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March - June, 2013
March 11-13. Smart essay about humanity's deep future and the threat of extinction from stuff we are only now beginning to create. My favorite ideas are from Daniel Dewey, a specialist in artificial intelligence. This is the first time I've seen a plausible analysis of the motivations of a dangerous AI. We imagine that it will be like an evil human, but human motivations come from human nature and human culture, neither of which will motivate a machine. Dewey observes that our AI will have exactly the motivations we give it, and that it might follow these motivations into consequences that our relatively low intelligence cannot predict.
'The basic problem is that the strong realisation of most motivations is incompatible with human existence,' Dewey told me. 'An AI might want to do certain things with matter in order to achieve a goal, things like building giant computers, or other large-scale engineering projects. Those things might involve intermediary steps, like tearing apart the Earth to make huge solar panels. A superintelligence might not take our interests into consideration in those situations, just like we don't take root systems or ant colonies into account when we go to construct a building.'
It is tempting to think that programming empathy into an AI would be easy, but designing a friendly machine is more difficult than it looks. You could give it a benevolent goal -- something cuddly and utilitarian, like maximising human happiness. But an AI might think that human happiness is a biochemical phenomenon. It might think that flooding your bloodstream with non-lethal doses of heroin is the best way to maximise your happiness. It might also predict that shortsighted humans will fail to see the wisdom of its interventions. It might plan out a sequence of cunning chess moves to insulate itself from resistance. Maybe it would surround itself with impenetrable defences, or maybe it would confine humans in prisons of undreamt of efficiency.
Related: a reader sends this page about complexity of value and how difficult it is to encode human values into a system of rules:
Because the human brain very often fails to grasp all these difficulties involving our values, we tend to think building an awesome future is much less problematic than it really is. Fragility of value is relevant for building Friendly AI, because an AGI which does not respect human values is likely to create a world that we would consider devoid of value.
Another angle: The Best Intelligence Is Cyborg Intelligence. I think this is where we'll be for the rest of this century, because no matter how powerful computers get, it will always be easier to combine machine and human intelligence than to duplicate human intelligence with a machine. The more interesting possibility is that someone will build a self-improving AI that is not a computer.
March 20 and 26. Two good articles about de-extinction. Cloning Woolly Mammoths: It's the Ecology, Stupid:
Is one lonely calf, raised in captivity and without the context of its herd and environment, really a mammoth? ... Perhaps the best course of action is to first demonstrate that we can effectively manage living rhinos and elephants before resurrecting their woolly counterparts.
And Efforts to Resuscitate Extinct Species May Spawn a New Era of the Hybrid.
April 3. While one person dabbles in drugs with few ill-effects, another will become a chronic addict. What's the difference? The author rejects the idea that addicts are morally depraved, and also that they're helpless and have no control. Instead, they're choosing to stay on their drug because the alternative seems even worse:
They are usually people who suffer not only from addiction, but also from additional psychiatric disorders; in particular, anxiety, mood and personality disorders. These disorders all involve living with intense, enduring negative emotions and moods, alongside other forms of extreme psychological distress... They are unlikely -- even if they were to overcome their addiction -- to live a happy, flourishing life, where they can feel at peace with themselves and with others.
Now I'm wondering if some of my writing is harmful to people who are not like me. Some people have a much harder time forcing themselves to do stuff, and they dream of a magical world in which they can just do what they feel like all day and everything works out. These people need more external structure, not less. They should not try to drop out of society -- they should get a job where they are surrounded by other people to motivate them.
April 12. A Practical Utopian's Guide to the Coming Collapse is an excerpt from David Graeber's new book. His most interesting idea is that popular uprisings that seem to fail can ultimately succeed. So the revolutions of 1848 all failed to take power, but they mostly got the reforms they wanted because the rulers were afraid of future revolutions. And the protests of the 1960's failed to end the Vietnam War any sooner, but every American war since has been conducted to mimimize protests, more than to actually win the war. From here, he argues that the main objective of the ruling system is to create a feeling of hopelessness:
It does often seem that, whenever there is a choice between one option that makes capitalism seem the only possible economic system, and another that would actually make capitalism a more viable economic system, neoliberalism means always choosing the former. The combined result is a relentless campaign against the human imagination. Or, to be more precise: imagination, desire, individual creativity, all those things that were to be liberated in the last great world revolution, were to be contained strictly in the domain of consumerism, or perhaps in the virtual realities of the Internet.
Graeber goes on to suggest some future reforms, for which the mechanisms have yet to be worked out: canceling debts, producing less stuff, and redefining labor in terms of helping other people instead of growing the economy.
April 15. Reddit comment on why anarchists fail or succeed. The author's summary is "Anarchists should try to do one thing of value to the community and do it well. They should do so in a strategic way and be open to alliances. Subcultures, drugs, alcohol, and rage suck." My summary would be: Successful movements contain many cultures and one goal, and failed movements contain one culture and many goals.
April 23. Love and artificial intelligence. The big idea is, when we dream of the possibilities of artificial intelligence, we're not looking rationally at what our technology actually does, but looking at a myth that's thousands of years old, in which we can make something out of dead matter that is human but without all the flaws.
May 1. I've previously mentioned several solutions to Fermi's Paradox, the idea that there should be lots of extraterrestrial civilizations but we haven't found evidence of any. One of my favorite solutions is that any sufficiently advanced civilization is indistinguishable from nature. Another is that the aliens are just too weird. Terence McKenna has said that looking for radio transmissions from other planets is like looking for Italian food on other planets, and Jacques Vallee thinks the aliens are already here but they're so alien that we don't recognize them. Here's his pdf article on the subject: Incommensurability, Orthodoxy and the Physics of High Strangeness.
My own solution is too weird for Wikipedia, but closest to Thomas Aquinas: that we are alone for metaphysical reasons.
First, it doesn't make sense to talk about reality without an observer. Mind is the foundation of matter, reality itself has the structure of a dream, and objective reality is an illusion created by an agreement among many dreamers to dream the same thing. Every time we look in a direction that has never been looked in before, we are creating what we find there. As with any collective creation, at the beginning our perspectives will be wild and inconsistent before we settle into consensus. This happens in science, where it's called the decline effect: there is an observed and testable pattern of strong experimental results that fade away the more the experiments are repeated.
This is also why there are so many paranormal experiences and so little proof, because a few isolated observers can create all kinds of reality, but "proof" means forcing everyone to see it the same way. "Paranormal" is just a word we apply to the region at the edge of consensus reality where inconsistent experience challenges the idea of objective truth. For more on this subject, see the book The Trickster and the Paranormal by George Hansen.
In terms of space exploration, this is why the first few people to look at Mars through telescopes saw canals, because they were dreaming more boldly than the eventual popular consensus. Charles Fort's second book, New Lands, is loaded with examples of the chaos of early astronomy. Maybe, if we'd been ready, we could have dreamed outer space much more alive, like in Philip Reeve's Larklight trilogy.
Now, could there be an intelligent species on another planet also dreaming this universe, with whom we'll have to reach consensus? It doesn't work that way, because the whole framework of other planets didn't exist until we dreamed it. We will not find aliens because this whole universe exists just for us. For more thoughts on this, check out the anthropic principle. In terms of consciousness, Earth is the center after all. We might eventually find primitive life on other planets, but we will not find any intelligence also capable of dreaming a universe. If there are "aliens", they are separated from us through a dimension of mind, not space, and they are centers of their own universes. And if we unlock technologies to move through dimensions of mind, space exploration might become pointless.
May 8. I'm reading Morris Berman's Wandering God. If you don't want to read the whole thing, the best stuff is in the introduction and the "Zone of Flux" chapter. Berman's first big idea is that some metaphysical ideas that supposedly go deep into prehistory, were really invented only a few thousand years ago in the transition from nomadic foraging-hunting to permanent agricultural settlements. This stuff includes earth goddess worship, Jungian archetypes, the desire for oneness with the universe, and all vertical spirituality, including the belief in a higher spirit world.
What I take from the book is that we have two modes of consciousness, which happen to correspond to quasi-scientific ideas about right brain vs left brain. Nomadic people are broadly focused, surfing the flow and watching out for opportunties. Civilized people are narrowly focused and striving for particular goals. These different modes of consciousness go with different political systems and different values, and we need to reclaim nomadic consciousness even if we can no longer physically roam the world.
This reminds me of something American Indians said about the first white people: that they had wild staring eyes as if they were constantly looking for something and not finding it. It also reminds me of a line from Valerie Solanas (keeping in mind that she put everything through a filter of women-good-men-bad): "Incapable of enjoying the moment, the male needs something to look forward to, and money provides him with an eternal, never-ending goal: Just think of what you could do with 80 trillion dollars -- invest it! And in three years time you'd have 300 trillion dollars!!!"
So civilized religion is a substitute for our lost ability to be at home in the here and now. This also reminds me of different ideas about meditation. The popular idea is that you meditate to achieve enlightenment, or transcendence, or oneness, to permanently ascend to a higher state. But experienced meditators say that's all a distraction, and meditation is about getting more skilled at noticing and appreciating whatever you are sensing right now.
Finally, there is a great chapter on this subject in a religious book you might have heard of. It's called the Bible, and the chapter is Ecclesiastes. The idea is that nothing we do in this world will amount to anything, but instead of being depressed, we should let go of the desire for achievement, and live every moment to the fullest. Two of my favorite lines from Ecclesiastes: "Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire" and "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might."
May 23. A reader mentions Pear Energy. It's a nice idea, and that FAQ link explains it well enough for me to fill in the details that they would never say. If you join Pear Energy, and your utility company burns oil, then when you use your toaster, your utility company burns a little more oil to power it, and a polar bear dies. Then at the end of the month your utility company sends the bill to Pear, and however much energy you used, they dump that much into the grid from wind and solar, and maybe someone else using a toaster will use some of that energy instead of cranking up the oil plant. Then they send you a bill that's a little higher, and the extra money is used to subsidize more wind and solar, which will help moderate the economic collapse from the transition out of fossil fuels.
June 7. Kickstarter must not fund biohackers' glow-in-the-dark plants. Bioengineneering frightens me, but not for the reasons in this article. I think biohackers and glow-in-the-dark plants are awesome! I'd like to see biotech labs in a million garages all over the world. It would cause some moderate eco-catastrophes, but in the long term I think it would be good for life on Earth.
My fear is that biotech will be monopolized by large corporations and governments, which will only permit modifications that strengthen large corporations and governments. So there won't be any miracle plants that do best under intensive human attention like you would have in your garden, because big systems are allergic to labor, and will only make miracle plants that do best in mechanized systems with high energy inputs. This is exactly what most GM crops are being designed for now. And there won't be miracle crops that thrive in waste places and provide nutritious food all year, because that would make it easier for people to live without money. Instead, all food will be produced on giant centrally controlled farms and you will only be allowed to eat by obeying the systems that run the farms. And this nightmare will be justified by the need for "proper regulations and safeguards."
June 8-10. Related to the NSA wiretapping scandal, an exceptional reddit comment about what it's like to live in a surveillance state, by someone now living in one of the Arab spring countries. Of course it's not like this in America, but the laws and technologies are in place so that it could be like this if the ruling powers ever think it's their best move.
I would love to see Obama taken down and destroyed on this issue the way Nixon was destroyed over Watergate, even if it benefits the American right in the short term. Because in the long term it would set a precedent that would make authoritarian use of information technology politically difficult.
June 12. A reader in Missoula, Shawn, came for a visit last night, and we talked about lots of stuff including metaphysics. Most of my friends don't like to use the word "God" because it suggests a ridiculous sky father deity. Instead, to speak of an unseen greater intelligence, some people say "the Universe". I like to talk about "the Flow", which is a good English word for the concept of the Tao in the Tao Te Ching. Shawn says he calls it "the Mystery". I like that better than "the Universe" because it implies something that is beyond matter and energy, and unknowable.
June 19-21. Inspired by coverage of the Global Future 2045 conference on Early Warning, I have some thoughts on artificial intelligence. First, I think people in the future will laugh at us that we thought we could make a human-like intelligence out of a sufficiently large pocket calculator. If we ever do create something that has human-like consciousness and superior intelligence, it will done by augmenting human brains, or by somehow making an AI whose behavior cannot be reduced to numbers and logic. My deeper philosophy here is that the quantitative is a subset of the qualitative.
More likely we will never get around to artificially duplicating human intelligence, because big calculating machines with clearly nonhuman intelligence will be easier to build and powerful enough to radically change the world... probably in ways we don't like. Here's a related post from a few months ago.
Does it even matter if an AI has "consciousness"? The word has many definitions, and I'm defining it here as the quality such that it makes sense to ask what it's like to be that thing. One context where it matters is if someone says you can transfer your consciousness to a superior computer replica of yourself. You want to make sure that you'll really wake up in a new form, and not just die and have a mindless copy pretending to be you. Personally I think "uploading consciousness" is a sci-fi myth based on a total misunderstanding of matter and mind. But there is something similar that should be possible: to replace your brain and body with other stuff, one tiny bit at a time. And I'm wondering how hard it would be to duplicate or engineer memories.
The other context where it might matter is that if it makes sense to ask what it's like to be an AI, we might want to give it rights. But we already believe that it makes sense to ask what it's like to be a cow, and yet we still raise cows in hellish factory farms and brutally kill and eat them, and people who want to give them rights are considered loonies. Even other humans are routinely bombed and tortured and captured into slavery. AI's, like everything else, will be given rights when and only when it serves the interests of corporations, governments, and worse control systems yet to be invented. Probably at some point they'll declare that drone aircraft have sentience so that you can be charged with murder if you shoot one down.
Finally, I can imagine one consciousness technology that, if possible, would trump everything else. Previously I've called it time-contracted virtual reality, but now I think time-expanded would be better. The idea is that you go into another world, something like a holodeck or a lucid dream, you come out, and you have experienced a much greater amount of time than the world you come back to. A reader sends a link to the relevant Star Trek TNG episode, The Inner Light, in which Picard lives decades of another life in 20 minutes. Another reader sends an ancient Hindu myth, The Story of Narada.
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CARROLL COUNTY, Mo. — A tractor was involved in a crash with a car Monday morning in Carroll County, leading to minor injuries for the tractor's driver.
At 10:42 a.m. Monday, a tractor driven by 50-year-old Brett Heussner, of Tina, was struck by a southbound vehicle after Heussner failed to yield on US 65 North, two miles north of the Tina Junction.
Heussner was transported to Carroll County Memorial Hospital for treatment, while the driver of the other vehicle, 70-year-old Candace Bartlett, of Carrollton, was uninjured in the wreck.


