text:
The Problem with High School English
Others have tackled the issues before. Christina H over at Cracked wrote about 4 Ways High School Makes You Hate Reading and over at Genji Press, Serdar tackles the disconnect in Science Fiction Repair Shop: Talking Genre Constriction Blues Dept. Here, it's going to be a little more personal, what my problem with English in high school is.
It made me stop writing.
Worse, it made me loathe writing.
Obviously, something changed since then, since, well, I wrote this blog post. But, if you told the high school me that I'd be writing a regular blog post analysing movies, you'd get one of the most incredulous looks imaginable. Even the idea of something like Subject 13 would have been outside the realm of possibility.
The main problem I had with English class was that it was boring. Repetitive. It didn't matter what the material being covered was, the same or similar questions would be asked every time. The pace was, to me, glacial. Not helping matters, I was assigned the same book, Lord of the Flies, in three separate grades*. The poems assigned have all melted into a puddle of words; none stand out. Even Shakespeare got the rerun treatment; Macbeth in two separate grades. Same questions, too. If I had done the homework, I'd have recycled previous answers; if I cared.
Another issue, unique to me, was that writing was a chore. Not the creative part of the process, but the physical part of putting pen to paper. I thought faster than I could put the words down, which was incredibly frustrating. Part of the problem came from a gymnastics injury from grade 3; I tore a ligament in my writing hand, an injury that, at the time, wouldn't heal 100%. My hand still hurts to this day, making writing with pen and paper a painful chore. Another part of the problem, cursive writing. I could either write quickly or write neatly-ish. I adjusted my writing to take into account the speed; first drafts were also final drafts. Revision happened before pen met paper because a fix would require starting from square one.
Writing became a tedious chore. By grade 9, I knew I wasn't going to take courses in university that required multipage essays and was aiming for engineering. Math and science courses took priority over English class. The odd thing, though? I learned more about grammar in French class. I learned more about writing essays, especially the type of essay I'd write in university, in Geography. I learned more about rhythm and tone in Music. The lessons I learned in English were, first, to hate poetry, and second, to hate writing. Unlike the results in Christina H's column, I never learned to hate reading. I just learned that proper literature was dull with characters I didn't care about. Meanwhile, the books** I read had plot, interesting characters, and intricate settings.
Parent-teacher meetings happened, eventually getting my school counsellor involved. The core of the meetings were to find out why I was failing. At one point, I was asked what would happen if I went from Advanced*** English to General. Would my marks improve or get worse? My answer was, "Get worse." My reasoning: I was bored to tears in class; slowing the class more would turn boredom into torture. At one point, I had seriously considered just signing up for the make-up course in summer school and just not take English during the school year. At least summer school was faster.
Pacing was a problem. I read a book a week, if not more. English class, though, would spend weeks on just one book, then weeks on the Shakespeare play, then weeks on poetry. Even in semestered classes, the pace didn't improve. Weeks reading a book that I'd never willingly pick up, with a bare whisper of a plot, with characters that I didn't care about, answering questions that I answered in previous years, with handwriting that was completely ready for a career in engineering or medicine if I didn't take the time to write carefully. But, improving the pace might have lost other students who were slower readers. It's a balancing act, but the extreme ends both lose out.
The choice of novels never helped. The last assigned book I read fully was The Guns of Navarone. I read Guns in the first semester of grade 9. I made the deliberate choice to not read The Hobbit when it was assigned, preferring to go by my memory of reading it in previous years for fun. I didn't want to associate the book with the chore of English class. Other books, I either flipped through (All Quiet on the Western Front, To Kill a Mockingbird) or read the first few chapters and set it down to never touch again except in class (A Separate Peace, Catcher in the Rye). Some of the books I flipped through more in protest against having to take English yet again. Others, though, the characters annoyed me. Dorothy L. Sayers Dorothy Jones Heydt summed up it up well, "I don't care what happens to these people." The one phrase a writer does not want applied to his or her main character. Yet, I could use the phrase on several of the novels assigned - Lord of the Flies, A Separate Peace, and Catcher in the Rye. The latter two, I can summarize the narrative as "whine". As for Lord of the Flies, I've seen lines**** with more dimension than the characters in the book.
Shakespeare suffered as well under the slow pace. The combination of archaic language and reading a play instead of seeing or performing it raised unnecessary barriers. Then came the usual questions, the same ones as always. Left me wondering why I had to take four years of English when it felt like I was going through grade 8 each year.
Between the repetition, the chore of writing, the novels, the poetry, and the sheer boredom, I learned to hate writing. I hated writing so much that in university, not only was I in Engineering, where math and science was more important, I filled the mandatory Arts electives with language courses, seeing them as far more useful than anything that would have an essay required. The one course, in Geography, I took that was going to have a massive essay worth a good percentage of the mark turned out to be too large for the professor to assign the essay, turning it into a multiple choice mid-term. I wrote a grand total of two papers in university. One was my thesis to graduate from Computer Science. The other paper was for a pilot project to get engineering students to learn to write by having us read over a report on a fatal collapse to analyse, summarize, and suggest improvements; I received an A- on that. That paper gave a me nice ego boost, got me thinking, over time, about my writing skills.
Thing is, I never really stopped writing. What happened was that any writing that I did that wasn't related to English class got reassigned as hobby, as class work, as something that wasn't associated with English. So, all the character prep work I did for various role-playing games? Hobby work, not writing, since the goal was to build up a character. Assignments in other classes like Geography and Physics? Write-ups and analysis, focusing on the subject matter; the goal was the Geography or Physics, not the actual writing+.
Slowly, I'd try dipping my toe into creative writing. I had ideas that weren't being used in games and needed to come out somewhere. I wrote for myself, to see what I could do. Hesitant steps, just get the idea down and see what happens. The first break point came in 1995, after the English dub of /Sailor Moon/ hit the airwaves. I had watched the first season fully, taping it if I couldn't get home in time from work to see the episode. I was aware of the idea of fanfiction, with some posters to alt.fan.sailor-moon already writing. One weekend, I watched the week's worth of episodes followed by a rerun of The Frantics' CBC TV series Four on the Floor and an idea struck that insisted on being written. Yes, that does mean that "Sailor Canoehead" opened the floodgates of my writing career. The reaction on afs-m was unexpected; people enjoyed it. Suddenly, writing wasn't seen as being a tortured process that only the select do. I mean, if I could do it, then it's not exactly a Dark Art open only to The Chosen Ones.
I graduated high school in 1986. It took me nine years to realize that writing isn't a painful chore. Sure, the onset of word processing on computers helped greatly, letting me get words out almost as fast as I can think them and without the cramping from holding a pen. The lessons from English, where writing was dull and repetitive, robbed me of nine years of writing experience. I could have been writing far sooner, enjoying the process that I use today. I could be a far more confident writer.
Nine years lost, because English class made me loathe writing.
Update (09-JUL-2013): While researching something else, I discovered I misattributed the phrase, "I don't care what happens to these people," to Dorothy Sayers instead of Dorothy Jones Heydt. Apologies to all involved.
* Note the use of the term "grades" instead of "years". I failed grades 10 and 11, mainly through not doing homework, making both up through summer school.
** I read at the time and still read science fiction, fantasy (standard and urban), and mysteries.
*** In Ontario at the time (early 80s), classes were separated into three levels - Basic, for people having severe problems with a course; General, for the college-bound; and Advanced, for the university-bound.
**** Math humour. Lines are one-dimentional, connecting two points on a plane. The thickness of the line is irrelevant and a product of drawing the representation of the line. Polygons, for the record, are two dimensional.
+ The physical part of writing still existed, though. I kept with a "first draft is final draft" method where the first version gets a heavy revision in my head before being committed to paper.
Labels: Vent, Writing
Anonymous 2 Jul 2013, 18:51:00
The way we teach reading, or specifically literature, is completely broken. Just on a basic logistical level: how the heck do you get stuck with "Lord of the Flies" three times in a row in different grades!?
Scott Delahunt 2 Jul 2013, 19:17:00
No arguments about how broken the teaching is. There was nothing in English class that I didn't learn in other courses. As for "Lord of the Flies", different locations. First was in Grade 8, then in Grade 10 summer school, then again in Grade 11, at three different schools in the city. I'm aware there are people who like the book. For me, it was an exercise in tedium. I later found out that hte book won an award. I now count that award as being a warning sign.
High school was rough for me when it came to English also. I had no desire to write essays on boring crap other people wrote. I had ideas that I wanted to tell. I ended up failing Ninth grade due to just not giving a crap and not doing homework. Was just a few points shy of passing a few classes. I think I did pass one or two because I still managed to finish everything in four years, but had to double up some classes.
I hated everything we read in every English class except the year my 10th grade English teacher let the class vote on a book and we picked the first Dragonlance book. Which I happily re-read and even helped create questions for homework assignments.
I failed grade 10 and managed to fail grade 11 twice for the same reasons. I didn't bother with the homework, didn't submit any creative writing to my work folder, didn't care about the class to bother to participate. I was there because the province said I had to be there. I didn't even have the chance to choose what to study, either.
I do remember reading Bradbury "A Sound of Thunder" and answering questions about it, but that was a rare moment. I think Poe's "A Cask of Amontillado" also came up, because I remember making the connection between it and the wine in the old TSR Top Secret module "Operation: Sprechenhaltestelle". Beyond that, all the poetry, all the short stories are long forgotten.
I know there were a few times I was supposed to read Shakespeare, but I honestly never did. I faked it and bluffed my way through quite a few times. I remember I ended up taking 9th and 10th grade English during my 10th grade year.
I did take creative writing, but struggled due to disagreements between myself and what the teacher felt was "real" writing. I ended up passing, but only because I spun a lot of bullshit. I maybe handed in half the assignments I was supposed to.
I had Shakespeare each grade from 9 through 12. I also wound up leaving space open in my last semester of grade 13 in case I failed grade 12 English in the first semester. (I didn't, thus got a spare.)
I never had the option of a different version of English class; it was always the overall course. And, yes, I ignored assignments, like first drafts, like poetry, like book reports on the books I read, like adding to my writing folder (emptiest folder ever). I was in the class because the class was mandatory. Didn't mean I had to expend effort.
Gregory Taylor 23 Jul 2013, 11:05:00
Sorry to hear about the turn-off; it does kind of baffle me that you got the same book so often. I'd have thought there were checkpoints or alternatives for that. I do see a key difference between us though - I kept English writing as a separate entity from recreational writing.
I've kept journals all through my life. Very much off-and-on, but I've stumbled into diaries I kept in first year of high school. (Oh, look at that, I didn't fit in back then either...) Probably the sort of thing that you couldn't really tap into on account of the injury. But it was a way to express myself separate from class. I also did some other forms of "recreational" writing, like writing reviews for the first few "Trek: Voyager" episodes or creating the "Knight Rider Drinking Game" (I think that was in University?).
English class was for proper structure, and delving into hidden meanings and things of that nature. Basically the stuff if you wanted to be a pro; I had no designs on that. But then, I wasn't bad at it either, and could memorize Shakespearean passages with the best of them. I like predictability. So... maybe the system was designed for people like me? I don't know. I do recall that in senior year, we were told to do a book report on 'Any book you like, subject to approval', and I totally froze up. I had to ask the teacher for a recommendation, because while I read tons, I didn't think any of my choices were "the right sort of book" for English class.
Now, is that what things are like TODAY? I don't know. I grant that most of my own experience with English teaching comes from being a student, which is a very poor benchmark. (Everyone thinks they know education because they were a student - yet, go figure, fewer people think they are medical experts because they've been a patient.) Suppose I can always check with the upstairs crowd in September.
Scott Delahunt 24 Jul 2013, 23:00:00
I got the book in three different schools - Grade 8 (IIRC), Grade 10 (twice, one was summer school), and I may have seen it again in Grade 11. I did "writing" that I didn't think off as writing - it was for a hobby, therefore it didn't count.
English, for me, was Grade 8 repeated all through high school. Very little changed year to year. Structure came from other classes. Hidden meanings weren't hidden; "Lord of the Flies" was a tedious exercise of finding symbols, something I really didn't care about. I didn't want to find out about people here on Earth. There were worlds out there with far more interesting tales. I didn't want to read a plodding story about archetypes/stereotypes of characters I didn't care about. And, given how I felt about English, going pro was the last thing on my mind. Seventy-five minutes of tedium. Given that almost all the books assigned to be read in class were dry, filled with dull characters who did next to nothing, I had no reason to read anything for class.
Fortunately, I did keep reading, mainly because I ignored the assignments.
Today, no idea. I haven't heard anything from actual students or parents of students on reading material, except that "Hunger Games" is in use for the non-university track and a Dickens book for the U level. I still question the purpose of English class; why it's mandatory, why a heavy focus on destroying reading as a pleasurable pastime. I'd like to know if things have changed.
NaNo Prep 2013/Fun With Traveller - Connections
Subject 13 Issue 30 – Going Green
Subject 13 #29 - Commentary
Subject 13 Issue 29 - The Apocalypse Rides Again
Subject 13 Issue 28 – Crash and Burn
100th Post Review!
Subject 13 Issue 27 - Overwhelmed
Fun With Traveller - The Embittered Soldier


