text:
Greek NEWS, WORLD News
CHANNEL 7: ALEXANDER THE GREAT IS GREEK
by GCT Team
An apology was sent to the Greek Embassy in Australia by the head of the Seven TV Network in response to the outrage caused when they linked the Former Yugoslav Republic of Yugoslavia with Phillip II and Alexander the Great in their commentary during the Rio Olympics opening ceremony.
"Greece can proudly claim Alexander the Great as one of their own. We apologise. It was not our network's intention to disappoint our viewers. I do hope you will accept our sincere apologies for the miscommunication." – Kerry Stokes, Seven Network Chairman
Greek City Times along with other media outlets sent letters to the International Olympic Committee, Channel 7 (Australia) NBC (USA) and affiliated bodies requesting explanations over the gaffe. Most letters went unanswered.
We commend Mr Kerry Stokes for responding to the legitimate concerns of the Greek community in Australia over the issue of cultural misappropriation and distortion of history.
Tags: channel 7, Olympic gaffe, olympics
GCT Team
This article was researched and written by a GCT team member.
GCT Team September 3, 2016
Greece's women's national water polo team beat Serbia in opening match at the European Championships
AGONA Sport January 13, 2020
Greek national water polo teams set for European Championships
Greece's new coach Pitino says "I'm now a Greek for eight months"
AGONA Sport November 13, 2019
Greek Olympic Wrestler Charalambos Cholidis passes away aged 62
AGONA Sport June 28, 2019
My Greek Odyssey set to air this month in Australia
GCT March 11, 2019
Deanna Kyriazopoulos, global Taekwondo champion
GCT Team November 3, 2017

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Home » Give thanks safely
Give thanks safely
"We Can Stop the Spread" public education series
Story by Jessica Binkley
Media contact: Will Sansom, 210-567-2579, sansom@uthscsa.edu
As the holidays approach, gatherings of families and friends seem inevitable. However, recent guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) outline possibilities for safely coming together this season.
"We expect to see an increase in cases after the holidays and we're prepared for it," said Anthony Hartzler, MD, associate professor of medicine and infectious disease specialist with UT Health San Antonio. "But we certainly don't want to see the cases rise so dramatically that hospitals become full and resources get depleted. We know a wave is coming, but let's hope it's going to be a little wave and not a big wave."
Anthony Hartzler, MD
To mitigate the possibility of a "big wave," the CDC provides a thorough list of recommendations, including seating guests by household, limiting the number of people serving and handling food, and using single-use items for food storage, eating and serving. But for Dr. Hartzler, the most important guideline comes down to the size of the gathering.
"The biggest takeaway is the fewer people you're in contact with, the better," Dr. Hartzler said. Bringing together just one or two households does not pose much risk, especially when other guidelines are followed. But for those wanting to bring together multiple households, "now you're getting into a situation that sounds pretty risky," he said.
Dr. Hartzler also stressed the importance of continuing to practice mask-wearing, hand hygiene and, even though it is difficult among families who may not have seen each other all year, maintaining physical distance throughout the gathering.
One suggestion to help with physical distancing is open-air dining.
"We usually have really nice weather here in San Antonio during Thanksgiving, so if people can take it outdoors and have tables that are spaced out and separated by households, that's a great way to be around your family without taking much risk," he said.
Choosing between seeing family or remaining isolated may be difficult for some, but, in the end, Dr. Hartzler said it comes down to deciding how much risk they're willing to take.
"Household transmission is really common, so people have to remember it's not just their own health, they may catch it and bring it back to somebody else in the household who is more vulnerable," he said.
For those family members at particular risk, phone calls or virtual visits may be the safest option. However, by following CDC guidelines and finding smart ways to get together, there is no reason to remain completely isolated this holiday season, he said.
And there is reason to be optimistic.
"The end may be coming soon," Dr. Hartzler said. "We can't promise anything, but we think maybe in the next six months or so, we can have widespread availability of an effective vaccine. If we can just hold out for a few more months, things might be a lot more normal soon."
For a complete list of ways to stay safe over the holidays, please refer to these guidelines:
The City of San Antonio's COVID-19 website
CDC Thanksgiving website
This fall, keep up your resolve – and masks! – against COVID-19
Article Categories: News Releases, We Can Stop the Spread


Thursday 10th September – at ½ past 7 A.M. we were along side of S.t Vincents. Unfortunately I was not up sufficiently early to obtain a sight of that side of the island, which we first approached, and which was described to me as being the finest of all, And from it you can see a Volcanic mountain, which is almost always smoking. But what I did see delighted me extremely. I have seldom seen so lovely a scene. There were presented to you hills and slopes covered with the most beautiful clothing of nature you can conceive. Here were deep ravines – there gently declining plains – and the tout ensemble was such that I was perfectly enraptured. In our Brazil voyage I gave it as my opinion that Madeira & Teneriffe were beautiful from their irregularity – but I would by no means compare them with S.t Vincent than I would objects the most dissimilar.
S.t Vincent's is of small extent, but is indeed a gem which tho' insignificant in size shines with a brilliancy which raises its beauty and its value far beyond others of greater pretensions, in point of size. Embosomed in hills and which from distant view is the small town of Kingston, the principal one in the island, and before is a bay of little extent formed by the jutting out of two portions of hill, on one of which is a romantically situated fort, which commands completely the access to the Town.
I should above all things have enjoyed the opportunity of landing in this paradise of nature, both from the desire of seeing it more closely and also of inquiring after M.r Donald McLaurin whom you told me came out with Stewart of Garth as an Engineer. But this my wish several circumstances contrived to oppose – for the stay made does not exceed an hour or two, which short period would have left me unable to proceed to visit M.r M. L., and again the weather, being squally, with a heavy swell from the Harbour, it would have been improper in me to have added my additional weight to the gig, which was already sufficiently loaded.
With great difficulty and with much hard pulling amidst torrents of rain and violent gusts of wind, the Capt.n returned at 10 A.M. when we made sail for Grenada. During the whole of this we had worse weather than we have had since we left Falmouth. Rain, thunder and lightning with sudden squalls, all combined to throw a gloom over our spirits, which rendered us very uncomfortable.
Friday 11th September – The early dawn of this day saw us nearly becalmed off Grenada. This island which is of considerable magnitude was on one side, while a number of islets, thickly interspersed between S.t Vincents and termed the Grenadines, were seen around us. We were at some distance from S.t Georges, the Capital to which the Captain at first intended to proceed in his gig – but afterwards altered his purpose and when the breeze freshened a little so that we approached nearer the Town, he dispatched M.r Geach, with the mail, whom I obtained permission to accompany. In a short time we had landed on the beach, with the Reverend M.r Barker, who is the clergyman of the English Church here.
I was not at all prepossessed by the appearance of the town at hand. The beach was a most abominable one, and the quantity of filth which exhaled from the heat a fetid odour, produced an insuppressible sensation of nausea & oppression. The streets & houses were good, but not handsome or elegant – many of the former were very steep, but within well paved. The Church to which we accompanied M.r Barker is of very considerable size & capable of containing 1000 people. From its elevated situation it forms a prominent object to the eye of a person lying off the shore. The interior of it is exceedingly commodious, clean and ever handsome with an excellent organ, and pleased me very much. Adjoining to the church is the vicarage, a good substantial building, with fine trees in front which shelter the inmates from the bruising rays of the Sun. From it you have several beautiful views, on the one side of the open sea, and on the other, of the hills in the neighbourhood. M.r Barker welcomed us most kindly to his House, where we partook of some refreshments.
During the very short time that we had the pleasure of this Gentleman's company he shewed himself of considerable learning, knowledge of the world, and powers of observation that told me that he had never had a dispute or quarrel with any of his parishioners – but that he had lived for five years in love and concord with all of them – from which I drew the natural conclusion that his manners must be conciliatory and that he must be imbued with the Christian spirit of his office & religion, which calls upon him to love and do good to all men. As we walked along with him we had an opportunity of observing his behaviour to others & his reception from them. To many gentlemen he bowed and paid the usual compliments of meeting, while to many blacks he addressed himself with a kindness, and paternity which seemed to be felt by them, and returned with gratitude.
I was told, also by him, that most of the inhabitants of Grenada were Scotchmen, from whom he received many seasonal acts of kindness, and with whom he lived in terms of intimacy and friendship, and indeed I met three waiting in the manse to welcome him home.
After remaining a short time, M.r Geach and myself went out, accompanied by a gentleman a friend of M.r Barker's who kindly offered to be our Cicerone. He guided us to a place where we had a prospect admirably adapted for the painter, who might take his station where we stood. Opposite to us were lofty hills, covered with woods, luxuriant with vegetation woods and begannical [?] with cottages & large houses, and at our foot between these hills and our elevated position, was a small narrow arm of the sea, on the borders of which was a little village, and on its bosom several vessels riding at anchor.
The island of Grenada is chiefly hilly, but in my opinion is far from being equal to the scenery of Barbadoes S.t Vincent's, altho' it is still superior to Barbadoes.
I saw here more white[s] that at Barbadoes – et quod magis adminandum, multos pueros atque puellas, itenera in omnium conipechi permeaules P__oli purdon puris naturalibus Prok tempora et mores.
I visited the market, which is kept in a small square. There I saw the same fruits as at Barbadoes, with the exception of one, which they called, the sugar apple. It is of this form and appearance.
When ripe it is very soft – and it taste is luscious usque ad nauseam. All the fruits here are very cheap, indeed they are literally dog cheap, i.e. cheap for a dog. That you may understand my meaning – I must tell you that there is a small coin current here of a very low denomination of value, and which 'tis called a dog, from what cause I know [not]. For one dog you may have oranges & sufficient, to satisfy you at one time, which you must allow is dog cheap. This name for a coin in Grenada reminds me of another equally Curious at Barbadoes. It is called a "kids eye" and is a small piece of silver, of British coinage, and of value 5 pence.
At 12 oClock M.r Geach, having received the Mail, went on board the Duke, which in consequence of the unsettled state of the w.r had been brought to an anchor pretty close to the shore. The anchor was soon weighed, and we made sail for Jamaica with variable breezes, and unsettled weather.
Sunday 13th Sept.r – fine Weather, with fresh and favourable breezes.
Monday 14th – fine weather – wind favourable but light.
Wednesday 16th – fine weather & favourable winds. Saw the small island of Alto Vela and, but dimly, the high land of the island of S.t Domingo, or Haiti. During the afternoon a large shoal was discovered on our larboard side, which was not put down in the Chart.
Thursday 17th – dirty W.r in the morning but fine during the rest of the day. The high land of S.t Domingo still in view.


