view, but I think essentially correct.
The article meanders after that and fails to nail the fact that democracy has made us less free in our own country, instead focussing on other countries where tyranny is more easily recognisable to BBC readers.
It's a theme which had already been discussed at length in Democracy and the Fall of The West by Craig Smith and Tom Miers (who you can read regularly on the blogroll to your right).
In their book, they describe how democracy actively works against freedom by its very nature. Instead of government working for the interests of the entire nation, the system of democracy encourages - or, you could say, nudges - politicians into working only for a section of society which will deliver them 51% (or often less) of any particular vote.
Democracy destroys altruism in governance and replaces it with naked self-interest backed up by a tyranny of the majority. Rooted in this flawed system is the huge machine of lobbyists, vested interest groups and emotional rabble-rousing which is inflicting the illiberal policy we rail against here by turning that tyranny into one of a minority arrogantly posing as a majority.
It leads to the most heavily-funded being listened to, and those who have no understanding of politics - or power to get involved - being completely excluded. It's why working classes in the UK are routinely ignored by forensic party machines who often don't even bother leafletting where turnout is low, and therefore why Westminster has no interest in framing policy to protect their meagre enjoyments.
The bullying of lifestyles detailed on these pages branches directly from a democratic system which is geared towards those who have the ability to shout loudest, often funded by the government itself because of their snobbish prejudices.
As Smith and Miers note:
"The power of the state has re-grown at the expense of the liberty of the individual. Far from underpinning our freedoms, Democracy is in fact undermining them. It has unshackled the coercive power of the state ..."
A perfect example of this is described in Chris Snowdon's book The Art of Suppression. Myron T Herrick was Governor of Ohio when targeted by alcohol prohibitionists in 1906.
Herrick was a successful and popular Republican politician with a majority of 113,000 and ample campaign funds. His only mistake was to have trampled on a local option bill proposed by the Anti-Saloon League.
[The Anti-Saloon League] held hundreds of dry rallies in favour of his opponent - the Democrats had sensibly nominated a bone dry candidate - and scurrilously accused Herrick of being in the pocket of the drinks industry.
[The AntiSaloon League] directed tens of thousands of floating voters from the church pews to the polling station and the unfortunate Governor was overwhelmed.
Herrick's defeat [...] was a bleak warning to wet politicians that it was safest to drink in private and support prohibition in public.
This unprincipled, if practical, fudging culminated in the disastrous farce of wet politicians lining up to vote for national Prohibition.
A more modern illustration can be seen in the unceremonial - and orchestrated - destruction of John Reid prior to the UK smoking ban. ASH still gloat about it.
In Spring 2004, following publication of the Wanless review the DH began a public health white paper consultation on action to improve people's health. March 2004 had seen the extremely successful implementation of comprehensive smokefree legislation in the Republic of Ireland, but the Minister for Health John Reid made very clear at the launch of the consultation that he was against the introduction of smokefree legislation in England and still favoured the voluntary approach. Legislation had been in the Wanless review so it had to be discussed as part of the consultation process, but it looked like Reid would ensure that it was not in the final recommendations. Fortunately, he overreached himself. At a public meeting with journalists present he said, "I just do not think that the worst problem on our sink estates by any means is smoking but that it is an obsession of the middle classes. What enjoyment does a 21 year old mother of three living in a council sink estate get? The only enjoyment sometimes they have is to have a cigarette."
This led to a media firestorm, dominating the news agenda for days, in which Reid came under attack by the media as much as by the health lobby. In the middle of it we launched our MORI poll results showing that 80% of the public supported a law to make
all enclosed workplaces smokefree. John Reid, who had refused to meet us until then, finally agreed to meet. The group that went to see him included all the major medical and public health organisations and health charities, making clear that the whole of the health community was as one on this issue. It was clear when we met him that he had been forced to concede that legislation had to be on the agenda, the issue was now what the legislation would contain.
Despite valiantly defending those who couldn't speak for themselves, Reid - just like Merrick before him - was browbeaten into submission by the system created by democracy, and freedoms were lost in favour of tyranny fostered by a highly-paid, intensely vocal minority.