I'm a Data Scientist at Branch International.
I cofounded Ansaro, where I was Chief Data Scientist. Ansaro's mission was to improve all workforce and career decisions with data-driven insights, and we started with hiring. We thought hard about reducing bias in the hiring process, implementing research-based best practices for interviewing, and helping companies choose candidates who would stay longer and perform better. Please check out our blog to learn more about Ansaro and what we worked on.
I was a Data Scientist at Silicon Valley Data Science, a data science and engineering consulting company (acquierd by Apple in 2017). I worked on business problems using a wide array of machine learning techniques for customers across a diverse set of industries.
I have also volunteered and overseen projects that solve problems involving civic issues and open data with the Code For San Francisco Data Science Working Group.
I earned my Ph.D. in cognitive neuroscience working in Tim Curran's lab in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of Colorado Boulder.
I was the lab manager and a research assistant in Michael Kahana's Computational Memory Lab at the University of Pennsylvania. I analyzed electrophysiological brain activity (ERPs and time-frequency oscillations) in relation to behavior in a three-dimensional virtual environment, as well as cognitive function/behavior, particularly in relation to memory.
During graduate school my research interests were related to learning and memory, particularly in describing the neurophysiological activity that manifests in the brain while forming new memories and retrieving them at a later point, with the overarching goal of understanding the cognitive processes involved. My dissertation involved the spacing effect, and examined the similarity of neural activity patterns for spaced vs crammed study events. Some of my work has investigated the retrieval of information from memory, and shows that the recruitment of these memory processes and underlying neural activity depends on the type of information being remembered. More specifically, when we remember environmental stimuli, their physical features influence the involvement of recognition processes. This influence is perhaps related to the way in which the memory is initially encoded, a topic of more recent interest to me.


Our company, the International Taste and Quality Institute (iTQi), is based in Brussels and is a world leader in the evaluation and certification of the taste of consumer food and beverages.
The Taste Institute organizes large yearly testing events during which renowned European chefs & sommeliers blind-taste and score food and drink products, certifying those with excellent taste scores.
In 2018, nearly 2000 products from small and large producers from over 90 countries have been awarded by our prestigious jury of chefs and sommeliers.
This is a Brussels-based position.
To ensure that you are successful as a Junior Sales, we have a professional and structured environment with a well-developed marketing plan, a powerful CRM and a management ready to support you.


NEW YORK, Oct. 16, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Feedvisor, the "AI-first" company that helps online retailers and brands build and expand their businesses on Amazon, today announced the appointment of Kal Raman, chief digital officer at Samsung, and David Karnstedt, digital media veteran and former Efficient Frontier CEO, to its board of directors, effective immediately. The two seasoned executives will advise Feedvisor in its mission to enable brands and retailers to succeed on Amazon through the application of AI-powered pricing, operational actions, and strategic business insights and analytics.
Currently the Chief Digital Officer at Samsung, Raman previously held executive roles as CEO at Xome and Drugstore.com, as well as chief operating officer at Groupon. He also previously led teams at both Walmart and Amazon, where he served as director of information systems and senior vice president of marketing and retail technology, respectively. As a member of the board of directors, Raman's extensive knowledge of e-commerce trends and data applications will be a critical asset to the continued growth of Feedvisor.
Karnstedt served as Efficient Frontier's CEO prior to the acquisition of Adobe Systems, where he served as senior vice president for media and advertising and was instrumental in establishing the company's leadership in multichannel ad buying and cross-platform optimization. Also serving as a board member of Demandbase, Karnstedt's extensive digital media expertise will be a critical asset in his role with Feedvisor.
Feedvisor is the "AI-first" optimization and intelligence platform for large sellers and brands on Amazon. Feedvisor's proven technology and deep Amazon expertise draws insights from the myriad of data streams from the Amazon Marketplace and customers' business operations, and provides personalized, actionable, real-time decisions that maximize profitability and drive overall business growth. For more information about Feedvisor, visit feedvisor.com.