text:
Gaming Gems - Raptor: Call of the Shadows
by Phoenix Desertsong, Nostalgic Video Gamer
Raptor: Call of the Shadows was one of my favorite PC games growing up. It was a top-down vertical scrolling shooter by Apogee Software & Cygnus Studios from 1994. Sure, I probably wasted far too many hours playing it, but it was fun! It's similar to another classic game called Major Stryker, which I also enjoyed immensely as a kid. For whatever reason, Raptor has really lived on unlike many of its contemporaries. Heck, there are YouTube streamers who still even play it on livestream!
This Raptor longplay on stream by cs188creations is super awesome. It's 2 and a half hours long, so don't feel pressured to watch the whole thing. But, you can get the whole experience by watching it. He played it on max difficulty WITHOUT SAVING! Yeah, he died a couple of times, but that's what you get from going hardcore!
Like many older games, there were some cheats that made the game easier. These included skipping levels and a "god mode." But, I always preferred to play the old fashioned way. I pretty much only played on MAX difficulty - Elite - but I always saved the game after every wave!
Pros of Raptor
The soundtrack for this game was so good that I'd find myself humming tracks from it all the time! There's even a playlist or two of the Raptor: Call of the Shadows OST on YouTube! Despite there only being three episodes with nine levels each, the game has surprising amounts of replay value. There are also some cool easter eggs that I forget how to get at now.
The selection of equipment and weapons in Raptor: Call of the Shadows is also pretty expansive for such an old game. But, there are a few weapons which are clearly better than others, like the Auto-Track Minigun and the Twin Lasers. The graphics were superb at the time and it was critically acclaimed by gaming experts.
Really, Raptor's a great game to play when you just want something straightforward where you blow stuff up!
Cons of Raptor
Honestly, I don't think there's anything I dislike about Raptor: Call of the Shadows. I will say that there's a Windows version from 1999 that had some serious issues with its controls. Since then, there's been a version released on Steam which is fine and an iOS version of the game, as well.
The only other knock I have against the game is it's not packed with quite as many levels as other similar games. But, the quality of its 27 levels makes up for whatever replayability value it loses from having such a small number of levels.
Overall, it's really fun to watch other people play Raptor that have such a nostalgic fondness for it like me! At one time in 2015, it looked like there was going to be a sequel to Raptor: Call of the Shadows, but it never came to be. If you're looking for a classic game to fire up, this is definitely one that's worth a couple hours of time for the serious retro PC gamer!
You can find the DOTEmu 2010 version available for download on Amazon or the newer 2015 release on Steam.
Games similar to Raptor: Star Defender 4 & Alien Stars by Awem Studios
Subnautica: A Hard Look at This Underwater Survival Game
by John Grgurich, J. Grgurich Music
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to explore the ocean? Now you can with this underwater survival game. While still in development, Subnautica is available on Steam for $19.99, and it's gained significant momentum since it was released in 2014.
I have spent quite a bit of time on this game over the last few months. And in spite of the occasional bug or two, it's surprisingly addictive. I can immerse myself in a vast ocean full of strange (and sometimes deadly) creatures, and I enjoy the challenge of surviving amidst the great deep.
If you're looking for a story-driven game, Subnautica may not be for you. It doesn't mean there isn't one, and there's no way to know if the developers will add more plotlines sometime in the future. It is, after all, an early access game.
You're the survivor of the Aurora, which is a crashed ship not too far from your escape pod. The small area in which you start out is the only thing that stands between you and the world below, and your first task will be to repair it. That means gathering materials and crafting tools – all while keeping yourself from dying of hunger or thirst.
You can probably guess by now that it can be a little challenging in this early stage of gameplay, and it was a struggle for me to keep myself from dying of thirst. Water and food aren't just given to you. You have to catch fish to cook, and you'll need to make fresh water to drink. This can be hard if you don't have the right tools.
But that's not the only challenge you'll face in the beginning. Until you have at least a couple of oxygen tanks, you won't be able to stay underwater for extended periods of time. And it can really slow you down.
If there's any consolation, the game does get easier as you progress – especially when you start to build underwater vehicles. That's when you can start moving beyond the shallow reef from which you started, and it's where the real fun begins.
One of the most common (and perhaps the most useful) tools of this game is the fabricator – a wall-mounted device that can be used for making stuff. Think of it as something similar to a replicator on Star Trek. It's where you cook food (I hope you like fish), make water, and craft tools.
You're going to need a welder to fix any broken vehicles, and you'll need it to repair your escape pod. You'll need a knife to gather various resources for crafting certain items. You'll definitely need a scanner, which you will use to get new blueprints (a necessary part of increasing your crafting repertoire). These are a few of the common tools you'll need, but there could be others as you progress in the game.
Vehicle Crafting
Vehicles play a major role in Subnautica gameplay, especially when you move into deeper water. And you'd be surprised how deep you can go. I've explored areas that are over 400 meters deep, and I almost crossed the 500-meter threshold. Each of the two vehicles has a maximum depth range, so you need to be careful how far down you go.
Unlike standard crafting, you won't be able to use the fabricator to build vehicles. You'll need a separate crafting station specifically for that purpose, and the blueprint isn't just handed to you on a platter. Remember what I said about finding blueprints? This is what I mean, but the fun doesn't stop there. You have to find blueprints for the vehicles themselves, and that can be far from easy.
Getting the blueprint for the first vehicle can be a challenge, but it's a breeze compared to the Cyclops – a full-fledged submarine that can be used for long-term expeditions. There are other things you have to consider as well, like finding a way to recharge batteries and power cells. Did I mention you have to get blueprints for those as well?
Seabase Building
As you progress in Subnautica, that little escape pod won't be nearly enough to support you because you'll only be able to do so much in that tiny area. That means you'll have to expand your operation.
If you have played survival games before, you know that building a base is an essential part of staying alive, and you also know that that the process is far from simple. You'll have to do some planning, and you need to be skilled at gathering the right materials. Believe me – you'll need a lot of it.
The good thing is that you can build your base pretty much anywhere. I chose to keep it close to where I started out, and it took many hours of gameplay to get it to the size that it is now. My strategy is to find certain "safe zones" where I can build scattered outposts throughout the game, because there are some potentially deadly creatures out there. I guess building seabases is like eating salted peanuts. You can't just have one.
Possible Negatives
Aside from the many positives of this game, there are some possible negatives, and they can be enough to turn some people off. Because it's still in development, there are occasional bugs. And they can be a bit annoying at times. The knife will stop working on occasion, usually while I'm farming certain types of coral. You would think that making another one would solve the problem, but to my chagrin that wasn't the case (believe me, I've tried). The only way to fix it is to close out the game and reboot, and that can be irritating if I'm in the middle of an expedition.
Subnautica also lacks a multiplayer option, which can be a stumbling block for some people. Part of playing these kind of games is interacting with other players – not that multiplayer doesn't have its downsides. Spending hours on a base to have someone else rob you blind and destroy what you built can be frustrating, so having a single-player option might not be a bad thing for some people.
Like any video game, Subnautica has its share of both good and bad, and because it's an early-access game some of the negatives are understandable. The question is if the good outweighs the bad. And in my opinion, they do. It's a great survival game that you can easily get caught up in, and in some ways it can be as bad as World of Warcraft. You can spend late nights playing this game. Just make sure you can show up on time for work the next morning.
John Grgurich is a freelance writer, YouTuber, and blogger who has spent the last year and a half writing online content for several companies. He has been gaming most of life, and he's played classics like Super Mario Brothers and Duck Hunt. He has a B.A. in English from Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi, and he has spent most of his life writing fiction, music, and poetry. Be sure to check out his channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/jgrgurichmusic, and follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/john_grgurich.


