Superior Merchandise Company is a collection of people trying to make our days better by making other people's days better. We're all about beautifully made goods, thoughtfully prepared cups of coffee, heckin-big smiles, creating memorable experiences, dad jokes and hard work.
Our ideal team member is friendly and warm even on cold days, prefers hard spots to comfort zones, is nit-picky about the little things, and is eager to invest their talents, time and energy into personal and professional growth.
Think this sounds like something you'd enjoy filling your days with?
Shoot us an email at jobs@superiormerchandise.co and please be sure to attach your resume + cover letter!


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This photo shows the Alaska State Capitol. The Capitol will be the site of a committee hearing next month that will focus on the recent firing of Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. CEO Angela Rodell. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire File)
Committee seeks answers, documents related to Permanent Fund Corp CEO's firing
Hearing scheduled for mid-January.
by Ben Hohenstatt
Tuesday, December 28, 2021 3:43pm
NewsPermanent FundState & Legislature
This article has been updated to include a statement from Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. trustees
Policymakers and the public need to know more about the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. Board of Trustees' decision to oust the corporation's CEO, stated a bipartisan, bicameral committee of state lawmakers.
Angela Rodell, who had served as CEO of the APFC since late 2015, was fired earlier this month following a 5-1 vote by the board. The board did not disclose a reason for removing Rodell. Valerie Mertz is the acting APFC executive director.
In a letter from the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee sent Monday afternoon to the APFC's Board Chair Craig Richards, lawmakers raised questions about the timing of Rodell's firing, the board's personnel processes and procedures, employee surveys, the Permanent Fund's performance relative to benchmarks for returns. From Fiscal Year 2016 to Fiscal Year 2021, the fund's total value increased by $30 billion, according to APFC annual reports.
[Lawmakers want answers on APFC CEO firing]
"Alaskans should be given better answers for such a high-profile decision," stated the letter. "Hiding behind employee confidentiality by refusing to provide any information or transparency regarding the process followed by the Board or its goals and intent contradicts the board's guiding principles stated on your website."
Legislative Budget and Audit Committee Chair Sen. Natasha von Imhof, R-Anchorage, who signed the letter, said knowing more is especially important in light of the major role the Permanent Fund plays in state finances.
"The Permanent Fund plays a critical role in Alaska and provides 65% of our revenue, so we want to make sure it stays healthy and is politically independent and sustainable so we can continue to rely on it," she said in a phone interview.
The letter also requested certain communications related to the firing and that APFC trustees appear to testify at the committee's next hearing at the Alaska State Capitol.
Additionally, a litigation hold instructing APFC Board trustees to take actions to preserve documents and communication related to Rodell's firing, the process adopted by the board for identifying a permanent executive director and the process and benchmarks adopted by the board for evaluating the performance of the executive director in general and Rodell, in particular, was sent to Richards.
Among the documents requested under Alaska Public Records Act were communications dating back to 2019 among trustees and the state's executive branch related to Rodell's performance; communications from the same time frame among trustees and the state's executive branch related to the decision to fire Rodell and communications among APFC employees and the executive branch related to Rodell's performance.
Von Imhof said she is unsure whether Dunleavy knew in advance of the firing,
In a previous news conference, Dunleavy said he did not know what took place during the meeting and was surprised by the move.
"Unless those personnel records are released so we all can look at them I don't know what the reason is," Dunleavy said.
Shannon Mason, deputy press secretary for the governor's office, said in a Tuesday afternoon email Dunleavy did not have an additional comment and referred to the previous news conference.
The letter also asks for copies of employee surveys from 2019 to the present, copies of Rodell's employment contract, copies of policies and procedures regarding how the board evaluates the executive director of the APFC, copies of all policies and procedures regarding employee termination, discipline and counseling that apply to the executive director position and copies of all reports, memos or other documentation considered by the board at the meeting during which it terminated Rodell.
Based on the scope of the documentation requested, von Imhof said it's hard to say how quickly answers to lawmakers' questions may materialize.
In a statement shared with the Empire, the APFC Board indicated it will be present for the meeting and is working to furnish the requested materials.
"As Alaskans, APFC's Board of Trustees and Staff have a vested interest in protecting and fulfilling our fiduciary duty to the Alaska Permanent Fund for the benefit of all Alaskans," said a statement shared by Paulyn Swanson, director of communications for APFC. "Aligned with this shared objective, APFC's Board looks forward to meeting with the Legislative Budget & Audit Committee on January 17, 2022. In our ongoing commitment to public service and accountability, APFC is working to fulfill the Committee's request for information in advance of the meeting."
The Legislative Budget and Audit Committee's next hearing is scheduled for 2 p.m., Jan. 17, 2022, at the Alaska State Capitol.
Read the full letter below
• Contact Ben Hohenstatt at (907)308-4895 or bhohenstatt@juneauempire.com. Follow him on Twitter at @BenHohenstatt.
On the Trails: The weasel family
Ghislaine Maxwell convicted in Epstein sex abuse case

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Die Liste der portugiesischen Botschafter in Albanien listet die Botschafter der Republik Portugal in Albanien auf. Die beiden Länder unterhalten seit 1977 diplomatische Beziehungen.

1988 akkreditierte sich erstmals ein portugiesischer Vertreter in Albanien. Eine eigene Botschaft eröffnete Portugal dort bisher nicht (Stand August 2019). Das Land gehörte anfangs zum Amtsbezirk des portugiesischen Botschafters in Bulgarien, heute zu demjenigen in Italien, der dazu in Albanien doppelakkreditiert wird.

In der albanischen Hauptstadt Tirana besteht ein portugiesisches Honorarkonsulat.