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SAT, ACT requirements waved for incoming class of 2021
MADYSEN MCLAIN, Evergreen roots editor • January 29, 2021
After College Board SAT tests were canceled across the country because of the pandemic, the Washington Council of Presidents worked with universities to dismiss SAT and ACT score requirements for the class...
Submissions for art competition close Jan. 29
ABBY DAVIS, Evergreen copy chief • January 25, 2021
The annual Art for Social Change Competition is currently looking for submissions from WSU faculty members, students and others involved in the education community. The competition is put on by...
Company planning to open new cannabis shop
A Western Washington company hopes to convert a Pullman car wash just north of campus into a new cannabis shop Magic Tree Collective 206 submitted a site plan for 1505 NE Merman Drive, which...
Visiting Writers Series begins
MICHELLE PAREDES STRONG, Evergreen reporter • January 25, 2021
The WSU Visiting Writers Series is holding its first event of the spring semester, a literary reading at 6 p.m. Jan. 27 on YouTube. Guest Ryka Aoki is a poet, author and performer. Her newest book,...
Activist wants police funds resourced to social programming, housing
JENAE LAXSON, Evergreen roots editor • January 22, 2021
WSU's Martin Luther King Jr. and Common Reading programs hosted an event Thursday, featuring a well-known activist. Activist Bree Newsome Bass said she grew up in a diverse area of Columbia,...
Scholarships available through BECU Foundation
ANDREA GONZALEZ, Evergreen reporter • January 22, 2021
The BECU Foundation is currently accepting applications for its annual scholarships through Feb. 26. The foundation is a nonprofit focused on providing scholarships to student members of BECU,...
WSU wraps up arrival testing for students
STEFFI LUDAHL, Evergreen reporter • January 22, 2021
All students living, working or otherwise needing to be on campus for spring semester were expected to get a COVID-19 test as they arrived back in Pullman. Beasley Coliseum has been the testing site...
Former WSU athlete and NBA All-Star shares struggle with mental health
ANNA MICHALSON, Evergreen reporter • January 22, 2021
James Donaldson, WSU alum and NBA All-Star, started writing a book last year that focused on his mental health journey. Donaldson played for the Seattle SuperSonics, the San Diego/Los Angeles Clippers, Dallas...
Faculty Senate continues athletics budget conversation
Faculty Senate members called for feedback on their recommendation to reject WSU Athletics' request for more funding from the university at the first senate meeting of the semester on Thursday. The...
OEO makes changes to name, policy
JAKOB THORINGTON, Former Evergreen reporter • July 17, 2019
The Office of Equal Opportunity updated its procedures regarding sexual harassment as a part of a resolution agreement with the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR). The federal...
Tuition increase of 2.4 percent across WSU campuses
GABRIEL BRAVO, Evergreen reporter • June 19, 2019
WSU's Board of Regents approved a 2.4 percent tuition increase earlier this month during a Tri-Cities campus retreat. The increase is supposed to aid graduate students' and staff's increased living expenses...
GPSA, Transit react to S&A cuts
IAN SMAY, Evergreen reporter • April 15, 2018
University entities that rely on Services and Activities fees as a source of revenue for the most part received less than they asked for as student leaders pushed for scaling back student fees. At the...

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


KALIDA — Jane L. Korte, 73, of Kalida died 1:44 p.m. Thursday, April 4, 2019 at the Meadows of Ottawa. She was born May 31, 1945 in Lima to the late Dr. Amos and Louise (Quinn) Kottenbrock. On January 20, 1968 she married Ronald L. Korte, who preceded her in death on December 2, 2016.
Jane is survived by two children: Russell Lee Korte of Findlay and Angela Korte Binkley of Bowling Green; five grandchildren: Meghan Amelia Korte, Alyssa Jane Binkley, Kennedy Marie Korte, Taylor Nicole Korte and Carter Andrew Korte; a sister: Karen Meyer of Ottawa and two brothers: John Kottenbrock and Jim Kottenbrock both of Ottawa.
She is preceded in death by a sister: Lois Halker.
Jane graduated from St. Rita' School of Nursing and worked in various departments at St. Rita's for many years. Her nursing career eventually took her to Mercy Home Health and later she retired from Paradise Oaks Nursing Home, Cloverdale. She was an avid Green Bay Packers, Detroit Tigers, and Ohio State fan. She loved Mustangs, especially the yellow convertible that Ron had bought her for her birthday one year. She enjoyed painting ceramics and giving them away as gifts. Her greatest loves were traveling with her husband Ron, and spending time with her children and grandchildren.
A funeral service was held 4 p.m. Sunday, April 7, 2019 at Love Funeral Home, Ottawa. Visitation was Sunday from 1 p.m. until the time of service Sunday afternoon.
Memorial contributions may be made to Putnam County Homecare & Hospice, the Lupus Foundation or St. Jude's. Online condolences may be expressed at www.lovefuneralhome.com.


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MERCEDES BENZ CLS-Klasse CLS 2021 - 2022
Segment: Medium
Mercedes-Benz unveiled the facelifted version of its four-door coupe CLS in 2021 and brought new options and improved features.
After 450,000 units sold globally since the first generation's launch, the CLS proved to be a fair bet for the three-pointed-star brand. Even though it didn't offer enough headroom for the rear passengers or large trunks, the CLS was in high demand.
The 2021 CLS featured a redesigned front fascia with an AMG-style front bumper fitted as standard. It sported a black A-shaped wing, a front splitter in silver chrome, and a 3D radiator grille. From its sides, the AMG side sills. In the back, the carmaker left everything unchanged, with the same diffuser between the rhomboidal-shaped exhausts.
Inside, the carmaker's most significant change was the infotainment system, which came with two 12.3" screens fitted as standard. They shared the same glass-covered area that made them looked like a widescreen. A touch-pad replaced the older controller between the front seats. Mercedes-Benz introduced automatic parking and exiting parking feature, which warned the driver and applied brakes in cross-traffic situations. Like its predecessor, the 2021 model was not a champ for the interior space, especially for those seated in the rear. With its 12 cu-ft (340 liters) trunk, it could barely compete with some compact hatchbacks, but the CLS owners didn't bother about that.
Under the hood, Mercedes-Benz offered a wide choice of diesel, gasoline, and hybrid engines. The base levels introduced two inline-four turbocharged powerplants that sent the power to the rear wheels only. The range-topper was the three-liter inline-six helped by an electric starter-booster that sent 367 hp in all corners. A nine-speed automatic gearbox was standard for the entire range.


On 1 July this year, a signed (DNSSEC-enabled) root zone was published by the 13 root name servers. DNSSEC prevents hackers from redirecting traffic from legitimate websites to fraudulent ones, increasing Internet security for all. Anand Buddhdev, DNS Services Manager at the RIPE NCC, the not-for-profit organisation that supports the infrastructure of the Internet and operates the K-root name server, explains why DNSSEC is a crucial development that helps make the Internet safer for users.
The Domain Name System, or DNS, was created in 1984 to translate website addresses such as www.computerweekly.com into IP addresses that are understood by computers. It acts as a global, name-to-address mapping service and although it is not visible to most Internet users, DNS is an essential component for the functionality of the Internet.
Despite its importance, DNS was created without security features, potentially exposing Internet users to attacks. These attacks exploit a key weakness in the DNS system, which allows hackers to inject false data in DNS responses and direct users' web connections to other websites. This means that when users type in the name of a legitimate website, they are taken to a fraudulent one instead, which puts them at risk of phishing and other scams.
To prevent hackers from continuing to attack DNS, the Domain Name Server Security Extensions (DNSSEC) protocol was developed. This added security layer allows Internet users to type a website address and be assured that the website that is being displayed is coming from an authorised server. To achieve this, DNSSEC uses digital signatures that assure name servers that the DNS data they receive has not been intercepted or tampered with.
Why is it important to sign the root?
While DNSSEC does not resolve more 'visible' hacker attacks such as trojans and worms, it does provide an added layer of security for cache poisoning attacks. Cache poisoning is especially dangerous when hackers target well-known and trusted websites, where users may be inclined to enter personal details and passwords. Last year, for example, a successful attack against an ISP in Brazil redirected its customers to a fake clone of a prominent Brazilian bank portal that attempted to steal passwords and install malware. Alarmingly, attacks of this sort are becoming increasingly common.
Not only does this type of attack affect the individual user, but because DNS lookups do not happen for every request due to information being cached, a single attack could potentially affect a number of end-users.
This is why in order for DNSSEC to work, it requires a trust anchor. It is necessary to have a point in the DNS hierarchy that a DNS server explicitly trusts and from which a chain of trust can be established. Without this origin of trust, DNSSEC users would need to identify several trust anchors and continuously monitor them. For DNSSEC to be fully deployed, a complete chain of trust needs to be established. This begins with name servers serving the root zone, followed by the top level domains, all the way down to individual domains.
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is leading the initiative to build this chain of trust. To put an end to the risks posed by DNS attacks, ICANN is working together with the Internet community, including domain name registries, registrars and all root name servers, which are critical for the global infrastructure of the Internet.
In July, the world's 13 root name servers, including the K-root, operated by the RIPE NCC, deployed a signed root zone. The signing of the root zone is administered by VeriSign, which also operates the A and J-root servers. Root name servers are the first step in translating, or resolving, human readable host names into IP addresses that are used in communication between Internet hosts.
With the root zone signed, top level domains are now moving to deploy DNSSEC. In October five country code top-level domains for countries in Latin America and the Caribbean were signed to enable use of DNSSEC.
The key action for businesses is to be prepared for DNSSEC. If the rest of your chain of trust has deployed DNSSEC before you're ready, it could cause problems for your network.
As with all IT implementations, early planning means a smoother and more cost effective implementation. It's time to start doing something about DNSSEC before it is too late.


text:
package com.navercorp.pinpoint.plugin.jackson;

import com.navercorp.pinpoint.common.trace.TraceMetadataProvider;
import com.navercorp.pinpoint.common.trace.TraceMetadataSetupContext;

/**
 * @author Sungkook Kim
 *
 */
public class JacksonTypeProvider implements TraceMetadataProvider {

    @Override
    public void setup(TraceMetadataSetupContext context) {
        context.addServiceType(JacksonConstants.SERVICE_TYPE);

        context.addAnnotationKey(JacksonConstants.ANNOTATION_KEY_LENGTH_VALUE);
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