text:
The Damon HyperFighter Is The Do-Everything Electric Motorcycle You Probably Want
Unveiled at CES and available in three trims, the new naked electric starts at just $19,000
Bradley Brownell
Image: Damon Motorcycles
It feels like just yesterday that Damon Motorcycles unveiled the modular Hypersport, but in fact that was all the way back at CES in 2020. This year at the same show in Vegas, Damon launched its second model — the HyperFighter — which is more or less a reskin of the same drivetrain in a 'streetfighter' style of bodywork, rather than the Hypersport's sleeker sportbike proportions. The HyperFighter is the Streetfighter V4S to the Hypersport's Panigale, if that makes it easier for you.
The new HyperFighter is available in three trims. The Unlimited 15 is the base model bread and butter, delivering 150 horsepower, 120 miles of claimed range for nineteen grand. If you don't think 150 horsepower is enough for your motorcycle, you can order the Unlimited 20, which gives you a boost to 200 ponies in the stable, plus an extra 26 miles of range for $25,000.
If you want to go wild, you can order the limited edition Colossus model, which has the drivetrain of the Unlimited 20, but adds track-focused modifications like a single-sided swingarm, Ohlins dampers, Brembo binders, and a 170 mile per hour top speed. That Colossus comes with a truly colossal price at $35,000, however.
Like the earlier Hypersport models, the 'fighter comes with "Co-Pilot" which is the brand's 360-degree advanced warning system with radar, cameras, and sensors to keep the rider abreast of potential dangers. There's even a rear-view monitor in the dash to let you keep an eye on what's coming up directly behind you that you might not see in your mirrors.
Most of the time a Streetfighter-style bike features a more upright riding position with taller bars and foot pegs positioned under your hips. As was the case with the Hypersport, the HyperFighter features Damon's Shift system, that makes the ergonomics modular. At the press of a button you can move the foot pegs back and forth, while the bars can raise and lower. If you want a taller more casual experience for your commute, and an aggressive stance for a nice canyon ride, the Damon provides.
At 19 grand, the Unlimited 15 appeals to me. That's a pretty favorable price when compared to the competition in this market, like the LiveWire One and the Zero SR/F. If you want one, you can place a refundable deposit of $100 for the Unlimited 15 and 20, or $250 for the Colossus.
Beyond CarsMotorcycles


text:
Missouri governor signs bill banning abortions at 8 weeks
Friday, May 24, 2019 11:32 AM EDT
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (ABC) -
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson signed a bill on Friday that bans abortions at eight weeks of pregnancy, without exceptions in cases of rape or incest, among other stipulations and restrictions.
The state's new abortion law, which is not scheduled to be in effect until Aug. 28, is among the strictest in the nation. Last week, Alabama's governor signed a bill baring abortions in nearly all cases, though it was challenged by the ACLU and Planned Parenthood on Friday.
Missouri's Republican-controlled state legislature approved the bill, known as the "Missouri Stands for the Unborn Act," earlier this month. The legislation allows abortions to be performed after the eight-week cutoff only in cases of medical emergencies, such as when a pregnant woman is at risk of death or permanent physical injuries to "a major bodily function."
The bill also bans abortions done on the basis of the race or sex of a fetus or a diagnosis or screening indication of Down syndrome and changes a parental notification requirement for minors seeking abortions in the state. Previously, only one parent needed to provide written consent. Under this bill, both parents of a minor would need to be notified.
Additionally, the bill includes a "trigger" function, meaning if Roe v. Wade -- the landmark 1973 case that codified abortion as a protected right nationally -- gets overturned, abortion will become illegal in the state.
"By signing this bill today, we are sending a strong signal to the nation that, in Missouri, we stand for life, protect women's health, and advocate for the unborn," Parson said in a statement Friday. "All life has value and is worth protecting."


Myth: The joint committee — the so-called "super committee" — makes it easier for Congress to cut the programs we care about.
Fact: The joint committee system puts pressure on Republicans to seek compromise. As we all know, in this round of deficit reduction, there wasn't a lot of leverage bringing Republicans to the table. In round two, that changes.
If Republicans aren't willing to compromise, then the joint committee will fail. This would automatically trigger an additional $1.2 trillion in deficit reduction designed to be painful for both sides, with half that coming from savings in the defense budget.
Any package that comes from the Super Committee will get on up or down vote in both chambers of Congress. It can't be filibustered in the Senate or amended. This means if a bill comes from the super committee that cuts Medicare or Social Security benefits, it would be able to pass the Senate with only a simply majority, instead of the 60 votes required to overcome a filibuster.
It is a fact that the super committee created by the debt ceiling will make it easier for Congress to pass cuts to social safety net programs.
For the Obama administration to say this is myth is an outright lie.


text:
JFH Staff Review
CLICK COVER TO ENLARGE
Derek Minor
High Above - EP
Artist Info: Discography
Genre(s): Hip Hop / Rap
Album length: 8 tracks: 25 minutes, 28 seconds
Street Date: November 10, 2017
Welcome to part two of the four-part EP party that Reflection Music Group is dishing out courtesy of Derek Minor. Clocking in at around twenty three minutes, this is probably not what most fans of Minor were expecting, but if you take the time to enjoy the offering that is High Above, I think you will be able to appreciate what the RMG rapper has in store for rap fans. The vibe found on this short EP can be classified as relaxed hip hop without much of that gritty rhyming that Minor has become known for. However, the tracks do all carry a heavy theme of trusting and focusing on God, which listeners are sure to love.
"Heaven's Light" and "This Morning" are slower rap tunes with a heavy dose of the aforementioned theme. They both stand as great reminders to all who need encouragement in life. "Walls" comes along featuring Oscar Urbana, who is gaining popularity for "Teacher Chronicles" and "Molly Pitcher," and the duo collabs on a smooth track about making godly impacts. "High Enough" offers a lighter, more fun track featuring the Wal-Mart superstar WHATUPRG, and it is sure to make your head nod. In the end, this is not "Empire," but it's still a good listen. There's not a lot of Minor's clever humorous shots, and the viscous rhyming is missing, but the focus is extremely positive and very God oriented. While I generally prefer the standard Derek Minor, I applaud the creativity here and recommend all hip hop fans copping this.
- Review date: 8/25/17, written by Kevin Hoskins of Jesusfreakhideout.com
Record Label: Reflection Music Group / EMPIRE
Buy It: iTunes
Buy It: AmazonMP3
Heaven's Light (feat. Marissa Jerome & WHATUPRG) (3:40)
This Morning (feat. Anesha Birchett) (3:52)
Walls (feat. Urban Rescue) (3:39)
Higher Higher Higher (feat. Byron Juane) (3:08)
Tight Rope (feat. Roz) (3:12)
Tight Rope (Coda) (0:43)
High Enough (feat. WHATUPRG) (3:40)
Visions from the Top (3:34)


text:
package org.wyona.yanel.impl.resources;

import java.io.BufferedReader;
import java.io.InputStream;
import java.io.InputStreamReader;
import java.io.OutputStream;
import java.io.OutputStreamWriter;
import java.io.Reader;
import java.io.Writer;

import org.wyona.yanel.core.api.attributes.ModifiableV2;
import org.wyona.yanel.core.map.Realm;
import org.wyona.yanel.junit.AbstractYanelTest;

/**
 * Test for the XML Resource.
 */
public class XMLResourceTest extends AbstractYanelTest {

    protected XMLResource resource;

    public void setUp() throws Exception {
        super.setUp();
        this.testName = "Test for the XML Resource";

        Realm realm = yanel.getMap().getRealm("/test/");
        String path = "/test/test.html";
        resource = new XMLResource();
        resource.setPath(path);
        resource.setRealm(realm);

        /*
        String url = "/test/test-xml-resource.html";
        Map map = yanel.getMap();
        Realm realm = yanel.getMap().getRealm(url);
        Path path = yanel.getMap().getPath(realm, url);
        this.resource = yanel.getResourceManager().getResource(null, null, realm, path);
        */
    }

    public void testWriteRead() throws Exception {

        // Write resource
        OutputStream os = ((ModifiableV2)this.resource).getOutputStream();
        assertNotNull("getOutputStream() should not return null for path: " + this.resource.getPath(), os);
        Writer writer = new OutputStreamWriter(os, "UTF-8");
        String testContent = "Hello World! " + System.currentTimeMillis();

        writer.write(testContent);
        writer.close();