This is the problem we face in the UK, and elsewhere, in the 21st century. Talk to any reasonable man or woman in the street and they will tell you they have no objection to smoking and non-smoking bars; that minimum alcohol pricing is a pretty lame idea; and that McDonald's and Coca-Cola are benign products over which there has been far too much fuss.
And if you can find anyone, but anyone, in a supermarket queue who doesn't think hiding tobacco displays is truly laughable you'll be doing very well.
Yet democracy has created these disconnects between what the public want and what over-thinking - and sometimes bullied - politicians end up promoting.
Yes, I know it's depressing, but just wait till I tell you how this system has now led to government intentionally attempting to bypass your conscious mind to implement policy. Since democracy now means they don't really need to consult you anymore, why the need to even let you mull over what they are doing 'for your own good', eh?
Tune in again soon, why don't you?
Labels: There's something very wrong with this country
Smoking Scot said...
There's a guy by the name of Ron Paul who's living this stuff.
Dick_Puddlecote said...
Indeed. He's one of the few pointing out that democracy doesn't work if you have corporatism influencing legislation on the one hand, and quangoes, fake charities and vested interests doing so on the other.
It makes me laugh whenever reading some ignoramus on comments sections defending illiberal legislation on the basis that it's a result of 'democracy'. If they only knew how they are exhibiting their lack of understanding, they'd blush electric pink.
I love this post. Excellent and well said. Waiting for the next with bated breath...
*passes out*
Excellent post DP. As I see it we are forever stuck in this dodgy 2 party state (Lib Dems don't really count, they certainly won't after the next election lol.)
It's the same shit every election cycle, yet come next election cycle all the twats come out again and vote for the very same 2 party system that has enslaved them for years.
I don't think we'll ever shake this system of voting but I can't help thinking what would happen if we had a new party come into force (UKIP?) because all it is is either one set of arseholes or the other. Having said that no idea how UKIP would be as a major party but we are clutching at straws these days.
Christine Eubanks said...
"Yet democracy has created these disconnects between what the public want
and what over-thinking - and sometimes bullied - politicians end up
promoting."
Maybe you're right, politicians keep on promoting then.I suggest democracy and freedom might be equal.
Xtine Eubank
Furor Teutonicus said...
XX [The AntiSaloon League] directed tens of thousands of floating voters
from the church pews to the polling station and the unfortunate Governor
was overwhelmed. XX
Aha! I was talking about something similar on a blog somewhere only at the beginning of this week.
This is how muslims here, get pubs closed down in "their areas", because "alcohol is incompatible with their "beliefs"" *
The problem being, the voting area is much larger than the pubs catchment area.
So, whilst a Berliner living five kilometers away from the pub will not bother his arse to go and vote for a pub he may have never set eyes on, or even heard of, the local muslim "communitys" are virtually whipping their fellow members to the polls.
Aye. It is "democcracy". Is theory not wonderfull?
* Strange, however, that more or less invariably, the pub buildings very soon after re-open as "Kebab houses", or "Water pipe cafés", or whatever turns that sort on. ALL of them selling....you guessed it laddie! Beers wines and spirits!
vapingpoint said...
Thank you. This post has helped me unravel some confusion I have been suffering about the strange way democracy seems NOT to be anything like I expected it should be. It's comforting to know my disappointment is not just that I'm imagining something because I'm old and grumpy, but noticing something that is really true. My best education comes from other people's blogs!
Jeff Wood said...
Aye, VP, being on the wrong end of two firearms bans and a smoking ban gave me a clue that democracy is irrelevant, and what is essential is liberty (with attendant personal responsibility).
The chaps who framed the US Constitution over 200 years ago knew this stuff backwards. Ironic that so much of what animated them, was first articulated in depth in Britain.
Now, Britain slips more and more quickly into a high tech, PC version of the old East Germany.
John Davidson said...
Thru out history armed conflict was the means to restoring freedom and destroying despotism. Todays despots require the same answer.
Economic collapse may be the the more explicit reason for revolution but revolution is whats required unless the powers to be learn quickly there mistakes in social engineering. But I highly doubt such will happen.
Waits with gun ready for the day...............
How would Herr Simon Chapman react if in his bunker writing propaganda when the revolutionists for freedom came for him!