If "I'm too busy" is the mantra of those who have trouble working some fitness into their days, then "I don't want to deprive myself" is the anthem of those who struggle with the clean eating piece of the puzzle. My answer to the fitness/time issue is "You're no busier than a fit person. We're all busy." To handle the deprivation dilemma, I want you to picture the rabid ex-smoker. You know the type, they used to smoke, and really enjoyed it, but when they finally quit, they turned into those people who wouldn't let people smoke in their homes, told others how much their clothes smelled, and would wave their hand furiously in front their face if others were smoking within a fifty foot radius of them. Now, do you think the ex-smoker feels deprived? I'm sure they're proud of themselves as quitting smoking is a really hard thing to do. When you feel that you're depriving yourself on not having every piece of cake that passes your way at an office party, try to ask what it is you really think you're really missing out on. While it isn't easy, I'm sure it was hell for the smoker trying to quit too, give yourself a chance to get on the other side of the mountain so to speak. Unlike the smoker who knows better than to have "just one," I promise there will still be cake in your future.
There's a barrage of "You ate it, now negate it" themes in magazine articles. They love to show donuts or cookies and then show what is required to burn it off. There's a huge disconnect going on for most people with this concept. I remember having a conversation with a woman trying to lose weight, and she said, "I don't deprive myself, if I want a piece of cheesecake, I have it, and just add in an extra 20 minute walk." Now, it's okay to choose to have something, but keep it real. A single piece of cherry cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory is 860 calories. A typical 150 lbs. woman walking level ground for an hour at a moderate pace, maybe burns 200 calories. I hate doing math, but even I know this isn't adding up. Make a decision based on if it's worth it, if you're trying to lose weight, maintain, or outright splurge, but if you're really trying to negate the calories, be sure you have the correct exchange rate, as sadly the currency for calories burned has a very stingy exchange rate!
I bristle a little whenever someone says, "Oh, everything in moderation." My rebuttal is always, "Moderation is for maintenance." Moderation didn't cause weight gain, and it's not going to cause major weight loss either. You need a deficit of 3500 calories to lose a single pound. Chose a clean eating and fitness routine you can live with to make progress. I tried to create an eating plan that I could live with and that wouldn't make crazy enough to quit and give up. If that meant I kept the cream and sugar in my coffee, then so be it. A little success will help fuel your desire for a lot of success. I found setting small, mini five to ten pound goals, were attainable, and I was able to celebrate the success of reaching that mini goal, rather than be overwhelmed at thinking of having to lose ninety-six pounds.
Not eating every cookie that crosses your path is not deprivation. My love of time travel movies is well documented, as I've long been fascinated with the thought of being able to give my younger self advice. But ask yourself: if you could travel back in time and do some things differently, would any of them involve eating something? Granted, I did laugh when I saw a sign at a local bakery that said, "Think of all those women on the Titanic that passed on dessert!" Once, I suddenly became very sick with a crazy infection, and ended up in the hospital for weeks. It didn't look good for me, and one morning I ordered the pancakes for breakfast and said, "Well, if I'm not going to make it, I see no point in ordering the egg white omelet." Want to laugh? I ordered the sugar free syrup in case I rallied! Happily, I live to tell the story, so enjoy the "worth it" treats when they come your way, or you think your ship is sinking, but save the moderation talk for when you're at your goal range. Maybe it's as simple as changing how you look at it. Perhaps you're not depriving yourself if you don't eat a basket of tortilla chips with a frozen margarita when you have twenty pounds to lose, but really depriving yourself of being fit if you do.
Love your attitude toward balance! AMEN and AMEN.
You are so right about setting small goals. I have lost 30lbs in the last 5 months after having my son. Every 10 I lose I feel accomplished and motivated to lose the next 10. It's a slow process, but you have to stick with it and stay positive.
Great words of wisdom and advice!


text:
Criminal Justice: Data & Statistics
What type of of information can I find in data and statistics?
Using Criminal Justice Statistics
General Data and Statistics
Data is a collection of facts, such as numbers, words, measurements, or observations. Statistics collect, analyze, interpret and present data. Statistics can help you provide numerical evidence to support your claims.
There are 3 primary methods used to measure and collect statistics on the nature and extent of crime. Each has its benefits and limitations:
Official data derive from crimes known to have occurred that are recorded by law enforcement agencies. The FBI Uniform Crime Reports is an example of this type of data.
Victim data derive from surveys which ask people about their experience with crime. This type of data is useful for understanding unreported crimes that do not appear in official data sources. The BJS National Crime Victimization Survey is the most important source for this data.
Self-report data attempt to assess the true extent of various crime patterns by measuring such things as a person's attitudes, values, personal characteristics or behaviors. The Monitoring the Future Survey is an example of data gathered to understand drug use among juveniles.
FBI Uniform Crime Reports
The UCR Program was conceived in 1929 by the International Association of Chiefs of Police to meet a need for reliable, uniform crime statistics for the nation. In 1930, the FBI was tasked with collecting, publishing, and archiving those statistics from over 17,000 law enforcement agencies around the U.S.
Crime in Texas Reports
Texas Crime Reports from the Texas Department of Public Safety going back to 1999.
Bureau of Justice Statistics
With a mission to collect, analyze, publish, and disseminate information on crime, criminal offenders, victims of crime, prisons, and the operation of justice systems at all levels of government, the B of J provides data to federal, state, and local policymakers. Provides users with the software to create and customize tables
United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute
A UN entity mandated to assist intergovernmental, governmental, and non-governmental organizations in formulating and implementing improved policies in the field of crime prevention and criminal justice. Topics include both human and drug traffiking, environmental and cyber-crime, and cultural heritage
Statista This link opens in a new window
Statista provides access to statistics and studies gathered by market researchers, trade organizations, scientific publications, and government sources on more than 600 industries. In addition to tables and charts, Statista also provides infographics and studies on selected industries and topics. Statista
Note: Remote access is restricted to UHV users.
Rand State Statistics - U.S. & Texas This link opens in a new window
Rand Texas, a service of the nation's leading think tank, is a portfolio of statistics on Texas and other states drawn from over 270 statistical databases in 14 categories: Population & Demographics; Health & Health Care; Business & Economics; Crimes, Prisons & Courts; Labor Force, Employment & Earnings; Energy; Environment, Resources & Weather; K-12 Education;Higher Education; Income, Expenditure, Wealth & Poverty; Social Insurance & Human Services; Transportation & Travel; Federal Government; State & Local Government. The Library's subscription includes U.S. and Texas statistics. Rand Corporation
Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. You can search by keyword or browse by topic.
Contains a wealth of information for researchers on opinion polls and trends. Special features include a guest scholar poll review each month, an informational FAQ section that explains the Gallup poll's history and techniques, and special historical reports
Explore Census Data
Find population, housing, economic, and geographic data. Starting in July, data.census.gov will be the primary way to access Census Bureau data, including upcoming releases from the 2018 American Community Survey, 2017 Economic Census, 2020 Census and more. After July 1, 2019, all new data (previously released on American FactFinder) will be released on this new data platform.
<< Previous: Websites
Last Updated: Jan 9, 2023 4:08 PM
URL: https://library.uhv.edu/criminal-justice


Elbrus meeting room is situated on the second floor of the hotel. The surface is 31 sqm, capacity is up to 30 people seating "theater" and up to 15 guests with a U-shaped seating. Coffee breaks are set in the meeting room itself, or in the nearby lounge zone.
Cost: 1200 rubles per hour for renting from 1 to 3 hours; 1000 rubles per hour (more than 4 hours).
Presentation and sound equipment, notepads and pens are provided for an additional fee.
The room is equipped with air conditioning system.


First up, it's important to have all of the information about your flight on your person.
This includes details such as which gate you need to make your way to, as well as your ticket. An employee at a desk terminal will be able to help you if you leave any of this behind, but it's obviously a lot more convenient to just have things ready yourself. It's considerably less stressful! Arriving at the airport with no ticket and the feeling of being totally lost is a terrible way to start any trip.
Secondly, you need to make sure you make smart use of your luggage. The first rule is to take only what you know you're going to need. Just make a list of the essentials and check them off as you get them secured. Avoid the likes of an overabundance of clothes, books, or electronics you might only bring out once or twice at the most. Make sure to leave breakable items behind as well; belongings of a fragile nature rarely survive flights. Try to travel as lightly as possible, even sticking to just a single carry-on if you can.
Last of all, it's important to keep important yet small items like cash or a charger for your cell phone on hand. Despite their essential nature, people often tend to forget such things when packing their bags! You don't want to be yet another person trapped in the airport without a charge on your cellphone or cash to use to grab some food or a drink. Even just having change for the pay phones if necessary can really come through in a bind.
Of course, you need to keep all of your most personal and sensitive belongings in a safe location on your person. Don't even trust them inside of your bag since it can easily be swiped if you aren't careful! Just be mindful and prepare everything as early as you can. With that squared away, your Tampa Florida Airport trip should go swimmingly!


text:
Q: Is there a better way to append these elements with jQuery? I have this long line of code that appends several elements with the jQuery .append() method.
$('#file-names-js').append("
"+fileName+"	<input class='pull-right main-radio' onchange='Product.uncheck($(this));' name='product[images_attributes]["+formNum+"][main]' type='radio' "+checked+">	×
");

I tried separating the elements with commas and having them on separate lines (so it would be less hideous) by because they are nested within a
. So, when they were separated it would generate an empty

 before the other elements which caused issues.
TO CLARIFY: By better I mean more readable

A: $('
')
    .append( '' ).text(filename)
    .append( '' ).addClass('pull-right main-radio').attr( 'name', product.images_attributes[formNum].main ).click( function(){ some code })
    .append( '' ).append(
        $('').attr( 'href', '#' ).addClass('close').click( function(){ some code } ));

This psudo-code won't compile, but you get the idea.  Feel free to edit if I have the syntax wrong, but I think the spirit of the question was how can I make my code look better and therefore be more maintainable.

A: i would consider another way by seperating your html from your javascript code.
As a suggestion in your specific case, maybe by using an ajax request and some simple php code is the way you can achieve this with code that is easier to read and way better to control.
For example you have something like a php template which receives your variables from your javascript, put it in your table and return it to your script for further actions.
stuff.php:
<?php
$filename = isset($_POST['filename']) ? $_POST['filename'] : '';

$html = '

                '.$filename.'

';

return $html;
?>

now, if you want to append your table to your element, you just fire an ajax call to retrieve the table and if successful, append it to your element like this:
$.ajax({
    type: 'post',
    url: 'stuff.php',
    data: 'filename='+fileName,
    success: function(data) {
        $('#file-names-js').append(data);
    }
});

this is of course simplified and just an example. you should read about ajax first if you dont know it. hope it helps a bit.