        // Read resource
        InputStream is = ((ModifiableV2)this.resource).getInputStream();
        assertNotNull("getInputStream() should not return null for path: " + this.resource.getPath(), is);
        Reader reader = new InputStreamReader(is, "UTF-8");
        BufferedReader br = new BufferedReader(reader);
        String line = br.readLine();
        br.close();
        reader.close();

        assertEquals(line, testContent);

    }

}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


I thought this would make a good book cover design case study example, in addition to the one I have previously written about the Grammar Rules cover design, showing the design process of how I went about tackling the design brief for the front cover to The Legend of Conan collection for Hesperus Press.
I was quite excited when I was offered the brief to work on a cover design for a collection of Robert E. Howard's short stories featuring Conan, his sword wielding barbarian hero. I enjoyed the Conan and the Red Sonja films from the 80s. The cover would be for a book of four stories collected under the banner The Legend of Conan. This would also capitalise on the upcoming film, again starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, of the same name.
The brief asked for a 'masculine' looking cover and something quite commercial. The client also wanted to include a strap line – 'Now a major motion picture' to tie in to the film release.
For the initial cover designs I provided to the client I included options featuring some different directions we could go in for the design. These included a strong-looking male warrior, landscapes with ruins, images featuring only weapons and different font options for the title and author name. My inspirations included the current cover designs for George R. R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire novels and Joe Abercrombie's novels. I was particularly happy with the first option – the moody black and white image of the warrior with the sword with a splatter of red blood that I added to it.
The client was also happy with the image of the warrior but wanted to see some more options featuring either a weapon or shield on an isolated background. They liked the typography on the second option but also wanted to see a couple of more options with some alternative 'stronger' and 'bolder' fonts.
For the revised options I tried some different crops for the image of the male warrior. In one I cropped in a lot closer upon his the sword he is gripping. My favourite cover option is this one. For the cover featuring only a shield I chose an aged, pale, white leather pattern to use as a suitable background. I tried some different variations of shields, swords and both items together. The fourth option here includes a swords and round shield image supplied by the client.
In the end the client decided to go with this option of the sword and shields on a background. Personally, I think they are wrong for the type of weapon used by main character but the client was happy with the image and preferred it to the alternatives I supplied.
Unfortunately though the book was placed on hold shortly before it was due to go to press. This was due to a copyright issue, apparently with the name 'Conan'. While the Robert E. Howard stories are out of copyright and in the the public domain, Conan is a registered trademark.
It was shame, as it was a fun cover to work on and I had also typeset the inside pages of the book. Still, maybe, one day… I'll be back.


text:
Q: Maven iPojo plugin with jdk16 i'm working on an OSGi project built with maven on a jdk1.7. the pom contanin maven-ipojo-plugin. i have migrate the project on an environment with jdk16 and i'm having a great trouble: maven-ipojo-plugin doesn't work when i build the projec with maven and e get the following error:
'''
[ERROR] Failed to execute goal org.apache.felix:maven-ipojo-plugin:1.12.1:ipojo-bundle (default) on project mdp-common-osgi-bundle: Execution default of goal org.apache.felix:maven-ipojo-plugin:1.12.1:ipojo-bundle failed.: IllegalArgumentException -> [Help 1]
org.apache.maven.lifecycle.LifecycleExecutionException: Failed to execute goal org.apache.felix:maven-ipojo-plugin:1.12.1:ipojo-bundle (default) on project mdp-common-osgi-bundle: Execution default of goal org.apache.felix:maven-ipojo-plugin:1.12.1:ipojo-bundle failed.
    at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.internal.MojoExecutor.execute (MojoExecutor.java:213)
    at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.internal.MojoExecutor.execute (MojoExecutor.java:154)
    at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.internal.MojoExecutor.execute (MojoExecutor.java:146)
    at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.internal.LifecycleModuleBuilder.buildProject (LifecycleModuleBuilder.java:117)
    at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.internal.LifecycleModuleBuilder.buildProject (LifecycleModuleBuilder.java:81)
    at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.internal.builder.singlethreaded.SingleThreadedBuilder.build (SingleThreadedBuilder.java:56)
    at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.internal.LifecycleStarter.execute (LifecycleStarter.java:128)
    at org.apache.maven.DefaultMaven.doExecute (DefaultMaven.java:305)
    at org.apache.maven.DefaultMaven.doExecute (DefaultMaven.java:192)
    at org.apache.maven.DefaultMaven.execute (DefaultMaven.java:105)
    at org.apache.maven.cli.MavenCli.execute (MavenCli.java:956)
    at org.apache.maven.cli.MavenCli.doMain (MavenCli.java:290)
    at org.apache.maven.cli.MavenCli.main (MavenCli.java:194)
    at jdk.internal.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0 (Native Method)
    at jdk.internal.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke (NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:78)
    at jdk.internal.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke (DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43)
    at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke (Method.java:567)
    at org.codehaus.plexus.classworlds.launcher.Launcher.launchEnhanced (Launcher.java:289)
    at org.codehaus.plexus.classworlds.launcher.Launcher.launch (Launcher.java:229)
    at org.codehaus.plexus.classworlds.launcher.Launcher.mainWithExitCode (Launcher.java:415)
    at org.codehaus.plexus.classworlds.launcher.Launcher.main (Launcher.java:356)
Caused by: org.apache.maven.plugin.PluginExecutionException: Execution default of goal org.apache.felix:maven-ipojo-plugin:1.12.1:ipojo-bundle failed.
    at org.apache.maven.plugin.DefaultBuildPluginManager.executeMojo (DefaultBuildPluginManager.java:148)
    at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.internal.MojoExecutor.execute (MojoExecutor.java:208)
    at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.internal.MojoExecutor.execute (MojoExecutor.java:154)
    at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.internal.MojoExecutor.execute (MojoExecutor.java:146)
    at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.internal.LifecycleModuleBuilder.buildProject (LifecycleModuleBuilder.java:117)
    at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.internal.LifecycleModuleBuilder.buildProject (LifecycleModuleBuilder.java:81)
    at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.internal.builder.singlethreaded.SingleThreadedBuilder.build (SingleThreadedBuilder.java:56)
    at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.internal.LifecycleStarter.execute (LifecycleStarter.java:128)
    at org.apache.maven.DefaultMaven.doExecute (DefaultMaven.java:305)
    at org.apache.maven.DefaultMaven.doExecute (DefaultMaven.java:192)
    at org.apache.maven.DefaultMaven.execute (DefaultMaven.java:105)
    at org.apache.maven.cli.MavenCli.execute (MavenCli.java:956)
    at org.apache.maven.cli.MavenCli.doMain (MavenCli.java:290)
    at org.apache.maven.cli.MavenCli.main (MavenCli.java:194)
    at jdk.internal.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0 (Native Method)
    at jdk.internal.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke (NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:78)
    at jdk.internal.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke (DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43)
    at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke (Method.java:567)
    at org.codehaus.plexus.classworlds.launcher.Launcher.launchEnhanced (Launcher.java:289)
    at org.codehaus.plexus.classworlds.launcher.Launcher.launch (Launcher.java:229)
    at org.codehaus.plexus.classworlds.launcher.Launcher.mainWithExitCode (Launcher.java:415)
    at org.codehaus.plexus.classworlds.launcher.Launcher.main (Launcher.java:356)
Caused by: java.lang.IllegalArgumentException
    at org.objectweb.asm.ClassReader.<init> (Unknown Source)
    at org.objectweb.asm.ClassReader.<init> (Unknown Source)
    at org.apache.felix.ipojo.manipulator.metadata.AnnotationMetadataProvider.computeAnnotations (AnnotationMetadataProvider.java:109)
    at org.apache.felix.ipojo.manipulator.metadata.AnnotationMetadataProvider.access$200 (AnnotationMetadataProvider.java:44)
    at org.apache.felix.ipojo.manipulator.metadata.AnnotationMetadataProvider$1.visit (AnnotationMetadataProvider.java:90)
    at org.apache.felix.ipojo.manipulator.store.JarFileResourceStore.accept (JarFileResourceStore.java:161)
    at org.apache.felix.ipojo.manipulator.metadata.AnnotationMetadataProvider.getMetadatas (AnnotationMetadataProvider.java:75)
    at org.apache.felix.ipojo.manipulator.metadata.CompositeMetadataProvider.getMetadatas (CompositeMetadataProvider.java:53)
    at org.apache.felix.ipojo.manipulator.Pojoization.pojoization (Pojoization.java:360)
    at org.apache.felix.ipojo.manipulator.Pojoization.pojoization (Pojoization.java:243)
    at org.apache.felix.ipojo.plugin.ManipulatorMojo.execute (ManipulatorMojo.java:265)
    at org.apache.maven.plugin.DefaultBuildPluginManager.executeMojo (DefaultBuildPluginManager.java:137)
    at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.internal.MojoExecutor.execute (MojoExecutor.java:208)
    at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.internal.MojoExecutor.execute (MojoExecutor.java:154)
    at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.internal.MojoExecutor.execute (MojoExecutor.java:146)
    at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.internal.LifecycleModuleBuilder.buildProject (LifecycleModuleBuilder.java:117)
    at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.internal.LifecycleModuleBuilder.buildProject (LifecycleModuleBuilder.java:81)
    at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.internal.builder.singlethreaded.SingleThreadedBuilder.build (SingleThreadedBuilder.java:56)
    at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.internal.LifecycleStarter.execute (LifecycleStarter.java:128)
    at org.apache.maven.DefaultMaven.doExecute (DefaultMaven.java:305)
    at org.apache.maven.DefaultMaven.doExecute (DefaultMaven.java:192)
    at org.apache.maven.DefaultMaven.execute (DefaultMaven.java:105)
    at org.apache.maven.cli.MavenCli.execute (MavenCli.java:956)
    at org.apache.maven.cli.MavenCli.doMain (MavenCli.java:290)
    at org.apache.maven.cli.MavenCli.main (MavenCli.java:194)
    at jdk.internal.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0 (Native Method)
    at jdk.internal.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke (NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:78)
    at jdk.internal.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke (DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43)
    at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke (Method.java:567)
    at org.codehaus.plexus.classworlds.launcher.Launcher.launchEnhanced (Launcher.java:289)
    at org.codehaus.plexus.classworlds.launcher.Launcher.launch (Launcher.java:229)
    at org.codehaus.plexus.classworlds.launcher.Launcher.mainWithExitCode (Launcher.java:415)
    at org.codehaus.plexus.classworlds.launcher.Launcher.main (Launcher.java:356)
'''