While armed conflict is a long wide debate when such times come they happen in quick succession over nite and spread like wildfire as those being subjected to cruel and unusual punishment arise the world over. Tobacco control is not an isolated incident its a global problem and should be dealt with in a global revolution for freedom.
Hate mail and cyber trolls: the view from inside public health
Yes Dick ole Simon has his sights on you too!
Gerard's sentiments are shared by UK blogger "Big" Dick Puddlecote, who sounds like he might be a Beatrix Potter villian. According to Dick, I'm a "swivel eyed loon ... a sociologist who has posed as health expert for the past 30 years."
The pro-tobacco people also have a way with words. And the growing momentum toward plain packaging has made their heads spin like Linda Blair in the green projectile vomit scene in The Exorcist.
According to the tobacco lobbyists, I am "the Worst Public Health Person In The World ... the perfect storm of a card-carrying public health person who is harmful to both public health science and the public's health." I am also "responsible for the most pointless deaths of his countrymen since the guy who ordered the army to Gallipoli".
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TheExchange/2012/09/06/hate_mail_and_cyber_trolls.html
truckerlyn said...
It's the same shit every election cycle, yet come next election cycle all the twats come out again and vote for the very same 2 party system that has enslaved them for years."
I had this debate with neighbours and others a month or so ago and it seems, from what they all said, that who many people vote for is hereditary! Virtually all were saying 'my parents always voted Labour/Conservative and they really believed in them, so they would turn in their grave if we voted any differently'.
I tried explaining that the Labour/Conservatives their parents voted for all those years ago are long gone and the parties we have now bear little, if any, resemblance to their forebears, but that, it seems, does not matter, the name is the same (more or less) and these people feel that to vote for anyone else would be disrespectful to their parents - especially the ones that have passed away!
How the heck we get them to start thinking for themselves and voting for what each party actually represents rather than just a party name, I have no idea. There is no room for sentiment in politics (someone once said) but it seems there is every inch of room for sentiment amongst voters!
WitteringsfromWitney said...
A most brilliant post if I may say so, DP. One question though: have not we allowed the disconnect to happen? Something I will discuss over at my place with a link to you.
The funny thing is in areas of England (usually the north) you hear that a place is a "Labour stronghold", meaning of course that it has been Labour for X amount of years (sometimes a generation or longer) and people will traditionally vote Labour. This is the kind of dangerous nonsense that helps keep the 2 party LabCon state firmly alive.
Edward Cline said...
I have wanted to slap silly every person I have ever heard
or read extol the virtues and value of "democracy." There are too
many instances of "democracy" being a one-time only chance to vote
for one's enslavement or servitude. The Italians did it, the Germans did it,
the Russians did it, the Argentines did it – with a little help from goon
squads and terror and democratic dissembling. The United States was founded as
an individual-rights-defending republic, not as a "democracy," Christian
or otherwise. Yet it's hammered into everyone's head that it's a
"democracy." The Founders abhorred democracy. They saw in history that
every democracy degenerated into a populist circus, and then into out-and-out tyranny.
They wrote a Constitution to ensure that democracy would not take root. Yet the
socialists, progressives, and totalitarians pressed on and assured everyone
that they were on the side of the "people." And when they acquired
power, it was "the people" who were asked to make sacrifices – of their
rights, of the property, of their lives.
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The United States will fall to a third place in the ranking of the largest economies in the world. China and India will overtake the U.S. by 2030, and it is unlikely that we will ever get the throne back.
UK based financial services giant Standard Chartered Plc. predicted in its annual ranking of the largest economies in the world. In the next decade, China will solidify its place as the largest economy in the world. They expect India will surpass the United States within the same period, as the analysis forecasts that the South Asian country will move up to second place.
Our long-term growth forecasts are underpinned by one key principle: countries' share of world GDP should eventually converge with their share of the world's population, driven by the convergence of per-capita GDP between advanced and emerging economies.
Standard Chartered measured both Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) exchange rates. The financial services firm is projecting that India's rate of economic growth will accelerate to 7.8% by the 2020s. China's economic growth will slow down, adjusting to a steady 5.0% growth at 2030.
India is predicted to be the second largest economy in the world by PPP terms and is expected to have become the most populous country in the world.