text:
Q: Using StreamWriter to implement a rolling log, and deleting from top My C# winforms 4.0 application has been using a thread-safe streamwriter to do internal, debug logging information.  When my app opens, it deletes the file, and recreates it.  When the app closes, it saves the file.
What I'd like to do is modify my application so that it does appending instead of replacing.  This is a simple fix.
However, here's my question:
I'd like to keep my log file AROUND 10 megabytes maximum.  My constraint would be simple.  When you go to close the file, if the file is greater than 10 megabytes, trim out the first 10%.
Is there a 'better' way then doing the following:

*

*Close the file

*Check if the file is > 10 meg

*If so, open the file

*Parse the entire thing

*Cull the first 10%

*Write the file back out

*Close

Edit: well, I ended up rolling my own (shown following) the suggestion to move overt to Log4Net is a good one, but the time it woudl take to learn the new library and move all my log statements (thousands) over isn't time effective for the small enhancement I was trying to make.
  private static void PerformFileTrim(string filename)
  {
     var FileSize = Convert.ToDecimal((new System.IO.FileInfo(filename)).Length);

     if (FileSize > 5000000)
     {
        var file = File.ReadAllLines(filename).ToList();
        var AmountToCull = (int)(file.Count * 0.33);
        var trimmed = file.Skip(AmountToCull).ToList();
        File.WriteAllLines(filename, trimmed);
     }
  }

A: I researched this once and never came up with anything, but I can offer you plan B here:
I use the selection below to keep a maximum of 3 log files.  At first, log file 1 is created and appended to.  When it exceeds maxsize, log 2 and later log 3 are created.  When log 3 is too large, log 1 is deleted and the remaining logs get pushed down the stack.
string[] logFileList = Directory.GetFiles(Path.GetTempPath(), "add_all_*.log", SearchOption.TopDirectoryOnly);
if (logFileList.Count() > 1)
{
    Array.Sort(logFileList, 0, logFileList.Count());
}

if (logFileList.Any())
{
    string currFilePath = logFileList.Last();
    string[] dotSplit = currFilePath.Split('.');
    string lastChars = dotSplit[0].Substring(dotSplit[0].Length - 3);
    ctr = Int32.Parse(lastChars);
    FileInfo f = new FileInfo(currFilePath);

    if (f.Length > MaxLogSize)
    {
        if (logFileList.Count() > MaxLogCount)
        {
            File.Delete(logFileList[0]);
            for (int i = 1; i < MaxLogCount + 1; i++)
            {
                Debug.WriteLine(string.Format("moving: {0} {1}", logFileList[i], logFileList[i - 1]));
                File.Move(logFileList[i], logFileList[i - 1]); // push older log files back, in order to pop new log on top
            }
        }
        else
        {
            ctr++;
        }
    }
}

A: The solutions here did not really work for me. I took user3902302's answer, which again was based on bigtech's answer and wrote a complete class. Also, I am NOT using StreamWriter, you can change the one line (AppendAllText against the StreamWrite aequivalent).
There is little error handling (e. g. re-try access when it is failing, though the lock should catch all internal concurrent access).
This might be enough for some people who had to use a big solution like log4net or nlog before. (And log4net RollingAppender is not even thread-safe, this one is. :) )
public class RollingLogger
{
    readonly static string LOG_FILE = @"c:\temp\logfile.log";
    readonly static int MaxRolledLogCount = 3;
    readonly static int MaxLogSize = 1024; // 1 * 1024 * 1024; <- small value for testing that it works, you can try yourself, and then use a reasonable size, like 1M-10M

    public static void LogMessage(string msg)
    {
        lock (LOG_FILE) // lock is optional, but.. should this ever be called by multiple threads, it is safer
        {
            RollLogFile(LOG_FILE);
            File.AppendAllText(LOG_FILE, msg + Environment.NewLine, Encoding.UTF8);
        }
    }

    private static void RollLogFile(string logFilePath)
    {
        try
        {
            var length = new FileInfo(logFilePath).Length;

            if (length > MaxLogSize)
            {
                var path = Path.GetDirectoryName(logFilePath);
                var wildLogName = Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(logFilePath) + "*" + Path.GetExtension(logFilePath);
                var bareLogFilePath = Path.Combine(path, Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(logFilePath));
                string[] logFileList = Directory.GetFiles(path, wildLogName, SearchOption.TopDirectoryOnly);
                if (logFileList.Length > 0)
                {
                    // only take files like logfilename.log and logfilename.0.log, so there also can be a maximum of 10 additional rolled files (0..9)
                    var rolledLogFileList = logFileList.Where(fileName => fileName.Length == (logFilePath.Length + 2)).ToArray();
                    Array.Sort(rolledLogFileList, 0, rolledLogFileList.Length);
                    if (rolledLogFileList.Length >= MaxRolledLogCount)
                    {
                        File.Delete(rolledLogFileList[MaxRolledLogCount - 1]);
                        var list = rolledLogFileList.ToList();
                        list.RemoveAt(MaxRolledLogCount - 1);
                        rolledLogFileList = list.ToArray();
                    }
                    // move remaining rolled files
                    for (int i = rolledLogFileList.Length; i > 0; --i)
                        File.Move(rolledLogFileList[i - 1], bareLogFilePath + "." + i + Path.GetExtension(logFilePath));
                    var targetPath = bareLogFilePath + ".0" + Path.GetExtension(logFilePath);
                    // move original file
                    File.Move(logFilePath, targetPath);
                }
            }
        }
        catch (Exception ex)
        {
            System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine(ex.ToString());
        }
    }
}

edit:
Since I just noticed that you asked a slightly different question: should your lines vary greatly in size, this would be a variation (, that in 90% of cases does not improve over yours, though, and might be very slightly faster, also introduced a new unhandled error (\n not being present)):
    private static void PerformFileTrim(string filename)
    {
        var fileSize = (new System.IO.FileInfo(filename)).Length;

        if (fileSize > 5000000)
        {
            var text = File.ReadAllText(filename);
            var amountToCull = (int)(text.Length * 0.33);
            amountToCull = text.IndexOf('\n', amountToCull);
            var trimmedText = text.Substring(amountToCull + 1);
            File.WriteAllText(filename, trimmedText);
        }
    }