and the plugins are:
'''
<plugin>
    <groupId>org.apache.felix</groupId>
    <artifactId>maven-ipojo-plugin</artifactId>
    <version>1.12.1</version>
    <executions>
        <execution>
            <goals>
                <goal>ipojo-bundle</goal>
            </goals>
        </execution>
    </executions>
    <dependencies>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.ow2.asm</groupId>
            <artifactId>asm-all</artifactId>
            <version>6.0_BETA</version>
        </dependency>
    </dependencies>
</plugin>
'''

'''
<plugin>
    <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
    <version>3.10.1</version>
    <configuration>
        <release>16</release>
        <testRelease>16</testRelease>
    </configuration>
    <dependencies>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.apache.maven.doxia</groupId>
            <artifactId>doxia-module-markdown</artifactId>
            <version>1.6</version>
        </dependency>
    </dependencies>
</plugin>
'''

someone has resolved this trouble or knows how can it be resolved???
thank you

A: The output shows:
Caused by: java.lang.IllegalArgumentException
    at org.objectweb.asm.ClassReader.<init> (Unknown Source)
    at org.objectweb.asm.ClassReader.<init> (Unknown Source)
    at org.apache.felix.ipojo.manipulator.metadata.AnnotationMetada

That means the plugin is not ready to run with JDK16+ adding a dependency to asm does not help here because it looks like the plugins needs to be fixed...but based on this: https://search.maven.org/search?q=g:org.apache.felix%20AND%20a:maven-ipojo-plugin
it looks like the plugin is not maintained any more and I strongly recommend to search for an alternative... Also I would suggest to upgrade to at least JDK 17 instead of JDK 16 (https://www.oracle.com/java/technologies/java-se-support-roadmap.html)
Adding a dependency (markdown?) to the maven-compiler-plugin is simply wrong because the maven-compiler-plugin compiles code but does not generate any html output or parses markdown files...

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Search in titles only Search in Porcupine Tree only
Progressive Bands
Porcupine Tree - Closure/Continuation
OnwardToSunhillow
Last edited by OnwardToSunhillow; 01-14-2023, 07:01 AM.
I'm a bit hopeful. I have a rather patchy selection of Porcupine Tree / Steven Wilson tracks. I'm hoping to be able to add a couple more to those.
luna65
"expert level" Rabinite
I didn't particularly enjoy the new song, but I'm willing to give the new album a listen.
Rabin-esque
my labor of love (and obsessive research)
rabinesque.blogspot.com
Ash Armstrong
Old and grey...
Reunited prog-rockers Porcupine Tree on surviving their rift: 'You can't help but feel bitter' | Pop and rock | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com
The cult prog band fizzled out in 2010 when leader Steven Wilson lost interest – but never thought to tell his bandmates. What's brought the trio back together? And is this closure or a fresh start?
Sometimes the lights all shining on me, other times I can barely see.
Lately it occurs to me what a long strange trip it's been.
Listening to "Of The New Day" - I think I like it somewhat better than "Harridan" but it reminds me why I've never really been a PT/SW fan. There's just something about his voice I don't like.
Deklerium
I've enjoyed all tracks released so far. But the latest one, 'Rats Return' is the best in my opinion. Can't wait to see them in November (even though its at Wembley)
michelforest
I was never a big PT fan. I did like some songs, but I prefer Wilson's solo albums, even if I was very disappointed by The Future Bites. I will listen to the new album for sure. After 12 years, this is an event.
Mr. Holland
Yes Master
In a national Dutch newspaper the new album got five stars (out of five).
It's on my shopping list for payday next week, along with Peter Jackson's Get Back BluRay.
For those who might be interested there is an MP3 or FLAC download of all the tracks including the 3 bonus, the instrumental mixes and artwork for the bargain price of £4.99 for a limited period -
Porcupine Tree - Closure / Continuation - Porcupine Tree - Closure / Continuation Deluxe Digital Album (tmstor.es)
pjt
I was kinda ambivalent about the album, the singles were good, but didn't really catch me. But now I've listened to the album a couple of times and on every listen I love it more and more.
Originally posted by Steve983 View Post
Thanks very much for posting this link. I bought it. I doubt I'd have gone for it at the price I've seen it for elsewhere, though I may well have downloaded a few tracks.
So far I am enjoying it - mostly for the effect of the harmonies and the general Porcupine Tree sound. It will take me a bit longer to absorb the album, but I'm confident I will end up liking a lot of it. (I have yet to listen to the instrumental versions. That will happen once I am more familiar with the original songs.)
So thanks again for the link! It has made me happy.
I like their early stuff much better. Once they started to get heavy , I think they became more one dimensional. I also am not convinced by Wilson as a singer nor as a guitar player - as regards the latter , he just seems to strum. If you compare him to the deftness of Howe for example ……
Yesed
A Ten true summer Yesfan
Definitely looking forward to this album. After hearing this first release, I think its going to be really good. Held my attention straight through on the first listen, whether that's good or bad . Wilson's expected great production doesnt hurt. Im a big fan of his first album, and most PT albums, so Im not hard to please regarding the band.
Spiritual Architect
True Yesfan
I consider ALL the Porcupine Tree albums to be better than anything Yes has made since The Ladder.


text:
Here's a list of school and public facility closures in the Mid-South during the icy weather
Multi-vehicle crash shuts down part of I-240 near Lamar Ave
Ice Storm Warning in effect for the Memphis area through noon
What is freezing rain, and why is it so dangerous?
Memphis, TN »
ABC24 This Week
Mom grateful for UGA players who stepped up when 8-year-old couldn't use restroom without paying
When this mom took her daughter inside a Subway for the restroom, the employee told her it was for paying customers. Two football players overheard and helped out.
Author: Megan Yoder
Published: 12:12 PM CDT July 1, 2020
Updated: 12:42 PM CDT July 1, 2020
ATHENS, Ga. — Christie Williams Myers and her family were walking around their alma mater, The University of Georgia, and the surrounding town of Athens, on June 20, when their daughter Avery needed to use the restroom.
It was a little more difficult than usual to find a public bathroom, since most campus buildings, restaurants and stores were closed because of the coronavirus.
So when they found a Subway that was open, Avery, 8, made a beeline for the restroom.
That's when an employee told them the bad news: only paying customers could use the restroom. And Christie didn't have her wallet with her to buy anything.
They were about to leave when two young men caught their attention and wanted to help. To Christie's surprise, they purchased a cookie so Avery could go to the bathroom.
RELATED: Abused teen thought she'd never be adopted until a mother traveled across the globe just before the pandemic
"They were so sweet, kind and so polite," Christie said.
After visiting the restroom with Avery, Christie went back to the front of the store to thank the men. They began chatting, and she soon learned the two were players on the UGA football team.
Defensive back Latavious Brini is a junior majoring in human development and family science.
His friend, freshman Jalen Kimber, is also a defensive back.
Avery was excited to be meeting members of the football team, and Christie took a photo of all three.
RELATED: Mother and daughter doctors matched at the same hospital for residency
Credit: Christie Williams Myers
She shared the photo on Facebook to thank the men for their act of kindness and recognize them for being thoughtful.
"To some it may seem like a small act, but I was so thankful and impressed that these 2 college kids who don't have kids of their own gave so freely and without hesitation to help us out... Fine young men who asked for nothing in return and a great example. A much needed ray of sunshine," she wrote.
The post has been shared by more than 140,000 people.
HeartThreads are the best stories about the best of us. Want more? Follow us: Facebook
© 2023 WATN-TV. All Rights Reserved.
WATN would like to send you push notifications about the latest news and weather.