With the predictions, drastic changes are expected to occur within the top 10 economies in the world over the next decade. It is predicted that there will be a significant shift from western countries to their emerging counterparts, particularly within Asia.
In 2018, Asia had a 28% share of the global GDP. The forecast predicted that this share is likely to rise to 35% by 2030, meaning that the continent will be on par with the United States and Europe combined.
The forecast predicts that Indonesia will climb to fourth position by 2030, with Turkey coming in at fifth position. In addition, Brazil, the only country from Latin America, and Egypt, the only Middle Eastern entry, are expected to reach sixth and seventh positions respectively.
The forecast predicts that Russia will come in eighth, while Japan and Germany will take the last two spots. If the study turns out to be correct, it would mean that countries such as Canada, France, and Great Britain will be pushed out of the top 10. The world dynamics will drastically change the coming decades.
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"Here, participants get to apply their highly specialized skills in addressing technological challenges that extension officers, agricultural scientists, rice farmers, or consumers face," says V. Bruce J. Tolentino, IRRI deputy director general for communications and partnerships.
The challenges list keeps growing, but the one goal is to have better solutions for rice stakeholders.
"We're looking for web and mobile apps to help solve some of the toughest problems we face in rice research, ranging from complex computational problems to the creative use of games and social networking," says Marco van den Berg, chief information officer at IRRI.
"The Hackathon strengthens IRRI's efforts to build a platform of digital tools for rice sector players—farmers, extension agents, entrepreneurs, and government managers," adds Dr. Tolentino. "We hope that it will also be an opportunity for 'hackers' to have fun while applying their IT skills to solve real world problems."
Join the BigAs Hackathon by registering for free via SMART sign-up. Awards are: Best Game App, Best Research Data Collection App, Best Farmer InfoTechnology App, and Most Innovative App/Special Jury Award. Each member of a winning team will receive a Samsung Galaxy Pocket and Smart Bro Plug-it.
The activity will take place at the IRRI Library in Los Baños, Laguna, from 11 a.m. of 10 November to 2 p.m. of 11 November.


How many times have you sat in the back of class with your head down praying to God that your teacher wouldn't call on you? Or you were asked to sing and yet the only time you were comfortable really belting it out was to Beyonce with all the windows rolled up in your mom's car while she was inside getting groceries?
Throughout my teenage years, there was nothing more awkward than getting up in front of the class and having to read a book report, going to gym class the day of Physical Fitness Tests and getting timed running around the track, or being tested for endurance while sustaining a chin up hold.
With. All. Eyes. On. Me.
This was terrifying. Not just because my arms were much like Olive Oil and not exactly buff. I just didn't know if I had the strength. Physical or otherwise.
It was overwhelming to wonder "How the heck was I going to run track against Sheila Tompkins, or hold a sustained chin up after the local Olga Korbut?"(Olympic gymnast in case I'm now dating myself and you don't know who that is). Or "How could I possibly read aloud my report on "The Catcher and the Rye" if Milena Robinson started up her bullying by calling me Susanna the Scum?" Holden Caulfield wouldn't oblige. Neither would I.
And so, anything that had all eyes on me became paralyzing. The voice I constantly heard was "Angie Anxiety" which came from yours truly. And while my shyness was mostly kept behind a trap door, my expression was looking for ways to get out.
You see, to the outsider, I seemed like an extrovert. Sang in a choir, had friends, tried to play sports (was never that great, but I tried). But it wasn't until I was in my own room and created characters in front of my stuffed animals, or good pals, that I felt most alive, safe, free, and strong.
This ultimately became a treasurable tool that I grew to use for the rest of my teen days, all the way up to my not-so-teen years. You see, It didn't matter if my triceps couldn't hold me above a bar for "x" amount of time. It was the strength of my own voice, to share my experiences and reach through the one way everyone always gravitated towards, the way that kept me strong… laughter.
I began to learn how to transform something terrifying, dreaded, and disliked, into great experiences to remember. By voicing it and giving it permission.
To laugh. With me. For me.
Laughter opens up your own trap door. It is a connection with others.
Do you recall a time that made you laugh till you almost fell off your chair? Holding your belly with happy tears rolling down your face? Or how about a time you laughed and tried to keep it in, but it was about to burst out of you?