Missionschefs

Siehe auch
 Liste der Auslandsvertretungen Portugals
 Albanisch-portugiesische Beziehungen

Einzelnachweise

Albanien
Portugal

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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First Republic Changes Location of 2020 Annual Meeting of Shareholders
First Republic Bank, April 23, 2020
First Republic Bank (NYSE:FRC), a leading private bank and wealth management company, today announced it will hold its 2020 Annual Meeting of Shareholders at First Republic's office at Rockefeller Center, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020 on Tuesday May 12, 2020 at 9:30 am Eastern time.
The meeting was previously scheduled to be held at the New York Yacht Club, which has been temporarily closed to comply with public health guidelines regarding COVID-19. The time and date of the meeting are unchanged.
As described in proxy materials previously distributed in connection with the Annual Meeting of Shareholders, shareholders of record of First Republic's common stock as of the close of business on the record date of March 13, 2020 are entitled to vote at the Annual Meeting of Shareholders.
Founded in 1985, First Republic and its subsidiaries offer private banking, private business banking and private wealth management, including investment, trust and brokerage services. First Republic specializes in delivering exceptional, relationship-based service, and offers a complete line of products, including residential, commercial and personal loans, deposit services, and wealth management. Services are offered through preferred banking or wealth management offices primarily in San Francisco, Palo Alto, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Newport Beach and San Diego, California; Portland, Oregon; Boston, Massachusetts; Palm Beach, Florida; Greenwich, Connecticut; New York, New York; and Jackson, Wyoming. First Republic is a constituent of the S&P 500 Index and KBW Nasdaq Bank Index. For more information, visit firstrepublic.com.


Showcase your non-commercial items Weekdays from 9:05am to 9:30am by calling or texting 780-632-6671.
FOR SALE: Black, Metal Computer Desk with Glass Surface; Only a few years old.
Comes with matching printer stand.
LOOKING FOR: Phone Companion; Must be 75 or older, male or female, just someone looking to chat over the phone occasionally.
TO GIVE AWAY: 1977 Model CCIL Combine; Diesel Engine. Start It Up, Drive It Home.
FOR SALE: 9.9 Mercury Boat Motor; 2004 Model. Includes Tank.
LOOKING FOR: Set of 2 or Set of 4 205-14" Trailer Tires.
FOR SALE: 2008 Ford Escape Ltd; leather, heated seats and fully loaded.
FOR SALE: Several 15" Tires; New and Used and 15" Rims to fit Chevy, Hyundai, Honda and Camaro.
FOR SALE: Edelbrock Performer Carburetor w/ un-opened carb calibration kit to customize to your personal preference.
FOR SALE: 2 Pairs of Tires on Alloy Rimes.
FOR SALE: 1983 Chevy Pickup; with performance small block chevy motor and 700R4 4 speed Automatic.
FOR SALE: Twin bull calf; Mom doesn't want it.
Had 1st shots and colostrum.
FOR SALE: 2003 Yukon 4X4; Leather & DVD Player, Runs and Drives Good. Very Clean Interior. Registered and Insured in Alberta. Seats 5.
FOR SALE: 2006 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI Quad; Only 1,129KMs, Like New Condition with tie down racks on front and back, hand and thumb warmers, warn winch on front.
FOR SALE: Portable Heater; Heats up to 1500 Square Feet with Remote Control, High Output Fan and Eco Options.
1987 Suburban; Runs and Drives, could be repaired or used for parts.
FOR SALE: 40 Greenfeed Round Bales; Average weight is 1850lbs per bale.
FOR SALE: 2003 Yukon 4x4; leather and DVD player. Comes with an 18 foot tandem axle equipment hauler; bumper hitch style hauler.
FOR SALE: 6 week old Great Pyrenees Shepherd Cross Puppies.
Vaccinated, dewormed, hind dew claws removed.
Super friendly, healthy, starting on solid foods.
Ready to go in a week.
Socialized with cats, other dogs, and horses.
Lots of colors to choose from. Silver grey, tan, black and silver.
FOR SALE: 48" Quad Snow Blade; used only twice. Still have original box.
FOR SALE: Chocolate brown Electric lift / massage chair.
FOR SALE: Black Canopy for long box truck w/ high back and sliding front window.
FOR SALE: Small square wheat straw bales, shedded.
FOR SALE: Graduation Dress; Dark blue with silver beadwork throughout. Never altered and is in excellent condition!
Originally paid $550 asking only $250.
FOR SALE: Complete PlayStation 2 Gaming System; Slim black console, comes with; all wires, original box, manuals, controllers, memory cards and 28 games.
Looking to sell the entire lot only!
FOR SALE: Square Body Fuel Injected 1987 Suburban for parts or repair; runs and drives but front fenders and bumper were removed.
FOR SALE: 1997 Polaris RMK 700 Snowmobile.
FOR SALE: Set of Frontier pallet teeth for JD 700 carrier style loader.
FOR SALE: 1200 to 1300lb Heifer to butcher; been on 4-H ration for 2 months now and self -feeding hay.
FOR SALE: 98 Suburban K2500; big block 454 vortec motor, new parts including new windshield.
FOR SALE: Inversion machine for physio therapy; Great condition just no longer have a use for it.
FOR SALE: 17" Rims & Tires from a 2012 Dodge Ram 1500; 75% Tread Remaining and includes Pressure Sensor.
2 are 'Winter', 2 are 'All-Season'.
FOR SALE: 2003 GMC Yukon 4X4; Really Good Winter or Summer SUV w/ clean interior and nice leather seats. Bose Speaks, DVD Players, Brand New Tires, Brakes and Battery. New Spark Plugs, Air Filter.
FOR SALE: Kids quad. For parts or repair.
FOR SALE: 1953 Chevrolet 6 Cylinder Engine 4 Speed Transmission with Frame and Reared.
Runs Well. No Body Parts.
LOOKING FOR: Good used tractor with a cab and a bucket.


FEES AND PAYMENTS Part of keeping the cost of your medical care down as much as possible is collecting all co-payments, non-covered services and deductibles at the time of service. With this in mind, we require payment upon check-out from your appointment. For your convenience, we do accept Visa, Mastercard, Discover and American Express. As a courtesy to you, we are happy to bill insurance for any plans with which we participate.
Please note, however, that financial responsibility is ultimately the patient's, and we cannot guarantee payment from any particular carrier. We strongly encourage each patient confirm with their insurance carrier and our front desk the status of our contracts at every office visit. Elander Eye Medical Group does not participate with any Vision Coverage (such as V.S.P. or EyeMed), and we are unable to bill them for any services rendered.