As we draw closer to Halloween, aka Samhain, aka the time when the veil between the spirit and the living worlds are connected, it is a perfect time to welcome Maeanna Welti, author of the Healing Wheel Samhain-to-Samhain workbook, to The Queer Witch Podcast.
-Spherical versus Linear; an approach to gender as well as time. Exspherience the difference!
-The bright side of being trapped in a human body. Human magick, such as time magick, the wheel of the year, and other forms of magick that are unique to humans, bringing spiritual experiences to the material realm.
-what wheel of the year work is, and how working with the temporal changes in your location can intensify you magick, plus some sneak peeks from the Healing Wheel workbook about the year ahead and what to pay attention to!


Advance Auto Parts, Inc. is a leading automotive aftermarket parts provider that serves both professional installer and do-it-yourself customers. As of December 30, 2017, Advance operated 5,054 stores and 129 Worldpac branches and employed approximately 71,000 Team Members in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The company also serves approximately 1,218 independently owned Carquest branded stores across these locations in addition to Mexico and the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos, British Virgin Islands and Pacific Islands.
CARQUEST Auto Parts provides retail and wholesale auto parts. They provide check engine light scanning, wiper blade replacements, battery testing and installation, starter and alternator testing, free loaner tools and oil and battery recycling.


text:
Q: Size of a dictionary I am currently designing a website in C#, which uses some very complex code to generate a search list, which I am currently designing as a tree-like structure.
The main reason I am using a tree is the fact that this website is high-traffic and has a very complex search filter, which means scalability is very important. However, I am worried that the memory requirements of the tree may outweigh the effective processing requirements of simply recalculating values every time.
Is there a reliable way to measure the size of a dictionary in C#? The Marshal.SizeOf() method will not allow this as the code is not unmanaged.

A: The best bet is to run the load on the site under different models and check the relevant performance counters.
As a simplification, you could extract just the code that creates and stores data structures, and embed that into a console application.  Run a simulated load and check the performance counters there.  You can vary things and measure the impact on memory consumption and garbage collection.  Doing this would isolate the effects you want to measure.
If you're thinking, "gee, that sounds like a lot of work," then you are better off just buying more memory.

A: One way to do it ... initialize your tree with an arbitrary number of elements, measure the memory size consumed by the process, add 1000 new elements, measure the memory size again, subtract and divide.

A: You could to create a small app with a single Dictionary, and then analyze it in several scenarios using WinDbg or ClrProfiler.
I don't think there is a way to get the total size of the object in run-time (apart from traversing internal fields using reflection?)


text:
Gisulf II (Gisulfo II di Friuli; abt. 545 – 611) was the Duke of Friuli from around 591 to his death. He was the son and successor of Grasulf I of Friuli.

Gisulf and Gaidoald of Trent were at odds with King Agilulf until they made peace in 602 or 603. Gisulf also allied with the Avars to make war on Istria.

Gisulf was involved in the local church. The bishops of "the schismatics of Istria and Venetia," as Paul the Deacon calls them, fled to the protection of Gisulf. Gisulf also took part in the confirmation of the succession of Candidianus to the patriarchate of Aquileia in 606.

The most significant event of his reign occurred probably in 611. When the Avars invaded Italy, Gisulf's territory was the first they passed through. Gisulf summoned a large army and went to meet them. The Avars were a larger force, however, and they soon overwhelmed the Lombards. Gisulf died in battle, and his duchy was overrun. He left four sons and four daughters by his wife Romilda (or Ramhilde). His elder two sons, Tasso and Kakko, succeeded him.

Gisulf's younger sons, Radoald and Grimoald, fled to Arechis I of Benevento, a relative of Gisulf's. They both eventually became dukes of Benevento in turn, and Grimoald even became king. Gisulf left two daughters, Appa and Geila (or Gaila). Paul the Deacon says that one married the King of the Alemanni (uncertain) and another the Prince of the Bavarians, probably Garibald II of Bavaria, but he does not identify who married whom.

Notes

Sources
Paul the Deacon. Historia Langobardorum. Available at Northvegr.

|-

611 deaths
Dukes of Friuli
Lombard warriors
Military personnel killed in action
6th-century Lombard people
7th-century Lombard people
6th-century rulers in Europe
7th-century rulers in Europe
Year of birth uncertain