A: You might be interested in this as well : https://stackoverflow.com/a/21902582/1636522.
$('#file-names-js').append(
    '
' +
        '' + fileName + '	' +
        '<input ' +
            'class="pull-right main-radio" ' +
            'onchange="Product.uncheck($(this));" ' +
            'name="product[images_attributes][' + formNum + '][main]" ' +
            'type="radio" ' +
            checked +
        '>	' +
        '×	' +
    '
'
);

A: I'd start with something like this. This is only a sample and not the exact code that you've above. I'd also suggest you move those inline event handlers from your HTML.
var appendHTML = [
"
",
    "", fileName, "	",
    "",
        "<input class='pull-right main-radio'  name='product[images_attributes][", formNum, "][main]' type='radio' ", checked, " />",
    "	",
    "",
        "×",
    "	",
"
"].join('');

$('#file-names-js').append(appendHTML);

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
England, Ireland & Scotland 2023
September 8 - 29
September 8 - 29
History, Landmarks, Museums
Sample a Guinness beer in Dublin. Be enthralled by the Giants' Causeway. Check out Free Derry. Drive along the Connemara Peninsula. See the breathtaking Cliffs of Moher. See the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh. Check out Glasgow and Oban. Try to catch the sea monster at Loch Ness. Visit the Beatles sights in Liverpool. End with the royal sights of London.
12 nights in 3-star accomodations.
Pre-tour and/or post-tour itinerary consulation.
The Cliffs of Moher in Ireland will take your breath away. So will the Giants' Causeway in Northern Ireland. We will take you to vantage viewpoints where you will feel like you are in nature's painting.
WALK INTO HISTORY
Visit Mary Queen of Scots' chamber in Holyrood Palace. See statues of William Wallace and Robert Bruce gracing the entrance to Edinburgh Castle. Visit England's most famous kings and queens' tombs at Westminster Abbey and Windsor Castle.
Our local deaf guides will share fascinating stories of the Easter Rising in Dublin, the Troubles in Belfast, and England's kings and queens in places like Westminster Abbey and the Tower of London.
"Fish and Chips" in England! Wild seafood, fresh lamb, and hearty stews in Ireland. And a pint or two of Guinness, which tastes better in Ireland than anywhere else in the world.
DAY 1 - Arrival at Dublin airport. Transfer independently to your hotel in Dublin. Explore Dublin with a deaf local guide, walking along O'Connell Street across the River Liffey down to St. Stephen's Green, Trinity College, and the Book of Kells exhibition. Have a group welcome dinner. Stay in Dublin for 2 nights.
DAY 2 - Take a walk around Dublin with a deaf local guide, visiting Dublin Castle, Kilmanhain Gaol, and Guinness Brewhouse along with free time for shopping on Grafton Street.
DAY 3 - Depart for Belfast in Northern Ireland. Learn more about the Troubles between Catholics and Protestants with a deaf local native of Belfast who experienced them firsthand. Continue on to Portrush. Stay in Portrush for 2 nights.
DAY 4 - Take a pleasant drive along the Antrim Coast to visit the Bushmills Distillery, Giants' Causeway, and Dunluce Castle.
DAY 5 - Depart for Londonderry to visit the historic city located on the edge of the Northern Ireland/Ireland border, including the Tower Museum and the Free Derry Museum. In addition, walk around Falls Road to see the powerful murals and learn more about the Troubles. Overnight in Londonderry.
DAY 6 - Possible side trip to Glenveagh National Park in the morning. Take a long drive down to the Connemara countryside, passing through the tranquil countryside of Donegal and Sligo. Visit Yeats' grave and Cong Abbey. Overnight in Clifden.
DAY 7 - Take a driving tour of the Connemara Peninsula, including the Twelve Bens, Kylemore Abbey, and Omey Island. Overnight in Shannon.
DAY 8 - Drive to the breathtaking Cliffs of Moher. In the afternoon transfer to Shannon Airport to catch our flight for Edinburgh. Stay in Edinburgh for 3 nights.
DAY 9 - Visit Holyroodhouse in the morning, followed by the Scottish Parliament and Edinburgh New Town walk. Optional deaf social gathering in the evening.
DAY 10 - Take a guided walk along the Royal Mile, starting at Edinburgh Castle and continuing down to St. Giles' Cathedral and Greyfriars Kirk. Optional afternoon visit to HMS Britannia ship.
DAY 11 - Drive to Inverness, stopping by Pitlochry. Overnight in Inverness.
DAY 12 - Drive on Loch Ness towards the Caledonian Canal, Fort Augustus, Fort William, and Glencoe, before arriving in Oban. Stay in Oban for 2 nights.
DAY 13 - Tour the islands of Mull and Iona and explore the surroundings of Oban.
DAY 14 - Go to Glasgow for a tour of the city, and then continue on to sleep near Hadrian's Wall for one night.
DAY 15 - Tour Hadrian's Wall and continue on to York. Overnight in York.
DAY 16 - Drive briefly to Manchester and then continue on to Liverpool to visit the Beatles Story Museum, Royal Albert Dock and the Cavern Pub. Overnight in Liverpool.
DAY 17 - Go to Stratford-upon-Avon to see Shakespeare's birthplace and continue on to Bath to visit the Roman Baths. Overnight near Bath.
DAY 18 - Visit Stonehenge and Windsor Castle on the way to London. Stay in London for 4 nights.
DAY 19 - Get oriented in London by walking through the heart of the city, including Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, and the London Eye.
DAY 20 - Visit the Tower of London and Tower Bridge in the morning, then walk through the Southwark/Borough district by the river to see the Borough Market, Tate Modern, and Shakespeare's Globe.
DAY 21-22
DAY 21 - Go to see the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace. Afterwards, visit the world famous British Museum. Late afternoon free to shop and prepare for departure.
DAY 22 - Transfer to the airport for your next destination.
SEE OTHER AVAILABLE TOURS
3 Spaces Left!
Switzerland 2023
Poland, Czechia & Germany 2023
May 19 - June 1


CB2 Insights ("CB2" or the "Company") (CSE: CBII), a leading provider of predictive analytics tools, data-driven software and comprehensive services across the cannabis value chain, today announced it has entered into a binding agreement to acquire MedEval Clinic LLC, a medical cannabis evaluation and education center group with multiple locations in Colorado and Arizona. This is the Company's second clinical acquisition, following its 2017 purchase of Massachusetts-based Canna Care Docs, the largest multi-state cannabis clinic group in the US.
Statements in this news release that are forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties concerning the specific factors disclosed here and elsewhere in CB2's filings with Canadian securities regulators. When used in this news release, words such as "will, could, plan, estimate, expect, intend, may, potential, believe, should," and similar expressions, are forward-looking statements.


When visitors think about Thailand's architecture, images might come to mind of sleek stupas, mosaic-covered temples, dragon-ornate gables, or elegantly curved roofs and wooden houses. Eventually you will also think of the striking new skyscrapers, which step-by-step invade Bangkok's skyline.
But few travellers think that Bangkok and Thailand would probably have one of the richest European architectural heritages in Southeast Asia. Many would even wonder how it could be possible in a country that was never colonised.
If European colonisation in the region stopped at the borders of Siam, Europe's cultural influence extended far into the kingdom. King Rama IV (1804 –1868, ruled from 1851 until 1868), spoke fluent English and was very knowledgeable about European culture. Siam was pressured by the expanding colonial presence in Asia as treaties signed with the European powers opened Siam to foreign commerce for the first time. His rule was also characterised by the introduction of Western-style education as the King appointed Europeans in high government positions.
King Rama IV was a keen connoisseur of European architecture, and his reign marked the construction of the first Western-style buildings under royal patronage. Most symbolic was the Phra Nakhon Khiri Summer Palace in Phetchaburi province. Located on a hilltop, the Palace complex is a mix of Thai stupas and temples surrounded by European-style throne halls and residences with arcades, arches, renaissance-style windows and classical columns.
His son, King Rama V the Great (1853 –1910) continued the trend of European architecture. During his reign from 1868 to 1910, architects, engineers, sculptors and painters came from across Europe to contribute to Bangkok's developing landscape around the Grand Palace and Chao Phraya River, which would replicate some of Europe's most noted urban development. The idea of expanding European-style urbanisation and buildings – for a King who travelled twice to Europe in 1897 and 1907 – was to showcase the Kingdom of Siam as a modern country, equal to the neighbouring British, French and Dutch colonies. Bangkok was meant to be as splendid and modern as Hanoi, Singapore or Rangoon at the time.
European architecture in Siam was developed with the consent of the Chakri Dynasty- and not imposed by a colonial power- which allowed it to flourish in a multi-cultural context.
Its extreme diversity can trace its architectural influences from across Europe, mostly from Italy but also from Germany, Britain, Austria and France. When travelling around Bangkok today, it is easy to note the many buildings, bridges, street lights and even parks with eclectic styles: Italian Renaissance, Venetian Gothic, British Tudor, Indo-Saracenic (Indo-Islamic) style, French Classical, German Baroque or Art Nouveau.
Dusit and Phra Nakhon districts are the best areas to admire these types of European structures in Bangkok. Both feature a collection of Italian or German influences in palaces and buildings that blend European and Thai flourishes –the best examples are the Chakri Maha Prasat Throne Hall inside the Grand Palace and Wat Ratchabophit or Chulalongkorn University's main hall. Even the famous Marble Temple (Wat Benchamabophit) with its very Thai-style architecture assimilates many Western design motifs. The layout was inspired by a church, the marble used is from Carrara while gothic stain-glassed windows bring light inside the Ubosot or main hall.
With the reign of King Rama VI, European architecture took a Siamese twist blending both styles. Vajiravudh College's buildings are excellent examples of this evolving style. King Rama VI's reign was also characterised by the achievement of many forms of infrastructure; such as, bridges or the beautiful Hua Lamphong Railway Station in Bangkok.
After the passing of King Rama VI, the European architectural influence declined until the Thai Revolution of 1932 with the transition to a Constitutional Monarchy. The new Thai government turned towards Europe again by following Art Deco and Monumental Rationalism architectural trends that were en vogue in Europe. Ratchadamnoen Klang Avenue and the surrounding area, which are lined by 1930s style buildings, with the majestic Democracy Monument as its centrepiece was heavily influenced by Italian architecture of that time.
While the greater Bangkok metropolitan area has probably the largest collection of European-style buildings in Thailand with over 200 structures still standing, Thai provinces are also well represented by European-style constructions due to various historical factors.
The ongoing desire of various kings to build summer residences and palaces for their families resulted in magnificent European-style palaces. Around Bangkok, visitors can visit and enjoy excellent examples at the Bang Pa In Summer Residence in Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya province, the Sanam Chandra Palace in Nakhon Pathom, Phra Ram Ratchaniwet or the Ban Puen Palace and the Mrigadayavan Palace in Phetchaburi province, and Sri Racha Palace in Chon Buri province.
In the Northeast Region or Isan, the proximity of French Indochina along the Mekong River stimulated provincial governors to build mansions in a very classic French style. Such examples are well preserved and available in Nakhon Phanom, Nong Khai and Sakon Nakhon.
Along the Gulf of Thailand, provincial centres like Trat or Chanthaburi have many French-style buildings, due to some being under French administration for the better part of a decade.
In Thailand's Northern Region, a wealth of teak wood resources brought merchants from the then British Burma. In Chiang Mai, Lampang or Phrae, many houses bear a distinctive British-Indian or Anglo-Burmese style.
In Thailand's Southern Region, the influence of former British Malaya is evident. Chinese traders moved and worked in the tin industry along the Andaman Sea in towns like Phuket, Takua Pa, Trang or Songkhla where all exhibit architectural influences that are very similar to ones seen in Penang or Singapore and is best known as the 'Peranakan style', a mix of Chinese, Malay and British architecture.
Thailand will always be full of surprises for visitors through its architecture. Its rich history and cultural diversity, including European architectural excellence, remains unique in Southeast Asia.
This is the first of the five-part story on European architectural heritage in Thailand written by Luc Citrinot, a freelance journalist and consultant in tourism and air transport with over 20 years' experience. The views and opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT). Therefore, TAT is not responsible for the accuracy or reliability of information written by this writer.