A: This is derived from bigtech's answer:
private static string RollLogFile()
    {
        string path = Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.MyDocuments);
        string appName = Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(Environment.GetCommandLineArgs()[0]);
        string wildLogName = string.Format("{0}*.log",appName);

        int fileCounter = 0;
        string[] logFileList = Directory.GetFiles(path, wildLogName, SearchOption.TopDirectoryOnly);
        if (logFileList.Length > 0)
        {
            Array.Sort(logFileList, 0, logFileList.Length);
            fileCounter = logFileList.Length - 1;
            //Make sure we apply the MaxLogCount (but only once to reduce the delay)
            if (logFileList.Length > MaxLogCount)
            {
                //Too many files - remove one and rename the others
                File.Delete(logFileList[0]);
                for (int i = 1; i < logFileList.Length; i++)
                {
                    File.Move(logFileList[i], logFileList[i - 1]);
                }
                --fileCounter;
            }

            string currFilePath = logFileList[fileCounter];
            FileInfo f = new FileInfo(currFilePath);
            if (f.Length < MaxLogSize)
            {
                //still room in the current file
                return currFilePath;
            }
            else
            {
                //need another filename
                ++fileCounter;
            }

        }
        return string.Format("{0}{1}{2}{3:00}.log", path, Path.DirectorySeparatorChar, appName, fileCounter);
    }

Usage:
string logFileName = RollLogFile();
using (StreamWriter sw = new StreamWriter(logFileName, true))
{
    sw.AutoFlush = true;
    sw.WriteLine(string.Format("{0:u} {1}", DateTime.Now, message));
}

A: This function will allow you to rotate your log based on weekdays. First time y our application will launch on Monday, will check for any existing entry for Monday Date, if not already initialized for today will discard old entries and reinitialize new file. Onwards for whole of that day, file will keep appending the text to same log file.
So, total 7 log files will be created.
debug-Mon.txt, debog-Tue.txt...
it will also add the method name which actually logged the message along with date time. very useful for general purpose use.
private void log(string text)
        {
            string dd = DateTime.Now.ToString("yyyy-MM-dd");
            string mm = DateTime.Now.ToString("ddd");

            if (File.Exists("debug-" + mm + ".txt"))
            {
                String contents = File.ReadAllText("debug-" + mm + ".txt");

                if (!contents.Contains("Date: " + dd))
                {
                    File.Delete("debug-" + mm + ".txt");
                }
            }

            File.AppendAllText("debug-" + mm + ".txt", "\r\nDate: " + DateTime.Now.ToString("yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:s") + " =>\t" + new System.Diagnostics.StackFrame(1, true).GetMethod().Name + "\t" + text);

        }

A: I liked greggorob64's solution but also wanted to zip the old file. This has everything you need other than the part of compressing the old file to a zip, which you can find here: Create zip file in memory from bytes (text with arbitrary encoding)
static int iMaxLogLength = 2000; // Probably should be bigger, say 200,000
static int KeepLines = 5; // minimum of how much of the old log to leave

public static void ManageLogs(string strFileName)
{
    try
    {
        FileInfo fi = new FileInfo(strFileName);
        if (fi.Length > iMaxLogLength) // if the log file length is already too long
        {
            int TotalLines = 0;
                var file = File.ReadAllLines(strFileName);
                var LineArray = file.ToList();
                var AmountToCull = (int)(LineArray.Count - KeepLines);
                var trimmed = LineArray.Skip(AmountToCull).ToList();
                File.WriteAllLines(strFileName, trimmed);
                string archiveName = strFileName + "-" + DateTime.Now.ToString("MM-dd-yyyy") + ".zip";
                File.WriteAllBytes(archiveName, Compression.Zip(string.Join("\n", file)));
        }

    }
    catch (Exception ex)
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Failed to write to logfile : " + ex.Message);
    }
}

I have this as part of the initialization / reinitialization section of my application, so it gets run a few times a day.
ErrorLogging.ManageLogs("Application.log");

A: I was looking through the win32 api, and I'm not even sure it's possible to do this with native win32 vfs calls, nevermind through .Net.
About the only solution I would have would be to use memory-mapped files and move the data manually, which .Net seems to support as of .Net 4.0.
Memory Mapped Files

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


I stand with Jews as well as with all the other peoples in the world reflected in my DNA. Peace is the only answer. I do not stand for Israel, which is arrogant and treats its DNA cousins, the Palestinians, in a totally abhorrent way. I do not advocate the destruction of Israel, but Israel must change, and change fast. This wickedness seems to be increasing against the Palestinians. It is shameful. Pray for peace!
Remember, this interests me only in that the elect in Christ will come from Jewish descent, as predicted by Romans 11. This does not mean that Dispensationalism or the authority of Israel as being holy is valid, as it is not. The Times of the Gentiles being fulfilled does not abrogate the authority of the believers. One way of salvation. Also, Christ rules on the Davidic Throne now. Read so in the book of Acts.
This blogger rejects Dispensationalism and Covenant Theology as being anti Christ doctrines. But the man of perdition, though we cannot pinpoint the exact person, was revealed in the time of the Apostles. All that is left is salvation of the elect through the power of the gospel. See my doctrinal statement on this blog, under New Covenant Theology for more about the truth according to the gospel and not the law of Moses!
"Ashkenaz" is one of the most disputed Biblical placenames. It appears in the Hebrew Bible as the name of one of Noah's descendants (Genesis 10:3) and as a reference to the kingdom of Ashkenaz, prophesied to be called together with Ararat and Minnai to wage war against Babylon (Jeremiah 51:27). In addition to tracing AJs to the ancient Iranian lands of Ashkenaz and uncovering the villages whose names may derive from "Ashkenaz," the partial Iranian origin of AJs, inferred by Das et al. (2016), was further supported by the genetic similarity of AJs to Sephardic Mountain Jews and Iranian Jews as well as their similarity to Near Eastern populations and simulated "native" Turkish and Caucasus populations.
There are good grounds, therefore, for inferring that Jews who considered themselves Ashkenazic adopted this name and spoke of their lands as Ashkenaz, since they perceived themselves as of Iranian origin. That we find varied evidence of the knowledge of Iranian language among Moroccan and Andalusian Jews and Karaites prior to the Eleventh century is a compelling point of reference to assess the shared Iranian origins of Sephardic and Ashkenazic Jews (Wexler, 1996). Moreover, Iranian-speaking Jews in the Caucasus (the so-called Juhuris) and Turkic-speaking Jews in the Crimea prior to World War II called themselves "Ashkenazim" (Weinreich, 2008).
The origin and history of the Ashkenazi Jewish population have long been of great interest, and advances in high-throughput genetic analysis have recently provided a new approach for investigating these topics. We and others have argued on the basis of genome-wide data that the Ashkenazi Jewish population derives its ancestry from a combination of sources tracing to both Europe and the Middle East. It has been claimed, however, through a reanalysis of some of our data, that a large part of the ancestry of the Ashkenazi population originates with the Khazars, a Turkic-speaking group that lived to the north of the Caucasus region ~1,000 years ago. Because the Khazar population has left no obvious modern descendants that could enable a clear test for a contribution to Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry, the Khazar hypothesis has been difficult to examine using genetics. Furthermore, because only limited genetic data have been available from the Caucasus region, and because these data have been concentrated in populations that are genetically close to populations from the Middle East, the attribution of any signal of Ashkenazi-Caucasus genetic similarity to Khazar ancestry rather than shared ancestral Middle Eastern ancestry has been problematic. Here, through integration of genotypes from newly collected samples with data from several of our past studies, we have assembled the largest data set available to date for assessment of Ashkenazi Jewish genetic origins. This data set contains genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphisms in 1,774 samples from 106 Jewish and non-Jewish populations that span the possible regions of potential Ashkenazi ancestry: Europe, the Middle East, and the region historically associated with the Khazar Khaganate. The data set includes 261 samples from 15 populations from the Caucasus region and the region directly to its north, samples that have not previously been included alongside Ashkenazi Jewish samples in genomic studies. Employing a variety of standard techniques for the analysis of population-genetic structure, we found that Ashkenazi Jews share the greatest genetic ancestry with other Jewish populations and, among non-Jewish populations, with groups from Europe and the Middle East. No particular similarity of Ashkenazi Jews to populations from the Caucasus is evident, particularly populations that most closely represent the Khazar region. Thus, analysis of Ashkenazi Jews together with a large sample from the region of the Khazar Khaganate corroborates the earlier results that Ashkenazi Jews derive their ancestry primarily from populations of the Middle East and Europe, that they possess considerable shared ancestry with other Jewish populations, and that there is no indication of a significant genetic contribution either from within or from north of the Caucasus region.


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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Native, local, pollinated by insects.
And a sure sign of warm weather soon!
Busy days. Brooders are full of baby egg layers, turkey polts, chicken. All lights are in use during these cold spring nights. Weeding, seeding, bed building. Transferring seedlings, direct sowing of seeds, drip tape, floating row covers. Weeding. Homer is building pens as fast as possible as all we have are full.
Today is a beautiful day, lots will get done!