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Chipotle confirms Norman location involved in E. coli outbreak
Updated: 5:35 PM CST Dec 22, 2015
Chipotle has confirmed that illnesses in three people in Oklahoma were linked to the Chipotle on Campus Corner in Norman.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday it is investigating a more recent batch of E. coli cases linked to Chipotle, and that it does not know yet if they are linked to a larger outbreak that began in October.So far, the agency said five people have been reported sick in the new outbreak, with illnesses starting between Nov. 18 and Nov. 26. They include one person in Kansas, one in North Dakota and three in Oklahoma. All five said they ate at a Chipotle the week before they got sick.The development is the latest bad news for Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc., which saw its sales plummet after the emergence of the larger E. coli outbreak that has sickened 53 people in nine states. The most recent illness linked to Chipotle among those cases started Nov. 10.Each year, about 48 million people get sick from foodborne illnesses, according to the CDC.Following the outbreak, Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. assured customers that it would tighten its food safety standards. Spokesman Chris Arnold said in an email Monday that the chain is in the process of implementing its new programs, which include increased testing of ingredients and training for workers. He noted that even the most recent exposures reported by the CDC are now a month old."We have indicated before that we expected that we may see additional cases stemming from this, and CDC is now reporting some additional cases," Arnold wrote.Chipotle co-CEO Steve Ells has told The Associated Press he doesn't think the company will ever know for sure the exact ingredient that sickened customers in the larger outbreak, but that he believes it was bacteria in fresh food like tomatoes or cilantro.In its annual report, Chipotle has said it may be at a higher risk for outbreaks of foodborne illnesses because of its "fresh produce and meats rather than frozen, and our reliance on employees cooking with traditional methods rather than automation." Those points of differentiation have long been marketing strengths for Chipotle, which has sought to distinguish itself as being of higher quality than traditional fast-food chains.To begin its image rehabilitation, Chipotle last week took out full-page ads in 61 newspapers around the country apologizing for the illnesses. But it's not clear how long it will take for the chain to regain its footing, and the company rescinded its sales outlook for 2016.Bill Marler, a food poisoning attorney who is representing customers who were sickened after eating at Chipotle, noted the chain had also been linked to other outbreaks of foodborne illnesses in California and Minnesota this summer.And this month, Chipotle closed a restaurant in Boston after dozens of students at Boston College reported gastrointestinal symptoms. Those cases were linked to norovirus, and Chipotle has said they were unrelated to the E. coli outbreak.Still, Marler noted the Chipotle cases pale in comparison to an E. coli outbreak in 1993 tied to Jack in the Box that sickened hundreds and led to four deaths.Shares of Chipotle dropped 3.5 percent, or $19.07, to close at $522.01. Earlier in trading, the stock hit a 52-week low of $508.10.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) —
Chipotle has confirmed that illnesses in three people in Oklahoma were linked to the Chipotle on Campus Corner in Norman.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday it is investigating a more recent batch of E. coli cases linked to Chipotle, and that it does not know yet if they are linked to a larger outbreak that began in October.
So far, the agency said five people have been reported sick in the new outbreak, with illnesses starting between Nov. 18 and Nov. 26. They include one person in Kansas, one in North Dakota and three in Oklahoma. All five said they ate at a Chipotle the week before they got sick.
The development is the latest bad news for Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc., which saw its sales plummet after the emergence of the larger E. coli outbreak that has sickened 53 people in nine states. The most recent illness linked to Chipotle among those cases started Nov. 10.
Each year, about 48 million people get sick from foodborne illnesses, according to the CDC.
Following the outbreak, Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. assured customers that it would tighten its food safety standards. Spokesman Chris Arnold said in an email Monday that the chain is in the process of implementing its new programs, which include increased testing of ingredients and training for workers. He noted that even the most recent exposures reported by the CDC are now a month old.
"We have indicated before that we expected that we may see additional cases stemming from this, and CDC is now reporting some additional cases," Arnold wrote.
Chipotle co-CEO Steve Ells has told The Associated Press he doesn't think the company will ever know for sure the exact ingredient that sickened customers in the larger outbreak, but that he believes it was bacteria in fresh food like tomatoes or cilantro.
In its annual report, Chipotle has said it may be at a higher risk for outbreaks of foodborne illnesses because of its "fresh produce and meats rather than frozen, and our reliance on employees cooking with traditional methods rather than automation." Those points of differentiation have long been marketing strengths for Chipotle, which has sought to distinguish itself as being of higher quality than traditional fast-food chains.
To begin its image rehabilitation, Chipotle last week took out full-page ads in 61 newspapers around the country apologizing for the illnesses. But it's not clear how long it will take for the chain to regain its footing, and the company rescinded its sales outlook for 2016.
Bill Marler, a food poisoning attorney who is representing customers who were sickened after eating at Chipotle, noted the chain had also been linked to other outbreaks of foodborne illnesses in California and Minnesota this summer.
And this month, Chipotle closed a restaurant in Boston after dozens of students at Boston College reported gastrointestinal symptoms. Those cases were linked to norovirus, and Chipotle has said they were unrelated to the E. coli outbreak.
Still, Marler noted the Chipotle cases pale in comparison to an E. coli outbreak in 1993 tied to Jack in the Box that sickened hundreds and led to four deaths.
Shares of Chipotle dropped 3.5 percent, or $19.07, to close at $522.01. Earlier in trading, the stock hit a 52-week low of $508.10.