What is your first ever email and when did you make one?
What do you think about Smartphones?
How long before you replace your computer?
Do you give your young children a tablet?
Website owners, who is your webhost?
Which Laptop Cooling Pad Is The Best ?
How To Order For A Laptop Online From Any Location In The World?
Any Apple product "Pros" available to help?
What is the latest smartphone that you will want to buy?
What Is The Benefit Of Technology?


Genesee Valley's Summer Day Camp offers children ages 4 to 17 the opportunity to play, explore, and challenge themselves in a beautiful outdoor setting. Campers experience our extensive ropes course and participate in activities that utilize the natural aspects of our property, including the lakes, forests, trails, farmland, and fields. In small groups of 8 to 12 children, campers spend the week with a highly trained counselor and discover all the exciting outdoor activities Genesee Valley has to offer! Please watch the below video to experience a day in the life of a Genesee Camper.
Transportation: For an additional cost, we offer van transportation to and from the Park and Ride in Timonium and the Kenilworth Mall in Towson. Please see the transportation tab for additional information on cost, drop off times, and registration.
Scholarships: Camp scholarships are provided to selected families that require assistance in paying their camp tuition. To apply, please email camp@geneseevalley.org to request a copy of our Scholarship Application.


A recent West Virginia case is a reminder that the use of intangibles in a state does not automatically lead to a finding of income tax nexus.
In May, the West Virginia Supreme Court, famous for its 2006 MBNA ruling on economic nexus, found that ConAgra Brands, which received royalties from intangible trademarks used in the state, satisfied neither the "purposeful direction" test under the Due Process Clause nor the "significant economic presence" test under the Commerce Clause to be subject to the state's corporate net income or business franchise tax.
This entry was posted on Friday, August 24th, 2012 at 2:02 pm. Both comments and pings are currently closed.


Wheat is among Oregon's top 10 agricultural commodities, valued at more than $368 million annually.
Oregon is the nation's leading producer of blackberries and black raspberries, and is among the top four states producing strawberries, blueberries, and cranberries.
Oregon's greenhouse and nursery industry earns more than $745 million annually. Oregon is among the nation's top three states producing nursery stock and is the nation's leading producer of florist azaleas.
Barley is one of the world's oldest grains, now with some of the newest uses.
The majestic birds live in some dangerous places. An OSU graduate studied how they are coping.


text:
The 2009–10 curling season began in September 2009 and ended in April 2010.

Season of Champions
(Only team's skip listed)

Other events

World Curling Tour events

Women's World Curling Tour events

WCT Order of Merit Rankings (Men's)

WCT Order of Merit Rankings (Women's)

Money Ranking

2009-10
2009-10
Seasons in curling

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


The John Hughes Group is the largest single location new and pre-owned motor vehicle retailing Company in Australia. With eight new car brands (Mitsubishi, Hyundai, Volkswagen, Ford, Kia, Jeep, MG and LDV), approximately 2,000 pre-owned vehicles in stock at all times, plus departments for servicing, parts, finance and insurance among others the Company lives up to the tag line "Your car buying destination." The Group employs over 500 staff and sells in excess of 15,000 vehicles every year.
What we know today as the John Hughes Group began in 1969 when John Hughes purchased a vacant service station site in Victoria Park to start his own business, Paramotors, located in the now familiar location just over the causeway on Shepperton Road in Victoria Park. Within a few years the Company became the leading independent used car organisation in Western Australia.
In May 1980 John took over the inner city Mitsubishi franchise in Victoria Park from the Skipper Bailey Motor Company giving him his first new car franchise. It traded as Skipper Mitsubishi until 2005 when John changed the name to John Hughes Mitsubishi and has been ranked WA's number one Mitsubishi dealership for over 3 decades.
John Hughes was a founding shareholder and director of Bond Motor Sales, the original importer of Hyundai motor vehicles in Australia. He was responsible for setting up the importing infrastructure and the appointment of dealers in the early stages of development of the Hyundai Motor Corporation in Australia. Hyundai has proven to be an impressive success story and John Hughes Hyundai has consistently been the top selling Hyundai Dealership in Australia, and for a number of years was the largest worldwide – an impressive achievement given the small population size of Perth.
From the late 1990's onwards, the John Hughes Group grew into the automotive empire we know today. In 1998 John Hughes Volkswagen opened its doors, stocking the Volkswagen passenger vehicle range. In 2006 the Group purchased the Park Ford dealership in Bentley and later relocated it to the main John Hughes Group site on Shepperton Road in Victoria Park.
Hyundai's sister company Kia was next to open, following a very similar path in the market place to Hyundai, John Hughes Kia is now ranked WA's top selling Kia dealership. The final piece of the puzzle is John Hughes Jeep, opening its doors in 2012 and has always been ranked Perth's top Jeep dealer ever since.
The Group has diversified into many peripheral areas in the automotive industry. Aside from sales, the Service and Parts Department is the largest of these divisions. The Group has two of the largest service centres in Western Australia, one in East Victoria Park with 60 work bays which caters to the Groups new car franchises (Mitsubishi, Hyundai, Volkswagen, Ford, Kia and Jeep) and the other in Welshpool with 50 work bays catering to all makes and models. Both service centres are staffed with factory trained technicians who have access to and are trained in the use of the latest state of the art technology. The Group operates a fleet of mobile service vans capable of carrying out most routine maintenance at the customer's home, workplace or almost any other location.
The Group's parts department stocks an extensive range of automotive parts, accessories and related products. Specialising in the supply of genuine parts for the eight new car franchises Mitsubishi, Hyundai, Volkswagen, Ford, Kia, Jeep, MG and LDV. The Group supplies a number of workshops across the greater Perth area as well as selling parts over the counter.
The group also sells an excellent range of car tyres and batteries suitable to most makes and models and offers services such as window tinting, panel and paint, paint and interior protection and upholstery repair and restoration.
Further reinforcing the Groups tagline "Your car buying destination" the John Hughes Group operates their own finance company giving the customer the ability to purchase and finance their car at the one location and with the same business. The Group also operates Sovereign Credit, a finance company which provides finance to those ineligible for finance through the mainstream lenders. The Group also underwrites its own extended vehicle warranties enabling the customer to take care of all their vehicle purchasing needs with the one company.
The success of the John Hughes Group can be attributed to a number of factors; however, the main focus of the business has always been to serve the customer to the highest possible level. The Company Philosophy reads "We are a friendly and efficient company, trading with integrity and determined to give our customers the very best of service." John Hughes has long been recognised for his totally committed approach to "hands on" management and the highest levels of customer service. This approach is instilled in the group's staff and management, and is evident through the entire business with non-pushy sales people and attentive helpful service advisors ensuring customers' needs are met and concerns addressed in the swiftest and most convenient method available. The Group prides itself on its far above average levels of repeat customers and their families purchasing their 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th and even more vehicles from the business and it is known State wide as "WA's most trusted car dealer".