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David Setiawan: Founder and Managing Director of Toga MBA Consulting with background in corporate venture capital at Emtek, management consulting (AT Kearney), and various technology companies in Silicon Valley.
Adityo Kusumo: Department Head of internal Mergers and Acquisitions Bank Mandiri, with over 11 years of successful cross-functional leadership roles in the organization (attained full MBA sponsorship to UCLA Anderson and cross exchange at London Business School). Adityo is the current President of UCLA Anderson Indonesia Alumni Chapter.
Harsono Tjandra: Entrepreneur running F&B / lifestyle and aviation businesses. Prior to his UCLA MBA, Harsono previously worked in management consulting at BCG and also in IT at a technology services company in Singapore.
Haryanto Tanjo: Founder and CEO of Moka POS with management consulting background from McKinsey Indonesia and also Webster Pacific US prior to his UCLA MBA.
Jefrey Joe: Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Alpha JWC Ventures. Previously, Jef was the COO of Groupon Indonesia and has management consulting (BCG) and corporate finance advisory (E&Y) experience.
Edwin Setjodiningrat: Seasoned entrepreneur with focus in manufacturing and supply chain as well as information systems in the automotive sector.
Gadri Chandra: Recently graduated Indonesian alum (Class of 2018) and incoming consultant at Bain & Company. Prior to his UCLA MBA, he spent 9 years at Accenture Technology Consulting where he last held the position of Manager. Gadri earned his Bachelor's in Electrical Engineering at ITB.
Diandra Sediyono: Incoming student (Class of 2020). Prior to her UCLA MBA, she worked in investment banking at Bahana Securities and also at BNP Paribas Fixed Income trading desk. Diandra earned her Bachelor's in Economics from University of Indonesia.
The registration deadline has now passed. If you still wish to attend the UCLA MBA info session, please arrive at 10 AM sharp to register for the standby list. The event organizers will let you in at 10.30 if there are enough seats available.
Please share with your friends that might be interested in coming to the info session.


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There are public schools in Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines that are located in a hinterland. Palalan Elementary School is not one of them because the city is just few minutes away. The community live in a peaceful and modest lifestyle, this area seems like remotely located though. Public school students should suppose to wear uniform but, most families in this area prioritize food on the table than the school needs of their children. It is NOT irresponsibility and I can understand that fully. As long as the children come to school on a regular basis, that matters most importantly.
The children in school in their casual attire and raising their new slippers (flipflops). There were 77 in 155 needs to be given a new pair of slippers. The principal, Mr. Joel Lariba look for some resources and the six people ( listed) responded to his request.
After flag ceremony, the principal had the chance to mingle with the students. Student with no uniform is normal but, seeing their slippers all worn out was heartbreaking. He shared this concern to me few weeks ago and I blog about it. Six people responded to the blog post. Look how simple gesture made the simple project come to reality.
For December project, it would be nice if we can feed them a HAPPY MEAL, right? 155 children plus 22 kindergarten= 177 students multiplied by a Happy Meal price. If you want to donate, just hit PALALAN ELEM. SCHOOL paypal button. Thanks a lot for reading.
This is a such a great story, and I know how much you wanted this for them, too.
Thanks for sharing such a sweet story my very dear friend!
count me in! God bless ur projects ganda!


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Matt Christie mattcboxingnews
Claressa Shields wins third world title in 10th bout but, for the sake of equality, let's hold fire on the hype
Matt Christie
The impressive Claressa Shields wins third world title but perspective should be retained
CLARESSA SHIELDS won new world belts in a third weight class – the vacant WBO and WBC super-welterweight titles – when she beat Croatia's Ivana Habazin via 10-round points decision in Atlantic City.
"It wasn't what I wanted, but I'm happy with the improvement," Shields said after her victory. "This feels great – I did it in 10 fights. Now I'm number one, the fastest boxer in history to become a three-division world champion."
Though her achievement should not be confused with Henry Armstrong winning three world championships in the 1930s, Shields continues to set new standards in the female game.
"I am the greatest woman of all time because she couldn't do nothing with me, zero," Shields added.
"I just want to be a better fighter, that's all. I want to grow women's boxing. I want us to have equal pay, equal opportunity. I would love to share a card with Deontay Wilder, Errol Spence. I want to be in with the likes of those guys."
Shields – who has also won belts at middle and super-middle – was typically dominant en route to her victory: The scores of 100-89, 100-90 and 99-89 told the right story of her performance. Shields looked like the victor from the opening bell but, for context, the knockdown she scored along the way was the first she'd achieved as a professional boxer.
For further context, Shields' march to three divisional titles has not been met with the kind of opposition to make her a legend of the game in the same way that Armstrong is. Habazin had a record of 20-3 coming in but only two of those triumphs came against opponents with winning records.
Boxing News is all for equality but let's also be realistic. The standard of women's boxing is improving but it's still far too early to start comparing it with the men's code. It deserves better, frankly.
But that's not Shields' fault. The headlines elsewhere will tell you that she beat Vasyl Lomachenko's record of winning three titles in 13 bouts and for Shields to achieve the same feat in 10 bouts is certainly impressive, irrespective of the opposition.
TagsClaressa Shields
Year-end Awards: 2020 Female Fighter of the Year
Hannah Rankin: 'The aim is to keep inspiring people'
Premium • Boxers • Issue
Claressa Shields: 'I like to punish people inside the ring. Sometimes that stops me from finishing them off'
Premium • Issue • Opinion
Perspective on Claressa Shields' achievements
Jan 13 2020 at 8:54 pm
The day that women fight 3 minute rounds, consistently take on the strength of opposition, and display the level of skills, that's equivalent or better than the men, while drawing at least similar sized audiences, THEN they'll deserve equal pay to men and also be entitled to claim records currently held by their male counterparts. What Claressa Shields is claiming, and the way she's talking about it, doesn't only show her usual lack of humility, it shows a total lack of respect for Vasiliy Lomachenko.
How does a failed PED test affect your view of a boxer and their reputation?
Of the upcoming fights that have been confirmed, which are you most looking forward to?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D came out in 2015, exclusively for Nintendo 3DS. A special edition was released as well, in the US it contained a Skull Kid figurine, in Europe a different set of goodies. Below is the European limited edition.
The Special Edition comes in a paper box with on the front the logo and a small artwork of Link with two of his masks. One side is decorated with a golden line-drawing of the Happy Mask Salesman, while Skull Kid adorns the other side.
Inside are four items. First of all, the game itself. It's actually slightly different from the normal box, as it says 'bundle pack version' on the back. There is also no description on the back, just an artwork and the usual warnings.
Then there is a steelbook you can use as an alternative case for your game. On the front, Majora's Mask itself, on the back a drawing of Skull Kid.
There's also a two-sided poster inside. Both sides are very nice, a painting-style illustration of Oni Link on one side and Skull Kid on the other. The downside is that it had to be folded in order to fit in the box, leaving permanent marks all over the poster.
Lastly, there is a small black box decorated with a shiny logo.
Inside is a metal brooch in the shape of Majora's Mask itself. It looks nice and detailed.
In conclusion, this is a solid special edition, considering it was quite affordable, only 15 euros more than the normal edition. Like most of Nintendo's collector's editions, this one is relatively hard to come by given the demand, though there seems to be a larger supply than usual. Either way, it can be assumed that stocks will sell out shortly, and this may become a valuable collector's item down the road.