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
by Anthony Lipmann and Lord Copper
The first part of this article is written by Anthnony Lipmann
Poor old Karl Marx - he gets such a bad press these days; as of course do Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell. You just have to hitch the name of Marx to either for the bogeyman effect to work. This is something that Daniel Finkelstein has done rather well in an article in The Times entitled 'Marxist McDonnell is no laughing matter'.
In 18th Century Britain, little children were told by their parents to be good and go to sleep in case Napoleon came and got them. Imagine now the fear if you mentioned Jeremy Corbyn or John McDonnell might pop round.
The problem with Marx is that he is everyone's bogeyman – and so his name may be lazily attached to almost anyone and any subject to the left of centre with great effect. You do not need to be a Marxist to be disturbed by this. Marx, for example, said somewhere that if his ideas were ever put into practice he certainly wouldn't be a Marxist. In other words he did not want to be his own bogeyman!
What I would like to do in this short article, which is inspired by the fact that my colleague, Lord Copper, forwarded me Finkelstein's article, is to touch on who I personally think Marx was and what his ideas have meant to me.
It seems a shame, that to call someone a Marxist today is sufficient to summon up the most extraordinary image in the middle-class mind. When I was at University, it was quite usual to be studying in close proximity to fellow students who might have a Marxist view of the world. On the English course this might mean being a follower of Terry Eagleton's writings or Raymond Williams' interpretation of 19th Century English Literature. If you wanted to carry your interest a little further you might go to an evening 'Left Caucus' meeting in a college basement on the subject of 'Troops Out of Northern Ireland', or carry a poster and go on a march against the latest loan to Wadham College by the Shah of Iran's sister. This was the left in practice at student politics level. Politics was at least as important as whatever subject you were studying – our young minds were exercised by injustice.
Perhaps I am stretching a point, but it could be said that 'a Marxist' is no more than someone who is either interested in, or indeed critical of, the ideas of Karl Marx, and intrigued by the man himself; the one who struggled in penury writing his great work, Capital, in 19th Century Soho, the rent man for ever at the door, his children dying of consumption, while his furniture was removed by the bailiffs. He fascinated me and he was for sure one of the great thinkers of the modern era – and, for that alone, we should be interested in him. He was a great thinker and whoever said thinking was a bad thing? Perhaps we do not do enough.
Marx was writing in London because he thought the great industrial beast of Britain was ripest for revolution. He was convinced that it would take place on the dockyards of the Clyde, where the downtrodden shipbuilders were tough and exploited and certainly did not own the means of production. It is not difficult to see why he thought this, but I am fascinated by his error and how it illuminates what is so interesting about Marx, and how his thought became transmuted into everybody's bogeyman, known as Marxism.
I remember reading The Communist Manifesto for the first time in my teens, and then later in life, and on each occasion thinking to myself 'This? This started all that?' For anyone reading about the 'hobgoblin' slouching towards us, you would know that this was polemic, argument, dissertation, dialectic. What is was not, and at 14 years old I knew it wasn't, was a blueprint for a new society. If you are Jewish, as I am, you would also simply recognise the Jewish method of argument, disputatious pamphleteering, argument for argument's sake, such as I am indulging in now.
The puzzle is to ask why The Communist Manifesto, and Capital, were adopted as blueprints for a new society, and why was it that Russia became its first incarnation?
My theory for this, which is partly based on my Eastern European travel, is the simple observation that the Slavic people are more communal by nature. It was the very communality of old Slavic society, beneath Tsarist oppression, which was the fertile ground that allowed Marx's theorising to be so macabrely adopted, as if it was a guide to the London Underground. Even today, in my interactions with older Russians or Poles, brought up under the communist system, a residual belief in communality pertains, an idea of what communism could have been, and these same people feel cheated by its embodiment in the hands of Bolshevists and Stalinists who used Marxism as their hymn book with such dreadful consequences.
Marx's basic principle - and it needs airing as much today as then - was that communality was the means to allow groups to share the fruits of their labour for the profit of the community rather than the individual.
Now, however naïve this ideal might sound today, after it was hijacked by apparatchiks, embittered Lenin, psychopathic Stalin, and lead booted human systems; however much Marx's ideas were turned into a religion without a god, to a mechanism with which to condemn vast numbers of people in the Slavic world to perverted dictatorship; however Marx's writing became a guide book for intolerance and the tool of despots – still, when I read parts of his writing I can feel sympathy with the anger that he felt at a capitalist system that so exploited the weak.
So it is that Daniel Finkelstein, in his Times column may sneer at McDonnell and cite Marx's largely unread tomes as an epithet with which to disparage a politician who dares to raise issues with regard the imperfections of capitalism.
But, dear reader, read just a few lines of Marx's descriptions of 19th Century industrial working life, where children are taken from their beds, white and pasty at three in the morning, to be sent down the coal mines and you will realise you are in the presence of a writer almost as great as Dickens; one who was motivated and sickened by the same injustices. They both wrote in anger, and their contemporaneous writings are, to me, the most humungous exercises in anger management in history.
In Dickens' case, it was transmuted into the vast gallery of all life and characters who became part of stories that pitted the young against the sickening stench of capitalism in its rawest forms. Who, having read Dickens, cannot have been revolted by the system at work – undiluted capitalism – that could give us characters such as the snarling, snide and sneering Quilp, the obsequious, sycophantic Uriah Heep, and miserly, exploitative Fagin, the pompous certainties of a Gradgrind - always characters set in power over the weak - orphan children, young women, at the mercy of a world that would use a child or young woman's work for monetary gain.
You might think that quoting those two near contemporaries, Marx and Dickens, is an abstruse way to defend Mr McDonnell. But just how far in our modern world do we need to travel to find the same issues that exercised Dickens and Marx?
It turns out that if you are in copper, tin, gold or tantalite - not so far at all. In fact, I would ask, who among our number of metal merchants, miners, LME speculators, is not in some way or other standing on the shoulders of the weak – those in developing countries, still on wages and in conditions that both Dickens and Marx would recognise.
You think I am exaggerating? Well then let me ask specifically how many of you reading this article are connected in some way to the disaster that is the Un-Democratic Republic of Congo, the poorest, most lawless, country in the world, where the warlord and the artisanal child miner are handcuffed together by poverty.
The anger management of Dickens resulted in the cornucopia of story and prose, the same anger kept Marx writing in his cell in Soho, with his personal life in tatters and his body collapsing into ill-health, in an heroic attempt to reform society's ways, invent a new system, try to redress the baronial power of….Capital.
Modern supporters of capitalism would perhaps defend it by stating that it is the one true way in which to unleash the human spirit of enterprise. Could Google or Microsoft or Apple ever have been created in The Soviet Union, you might ask? But as societies rattle around in the 21st Century in a rather disturbed state, it might not be unwise to look back to Marx to find some answers, or at least some questions.
The one thing that every defender of capitalism will tell you is that every exploitative trick is OK, every rapacious need to succeed in business is fine because in the end your success will be shared – via tax. But what happens, then, when that half of the equation is not as efficient as it could be. In other words, what happens when large corporations find it only too easy not to pay tax.
For me much of what is wrong in our society, as much as the metal trade, comes down to this issue of tax – what we put in the pot for the common good – the roads, schools and hospitals. Right now, we know how easy it is for large corporations to site business in low tax regions and route electronic orders away from high tax jurisdictions. In our metal trade, all too many of our number reside in such locations, whether it be Zug or Singapore, from which it is possible to make largely unaccountable forays into developing countries, transferring wealth from poor to rich, while allowing work to take place in 19th century conditions.
So, when McDonnell and others are motivated to talk about bringing in money from global corporations who are not paying their dues he has my entire support. If he likes to describe himself as a Marxist in this endeavour it is just fine by me. And, interestingly, he is not so far apart from Theresa May who has described global companies as 'being everywhere but resident nowhere'. Those avoiding tax today are the most corrosive element in our society for they reduce the pot for the common good.
Call McDonnell a Marxist but if capitalism is to survive it needs to be made much more accountable to the law. In 2012, at Dickens' bicentenary, one of his heirs, Lucinda Dickens Hawksley, wrote: 'The essence of almost all Dickens' writing was the belief that those with money, power and influence need to take responsibility for those who are disenfranchised. Imagine how different our societies could be today if this belief was genuinely put into practice.'
This part of the article was written by Lord Copper
Mmm… When you appear as a witness in an English court of law, the punch line of the oath you are required to swear is "I promise to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth." We probably tend to think of the first part being the nitty gritty, and perhaps gloss over the other two requirements. I would suggest that in his piece above, Anthony has stuck with parts one and three, but part two has somehow slipped under the radar.
This debate started when I sent Anthony an article from the Times, written by Danny Finkelstein, which was headed by an image of shadow chancellor of the exchequer, John McDonnell, addressing a crowd while standing under a red flag complete with hammer and sickle, and a flag of the Syrian Ba'ath party (for the avoidance of doubt, because middle-eastern factionalism can be confusing, that's Assad's party - he of barrel bombs and the like). We'll come back to that.
Where I agree with Anthony is that Marx was indeed a philosopher, a man interested in the inequalities of nineteenth century society, with ideas that could have improved the lot of many. Like Dickens; again, I agree.
I'm not sure about the Slav versus Western European as the reason why the revolution happened in Russia, rather than the UK, as Marx had postulated. I think the reasons are different.
Through the second half of the nineteenth century, there was social progress in the UK. After 1832, successive Representation of the People Acts (notably 1867) widened the electoral franchise - I fully agree, very slowly: after all, it didn't become truly universal until 1918 - but there was movement. Likewise, trade unionism was moving industry - slowly, slowly - towards a more responsible position.
For all the vicious mill owners, there were also Frys, Cadburys and the like, whose more enlightened views were gaining wider recognition. Progress was being made, helped enormously by the fact that the economy of the UK was succeeding spectacularly. True, most of the new wealth - but not all, which is the important point - stuck to the fingers of the aristos and bourgeoisie, but the fact is there was a lot more money circulating.
Contrast that with Russia. It's true that in 1861 Alexander II "freed the serfs", but actually, that edict made little difference (serfs were not actually technically slaves, so the emancipation was more about words than reality). Add to that a class of aristocrats who behaved with less feeling for their "inferiors" than that shown by the French a century earlier, a disastrous mess in the First World War and a secret police and military who were more than ready to shoot those who questioned whether the system was really fair, and I suspect that all these factors probably played a greater part than an inbuilt slavic desire for communality. Could be wrong, though.
I would be inclined to suggest, given that his name was raised, that Dickens actually had a better grasp of the reality of nineteenth century Britain than Marx did, and saw that incremental progress was in fact the more rational development, rather than violent revolution.
What Marx begat, though, was a raft of -isms that sprang from his thinking. Communism, Leninism, Trotskyism, Stalinism, Maoism, and undoubtedly others, all of which originate in the essential opening gambit that private ownership of things is wrong and assets should be held communally. In our trading terms, Marx's thinking was the underlying, and the -isms were the suite of derivative products. Now, Marx stressed "communally", but that hasn't worked, and wherever it's been tried, the net result has been that the assets in fact end up owned and controlled by the state. And for "the state", let's be honest and read, "a small cadre of party members".
We should probably look at the score card here. Stalin? Lets's say 30 million plus. Mao? Similar, say another 30 million. Pol Pot? Coupe of million. Fidel and Hugo? Small beer, really, but then they had less to work with. That's not just a score card, by the way. That's lives. People killed by their rulers because they didn't agree with a political ideology. Now, I'm sure Marx had no inkling that this is what his philosophising would lead to, but that's where we are. Incidentally, it's probably also worth noting that free-market capitalism has been lifting millions out of poverty globally for a long while now. It's not perfect, but what is?
I agree with Anthony that taxes should be paid, but there are a couple of points here. First, we should remember that tax is not a system for the redistribution of wealth; it is the means by which society pays for the services, the infrastructure and so on that it deems necessary.
Secondly, the inhuman labour conditions in, for example, some Congolese mines are more to do with corruption than tax. Yes, there is a linkage, but while corruption is rife, the issue won't go away. Frankly, the easiest way to make people pay their taxes is to remove the loopholes they exploit. And the easiest way to do that is to simplify the tax code; the simpler it is, the more difficult it is to find ways around it. Sadly, finance ministers across the world have for years thought themselves cleverer than they are, and they have tinkered again and again, creating unforeseen consequences that do nothing but make the problem get bigger and bigger.
But just like the incremental social progress I referred to in the nineteenth century, I would suggest that ultimately the greatest pressure on tax-dodging will come from shareholders. Just as it slowly dawned on nineteenth century landowners that they would have to grant a voting franchise more widely, so we will see ethical pressure from shareholders continue to build - free market capitalism in action, again.
So, to come back to McDonnell and that photograph. He has subsequently said that he was not aware of the flags on the platform; well, google it yourself and see. I would suggest that one would need to be seriously visually impaired to be unaware of flags that size in one's immediate vicinity. And then, if a thirty second google search will find clips of you saying "I make no bones about it, I'm a Marxist", it's pretty stupid to go on TV (Andrew Marr, 7th May) and when asked the simple question, "Are you a Marxist?" to say "No". You see, Anthony, nobody wishes to avoid discussion, debate or conversation. But if one side takes the view that truth is infinitely flexible, then it becomes rather difficult. We're in the middle of an election campaign, though, and McDonnell is canny enough to understand that Marxism doesn't play well in the broadly centrist UK; but hey, we're in a post-truth era, aren't we, so why be constrained by silly things like facts? After all, war is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength, as George Orwell told us in 'Nineteen Eighty-Four'. By the time he wrote that, by the way, Orwell - another great thinker - had fallen out of love with the derivatives of Marxism he had espoused a decade earlier.
I have no time for Donald Trump, but he's not the first person to think about walls. There used to be one across the continent of Europe. But this one was to keep people in, not out, like Trump's. And if they weren't put off by the wall, and tried to cross it, guards with guns were there to shoot and kill them. They wanted to leave the Marxist state and go into the free market one.
We live in a world where you, Anthony, and I can disagree substantially, yet still be good friends, precisely because we can talk about ideas. I'll leave you with a quote from Chris Mullin, former Labour MP, and therefore colleague of McDonnell: "One suspects, however, that behind that affable exterior he is drawing up lists of those to be shot on Day One of the revolution." I know - sadly - where that will leave me and our ability to continue our discussions……… Idealism is fine, but if it always leads to the same place - camps and firing squads, which is what the twentieth century tells us - perhaps the ideal is the wrong one.