(US law and generally) When medical malpractice occurs, the patient who was the victim and their family often contemplate whether or not they should hire an attorney. A personal injury lawyer can help advise you about how you should proceed. A medical malpractice case, unlike many other types of personal injury such as a car accident, is unlikely to settle without the help of a lawyer. Medical practitioners frequently are reluctant to admit fault. This is due to many factors, such as the complexity of these cases, as well as the fact that doctors do not want to admit that they did or failed to do anything that fell below the standard of care. Doctors, nurses, and other medical practitioners want to preserve their standing in the community and also worry about licensing issues and malpractice insurance.
Unlike a criminal case, in which a defendant must be proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, medical malpractice must only be proven by a "preponderance of the evidence" standard. This means that the medical practice occurred and was the cause of the plaintiff's injuries and damages more likely than not.
Most medical practitioners have medical malpractice insurance that can cover the cost of their legal defense and any possible damages awarded. In some cases, doctors do not carry medical malpractice insurance, which likely means in some cases that they have been sued for malpractice previously and their premiums for coverage are higher than they can afford to pay. However, this is unusual. Lawsuits can be controversial in some cases, because there is sometimes a misconception that the person who is sued will have to pay for the damages out-of-pocket. That is usually not the cases, particularly among professionals, such as doctors and hospitals.
Even if a doctor, facility or nurse is found to have committed malpractice in a jury trial, the person or entity may still be allowed to continue practicing medicine, depending on the severity of the conduct and whether there is a repeated pattern of similar behavior. The issue of medical malpractice in a civil trial can uncover evidence to be considered by a state medical board in issuing a cautionary statement, fines, or suspending a practitioner's license to practice medicine, but the issue is decided by the board, not by a jury. Some doctors and nurses are reluctant to settle because they do not want to admit any fault on the issues, even though these trials are expensive to litigate.
In order to prove a medical negligence case, a personal injury lawyer must hire other medical experts who practice in the same specialty as the defendant to state that the defendant's conduct fell below the standard of care for that specialty in a same or similar locality. While the experience of a trial can be extremely stressful for the doctor involved, in some cases, it urges caution among other practitioners in the field.
If you believe you have been a victim of medical malpractice, speak to an attorney about your concerns. A lawyer can assess the evidence and assist you in pursuing your claim.
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I don't know what is going on over there, but that team seems in meltdown. A lot of the players on there seem kinda like jerks. The whole leaving at halftime with Brown. Now he wants out. Kinda crazy.
Would you trade for him? What would you give for him? Cowboys gave a 1st for Cooper.


text:
///
///

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.IO;
using System.Linq;
using System.Runtime.Serialization.Json;
using System.Text;

namespace InitialRound.BusinessLogic.Controllers
{
    public static class TestsController
    {
        public class Test
        {
            public Guid ID { get; set; }
            public string Name { get; set; }
            public string Input { get; set; }
            public string ExpectedOutput { get; set; }
        }

        public static Test[] FromJson(string json)
        {
            using (MemoryStream stream = new MemoryStream(Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(json)))
            {
                var serializer = new DataContractJsonSerializer(typeof(Test[]));
                return (Test[])serializer.ReadObject(stream);
            }
        }

        public static string ToJson(Test[] tests)
        {
            using (MemoryStream stream = new MemoryStream())
            {
                var serializer = new DataContractJsonSerializer(typeof(Test[]));
                serializer.WriteObject(stream, tests);

                return Encoding.UTF8.GetString(stream.ToArray());
            }
        }
    }
}


We are announcing our Economy Tri-Fold Display. This self standing poster is printed directly onto foamcore, which is a less expensive way of printing on board. We pass the savings on to you!
We are charging $99 for a 36×48″ Economy Tri-Fold, and $79 for a 30×40″. Everything is set up in our online ordering, and you can securely order there.
The Economy Tri-Fold Posters fold down to half size for easy shipping. The "wings" swing back out to allow the poster to stand on a table, as shown.
One thing, though, is at this price we can't give you free ground shipping.
This entry was posted in research poster printing and tagged foamcore poster, science fair poster, self standing poster, tri-fold poster. Bookmark the permalink.


A while back I received a party invite with snail-mail, that looked like a crayfish. It was nice that for once not just receiving a Facebook Event Invite, something I have the habit of doing myself, but that someone take the time to find out your address, print out the invites, put them in envelopes and send them. I think that when you receive the FB invite it is so easy to accept or being tentative without having no intention of attending at all, while with a proper invite you check your calendar and make an informed decision.
Paper invites take time though, and in today's busy society, we do not have time to do the work!
Anyhow, the party invite was for last night, and today I am hanging out in my bed, drinking coffee while feeling sorry for myself, my head hurts like hell.
The party was held by Vincent (yes, I usually don't write out people's name, but Vincent is just Vincent, not possible to re-name him) who was the "teacher" of my Italian Cooking class. He is a character and so is his home and friends (in other words, great for my new phone app).
It is nice when you come to a party, where you only know the host, and the other guests just accept you. You are straight away included in the conversations, no one is looking at you with the "Who is she and what the heck is she doing here?!?" look. And I think the best part was that there were no other corporate people there. There where no one that wanted to sit and talk about containers and which director that did what and "How on earth can he still work here?". I was loving the whole night.
First thing that happened was that my semi-defrosted cray fish was put in to one large pot. Thank good that Vincent realizes that not everyone go and purchase the crayfishes two days in advance so that they can slowly defrost as per the recommendation on the package, no some of us go and buy them an hour before it is time to leave for the party.
He also set up a cool long table out in the small garden of his very special house. It became quite obvious pretty quickly that this was not an ordinary crayfish party as the tables very not very movable, thus if the rain comes (which it didn't – awesome) then there are no way of quickly moving indoors as per tradition. In Sweden, all the outdoor parties held during the summer should be movable as the rain is always around the corner. It is something that you grow up with and just accept.
Before we were allowed to sit down at the table and start eating we had to go the trail for the Tipspromenad (Google translate is translating this into Quiz, but it is not really a quiz it is a tipspromenad. You make several questions and give three answer options that are denoted as 1, X or 2. The questions are usually ridiculous and stuff that you might now – if you are lucky. These questions are then hung up on a trail through very unwelcome territories around the garden. Guests take it really seriously and spend much time on accusing each other of cheating when the team behind them come to close while you are discussing which ridiculous answer is the correct one for this crazy question.) where I was assigned two team members. I kindly informed them that I do not take kindly to loosing and that only a win was good enough – We Won!
As the night went on people became happier and crazier. There was a collection made around the table for one of the guests to be able to purchase trees in Israel. Do not ask me how this came about, because I am not 100% how it happened.
It did however move the conversation on to my Race For Africa and how badly my collection is going. This then make Vincent feel like he should train me in how to get money of people.
Tell your friends that if they want to continue being your friend they have to donate.
Take their wallets and take money out of it.
Do ANYTHING required to get them to part with their money (I will not list the items he mentioned, they are not proper and not sure it is legal to do some of them in exchange for money).
There will be an update on the Jar!
As I have a Pub Quiz to make for tonight, I insisted on making my way home last night, silly but appropriate as I know if I stayed I would've spent the whole day down there, leaving for home in the last-minute and been late for the quiz. So I was sent of to the bus with a blanket and a bottle of wine to keep me on my way home. I must have been a funny sight walking through the city central early this morning.
But who cares! It was a great night…and I even got a picture of the moon.
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This 6 DVD set features Dan Inosanto - one of the most respected Kali/Arnis/Escrima instructors in the world.
Ashley Martin, "The Complete Martial Arts Training Manual: An Integrated Approach"


text:
A laptop/notebook cooler, cooling pad, cooler pad or chill mat is an accessory for laptop computers intended to reduce their operating temperature when the laptop is unable to sufficiently cool itself. Laptop coolers are intended to protect both the laptop from overheating and the user from suffering heat related discomfort. A cooling pad may house active or passive cooling methods and rests beneath the laptop. Active coolers move air or liquid to direct heat away from the laptop quickly, while passive methods may rely on thermally conductive materials or increasing passive airflow.

Active coolers
Active coolers use small fans to generate additional airflow around the body of the laptop. This helps convect heat away from the device. The number of laptop cooler fans usually ranges from 1 to 6. Coolers typically run on power drawn through one of the laptop's USB ports. Additionally, many cooler pads come with a built-in USB hub, so as not to consume one of the laptop's often limited number of USB ports.

Some active coolers draw heat from the underside of the computer; others work in the opposite way – by blowing cool air towards the machine. The fan speed is adjusted manually or automatically on certain models and on others stays at a fixed speed.

Poorly designed coolers may use fans which draw more current than allowed by the USB standard. Without correct protection, such devices can cause damage to the USB power supply.

Inside the laptop, the USB power-supply has to output an additional amount of watts for the USB-powered fan, thus generating a small amount of additional heat. This additional heat generation is usually insignificant in relation to the amount of heat a fan moves away from the laptop.

Some high-end active coolers have blowers instead of fans, with filters to stop dust from entering the laptop, and have seals between the cooler and laptop surfaces to prevent recirculation of hot air from entering the laptop.

Passive coolers
Typically, a  conductive cooling pad allows for the cooling of a laptop without using any power. These "pads" are normally filled with an organic salt compound that allows them to absorb the heat from the laptop. They are good for a limited amount of time from around 6–8 hours of cooling. Other designs are simply a pad that elevates the  laptop so that the fans in the laptop are allowed greater airflow.

Conductive cooling pads are not advisable for laptops that have fan vents built into the underside; the cooling pad blocks the vents, leading to overheating or premature system failure. The best way to determine if a cooling pad would be suitable for a particular laptop would be to look for air vents or fan vents on the laptop. If they are on the side and not on the bottom, it is usually safe to use the cooler pad; otherwise, it may not be safe to use a conductive cooler pad.

Multi-surface cooler

A multi-surface cooler is a sub-type of passive cooler. It allows airflow both between the laptop base and cooler, and between the base of the cooler and the user's lap. These laptop coolers are suitable for laptops that have vents on the underside. The multi-surface cooling design typically works on any surface without blocking any vents. This makes them suitable for use on desk, lap, uneven/soft surfaces (couch, bed/duvet, carpet) and outdoors.

Some laptop coolers also feature lights that are activated along with the operation of the cooling fans.

Multipurpose coolers
Recent advancements have resulted in coolers that are multipurpose and serve as portable workspaces. Features can include card readers for various forms of media such as key drives, memory cards, and 2.5" laptop hard disk drives. They can come with lighting systems, collapsible legs, writing pad areas, slots for books or tablets, and other extra compartments so as to serve as an all-in-one, portable desk. However, these extended designs can make the cooling stands too heavy to be carried conveniently or for a prolonged period of time.