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'Housing week' off to an uncertain start
Posted: August 13, 2018 | Author: julesbirch | Filed under: Homelessness, Housing benefit, Rough sleeping, Social housing | Tags: James Brokenshire, Rough Sleeping Strategy | 1 Comment
For once this is a silly season that has some substance. If you can tear yourself away from the sun lounger or the latest pronouncement by the Etonian Katie Hopkins, mid-August sees a trio of government announcements that are crucial for housing and homelessness.
Last week featured another big benefits u-turn: confirmation that housing benefit will continue for supported accommodation removes a cloud that has been hanging over projects including homeless hostels and women's refuges.
Monday saw the launch of the strategy that the government says will enable it to meet its target of halving rough sleeping in England by 2022 and ending it by 2027.
And what is billed as 'housing week' is set to continue on Tuesday with the launch of the social housing green paper – originally promised in the Spring, then before the parliamentary recess last month, but now appearing while most MPs are on holiday.
The timing does at least ensure some media attention, including an uncertain performance by James Brokenshire in the TV and radio studios on Monday morning.
After a lively appearance on Good Morning Britain, the housing secretary struggled on the Today programme when asked whether government policies are to blame for the relentless rise in rough sleeping and floundered when asked how much of the promised '£100 million plan' is new money. (Somewhere between none and not much was the eventual answer).
The rise of working homelessness
Posted: July 23, 2018 | Author: julesbirch | Filed under: Homelessness, Labour market, Poverty, Temporary accommodation | Tags: Shelter | 1 Comment
Originally posted on my blog for Inside Housing on July 23.
Ever since 2010 the government has assumed that work is the solution to poverty and problems with housing.
It's an assumption that underpins universal credit and it's been nourished by a steady drip of propaganda from right-wing think tanks and newspapers about the alleged role of social housing in encouraging worklessness.
Anyone with experience of the benefits system knows that this is at best a simplistic and at worst a dangerously inaccurate interpretation of what is going on.
For all the government's proclamations of a 'jobs miracle', work alone is not a guaranteed route out of poverty or poor housing or even, it now seems, homelessness.
A report out today from Shelter shows a 73% rise in the number of families who are in work but homeless and in temporary accommodation over the last five years: from 19,000 in 2013 to 33,000 in 2017.
A plan to end homelessness
Posted: June 11, 2018 | Author: julesbirch | Filed under: Homelessness | Tags: Crisis | 2 Comments
Originally published on June 12 on my blog for Inside Housing.
At times in the last year it's seemed that all a politician has to do to end homelessness is say 'Housing First' three times, take a trip to Finland and announce a new initiative.
All three do feature in the plan published by Crisis this morning but alongside a 10-year strategy that challenges the politicians to take a harder road to a real destination – if they choose.
Everybody In: How to end homelessness in Great Britain was developed following an international evidence review of what works here and abroad, a consultation with over 1,000 people across Britain and newly-commissioned research to fill gaps in the evidence.
Crisis, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, warns that there are currently 160,000 people facing the worst forms of homelessness in Britain but that if we continue as we are this number will double over the next 25 years.
Rough sleeping initiative deja vu
Posted: April 3, 2018 | Author: julesbirch | Filed under: Rough sleeping | Tags: Homelessness Reduction Act | Leave a comment
Originally posted on April 3 on my blog for Inside Housing.
If the new initiative to reduce rough sleeping sounds vaguely familiar it's because we have been here before.
The package of measures announced by Sajid Javid over Easter includes a new Rough Sleeping Team made up of external experts, a £30 million fund for 2018/19 with further funding for 2019/20 targeted at areas with high numbers of rough sleepers and £100,000 of funding to support frontline workers across the country.
It's a welcome news just as the Homelessness Reduction Act is about to come into force, and it comes on top of existing investment in homelessness programmes, piloting of Housing First and closer collaborative working inside and outside government.
But it also made me think back to the last time a Conservative government faced a rough sleeping crisis and announced a Rough Sleepers Initiative (RSI).
In 1990 the number of people sleeping rough in central London soared in the wake of a recession and benefit cuts that hit 16- and 17-year-olds in particular.
Then as now, ministers denied that benefit cuts were to blame. Then as now, the sight of people sleeping in doorways and makeshift camps got national media and political attention.
April arrives with some rare good news
Posted: March 29, 2018 | Author: julesbirch | Filed under: Help to Buy, Homelessness, Housing benefit, Local housing allowance, Mortgages, Private renting, Uncategorized, Universal credit | Leave a comment
Originally published on March 29 on my blog for Inside Housing.
Sometimes it feels like I've written a blog at this time every year with the headline 'April is the cruellest month'.
It's not that I have a TS Eliot fixation nor (I hope) that I endlessly repeat myself but because ever since 2010 the start of the financial year seems to have meant yet another benefit cut or housing policy change to cope with.
This year is a bit different not so much because there is no bad news but because there is some good news as well. Here are some examples:
The u-turn on the withdrawal of support for housing costs for 18-21 year olds under universal credit announced on Thursday. This was a cumbersome policy that required significant exemptions and barely saved any money but it's still a significant change to the original pledge to make young people 'earn or learn'.
The Homelessness Reduction Act passed in 2017 applies from April 3. The legislation should be a big step forward in ensuring that more people get help earlier but despite a recent announcement on funding there are still well-founded concerns about whether councils have the money to implement it.
Claimants already getting housing benefit who move on to universal credit will from April be paid an additional two weeks of housing benefit. That may not be much consolation for the (in theory) five-week wait for their first universal credit but the payment (worth an average of £233) should ease the transition a bit –and it is not recoverable.
It will be unlawful for landlords to give new tenancies on the least energy efficient property from April 1 – all rented property will have to qualify for at least an Energy Performance Certificate rating of E so (in theory) tenants will no longer be stuck paying high heating bills for the worst F and G property.
More measures introduced against rogue landlords in the Housing and Planning Act 2016 come into force, including powers for councils to issue banning orders against the worst offenders and implementation of a database of landlords and letting agents convicted of some offences.
Bear in mind too that it's not so long ago that I would have been writing about plans to apply a Local Housing Allowance (LHA) cap to social and supported housing from…April 2018.
For all that good news, though, the suspicion remains that it will at best mitigate the impact of policies already implemented and still in the pipeline.
One small step (backwards)
Posted: January 25, 2018 | Author: julesbirch | Filed under: Homelessness, Private renting, Tenure change | Leave a comment
Originally posted on my blog for Inside Housing on January 25.
More of us now rent from a private landlord than at any time since the first man walked on the moon.
Figures in the 2016/17 English Housing Survey published on Thursday show yet another rise in the proportion of households renting from a private landlord and decline in home ownership.
More than 20% of us are now private renters, the highest figure in any year since 1969, the year of Woodstock and one small step for man.
Owner-occupation declined slightly from 62.9% to 62.6% but that overall figure conceals two very different trends.
The proportion of households who own outright rose again to 34.1% while the proportion buying with a mortgage fell to just 28.4%.
To put that second figure in perspective, throughout the 1990s more than 40% of us were buying with a mortgage.
Social renting remained stable at just over 17% of households, but with the local authority share of that falling again.
New name, new ministers, new start?
Posted: January 23, 2018 | Author: julesbirch | Filed under: Council housing, Grenfell Tower, Homelessness, Land | Tags: Dominic Raab, MHCLG | Leave a comment
It's got a new name and new ministers but how much has really changed at the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government?
Yesterday's MCHLG questions marked the first time that Sajid Javid and his new team have faced MPs since the reshuffle earlier this month.
Judging from the secretary of state's first few responses, the answer seemed to be not much.
His exchanges with his Labour shadow John Healey over the painfully slow progress on replacing unsafe tower block cladding have already been widely reported.
On the latest figures, 312 buildings have been tested and 299 have been failed but cladding has been taken down and replaced on just three.
'How has it come to this?' asked Healey. 'Seven months on from Grenfell, only one in four families who are Grenfell survivors has a new permanent home. The Government still cannot confirm how many other tower blocks across the country are unsafe. Ministers still refuse to help to fund essential fire safety work when they know that blocks are dangerous.'
10 things about 2017: part one
Posted: December 22, 2017 | Author: julesbirch | Filed under: Grenfell Tower, Homelessness, Housebuilding, Housing benefit, LHA cap, Temporary accommodation | Leave a comment
Originally posted as a column for Inside Housing on December 22.
As in 2016, it seemed like nothing would ever be the same again after a momentous event halfway through the year.
The horrific Grenfell Tower fire on June 14 means that the headline on this column should really have read 'nine other things about 2017'. Just as the Brexit voted has changed everything in politics, so it is almost impossible to see anything in housing except through the prism of that awful night.
That said, 2017 was another year of momentous change for housing, one that brought a few signs of hope too. Here's the first of my two-part review of what I was writing about.
Over-egging the pudding
Posted: December 15, 2017 | Author: julesbirch | Filed under: Homelessness, Housebuilding, Social housing | Leave a comment
Is a year that has seen a huge shift in the politics of housing ending with a return to business as usual?
The Grenfell fire is the obvious reason for the change in the terms of the housing debate but it is not the only one.
The prime minister's party conference speech will be remembered for the prankster, the lost voice and the collapsing stage set but it did seem to mark the culmination of a shift from Help to Buy to help for all tenures. But just as her country is not quite working for everyone, so her social housing revolution may not be quite what it seems.
One clue, I think, lies in the way that parliamentary debate has returned to the bad old days of Eric Pickles and Grant Shapps in terms of the selective use of statistics. The first time I noticed this was at last week's Communities and Local Government questions.
Alok Sharma seems a nice chap and has quietly impressed with his willingness to listen to tenants at consultations ahead of the social housing green paper. But asked about homes built for social rent last week, he boasted that: 'Since 2010, nearly 128,000 homes for social rent have been built in England, and 118,000 have been built for affordable rent.'
That's an answer that does not quite compute at first but check the statistics and he is perfectly correct – and totally misleading – at the same time.
The horrors of temporary housing
Posted: November 8, 2017 | Author: julesbirch | Filed under: London, Temporary accommodation | 3 Comments
Originally posted as a column for Inside Housing on November 8.
From 'temporary' homes that last for 19 years to families with young children living in the middle of an industrial estate, a Commons debate on Tuesday found MPs queuing up to relate horror stories from their constituencies.
Labour MP Siobhan McDonagh opened the debate about temporary accommodation with an eloquent and angry explanation of the situation facing 78,000 families and 120,000 children but she was joined by MPs from all parties in calling for urgent changes.
The stats about temporary accommodation are grimly familiar. Among them are a 66% increase in the number of children affected since 2010, 1,200 families with children housed in B&Bs beyond the six-week legal limit and a five-fold increase in families from London housed outside the capital since 2012.
All this has come at a cost of £3.5 bn over the last five years for accommodation that is stretching the definition of 'temporary' to breaking point.
Siobhan McDonagh said three quarters of families in temporary accommodation in London have been there for more than six months and one in 10 for more than five years. There are even cases in Camden and Harrow of families living in 'temporary' accommodation for 19 years.
A graphic illustration of that came from David Lammy, Labour MP for Tottenham, later in the debate:
'One family in my constituency have been living in temporary accommodation for 14 years. Another family have been there for 17 years. That family have seen their children grow up in temporary accommodation—the only home that the children have ever known, from their first day at primary school to their first day at secondary school. Next year, the 18th birthday of the eldest child will be celebrated in this so-called temporary accommodation.'


Ever since the espresso began its triumphant success around the world, the "small Italian pick-me-up" has become an integral and essential part of Mediterranean living for many people. Espresso is traditionally served with a small amount of sugar in a stylish espresso cup along with a glass of water. Beautifully designed espresso cups are no longer just a vessel for the hot beverage but have become popular.


There is a reason why Mom is WOW upside down! Bold Red Miniature Gerbera Daisies and Miniature Carnations, radiant Gold Viking Mums and rich Purple Statice are the intense colours that bring the WOW! to your Mom.