This year's Mobile World Congress will see an LTE that's more mature than ever, with higher speeds, more device selection and more chip suppliers adding to the range of options for the fast mobile technology.
While Qualcomm still dominates the field in LTE smartphone chips, other suppliers are nipping at its heels. Broadcom, a fierce rival just up the freeway from Qualcomm, will put its LTE efforts front and center at the show later this month. It previewed the goods on Monday by announcing what it called a turnkey platform for midpriced or even low-priced smartphones.
Broadcom can use the same platform with a dual-core SoC (system on a chip), the M320, and a quad-core design, the M340. It's already shipping the dual-core product to phone makers in sample quantities, and it plans to sample the quad-core silicon later in the first half of the year.
The platform is built for so-called Category 4 LTE, which can deliver as much as 150Mbps (bits per second) to a phone, and intended for smartphones priced below US$300 without carrier subsidies, Broadcom said. It can reach those speeds on both major types of LTE, the FD (frequency division) technology used by most carriers up to now and the TD (time-division) variant being used by China Mobile, Sprint and some other operators around the world.
By using the same platform for baseband chips with either two or four cores, Broadcom hopes to help device makers engineer new products and get them into the market more quickly. The platform includes an integrated Android KitKat OS and a broad set of wireless technologies, including 2G and 3G cellular, fast 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and NFC (near-field communication). Broadcom says it is equipped to support VoLTE (voice over LTE), which a few mobile operators have already started to offer and others plan to roll out this year.
The platform has been validated on more than 40 networks in 20 countries, ensuring worldwide roaming capability, the company said.
Broadcom isn't alone. Intel, MediaTek and other chipmakers have also started moving in on Qualcomm's lucrative territory. But latecomers will suffer by entering the market long after Qualcomm, said Nathan Brookwood, principal analyst at Insight64.
"The challenge for anybody who is coming to LTE late ... is that Qualcomm has established relationships with all of the handset suppliers, and they have a lot of in-field experience and qualification and understand a lot of the subtleties of LTE implementations," Brookwood said. "The other guys are going to have to work overtime to try and catch up with Qualcomm."
Broadcom was developing its own LTE silicon last year until it acquired technology from Renesas Electronics for $162 million in October.
Handset makers welcome rivals of Qualcomm because they don't want to be locked into one chip vendor, Brookwood said. But as the smartphone silicon market grows more competitive, consumers won't see that drive phone prices down across the board, he said. Instead, more chipmakers will lead to more choice: Manufacturers will adopt different underlying silicon to distinguish their phones in a variety of ways, such as battery life, performance and features, as well as price.
If Broadcom's smartphone price target is just under $300, that comes in around the middle range of the LTE market globally, between top-end phones such as the Apple iPhone 5S, Samsung Galaxy S4 and Nokia Lumia 1020 for around $600 and cheap phones in some markets going for as little as $100 without subsidies. Broadcom says its platform makes top-grade performance possible for that price range with both Category 4 LTE and 802.11ac silicon that Broadcom calls "5G Wi-Fi." The 802.11ac standard allows for as much as 1.3Gbps (bits per second).


Our advice service will be closed on Tuesday 2 February 2016 to carry out administration work. Our drop-in advice service will be open again from 10am to 1pm on Tuesday 9 February 2016.
This entry was posted in Advice & Information and tagged Advice & Information. Bookmark the permalink.


Our team conducted a geographical sweep to frequencies of 49 stations in different areas, for the periods between the 15 April – 4 July 2016 and also from the 1 June – 9 August 2016. Monitors in WEEDOO, along with monitors and technicians across Syria cross-referenced several of sources for data in each of the areas covered by the investigative sweep, measuring different times throughout the day, keeping in mind the conditions of broadcasting and reception. We have divided each province (governorate) of Syria into various sectors between rural and metropolitan. Note that we relied solely on frequencies identified on each station's' own website.
First of all. the highest coverage percentages for radios are distributed between the provinces of Aleppo and Rural Damascus with 21 radios each. Followed by Damascus province with 20 radios, then Idlib with 18, Lattakia and Hasakeh at 13, Tartous and Hama with 10. Then Suweida by 9, Homs by 8, Dar'aa by 3 and Quneitra by 2. Last of all is Raqqah and Deir al-Zor, where one radio has restricted and monopolized their airwaves, "Al-Bayan" Radio – affiliated to the IS organization.
In the second place, it is well known in the Syrian radio industry that the Islamic State organization (IS) has thus far been able to prevent any radio other than its own from broadcast from areas under its control. The fate of both regime-run and opposition-run radios was similar. Meanwhile, civilian residents of areas under IS' control cannot listen to any other radio except for "al-Bayan," the organization's official radio channel.
Furthermore, our research has observed the relative strength of radios backed by militias, or supported militarily. For example: Radio Damascus and Sawt al-Sha'b; of the Assad regime, Nour al-Islam radio in Damascus countryside; of the opposition faction Jaish al-Islam; the station Radio Of The Al-Tahrir Islamic Party,which is active militarily and preaching in Syria; the radio station Do'at al-Jihad(Preachers of Jihad,) which is affiliated with Jabhat Fateh al-Sham organization; Rojava Radio, affiliated with the military wing of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD); and Al-Nour Radio, the affiliate of the Lebanese Hezbollah militia, as well as Al-Bayan Radio which is managed by the IS organization.
Except for Deir al-Zor and Raqqah governorates, the strongest broadcast we monitored was by radios working from studios in regime controlled areas, numbering 25 radios. In result, high quality broadcasting radio are the following (not in order): (Radio Damascus), People's Voice(Sawt al-Sha'b), Youth Voice (Sawt al-Shabab), (Sham FM) and (al-Madina FM).