1. Do you remember who you were with?
2. Do you remember where you were? The smells, sounds, details?
Chances are likely that you are smiling even thinking about it. Memories associated with laughter constitute a fondness, a positivity, a trust, a bond.
Good news is that there is humor all around us. Our experiences, whether positive or negative, are a great basis for building platforms for connecting to others. Our experiences are gifts, whether bad or good, and allow us to tap in to our own perceptions and opinions to give an authentic voice towards achieving positive outcomes.
Humor is universal. No matter what language, age, ethnicity, background, we all share experience. We all can learn and shape experiences from our past toward personal gain and obstacles overcome. No two people can ever see things exactly the same way. We all have value within how we each perceive life through our own lenses. By taking certain moments and tapping in to our own perspectives, we can learn ways to see the world and share through the lens of light, positivity, and laughter.
Never to make fun, or laugh AT. But share WITH. FROM our own experiences.
It all starts with point of view.
Everyday there are clues to broaden our perceptions. Perceptions are one of the key components towards shaping your point of view. Even in the most challenging of days, shifting perspective can guide how to "see" experiences with humor. There are gems in the details. Describing something always has comedic potential when there are descriptors. For example, "Eating your favorite breakfast " vs. "I am stuffed from having my favorite captain crunch cereal, with a side of toast, only now I have to soak my mouth from all the cereal that destroyed my mouth eating in 1.4 seconds." Cereal is a general. "Captain Crunch" is a specific and chances are likely you may find a common denominator through that descriptor, and a bridge towards someone else that may relate to that experience.
Watch for things that may trigger an emotional response: a dog in a yard, a baby on the subway, people interacting at the grocery store. By observing, we can find ways to tap into our own experiences, memories, views, and beliefs creating a bridge toward understanding from our own perspective and point of view. That can be a great foundation for developing our own voice to encompass humor.
So now let's try it.
Focus on one thing you observed over the week. Pay attention to your point of view. Did it trigger an emotional response, i.e., scary, sad, touching, beautiful, disgusting. Write a few sentences about what you saw. Get specific, and think about how you can relate it to what you saw. By developing point of view through observation, we learn how to identify with, and find our own experiences, into shared ones. Shared experiences create bridges. And humor is often a result of shared experiences with respected points of view.
Pay attention to your surroundings, a song, a bird, an announcement on the radio. What we hear around us are signals leading to the humor bridges of gold.
Focus on what you hear around you for one minute. Hone in on one thing. For example, a car, song, people talking, garbage trucks, birds. Pay attention to how it may have affected you, listen for the specifics. Was there something familiar, new, annoying, or happy? Now, write down a list of 3 words to describe what you heard. If you "listen" to your surroundings, you may tune in to some great opportunities for humorous horizons. Take those 3 words, and develop your own story around it. Something new, something you may have experienced, something to draw others in. Listening can be one of the best proponents in "hearing" humor.
In your surroundings, study an object you use in your everyday life. Take a look at your toothbrush, your cereal box, your cell phone. Study it , feel the shape, the weight. Explorations of everyday objects can bring a whole new meaning and create humor .
Write an ad about the object you use daily. How do you relate to it? What happens if you don't use it? Would your day be affected differently? Now build some creativity around it. If it could have a name, what would it be and why? Developing your own perception and imagination builds an opportunity to create humorous horizons. I mean, if we dread flossing our teeth, it may become a whole new ballgame if we hear how "Flora Floss" may become the better part of the day than ever anticipated. Our own perceptions on even our daily routines can be a great platform into a world of developing humor and new angles of experience.
About the Author: Susanna Spies is a seasoned educator and Founder and President of Comedy Playground, LLC, showcasing at The Hollywood Improv. With a performance background, Spies has worked within mediums of television and film, and has performed stand up comedy on stages throughout the nation. Known for her many "faces" In 2013, she debuted over 30 characters in her one-woman show "The Dryer" and was featured on Nuvo TV's Stand & Deliver, E-One Entertainment's Uncontrolled Comedy, and The Youtube sensation "Carol" of "Carol & Claire in The Angela Hoover web series, as well as dozens of national commercials, and Independent Feature Films.