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Germany returns 20 Benin bronzes to Nigeria, noting 'dark past'
Twenty historic bronze sculptures have been returned to Nigeria by Germany as part of efforts to address its "dark colonial past," its foreign minister said on Tuesday.
Annalena Baerbock, Germany's foreign minister, returned the prized cultural artefacts to Nigerian officials in a ceremony in the capital, Abuja. The sculptures, known as Benin bronzes, were looted from the West African country by British troops when it was under colonial rule.
"It was wrong to steal these bronzes. It was wrong to keep these bronzes and it is long overdue to return these bronzes to their home," she said at the event.
Cast in brass and bronze with ancient designs, the sculptures were used in rituals to honour the Benin people's ancestors and rulers.
More than 5,000 ancient artefacts are estimated to have been stolen from Nigeria by England, when it was the country's coloniser, said Nigerian authorities.
Most of the treasures were stolen from the royal palace of the Kingdom of Benin — now part of southern Nigeria — and some ended up in the custody of other foreign governments including Germany.
In recent years, Nigerian authorities have intensified efforts to have the looted artefacts returned. Earlier this year, Germany pledged to repatriate more than 1,000 of them in the coming years.
Nigeria is Germany's second-largest trade partner in Africa and by returning the items it hopes to start a new chapter for future bilateral relations, said Baerbock.
"We see this as a first step. Many bronzes have been looted and stolen, so many will come back," said Baerbock.
"This step is also important for us because we are dealing with our dark colonial past," she said.
Nigeria's foreign affairs minister Geoffrey Onyeama said the nation felt "deep gratitude" to Germany for returning the artefacts. Beyond their aesthetic value they have cultural and spiritual importance to the Nigerian people, he said. He called on England and other countries in possession of other artefacts to return them on moral grounds.
Activists say there needs to be more accountability that goes beyond the return of the items, such as compensation for the losses incurred by African countries throughout years of looting.
"We are only focusing on the physical objects. What about the digital properties of these works? Who owns those properties? And what is coming with these works?" said Victor Ehikhamenor, a Nigerian artist and advocate for reparation efforts.
"What other restitution and payments do they have to make for holding these works for a long time and making money from it?" he said.
Tags: Germany returns 20 Benin bronzes to Nigeria
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Vanguard News Network Forum > Media > Europe
Three Nights of Muslim rioting in Hamburg Altona
Europe - General videos pertaining to Europe and Europeans.
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germany, hamburg, muslims, riots
Video-details
Title Three Nights of Muslim rioting in Hamburg Altona
Category Europe
Date July 18th, 2013, 09:02 PM
Description About 150 young people gathered Friday night in Chemnitz
Street and in Holsten Street. "They wanted to let loose," said a police
spokesman. First the rioters only lit firecrackers; later they torched cars
In Karl Wolff Street a car was completely gutted. Another
car was set on fire in Hospital Street, but was able to be extinguished. Some
time later the tires of another car were burning. More than 100 police officers
were out in force. They used pepper spray against the rioters. In response the
mob hurled stones at the officers. A 21-year-old man was arrested.
The following night on Sunday again around 80 young people
gathered in Holsten Street, and fireworks were ignited again ? luckily nothing
more happened on the third night of riots. "The situation has become very
calm," said the spokesman for Hamburg police on Sunday morning.
The riots started on Thursday night when a group of youths
blinded car drivers with a laser pointer. The police moved in -- and suddenly
saw a group of over 150 people moving towards them. 16 rioters were detained.
There was an aggressive mood and the situation escalated. In
the media, not much was said about the cultural background of the rioters, but
in the photos and videos it can be seen: There are 'Asians' and women with
headscarves. Also, the battle cry "Allahu Akbar" can be heard in the video.
In this video about the events in Hamburg-Altona Friday
night, one can hear very clearly "Allahu Akbar" at 0:26. Local Muslims are
interviewed and show a completely different picture of what had happened. They
are lying brazenly.
No matter where Muslims live, they are always innocent
victims. The bad guys are always the others, because Muslims are, after all,
permanently and everywhere suppressed and harassed and discriminated against.
The manner in which the Hamburg police are massively
verbally ? and obviously completely untruthfully ? attacked is downright
outrageous. Those who are familiar with Islamic ideology know that lying is an
integral part of Islam, and the dissemination of lies plays an important role
in strategy of conquest. Thus can these bold statements in the video be
correctly characterized.a href="http://www.siotw.org/modules/news_english/item.php?itemid=1269" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"Source/a
Hoster YouTube
Added To VNN James Hawthorne
Josie_in_SF - (July 20th, 2013, 09:41 PM)
It's clear to me that these people take any kindness for weakness. I can tell that in their minds they see their religion as a basis for a racial type movement.
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Q: How to launch app on click of url in android Launch app when click on url if app installed on device. if app not installed on device,  open playstore.
<activity android:name=".ui.NewsCardActivity">
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        <category android:name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT" />
        <category android:name="android.intent.category.BROWSABLE" />
    </intent-filter>
</activity>

A: You have to deep link your app, add following lines in activity (Manifiest.xml) which you want to launch
<intent-filter >
    <action android:name="android.intent.action.VIEW"/>
    <category android:name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT"/>
    <category android:name="android.intent.category.BROWSABLE"/>
    <data android:host="screen" android:scheme="appname"/>
</intent-filter>

in browser when ever you click appname://screen your app activity will be launched,
replace appname and screen  as per your requirement
Note if you type this url in browser it will search in google ,for this to work you have to write link in html page
Some text

If not working the add android:exported="true" in activity
<activity
    android:name=".activity.MainActivity"
    android:exported="true">


text:
Q: dompdf failed to load document in cakephp Here is my code in book_pdf.ctp
<?php
    require_once(ROOT . DS . 'Vendor' . DS . 'dompdf/dompdf' . DS . 'autoload.inc.php');
    use Dompdf\Dompdf;

    // instantiate and use the dompdf class
    $dompdf = new Dompdf();

    $dompdf->loadHtml('hello world');

    // (Optional) Setup the paper size and orientation
    $dompdf->setPaper('A4', 'landscape');

    // Render the HTML as PDF
    $dompdf->render();

    // Output the generated PDF to Browser
    $dompdf->stream();

    ?>

Whenever I download the document it says failed to load it.
Is this concerned with cakephp

A: This plugin is perfect to generate pdf on cakephp
https://github.com/DaoAndCo/cakephp-dompdf


FARNSWORTH, TEXAS. Farnsworth, on State Highway 15 ten miles southwest of Perryton in west central Ochiltree County, was established in 1919 when the Panhandle and Santa Fe Railway arrived. Ranchers had begun settling this area in the early 1880s, and by 1900 had established a school and community called Olds. A post office was established at the site in 1905 and initially named Nogal, but in November 1906 the name was changed to Rogerstown. The present post office dates from 1920 and was named for H. W. Farnsworth, director of the railroad. Population estimates have fluctuated between a low of twenty, first recorded in 1925, and a high of 200 in 1949. In 1947 Farnsworth had five businesses, two churches, and two schools. In 1984 the community had six businesses and an estimated population of 149, which was still the population figure reported in 1990. In 2000 the population was 130.
Wheatheart of the Plains: An Early History of Ochiltree County (Perryton, Texas: Ochiltree County Historical Survey Committee, 1969).
Handbook of Texas Online, H. Allen Anderson, "FARNSWORTH, TX," accessed April 22, 2019, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/HLF07.


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NEPA's Most Wanted, 7/14/2019
ROBERT BRATCHER
KYLE BEDICS
NICHOLAS BRELISH
MICHAEL CAIN
JOSHUA KEVIN HESS
BLAIR HART
STAFF REPORT / Published: July 13, 2019
Image Gallery for NEPA's Most Wanted, 7/14/2019
Lightbox link Lightbox link Lightbox link Lightbox link Lightbox link Lightbox link
Image Gallery for NEPA's Most Wanted, 7/7/2019
Aumont 'Monty' Edwards
Wanted by: Scranton police.
Wanted for: Aggravated assault, recklessly endangering another person and criminal conspiracy related to a shooting incident in West Scranton on June 26.
Description: Black man, 31 years old, 6 feet 1 inch tall, 160 pounds, black hair, brown eyes. Known to stay at and frequent homes throughout West Scranton. Edwards is considered to be armed and dangerous.
Contact: Scranton police detectives, 570-348-4139 or 911.
Wanted for: Aggravated assault, simple assault, robbery, harassment and theft by unlawful taking.
Description: Black woman, 31 years old, 5 feet 6 inches tall, 185 pounds, black hair, brown eyes.
Contact: Scranton police, 570-348-4134 or 911.
Joshua Kevin Hess (aka Josh White)
Wanted by: Forest City police and Carbondale police.
Wanted for: Escape, reckless endangerment and possession of a controlled substance.
Description: White man, 30 years old, 5 feet 11 inches tall, 150 pounds, blond hair, blue eyes.
Contact: Forest City police, 570-785-3453 or 911.
Wanted by: State Board of Probation and Parole.
Wanted for: Parole absconder. Released March 29.
Description: White man, 27 years old, 5 feet 11 inches tall, 180 pounds, auburn hair, blue eyes. Last known to be in Lackawanna County.
Contact: Probation and Parole hotline, 800-932-4857.
Wanted for: Parole absconder. Released Sept. 4.
Description: White man, 27 years old, 5 feet 10 inches tall, 145 pounds, brown hair, brown eyes. Last known to be in Lackawanna County.
Wanted for: Parole absconder. Released Dec. 14, 2015.
Description: White man, 48 years old, 5 feet 9 inches tall, 190 pounds, gray hair, blue eyes. Last known to be in Lackawanna County.
CAPTURED: Robert Bratcher
Wanted for: Parole absconder. Released April 1.
Description: Black man, 59 years old, 5 feet 8 inches tall, 180 pounds, black hair, black eyes. Last known to be in Lackawanna County.