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Royal Geelong unveils multi-million $ re-development
Royal Geelong Yacht Club unveils its multi-million dollar re-development plans which will transform the Geelong waterfront
Visitors to the iconic Festival of Sails over coming years will enjoy a distinctively different experience with the Royal Geelong Yacht Club unveiling its multi-million dollar re-development plans over the weekend.
As the 2019 Festival of Sails comes to an end this afternoon after another successful three-day regatta, attention now turns to the re-development which in coming years is set to dramatically transform the Geelong waterfront.
The Geelong Waterfront Safe Harbour Precinct Project is designed to increase use of the waterfront for public recreation, stimulate economic growth by attracting new events and tourists, increase use of the waterfront for public recreation and community programming and create a safe harbour to improve destination attractiveness for boats users.
The plans will see the Geelong waterfront safe harbour precinct redeveloped over the next couple of years, including a brand new shared facility for the Victorian Sailing School and the Royal Geelong Yacht Club Off the Beach sailors.
So far a total of $19.1 million has been committed to fund the redevelopment, coming from the RGYC, City of Greater Geelong, State Government of Victoria and the Federal Government.
Masterplans will go to the City of Greater Geelong Council next month for approval with construction of the first stage expected to start in the middle of this year.
Commodore John Kint said the plans included 20 new floating berths and a new wave attenuator, planned for construction ahead of the 2020 Festival of Sails. The 550m attenuator will provide significant protection for local and visiting boats in the marina. It will also enable the public to walk along 410m of the 6m wide structure.
The Commodore said the new development would also strongly enhance the visitor experience.
"The re-development will transform how we run the Festival of Sails. It gives us a real opportunity to start expanding the growth of the on-water component as we will have the facilities to cater for this."
"The transformation is significant for the Royal Geelong Yacht Club which has been here for over 150 years, as well as for Geelong."
The timing of the re-development couldn't be better for Geelong with the city hosting four Olympic Class World Sailing Championships, following the 2020 Festival of Sails.
Almost 800 international and local competitors will take to the waters of Corio Bay.
This includes the 49er (men), 49erFX (women) and Nacra World Championships (February 8 to 15, 2020), as well as the Laser Masters World Championship (March 19 to 28, 2020).
With the Tokyo Olympics taking place in July 2020, it is anticipated international teams will stay on and train in Geelong before continuing on to Japan.
Meanwhile, as many as 200,000 people are believed to have enjoyed the festivities of the Geelong Waterfront this weekend as the city played host to two major events – the historic Festival of Sails and the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race.
Festival of Sails Chairman Stuart Dickson said beautiful weather, exciting racing on Corio Bay and Port Phillip Bay and a smorgasbord of entertainment combined for a terrific event.
'"This weekend, the Royal Geelong Yacht Club has welcomed more than 300 boats and 3000 sailors, including participants from overseas and every state and territory, to our city. This is fantastic for the event and for Geelong."
Mr Dickson said it was an honour to welcome former Olympian and America's Cup hero Sir James Hardy, the 2019 Festival of Sails Ambassador, back to the regatta.
He also paid tribute to a group of almost 200 dedicated volunteers who helped make the 2019 Festival of Sails such a success.
Meanwhile, thirteen members of the CCC Team (elite men's cycling team) enjoyed the chance to relax on Corio Bay today, less than 24 hours after they competed in the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race. The cyclists were guests on Steve and Lee Renfrey's Peterson 44 cruising yacht – 'Pipe Dream'.
The group consisted of riders from 11 different countries including Belgium, Holland, Poland, Switzerland, USA, Portugal, New Zealand, Czech Republic, Spain, Austria and Germany.
Spanish cyclist Francisco Jose Ventoso said he and his team members were first time visitors to the Festival of Sails and excited to be heading out for a day sailing, even though a number of the team had never set foot on a boat before.
"We are really happy to go out for a sail. This event is really nice, has a good feeling and there are lovely people around the boats," he said.
"This is my third time to Geelong and I'm looking forward to coming back next year too."
Pipe Dream owner Steve Renfrey said it was an honour to be hosting the international cyclists.
"This is such a great opportunity to show off Geelong and Corio Bay on a beautiful day. These guys literally come from all over the world and I'm sure they'll have a fabulous day taking in Geelong from the water."
Pictured; Royal Geelong Yacht Club. photo: Salty Dingo
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Securing the Seas: India's rise as a naval power
Broadsword July 24, 2009 defence planning, Defence Production, Indian Navy, region, shipbuilding, strategy,
(Photos: courtesy Ajai Shukla)
A rare photo of an Indian Navy submarine with the aircraft carrier, INS Viraat in the background
Business Standard Weekend Supplement
25th July 09
One hallmark of some of the world's path-breaking projects has been the choice of impressively lofty names. The first atomic bomb was built under Project Manhattan. Project Apollo put the first man on the moon. But for some reason, perhaps simply native modesty, one of India's most challenging technological developments --- its first nuclear-powered submarine --- has been cloaked in blandness.
When on Sunday morning, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's wife, Gursharan Kaur, breaks a coconut on the hull of what is referred to as the ATV or the Advanced Technology Vessel, to christen it INS Arihant, it will launch a new era for the navy.
With the christening, water will be let into the Vishakhapatnam dock called The Shipbuilding Centre, from where INS Arihant will begin its underwater journey. Once submerged, it will undergo two years of extensive trials, first in harbour and then at sea, before formally joining the Indian Navy.
Nuclear-powered submarines are of two types. Ballistic missile submarines, termed SSBNs in the US Navy (colloquial term: "boomers" or "bombers") carry nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles. These form the third leg of a country's nuclear triad: airborne, surface, and underwater-based launch platforms. INS Arihant is a ballistic missile submarine, armed with twelve K-15 missiles, each capable of carrying a 500-kg nuclear warhead to a target 750-kilometers away. It will be deployed almost continuously off the coast of a potential enemy, a virtually undetectable and indestructible missile launcher.
The Arihant will not be alone. Two more SSBNs are under construction at L&T's Hazira plant. These will probably be followed by several more, equipped with longer-range nuclear-tipped missiles.
The second type of nuclear-powered submarine is the SSN, or attack submarine, armed with torpedoes and cruise missiles. These operate as a part of the navy, performing the task of "sea denial", or preventing enemy ships --- both naval and commercial --- from using large expanses of the ocean. An SSN's nuclear plant eliminates the need to surface, allowing it to remain underwater for months. India will shortly be leasing an advanced "Akula II class" attack submarine --- named INS Chakra --- from Russia, followed by another after a yearlong interval.
In addition to a new fleet of nuclear submarines, a growing stable of major surface warships are catapulting the Indian Navy into the league of serious maritime powers. Cochin Shipyard is building the 40,000-ton Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC), which is likely to be commissioned into the Indian Navy in 2014, followed by a successor vessel in 2017. The controversial INS Vikramaditya, as the Gorshkov will be named, could also be commissioned by 2012.
For the Indian Navy these are times of change. After decades as a near-invisible subaltern service, the growth in the Indian Navy's force structure, visibility and budget are being warily observed by every other power in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and the Asia-Pacific. The Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Admiral Sureesh Mehta, has publicly articulated the navy's plan to boost warship numbers to 165-170, up from 140 vessels today. And because building in India cost less than half of building abroad, India's three defence shipyards --- Mazagon Dock Limited, Mumbai (MDL); Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers, Kolkata (GRSE) and the smaller Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) --- have more warship orders than current capacities can handle.
The latest order placed on MDL and GRSE, reported in today's Business Standard: seven new-generation stealth frigates under Project 17A, 5600-ton warships, each capable of dominating vast stretches of ocean. India's growing skill in integrating disparate sensors and weapons on indigenous warships gives them heavier punches than most other warships of the same weight class.
Senior naval planners explain the logic behind India's rapid naval expansion. Other than the great naval powers --- US, Russia and, now arguably, China --- most major navies operate in alliance with one of the big players. Since the Cold War, for example, Britain's Royal Navy has functioned in alliance with the US Navy, specialising in anti-submarine warfare, and relying on US cover for crucial aspects like anti-air defence.
In contrast, India has always rejected military alliances. As a serving naval admiral elaborates, "India is different. We can operate for a short while as a partnership navy, but definitely not as part of a military alliance. We, therefore, need a balanced navy with all-round capability, which can operate alone for as long as it takes."
But even while rejecting formal alliances, Indian Navy admirals realise that a navy that is visible is a navy that is taken seriously. That has spawned a series of annual exercises with foreign navies, including the Malabar series with the US Navy; the Varuna series with the French navy; the Konkan series with Britain's Royal Navy; and the Indra series with the Russian navy. Early this year, India even sent three warships to China for the 60th anniversary celebrations of the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN).
"It's important to strut your stuff", says a naval planner, "you visit a foreign port and invite your counterparts to a cocktail party on board. While sipping their drinks on the warship's deck, they are taking note of the weaponry you're carrying. You're sending a clear message."