Spies' performance background enabled the ability to recognize and develop tools to help overcome obstacles; shyness, fear of public speaking, and a curriculum commonly understood by all. As an educator, Susanna was Drama lead instructor at the Pilgrim School, where she implemented this curriculum, which grew to reach over 24 schools regionally, nationwide within The Dalton School and Teak Fellowship of New York, and internationally into The American School in London, and Seeds of Peace International Camp. Throughout Susanna's trainings, she focuses on the principal of life's commonalities, encouraging point of view development. Rather than techniques on "how to be funny", she implements tools on how to build trust, cohesion, connectivity, and achievement through humor. This has encouraged members of all ages, ethnicities, and cultural backgrounds to build, bond, within this one universal platform.
Additionally, Spies has lead speaking engagements as a featured guest for UCLA's Young Writers retreat, and as keynote speaker for the Southern California Association of Activity Professionals, and Featured Presenter for World Muse Conference in Bend, Oregon. She created and has implanted the Finding Your Voice through Stand Up series at The American Musical Dramatic Academy, and has implemented Corporate Humor Connectivity Programs as The Humor Activist (HA) into: Sandoz Pharmaceuticals, The Gap, Southern California Edison, FastPay, Bicycle Artists, Sony, Cisco Webex, Monaco Realty and Mt. Tam Community Education District.
As a community activist, Spies has raised thousands of dollars and awareness to help support: Cancer Awareness Club, Children Affected by AIDS, and was Executive Director of Laughlinks from 2004-2009 providing programs for at risk youth. She currently facilitates and is Program Director of The Eamon Cannon Comedy Project, where it has been implemented into Inner-City Arts on skid row in Los Angeles since 2008, which has grown to reach youth of Santa Monica YWCA, and Hearts of Los Angeles (HOLA). For two years consecutively, Comedy Playground has received the "Best of LA" for Innovative Comedy Programs, and Spies was profiled by Variety magazine as one of the nation's top ten instructors in the Educational Impact Report. Her Senior Stand Up program (SSU) was profiled on "Have A Hart Day" with youtube sensations Hannah and Mamrie Hart, featuring some of Comedy Playground youth volunteers providing programs for retirement communities.
Spies graduated from The University of Colorado at Boulder in 1991 with a BA in English. She additionally attended: The Jean Shelton School in San Francisco, Bill Esper Conservatory of New York, and The Groundlings in Los Angeles. She is completing her book: "Give it Up" a collection of personal and student anecdotes on humor and how to's which she hopes to complete this year.
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2 Church Street, Haworth, Keighley, West Yorkshire, BD22 8DA
Under Refurbishment
The Kings Arms, situated at the top of Haworth Main Street is a popular pub which has just undergone major refurbishment and is opening a new chapter by turning back the clock.
In appreciation to the town's famous literary sisters, The Kings Arms on Main Street has returned to its Victorian roots. In addition to a traditional and stylish new interior, the pub will serve a range of Victorian-inspired food and drinks, including real ales named after the Bronte sisters, all served by staff wear authentic period outfits.
Alongside the Bronte themed ales, which are all brewed by the Bridgehouse Brewery at the Airedale Heifer, is a seasonal menu of locally sourced and Victorian themed dishes such as wild boar stew and Yorkshire Sliders – mini Yorkshire puddings served with beer.
There will be regular themed evenings, including cask ale club, Steak night, quiz night, and regular live entertainment.
The renovation of The Kings Arms is a joint project between national pub operator Punch and the Yorkshire-based Bridgehouse Pub Company, which operates a number of pubs in the region including The Airedale Heifer pub and brewery at Keighley, The New Inn at Eccup and The Railway at Cononley.
Bridgehouse Pub Company Director Andrew Clough, who was raised in Haworth, said: "I know The Kings Arms well and have seen first-hand what great potential it has. It lost its way in recent years but this renovation has taken it back to its roots of being a proper traditional pub for locals and visitors to the town."
Jim Owthwaite, Senior Development and Training Manager for Punch, said: "The Kings Arms now has a tremendous sense of quality and authenticity, which I'm sure will be a real draw for regular customers as well as visitors to the town."
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