These Silverback banana plugs have the quality you've come to expect from Silverback products, including; gold plated connectors, a heavy-duty but light casing, and a tight cable-screw design. What sets these banana plugs apart is their unique 2 screw lock design. This connection will secure your cable more than a single screw, or open screw design. Dual screw connectivity provides a secure connection, durability, and the most crisp and clear signal possible with more signal transmission through contact.
The Silverback Flex is a self-crimping connection, for all inputs that are spring-loaded, or simply accept a wire only connection. The Silverback Flex marries the beautiful and sturdy design of the Silverback Banana plug, with the need for wire connection. We've developed a special non-conductive coating for our aluminum casing on the Silverback, which will protect the plugs from electrical conductivity, ensuring a perfect connection, with no worries of shorting your speakers.
Unscrew the jacket to reveal the core of the Silverback Banana Plug.
Tighten the 2 screws to secure the speaker wire to the core of the Silverback Banana Plug.
Replace the jacket over the core.
Your Silverback Banana Plug is ready for connection.
All in all you should only need 30 seconds for this entire operation.
What makes the Silverback the banana plug of choice?
There are some key features of these banana plugs, which make them the installers choice.
24K gold plating on the connectors for a lifetime of use, with a crystal clear signal.
Pure copper connectors are at the core of this banana plug to allow perfect signal pass-through.
Double screws, when properly fastened, are said to be as effective as soldering, but clearly with much less hassle.
The casing unscrews over the tip, so you don't have to worry about keeping it on the cable when installing.
Today, many electronics use the banana plug interface, also known as binding post (referring to this connection in its female form). This binding post is commonly found on virtually all audio/video receivers, speaker wall plates, and more.
Pros: Professional looking installation, clean and neat connection.Cons: The flex pin tip is braided wire inserted into sleeve. It is a weak connection subject to separation.Other: I've had two come apart. I contacted Sewell about the first one and they sent a replacement right away. When the second one came apart, I just lived with the bare wire. I have Sewell banana plugs that are great; the flex pins no so much.
Pros: Relatively easy to mate with the 14 gauge cable. The wires fit well into all of my various amp and speaker configurations. No muss no fuss connectors with the correct screwdriver. Great barrel and screw contact surface areas. Very warm Surround Sound with older 301's and rebuilt floor Infinities. Great channel separation, with very good USA 14 gauge wires, and very quiet (not a bit of hum or hiss).Cons: The barrels could be a bit narrower for modern cramped amplifier connecting posts; but overall it worked out OK. Luckily none of the barrels at the amp connectors are touching, which could cause sound crossover or static. The little clamping screws were a reasonable challenge for me, and would be very difficult for a novice. The wire leads could be a bit longer for modern amps. Other: These connectors were a good challenge to track down, I don't believe anyone else mfg them. So, I bought three sets of six each, just in case they are dropped from the Sewell program. I gladly put up with the little assembly hassle to get that great warm, rich sound!
Pros: Very high quality product. Easy to use. Smart looking.Cons: I had to buy a dozenOther: I had to find a solution to connect 12g speaker wire to a connector that will only accept 16g. These were the perfect solution with a slight glitch. The connectors are proprietary screw type used by 70's vintage high end Technics receivers. They will not accept a solid wire connector. So I had to clip off the soldered tip about 2-3mm. Then unravel the braid so the connector will accept it. Works great.


This is an extract of an interview with Californian organic restauranteur Alice Waters, published April 29, 2008.
A fireplace that I can cook in and big windows that look out to my garden. There is no equipment, as such; certainly not machines. I have lots of pestles and mortars, a rather small stove, a big table to eat at and a big table to cook on.
I mostly buy food at the market and use it pretty much right away. My refrigerator has a lot of condiments, jams and jellies. I also keep pasta, grains and couscous.
I grow mostly herbs in my garden, as well as some salad and radishes and citrus fruits. There's also lots of mint and lemon verbena. I love making fresh mint tea. We serve it after meals at the restaurant.
How would you sum up your food philosophy?
Pretty simply that I want to buy food that's locally grown, sustainably farmed, seasonably ripe, and then I want to cook pretty simply. I really love having the fireplace going. I cook eggs and toast in the fire; that's my specialty, if you can call it one.
How have our attitudes to food changed?
I think there has been a reaction to the manipulation of our food system and I think we're finally coming back to our senses. We're just realising that we need to eat real food, food that's grown for our good health, and we need to eat a variety of foods.
I think the most exciting thing is the biodiversity that's coming back to gardens. We're not just getting five kinds of lettuce now, we're getting 25.
What is Britain's best-kept food secret?
After mad cow, I think you had a kind of wake-up call and people just started paying attention in a way that they hadn't before. There's an awareness in England about where food comes from that doesn't really exist anywhere else I know about. You have the horticultural roots that will make it possible to really change the food system. And you have an enlightened Prince of Wales who is aware of the food system.
I always like to eat at home, but being the restaurantrice that I am, I also like to eat out. I go to the places where I know the owner because I like to get their advice. I love salads and pasta. I'm less of a dessert person and like savoury foods.
What is the next big (real) food trend?
I don't like to think of it (food) as a trend, but around the world there is more focus on food. If you can call seasonal food in the garden a trend, then I think it's coming back.
The way that we're ultimately going to save ourselves and this planet is if we educate ourselves and our children about where our food comes from. I think the work that Jamie Oliver and the Soil Association are doing in England is radical and vital.


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Seismic map of North America reveals geologic clues, earthquake hazards
by Stanford University
This new-generation stress map of North America includes the first view of the style of faulting across the continent as well as more than 300 new measurements of the direction from which the greatest pressure occurs in the Earth's crust. The background color indicates relative stress magnitudes, or style of faulting. (Image credit: Jens-Erik Lund Snee and Mark Zoback) Credit: Jens-Erik Lund Snee and Mark Zoback
How do mountains form? What forces are needed to carve out a basin? Why does the Earth tremble and quake?
Earth scientists pursue these fundamental questions to gain a better understanding of our planet's deep past and present workings. Their discoveries also help us plan for the future by preparing us for earthquakes, determining where to drill for oil and gas, and more. Now, in a new, expanded map of the tectonic stresses acting on North America, Stanford researchers present the most comprehensive view yet of the forces at play beneath the Earth's surface.
The findings, published in Nature Communications on April 23, have implications for understanding and mitigating problems associated with induced seismicity—human-caused earthquakes—from unconventional oil and gas recovery, especially in Oklahoma, Texas and other areas targeted for energy exploration. But they also pose a whole new set of questions that the researchers hope will stimulate a wide range of modeling studies.
"Understanding the forces in the Earth's crust is fundamental science," said study co-author Mark Zoback, the Benjamin M. Page Professor of Geophysics in Stanford's School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences (Stanford Earth). "In some cases, it has immediate application, in others, it may be applied decades later to practical questions that do not exist today."
First continental synthesis of data
The new research provides the first quantitative synthesis of faulting across the entire continent, as well as hundreds of measurements of compressive stress directions—the direction from which the greatest pressure occurs in the Earth's crust. The map was produced by compiling new and previously published measurements from boreholes as well as inferences about kinds or "styles" of faults based on earthquakes that have occurred in the past.
The three possible styles of faulting include extensional, or normal faulting, in which the crust extends horizontally; strike-slip faulting, in which the Earth slides past itself, like in the San Andreas fault; and reverse, or thrust, faulting in which the Earth moves over itself. Each one causes very different shaking from a hazard point of view.
"In our hazards maps right now, in most places, we don't have direct evidence of what kind of earthquake mechanisms could occur," said Jack Baker, a professor of civil and environmental engineering who was not involved with the study. "It's exciting that we have switched from this blind assumption of anything is possible to having some location-specific inferences about what types of earthquakes we might expect."
Zooming in
In addition to presenting a continent-level view of the processes governing the North American plate, the data—which incorporates nearly 2,000 stress orientations, 300 of which are new to this study—offer regional clues about the behavior of the subsurface.
"If you know an orientation of any fault and the state of stress nearby, you know how likely it is to fail and whether you should be concerned about it in both naturally-triggered and industry-triggered earthquake scenarios," said lead author Jens-Erik Lund Snee, Ph.D. '20, now a postdoctoral fellow with the United States Geological Survey (USGS) in Lakewood, Colorado. "We've detailed a few places where previously published geodynamic models agree very well with the new data, and others where the models don't agree well at all."
In the Eastern U.S., for example, the style of faulting revealed by the study is exactly the opposite of what would be expected as the surface slowly "rebounds" following the melting of the ice sheets that covered most of Canada and the northern U.S. some 20,000 years ago, according to Lund Snee. The discovery that the rebound stresses are much less than those already stored in the crust from plate tectonics will advance scientists' understanding of the earthquake potential in that area.
In the Western U.S., the researchers were surprised to see changes in stress types and orientations over short distances, with major rotations occurring over only tens of miles—a feature that current models of Earth dynamics do not reveal.
"It's just much clearer now how stress can systematically vary on the scale of a sedimentary basin in some areas," Zoback said. "We see things we've never seen before that require geologic explanation. This will teach us new things about how the Earth works."
New maps reveal safe locations for wastewater injection
More information: Nature Communications (2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-15841-5
Journal information: Nature Communications
Provided by Stanford University
Citation: Seismic map of North America reveals geologic clues, earthquake hazards (2020, April 23) retrieved 21 January 2021 from https://phys.org/news/2020-04-seismic-north-america-reveals-geologic.html
Seismic stress map profiles induced earthquake risk for West Texas, New Mexico
Shake it up: Human-induced and natural earthquakes in central US are 'inherently similar'
Source of Indonesian earthquakes and tsunamis located
New computer modeling approach could improve understanding of megathrust earthquakes
New map outlines seismic faults across Dallas-Fort Worth region