The desire for a more powerful and visible navy is also rooted in growing concern over India's 7516 kilometers of coastline, the vulnerability of which stood starkly exposed during the 26/11 terrorist strikes. Protection is also needed for an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of 2 million square kilometres, which could go up to 2.5 million square kilometres once India's continental shelf is delineated and placed before the International Seabed Authority. Naval officers point out that India's entire land mass is just 3.28 million square kilometres.
A related argument marshalled by strong-navy enthusiasts is the protection of trade: 90% of India's trade by volume and 77% by value is transported by sea. Especially vulnerable is India's oil dependency; according to Hydrocarbon Vision 2025, India's current oil import level of 74% of consumption will rise to 88% of consumption by mid-century. The navy is also expected to protect busy international trade routes that pass close by Indian shores (100,000 freight vessels annually; one billion tons of oil).
Naval planners point to the historic link between trade and military power. An officer explained, "In the colonial period it was said that 'trade follows the flag'. Today, we see, like with China in Africa, the flag follows trade. But in no case can trade be divorced from the flag."
An indicator of the navy's shift into the mainstream of Indian strategic planning --- even more so than the growing number of capital warships --- is the growth in its command and administrative infrastructure. The deep-water Karwar naval base, located 34 nautical miles (62 km) south of Goa, is already functioning. Aimed at decongesting Mumbai, Karwar will be base for more than 40 ships including the aircraft carrier, Vikramaditya, when it is commissioned.
Also nearing completion is INS Kadamba, an administrative support base, which was commissioned in 2005. Another important addition to the navy's capabilities is the new Naval Academy at Ezhimala, 280 kilometers north of Kochi, which will soon churn out 750 cadets a year. You will need professionals to man the Indian Navy's growing fleet.
CREWING A SUBMARINE: LIFE UNDER THE SEA
Sailors who man the 18 boomers of the US navy describe their role thus: while the surface fleet exploits the peace --- exporting security and building alliances through port visits, and exercises with other navies --- the boomer fleet keeps the peace, deterring aggression by its very existence, a force of fully deployed missiles poised to strike.
Submariners, all of the double volunteers, justifiably consider themselves an elite. They must first volunteer to join the navy, undergoing a full year of basic naval training, and again for submarine duty, going through psychological profiling and high-stress physical tests to see if they can cope with the rigours of undersea life. Even so, there is no shortage of volunteers. Says an Indian Navy lieutenant commander, serving on board a submarine, "The extra danger adds a keen edge to life… there's a huge thrill in wearing the gold badge of a submariner."
But the admiration that submariners draw comes at a price, especially for the super-elite who serve on a nuclear submarine. They spend long tenures underwater, often measured in months, keeping the missile deterrent deployed for as long as possible. At the end of a deployment, the boomer races into port, the crew changes around (all SSBNs have two full crews), supplies are replenished, and the boomer heads back on station.
"After a while, you just run out of things to do on board", explains an officer who served on the INS Chakra, a nuclear attack submarine that India leased from the Soviet Union from 1988 to 1991. "You become irritable, you start noticing things about your cabin-mate that you had never noticed before. The way he always leaves the door open… that pimple on his face. Even the lighting on board starts giving you headaches."
The long stays underwater are enabled by the nuclear reactor. Conventional diesel-electric submarines are propelled underwater by a battery-powered electric motor, which drives a propeller. But batteries discharge quickly and conventional submarines must surface regularly to recharge them through a diesel generator. A surfaced submarine is highly vulnerable to detection, as well as to attack.
Nuclear submarines, in contrast, have no compulsion to surface, since the nuclear reactor needs no air to generate power. A boomer lies silently below the surface some way off the enemy's coastline and, as long as on-board noise is minimised, remains virtually undetectable.
Noise is a submarine's greatest vulnerability. The enemy's anti-submarine warfare units --- which include other submarines, surface ships as well as maritime patrol aircraft --- are constantly searching with sonar (SOund NAvigation and Ranging) systems for submarine sounds, whether from the engine-room, the propellers, a dropped spanner, even an irate officer speaking loudly to a sailor.
So sensitive are today's active sonars, and so skilled the sonar operators, that they can differentiate biological signals (whales, fish, even shrimp feeding) from the sounds coming from a submarine. They can make out the number of propellers in a ship, whether they have encountered it before, and the direction and speed that the target is headed.
Tags # defence planning # Defence Production # Indian Navy # region # shipbuilding # strategy
Posted by Broadsword at July 24, 2009
Labels: defence planning, Defence Production, Indian Navy, region, shipbuilding, strategy
Col Shukla, would you be covering the launch of INS Arihant from the Shipbuilding Centre? We are counting on you for some really good pictures before it is submerged.
The images will be scrutinized before it is allowed to be published. Especially certain things will have to be covered for security reasons.
Ajai Shukla 24 July 2009 at 23:03
There is no press coverage of the launch of INS Arihant.
fighterclass 24 July 2009 at 23:19
ajai, in the last paragraph, should it be "active sonar". the most advanced sonars nowadays are passive.
oh and awesome doesn't even start describing that picture !
where r u standing in your pic on the main page is it siachen
nice article Col...I learnt a few things...but i have a question...from where do persons inside a nuclear submarine get oxygen supply, considering that it remains submerged for months? what about kitchen and toilet facilities ? do you have photographs of the inside of a real submarine ?
anon, nuclear subs generate breathing oxygen by electrolysis of water.
kitchen facilities are available but there are no naked flames on subs, cooking is done on heated plates. Col Shukla's last articles on the P15A kolkata says that even it uses the same arrangement.
all personnel on such ships have a secondary training, for example the cook and his assistants may have additional training as torpedo operators, radio operators etc.
on toilet facilities, by tradition there is no bathing on IN subs although showers are available in the HDW class but last I read these were used to store rice/daal etc for longer tours.
submariners wear shorts and half shirts on board subs instead of full uniform.
facilities for attending to nature's call are as you'll find on a ship, only more cramped. the output is released to the ocean at regular intervals. :D
this is a very delicate process however and could give away the location of the sub to enemy ASW platforms if not done carefully.
nice shot of the IN kilo. such beauties.
Tejaswy 25 July 2009 at 13:24
http://livefist.blogspot.com/2009/07/off-to-visakhapatnam.html
Looks like shiv is going to the Ceremony.
Sorry, that post should have read, "no photographic coverage of the launch of the INS Arihant."
Why such secrecy? The Americans or the Russians don't hide their latest subs from public view.
Anonymous 19:02, that pic was taken at Tiger Hill. Looks different from the common perceptions of Tiger Hill because it was taken at the end of December when the place was blanketed in snow.
The specs of INS Arihant seem to match those of Graney class submarine.
6000 tons....111m....24 cruise missiles(6*4 brahmos or 3*4 K-15 in case of ATV)
Could this be the reason why we are hiding it?
smith 27 July 2009 at 06:53
Hi Ajai Sir,
I would realy like to know wether it was really christened as "INS" as it seems to be in trial mode and not in an operational mode. It's still operated by the engineers.
Hi Ajay, excellent post, but pardon me for the below because I wanna expose the scumbag Prasun Sengupta.
He has turned on 'comment moderation' eversince Arihant was launched, because the Chor was dead wrong in his predictions on the ATV, as it was then known.
Refer to this: https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5154280302945875495&postID=5743219896033099944
Here are what some people asked him:
Shriya @ 10.14 am: ...but in the mean time can u pls explain what does it look like [ i really hope it looks like the Borei class in construction in Russia ]
Chorgupta: Shriya, you are assuming that since Russian design houses are involved with the ATV project, then automatically the ATV will externally resemble a submarine being built for the Russian Navy. In reality, the ATV's design is totally different and there's no external resemblance whatsoever. The Borei-class you refer to is an operational submarine whereas the ATV is merely a technology demonstrator.
He later went on to say: No it won't look like a real SSGN because it isn't, it is only a technology demonstrator.
Shriya @ 10.15: YES PRASUN!!!!!!! please share the pictures a s a p!!!!
To this Chorgupta said he'll post it in 2 months but never did, and later went on to say 'he doesn't wanna gain publicity'. Now he has removed his comment where he said he'll post it in 2 months. The prove that he said this lies in Shriya's comment @ Sunday, December 07, 2008 11:29:00 AM: It's ok I will wait the 2 months out in confidence youll share the rendering with us.
Guys - see this fast. If what I say here and what you see don't match, the chorgupta has simply removed the specific posts!
(but I have a copy of that comment page and if changed, I'll post the entire comment page here. Or if Ajai too starts being bias (which I'm pretty sure he won't - he's a class ahead of that silly Chorgupta) - I'll just create my own blog called chorgupta.blogspot.com and publish there.
Broadsword 28 July 2009 at 10:41
Excuse me, but why have some people started using my blog as a battleground for some private war?
Henceforth, I will delete all posts that are unrelated to ANYTHING that I cover or write about.
anon, ignore prasun and please don't bring his muck here.
if we wanted to read his bilge we would have gone to his blog.
don't disturb this blog please.
Sudip Das (sddp1968@yahoo.co.in) 15 April 2010 at 14:11
Indian Navy wants to be a blue water navy . In pursuit of this challange , Indian Navy should channelise its efforts in acquiring skills to operate nuclear powered submarine and aircraft carriers instead of creating the Sagar Prahari force to guard the coast lines of India , this is the job of Indian Coast Guard . Tha Navy should allow the coast guard to grow .
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An interesting article on the F-22 Raptor