References

Computer hardware cooling
Cooler


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Candace is experienced in Residential Home Sales, Luxury Home Sales, Investments Properties, Farm and Ranch Properties, First Time Home Buyers and Commercial sales. Candace goes above and beyond to ensure your real estate experience is Amazing and is building successful rewarding lifelong relationships which extend beyond the real estate transaction.


Word Perfect macros used with HP laser.
are specific to the F-cartridge are marked with a "*".
amply repaid many times over by the time they save you in the future.
readable text on 8.5x11" paper using the F-cartridge.
Consists of [margins 14, 104].
justified text and page numbers centered at bottom of page.
6LPI Sets 6 lines/inch spacing mode.
8LPI Sets 8 lines/inch spacing mode.
14*,1] [6 lines/inch] [margins 14, 104].
F2 *FONT 2 italic proportional text. Consists of [font 14*,2].
text. Consists of [font 17,5].
word processing program into internal WordPerfect format.
CLR CLEAR the current document (i.e., delete it from the screen).
Doesn't affect any stored copies.
switches to the "other document", and calls the ENV macro.
page. Consists of [Cmd <27>&l2X].
COPY3 *Same as COPY2 for 3 copies.
COPY5 *Same as COPY2 for 5 copies.
COPY10 *Same as COPY10 for 10 copies.


The migrant caravan is really an invasion being used as an election ploy.
Why is the Saudi-murdered journalist getting so much media coverage?
Democrat lies abound. That must mean it's campaign season.
The Harvard discrimination case is really about deeper problems in education.
Leftmedia outlets keep ignoring Democrat scandals.
Holding flags of their respective countries, primarily Honduran and Guatemalan, a growing mass of Central American migrants traveling north began to pour over Mexico's southern border on Sunday. Their stated goal is to reach the U.S., where they aim to stay. While some women and children make up this rag-tag group, it appears that the vast majority are young men. The current estimated size of the migrant force is anywhere from 5,000 to 10,000.
Mexican authorities attempted to stop the migrants and funnel them into shelters where their requests for asylum could be processed, but the caravan quickly grew frustrated, overwhelming Mexican police and illegally crossing Mexico's southern border by going around processing stations. They met little resistance.
This is a politically orchestrated and timed event to interfere with the upcoming midterm elections. Democrats and their cohorts in the mainstream media would love nothing more than to rekindle the previous outrage2 over President Donald Trump's "zero-tolerance" enforcement policy on illegal immigration in an effort to exploit women and Hispanic voters. That much is evident in the media coverage3 that offers nothing but an overly simplistic and sympathetic narrative regarding the "plight" of these migrant invaders.
Meanwhile, Trump has sought to address the issue before the invasion of migrants reaches the U.S. southern border. On Friday, Trump received support from Mexican authorities that they would seek to help stop the migrants. On Saturday, Trump declared, "We're going to figure it out," adding, "They're not coming into this country." This morning, he warned that the U.S. would be "cutting off, or substantially reducing" aid to the three Central American nations in question, while putting the Border Patrol and military on alert. But the fact of the matter is that Trump's ability to act on this current immigration crisis is limited. Republicans in Congress need to pass legislation to shut down the legal loopholes that have essentially allowed for de facto "catch and release" immigration. The underlying problem isn't going to be solved easily — especially when one party is dedicated to ensuring it remains a crisis.
Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi is dead, the Saudis finally acknowledged after 18 days. After numerous iterations, the "official" story now is that he was inadvertently killed during a fight that broke out in the Saudi consulate in Turkey, and a handful of "rogue" officials have been fired for bearing sole responsibility for Khashoggi's death. Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman is totally innocent, you see.
First of all, this is what authoritarian regimes do, be they Islamic or otherwise. A free press is anathema to totalitarians. But with Khashoggi, there may be more than meets the eye6. He joined the Muslim Brotherhood in the 1970s. He wasn't an advocate of western-style democracy, instead favoring an Arab Spring-style political Islamic regime. That isn't to minimize his death; it's to see clearly who he was.
The American Leftmedia — led by The Washington Post — is running wall-to-wall coverage of his murder primarily because Khashoggi is one of theirs. He's a journalist, an untouchable saint, and his death thus rattles them to their core.
But have most Americans heard of the the Gwinnett County Georgia police officer killed in the line of duty Saturday? Officer Antwan Toney had just turned 30, and he was an outstanding human being and police officer. Yet this black cop was murdered by two black assailants in the Atlanta area; one killer is in custody. Toney was one of ours — an American citizen serving his country and community honorably. Both of these men's lives matter, but only one is getting nonstop media coverage.
The strategic reason for that is the media's hope to pin Khashoggi's murder — or at least the aftermath — on President Donald Trump. Anything to create the appearance of scandal before the midterms.
Which brings us to our parting thought: In 2012, four Americans, including an ambassador, were killed in a terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton lied about it for weeks7 solely to preserve Obama's reelection campaign. The Leftmedia aided them in this deception. So while Trump certainly should have been far stronger in his public condemnation of the Saudis, we suspect he's using this incident for leverage behind the scenes. Don't be surprised to see a subtle shift in America's relationship with the Saudis that will benefit the U.S., all while Trump gives them breathing room publicly. Distasteful? Sure. But sometimes that describes American foreign policy8 out of necessity.
For more of today's news, visit Patriot Headline Report23.
Some call it spin. Some might refer to a political reality. Others may say it's the use of propaganda. Regardless, this election is chock-full of devices that either reframe a candidate to hide his or her authentic approach to governance or, in many cases, outright lies are being told to confuse and misrepresent the facts.
The weapon of choice this (and every) election cycle for Democrats is deception.
Let's look at just a few examples to understand that, while campaigning, some Democrats want to run from their actual record and appear to voters as "Republican-lite." The reality, however, couldn't be further from the truth.
The Senate has been the perfect example of the vast schism between reality and political "reality." Let's look at a few facts and understand that Democrats not only ignore, avoid, and distort the truth; they don't recognize truth in their world of the aggrieved and offended. That helps explain their ongoing efforts to engineer chaos and mob rule.
Let's begin in Michigan, where Sen. Debbie Stabenow, the incumbent Democrat, is facing a tough GOP opponent in John James, a black businessman with distinguished service in the U.S. Army during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Once upon a time, Stabenow was a vocal supporter of tax cuts that "create jobs here rather than overseas." Funny, she voted against the historic Tax Acts and Jobs Act that added 39,700 jobs in Michigan already this year, 5,500 more than in 2017. Now, the promise of the Democrats is to reverse the Republican tax cuts … simply because President Donald Trump signed them into law.
Run down to Tennessee's open Senate seat in the Marsha Blackburn vs. Phil Bredesen slugfest and see if you can figure out who's running as the Republican nominee. Publicly, Democrat and former governor Bredesen can't run fast enough from the names of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and former NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg. Yet Bredesen landed $3.5 million in ads from Schumer's political action committee and $1.6 million contributed directly to his campaign while enjoying a high-dollar fete at the New York home of gun-control extremist Bloomberg. The billionaire socialist has pledged $20 million to the Senate Majority PAC, fueling Democrat races in the nation's upper legislative chamber. Add all this to the undercover video28 capturing Bredesen operatives freely admitting his deception regarding his support for Brett Kavanaugh, and the camouflage donned in the Volunteer State right now is not just worn by hunters.
A few more on the deception dance card in the Senate are Jon Tester in Montana and Claire McCaskill in Missouri, both of whom campaigned on the importance of securing the southern border, yet voted against funding all the recent measures to fund personnel, structure, and resources to actually stem the tide of illegal immigrants coming to America. Likewise, when Kyrsten Sinema was running for Congress in Arizona in 2012, she pledged legislation that "secures our border from the threats of criminal cartels and criminal syndicates In Mexico." Now, as a Senate candidate, Sinema has no recollection of voting against immigration reforms. Let's not forget Sinema's list of outrageous statements29, including getting caught telling stay-at-home moms they are leeches in the world of progressive feminism. She went all in with the pink-hat-gals.
Bundle up and head to North Dakota to see Heidi Heitkamp's voting history that matches Schumer's 80% of the time, despite promising she'd be that same kind of independent that Bredesen conjures up. Heitkamp has likely sealed her own doom with TV ads aimed to tie newly confirmed Justice Brett Kavanaugh to domestic assault victims — partly because she failed to get approval to use the victims' names in the ad. Exploitation for the cause of deception — we guess that's the collateral damage Nancy Pelosi spoke of last week when calling her Resistance crowd to action.
There is so much more, but the theme is clear: You can't trust Democrats to tell the truth during campaign season or to govern in a manner that upholds the respect of our laws, our nation's border and sovereignty or, sadly, the financial security and privacy of average Americans.
While we may laugh in disgust at the dishonesty of politics, heed a serious warning. The type of behavior witnessed by Democrats in power — weaponizing agencies of government like the IRS, DOJ, EPA, etc. to control and punish political foes; using slander at every turn alleging sexism, racism, and all other -isms to marginalize; agitating the offended to the point of riot and violence; importing foreign individuals as part of a ploy to disrupt our government under the guise of asylum and safety; and employing a two-tiered system of justice to exempt criminal acts of the elite but not the average — is not just despicable, it's dangerous. In decades past, these acts would be accurately defined and viewed as totalitarianism.
#WalkAway30 from the deception and dangers of the Democrats.
Using Diversity to Preserve Mediocrity31 — It's not just Harvard's admission policies. It's the entire dumbing down of public education.
Time for Special Sport Competitions for the 'Transgendered'?32 — A kerfuffle broke out after a man identifying as a woman won a women's cycling championship.
Video: Clinton, Trump, and Why Civility Can't Return to Politics34 — When everything is politicized, everything becomes a death match. That ain't good.
Video: Midterm Elections: Best Case vs. Worst Case35 — Bill Whittle, Stephen Green, and Scott Ott game out the midterm elections, no matter which way it turns out.
Video: Judicial Activism Is 'Fundamentally Undemocratic'36 — AG Jeff Sessions rightly condemned judicial activism in a speech to The Heritage Foundation.