Monument commemorates the community assistance in the area to victims of the 1977 bushfire.
In February 1977 , bushfires saw farms, houses and township properties in the Rokewood, Cressy, Mingay-Lismore, Pura Pura and Derrinallum areas affected. Five people, 190000 sheep and 3300 cattle were killed while 2 million bales of hay, 79 houses, and 3800 kilometres of fencing were destroyed.
The Dromana firefighters suggested the idea of a memorial and provided a large slab of Dromana rock to be the "heart" of the memorial. 85 of the 95 property owners who were affected by the fire contributed to the plaque. Mr Keith May of Derrinallum devised the wording on the plaque.
In The Pura Pura Derrinaluum Districts.


text:
import Vue from 'vue'
import Router from 'vue-router'
import Status from './components/Status.vue'
import Block from './components/Block.vue'
import Address from './components/Address.vue'
import Transaction from './components/Transaction.vue'
import Wallets from './components/Wallets.vue'
import Page404 from './components/404.vue'

Vue.use(Router)

export default new Router({
  routes: [
    {path: '/', name: 'Status', component: Status},
    {path: '/block/:index', name: 'Block', component: Block},
    {path: '/address/:address', name: 'Address', component: Address},
    {path: '/transaction/:id', name: 'Transaction', component: Transaction},
    {path: '/wallets', name: 'Wallets', component: Wallets},
    {path: '*', component: Page404},
  ],
})


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We are a wholesale nicotine provider and the only distributor of Chemnovatic nicotine in the United States and Canada. If you're craving the taste of tobacco, but prefer vaping over smoking, our variety of e-liquids is sure to hit the spot. Shop our selection of e-liquid flavors today to find your favorites.


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The Competition For Bonuses At Morgan Stanley Just Got Cutthroat
Courtney Comstock
Competition in Greg Fleming's Global Wealth Management unit at Morgan Stanley just got cutthroat.
According to an article in Reuters, the unit is revamping the bonus system so that anyone who wants a bonus of up to 34% of the commissions and fees generated will need to hit a certain threshold — and they better not generate less than $300,000 per year. If they do, they'll get put in the "penalty box" and only receive 20% of their generated profits.
Everyone should have known this was coming at least since last week, after Gorman announced that his goal for Fleming's unit was a pretax profit margin of 20%.
The relevant bit from the earnings announcement:
Global wealth management, overseen by Greg Fleming, posted pretax income of $362 million, up from $281 million in the third quarter of 2010. It also had $15.5 billion in net new assets. The division's pretax profit margin rose to 11 per cent from 10 per cent in the first half. Gorman has said the unit should eventually post a pretax profit margin of more than 20 per cent.
20 per cent is a big jump up from the unit's pre-tax profit margin of 11% in the third quarter (when trading volumes were pretty fantastic) and 10% in the quarter before (when trading volumes were not so great).
So broker-broker competition just got cutthroat. The good news is that brokers could wind up getting paid more, as the Reuters article makes it clear that the firm is willing to allocate a larger portion of the firm's quarterly expenses to broker compensation. Of course, they're also leaving the option open to allocate less. It all depends on how much the brokers produce.
A key aspect of the new bonus system is that brokers produce on their own. There's a big bonus cut in "selling concessions," bonuses for brokers who sell shares created through initial public offerings, secondaries and block trades. Those bonuses will now be 20% less because they were produced by Morgan Stanley, and not the broker, in Morgan Stanley's opinion.
Here's how the old system compares with the new system:
Old system: brokers need to generate $250,000 a year in fees and commissions in order to get payouts as high as 34% of that generated. Anyone who gets lower than that gets only a 20% payout
New system: brokers with nine years of service who produce less than $300,000 a year will have their payouts slashed to 20%
Old system: Brokers get bonuses for hitting certain revenue targets. Brokers who generated $5 million in income received 7.5%, for example. And someone who generated $750,000 got 3.5%.
New system: Brokers get 1% point less of a bonus (it is paid in cash and stock that vests in 8 years).
Old system: "Restricts access to IPO shares to brokers who produce at least $500,000 in annual revenue, which means few brokers will compete for shares."
New system: Up to a $315,000 cash prize for attracting net new assets.
New system: Up to a $127,500 cash prize for selling more mortgages, securities based loans and managed accounts.
New system: A broker who brings in more than $7.5 million in balances can receive 0.40% of the loan totals as a bonus.
bankers bonus clusterstock-us wall street


The NZ Psychoactive Substances Act 2013 (PSA2013) was never world leading drug reform as frequently claimed by some drug reformers and recently re-asserted in an article by one of the Act's key flag bearers. It was however, world leading drug legislation, that succeeded in gaining almost unanimous support across New Zealand Parliament (apart from one MP), because this new drug law extended prohibition to include EVERY new psychoactive substance not currently incorporated within the Misuse of Drugs Act. If the concept of the PSA2013 to make drugs illegal (unapproved NPS), punish personal possession and supply, while privileging other selected drugs (approved NPS), may sound strangely familiar, it is, it's called prohibition. It mirrors what has been happening for decades with approved legal drugs (alcohol, tobacco, caffeine and pharmaceuticals) and unapproved outlawed drugs listed under the Misuse of Drugs Act, except it provides a blanket ban unless specifically approved, rather than a blanket acceptance unless specifically banned.
The key problem with the PSA2013 is it's like an illusion. The Act can be whatever you want it to be, it depends upon how you tell it, what you tell, and what you omit. To prohibitionists, it was sold as offering an end to the legal high 'cat n mouse' game, by introducing a once-and-for-all blanket ban on all substances currently legal. The Act removed legal highs from circulation and prevented them being sold in corner shops. By extending prohibition to every New Psychoactive Substance, the PSA2013 makes all NPS in New Zealand illegal unless subsequently approved by the state. Worryingly, the PSA makes personal possession of any new psychoactive drugs a punishable offence (s.71), it introduced new police powers to enter premises without a warrant (s.77), and a two year prison sentence for anyone supplying an 'unapproved' psychoactive drugs (s.70). Issues I highlighted in writing and in an oral presentation to the Health Select Committee.
To drug reformers these disconcerting aspects of the PSA are frequently airbrushed out of the story. Instead, to the drug reforming community, the PSA was sold as offering 'world-leading' drug reform, an exciting framework to regulate new psychoactive substances (that the same law made illegal), – provided these new substances could be demonstrated to be low risk. But it was always unclear what exactly is a 'psychoactive' substance, what would be considered 'low risk', and would there ever be a political willingness to approve any new drug? What the PSA has effectively done is to outlaw those drugs that were legal, impose punishments for possession of these drugs, and offer the possibility that, if proved low risk, some of these drugs might possibly, one day, be approved for circulation.
The PSA 2013 is prohibition under the guise of reform. Instead of the tedious and expensive process of the government having to use the Misuse of Drugs Act, to ban each individual drug that comes on the market, the PSA has simply banned the lot, albeit with a slim backdoor possibility that some 'low risk' drugs might, one day, be accommodated. The Act delivered what the Health Minister Peter Dunne always promised it would when in July 2012 he declared : "We are winning the battle [against drugs] and we are about to deliver the knockout blow with this legislation".
We know from difficult experience with the 40 year old Misuse of Drugs Act, that bad laws are hard to change. The problem with our New Zealand PSA 2013 is, it was from the outset, a compromised pig in a poke. Unfortunately, proponents had little time or interest for considering the risks in blending prohibitionist agendas with drug reform aspirations. It seemed the intoxication of promoting world leading reform was too great to be worrying over the detail. Maybe drug reform proponents thought the most important goal was to send out a global message that countries are rolling out world leading drug reform, in an attempt to create a momentum? Whatever the misguided motivation, we are sadly left with an Act that has ultimately extended prohibition and widened the scope of the drug wars. I'm sure reformers didn't intend this.
So the real lessons from here in New Zealand are: don't get high on drug reform; think critically about what is being proposed; be willing to ask the tough questions; and don't be tempted to form an alliance with prohibitionists on some shared pseudo agenda, simply to get drug reform legislation passed. If we have learned nothing else from the drug wars, it is that a non-negotiable principle in any reform, must be that personal possession of any substance must never be an offence, but our 'world leading' kiwi drug 'reform' has succeeded in outlawing personal possession of all new psychoactive drugs – even those not yet invented. Bad drug laws are hard to change, and here in New Zealand, we now have two bad drug laws, the MDA and the PSA.


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Egypt to allocate more land for wind farms
3 August 2009 – Egypt's Electricity Ministry will allocate 1.5m feddans (630 000 hectares) of government land in Upper Egypt for wind farms, an official at the ministry said on Monday.
"Part of this land will be used for future tenders that we will announce for building wind farms, and the other part will be for wind farms funded by the government and multinational organisations," the official, who declined to be named, said.
The land will be in the provinces of Beni Suef, Minya, and Assiut, reported Reuters.
The ministry had said it was allocating 300 000 feddans of land on the Red Sea coast in the Gulf of Suez area to wind farm projects in June.
Egypt, which is a gas and oil producer, has been developing wind power along its Red Sea coast in its east. It aims to generate 12 percent of its power from wind farms and a total of 20 percent from renewable sources by 2020.
Officials say Egypt's combined oil and gas reserves will last the most populous Arab country for roughly three more decades, pushing the drive for more renewable energy.
Egypt announced a tender in May for a 250 MW wind farm on a build-operate-own (BOO) basis, also on its Red Sea coast. A total of 72 international companies have expressed interest in the tender so far.
Egypt already has wind farms at Zafarana and Hurghada on the Red Sea coast.
Black & Veatch providing EPC services for 150-MW Illinois wind farm
ENGIE announces beginning of work at fifth Texas wind farm