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text:
Q: Testcontainers RabbitMq with SSL/TLS fails to wait for a container to start I have a test using RabbitMq in Testcontainers. The test is working using HTTP
@Container private static final RabbitMQContainer RABBITMQ_CONTAINER =
          new RabbitMQContainer()
                  .withLogConsumer(new Slf4jLogConsumer(LOG))
                  .withStartupTimeout(Duration.of(5, ChronoUnit.MINUTES))
                  .waitingFor(Wait.forHttp("/api/vhosts")
                          .forPort(15672)
                          .withBasicCredentials("guest", "guest"));

and fails when I switch to HTTPS
@Container private static final RabbitMQContainer RABBITMQ_CONTAINER =
          new RabbitMQContainer()
                  .withLogConsumer(new Slf4jLogConsumer(LOG))
                  .withStartupTimeout(Duration.of(5, ChronoUnit.MINUTES))
                  .waitingFor(Wait.forHttp("/api/vhosts")
                          .usingTls()
                          .forPort(15671)
                          .withBasicCredentials("guest", "guest"))
                  .withSSL(forClasspathResource("/certs/server_key.pem", 0644),
                          forClasspathResource("/certs/server_certificate.pem", 0644),
                          forClasspathResource("/certs/ca_certificate.pem", 0644),
                          VERIFY_NONE,
                          false);

In logs I see that container can not start:
...
18:53:21.274 [main] INFO  - /brave_swirles: Waiting for 60 seconds for URL: https://localhost:50062/api/vhosts (where port 50062 maps to container port 15671)
...
18:54:21.302 [main] ERROR - Could not start container
org.testcontainers.containers.ContainerLaunchException: Timed out waiting for URL to be accessible (https://localhost:50062/api/vhosts should return HTTP 200)

What do I miss? I'd want at least Testcontainers' waiting strategy works.

A: Using RabbitMQContainer with custom SSL certificates makes it hard to also use HttpWaitStrategy. In this case, you probably need to configure the whole JVM to trust those SSL certificates.
Alternatively, just continue to use the default wait strategy (which will be a LogMessageWaitStrategy).
For further examples, just look at the RabbitMQContainer tests in Testcontainers itself:
https://github.com/testcontainers/testcontainers-java/blob/c3f53b3a63e6b0bc800a7f0fbce91ce95a8986b3/modules/rabbitmq/src/test/java/org/testcontainers/containers/RabbitMQContainerTest.java#L237-L264

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


The Tutaka contains articles of The Citizens' Constitutional Forum activities, the organization position on issues relating to human rights, good governance, democracy, constitutional issues, racial discrimination and leadership. It also contains CCF success stories in the community alongside opinions from prominent figures.
Please feel free to send an email to media1@ccf.org.fj to subscribe to the mailing list for Tutaka Newsletter.


text:
Netflix to Finance & Release Antonio Banderas-Starrer "The Laundromat" About the Panama Papers Scandal
Posted on October 9, 2018 by Tom Castaneda
It's Laundry day for Antonio Banderas…
Netflix has committed to finance and release The Laundromat, the Steven Soderbergh-directed drama about the Panama Papers scandal starring the 58-year-old Spanish actor.
Banderas is part of a stellar cast that includes David Schwimmer, Gary Oldman and Meryl Streep. Other cast circling include Will Forte and Riley Keough.
The film has a script by Scott Z. Burns, based on the Jake Bernstein book Secrecy World: Inside the Panama Papers Investigation of Illicit Money Networks and the Global Elite.
Schwimmer will play Matthew Quirk, an attorney who speaks on behalf of one of the insurance companies after twenty elderly passengers die on a boating excursion. The boating company learned its insurance isn't the large company it thought it was, but merely just a P.O. box in Nevis. Quirk would eventually kill himself after seeing no way out of the liability situation, but the incident triggers lawyers, government officials, and more to track down these shell companies. Those investigations lead to the laundering geniuses at the Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca, who created hundreds of thousands of 'companies' to help the wealthy avoid paying taxes. Reams of documents were leaked from Mossack Fonseca in April by an anonymous whistleblower that bared embarrassing details on investments and money trails from politicians the world over, meant to evade taxes.
The scandal drew in several world leaders, including former UK Prime Minister David Cameron and Iceland Prime Minister Sigmunder Gunnlaugsson, the latter of whom resigned on April 5, 2016, after it was revealed he and his wife set up an offshore shell company in 2007 in the British Virgin Islands; he then sold his half of the company to his wife for $1 on the last day of 2009 to shield them from a new law that would have required him to declare his ownership as a conflict of interest. Among the swarms of famous people named in the leaked documents was current President of the United States Donald Trump— already embattled over charges his empire was built by avoiding taxes — and director Pedro Almodovar, Jackie Chan and Emma Watson.
Bernstein was part of a team of journalists who formed the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists to break the Panama Papers story. The leak of data — 11 million records revealed — was the largest in corporate and government history.
This entry was posted in Entertainment and tagged Antonio Banderas, David Cameron, David Schwimmer, Donald Trump, Emma Watson, Gary Oldman, Jackie Chan, Jake Bernstein, Meryl Streep, Mossack Fonseca, Netflix, Panama Papers, Pedro Almodóvar, Riley Keough, Scott Z. Burns, Secrecy World: Inside the Panama Papers Investigation of Illicit Money Networks and the Global Elite, Sigmunder Gunnlaugsson, Steven Soderbergh, The Laundromat, Will Forte by Tom Castaneda. Bookmark the permalink.


A fierce winter storm is expected to drop snow on Jerusalem and Israel's higher elevations and bring severe flooding to the coastal plain on Friday.
On Wednesday, rain began to fall from Haifa in the north to Beersheva in the southern Negav region, threatening some flooding already. Temperatures also began to fall.
On Thursday, the rainfall is expected to intensify, accompanied by high winds and a steep drop in temperatures.
The peak of the storm is predicted for Friday morning, when downpours and significant snowfall are being eagerly awaited, at least by children living at those higher elevations.
Ahead of the storm, the Jerusalem Municipality is meeting urgently to discuss how to manage the situation, as severe snowstorms have had a detrimental impact on the city in the past.


If you need to be rescued, call 143 and 527-0000. You can put a white blanket outside your house so that rescuers can easily locate where you are.
"If you are unable to contact our hotlines as a last resort, please post in my wall on facebook the complete details, so that our volunteers can get back at you ASAP. Again our RED CROSS HOTLINE: 143 or 527-0000 or 911-1876 or 524- 5787.
The PNRC chairman said they would need to prioritize the elderly and the sick in rescue efforts.