Rise of The Footsoldier: The Pat Tate Story. Blu Ray review and unboxing.
Hello all and welcome to this review and unboxing of the Blu Ray version of Rise of the Footsoldier The Pat Tate Story. Starring Craig FairBrass Eastender's Dirty Dan. Terry Stone, Shaun Ryder, Ian Virgo, Josh Myers, Jamie Foreman Eastender's Derek Branning Max and Jack's Brother and Larry Lam. The first two movies were brilliant and I like these Eastend crossed with Gansta Style movies. If you enjoy the video please like, favourite, share, comment and subscribe for more like this. Recorded on Thurday 28th December 2017.


Breeding, like fusion, offers a method of combining the features of two different monsters. When breeding you assign one monster as the + monster and one as a - monster. The dynamics of breeding change depending on which type you choose.
Normal breeding produces an Egg. When this egg hatches you will produce a completely new Monster that features the body of the + parent with the coloring of the - parent. Hatch-lings are at level 4.
The offspring can have any combination of moves (including future learned-moves!), quirks, typing or stats inherited from both parents.
In your journeys you will come across odd items that can be activated at the farm to influence and force certain traits to be inherited over others giving you a fine level of control.
When breeding, if you're playing online a copy of your offspring's genes is uploaded to the Crowns server. When performing a Net Egg breed you only enter a single monster. Afterwards, a random monster gene is pulled from the server and combined with your monster to produce a very surprising egg!
High Temperature Breeding is a volatile and potent form of breeding. The embryo created by two monsters mating grows quickly (perhaps too quickly) and leaves it's egg immediately. The embryo joins your team.
Not yet fully mature, the embryo is very fragile and cannot attack or take any damage. You will have to raise it to level 4 before it transforms into its true self.
However, having an embryo is useful - you can easily check stats and moves immediately after breeding without having to wait for an egg to hatch. Competitive breeders will find this feature quite useful when breeding for the perfect stat spread.
So the Net Egg is technically Wonder Trade mixed with the breeding functions ?
CostarZ wrote: So the Net Egg is technically Wonder Trade mixed with the breeding functions ?
I love this idea. I always liked Gen 6 Pokemon's Wonder Trade feature, and this reminds me of a free (now-defunct) Monster Rancher app for mobile devices that did pretty much the same thing, but less involved and random.
Glad you're a fan It'll be cool, mostly just for fun. You obviously want to breed competitive monsters carefully and remove elements of randomness.
Net Egg sounds pretty neat. Can't wait to see what kind of abomination I can get out of it.
I remember something you mentioned long time ago, about how if parents defeated lots of monster <instert name> their offspring would be more powerful against monster <insert the same name>. is this feature still coming in?
Randwarf wrote: I remember something you mentioned long time ago, about how if parents defeated lots of monster <instert name> their offspring would be more powerful against monster <insert the same name>. is this feature still coming in?
It is! But it won't be the sole decider like it used to be. It'll be a factor in breeding, one you can encourage or over-ride with items.
So what would these items be and how would you make them effect breeding? would they be held or used or what?
Zaiwolfgang wrote: So what would these items be and how would you make them effect breeding? would they be held or used or what?
They'd be left on a special pedestal in the breeding room. Their presence will affect how eggs and offspring develop.
Hey, about the fusion and breeding mechanics to create new Crownies, I was thinking; how are we going to be able to identify created-monsters in the online interface without an official name?


HOUMA � Terrebonne levee officials voted to immediately begin designing $168 million worth of hurricane protection work Monday that they say can be constructed with state and local dollars.
Included in the plan are 32 miles of levee across lower Terrebonne from lower Dularge to Pointe-aux-Chenes, four floodgates and a barge protection structure to block water from surging up the Houma Navigation Canal.
The unanimous vote by the levee board marked a big step in their plan to forge ahead with the Morganza-to-the-Gulf hurricane protection project without federal assistance.
The work was parceled out between three local engineering firms, Gulf South Engineers, Shaw Coastal and Evans and Graves Engineers. Each firm has been tasked with churning out the designs for their projects in 6 months.
The decision to forge ahead without the Army Corps of Engi-neers is a risk the board has decided to undertake after encountering numerous delays and bureaucratic hurdles getting the Morganza-to-the-Gulf levee system off the ground.
After finally winning congres-sional approval last year � the step locals had always assumed would kick start construction � the corps instead decided to send the embattled project back to the drawing table for more studies.
Locals say they will build what they can in the name of getting some protection in place. In this case, Alford said, 100-foot-wide levees reach a height of 8 and � to 10 feet, along with four 15-foot tall floodgates.
They will use money raised by a local quarter-cent sales tax, $75 million in state surplus dollars and other state moneys accumulated for the project over the years.
Curole admitted that the levee board had not discussed the decision to forge ahead alone with the corps in �great detail,� but he added that levee officials under-stand their risking the possibility to get federal credit for any work they do alone.


oans to local financial institutions, and short-term loans to companies, as well as overdraft lines of credit, discounted instruments, real estate mortgage loans, collateral loans, consumer loans, credit card loans, and short-term placements in foreign banks. In addition, the company offers fire, household, civil liability, theft, personal accidents, group life, and other insurance coverage products; payroll management services; investment fund and pension management services; stock exchange brokerage; and insurance advisory services to customers in the areas of coverage of risks related to life, personal accidents, as well as home and automatic teller machines (ATMs) robbery insurance. Further, it provides portfolio and asset management; foreign trade services, including letters of credit, collections, bank drafts, fund transfers, and foreign currency transactions; and electronic banking and trust services, as well as issues and trades in commercial papers, corporate bonds, trust bonds, other credit instruments, and futures and options. As of December 31, 2015, it operated through a network of 285 attention-to-clients units; 14 in-company branches; 1 points of sale; and other distribution channels, such as 694 ATMs, 797 self-service terminals, a telephone banking, and an Internet banking service. The company was formerly known as Banco Frances S.A. and changed its name to BBVA Banco Frances S.A. in October 2000. The company was founded in 1886 and is headquartered in Buenos Aires, the Republic of Argentina.
BBVA Banco Frances S.A., together with its subsidiaries, provides various financial services to corporations, medium and small companies, and individual customers in Spain, Mexico, South America, the United States, and Eurasia. The company offers checking and savings accounts, time deposits, and trading and investment accounts. It also provides loans to the public sector, loans to local financial institutions, and short-term loans to companies, as well as overdraft lines of credit, discounted instruments, real estate mortgage loans, collateral loans, consumer loans, credit card loans, and short-term placements in foreign banks. In addition, the company offers fire, household, civil liability, theft, personal accidents, group life, and other insurance coverage products; payroll management services; investment fund and pension management services; stock exchange brokerage; and insurance advisory services to customers in the areas of coverage of risks related to life, personal accidents, as well as home and automatic teller machines (ATMs) robbery insurance. Further, it provides portfolio and asset management; foreign trade services, including letters of credit, collections, bank drafts, fund transfers, and foreign currency transactions; and electronic banking and trust services, as well as issues and trades in commercial papers, corporate bonds, trust bonds, other credit instruments, and futures and options. As of December 31, 2015, it operated through a network of 285 attention-to-clients units; 14 in-company branches; 1 points of sale; and other distribution channels, such as 694 ATMs, 797 self-service terminals, a telephone banking, and an Internet banking service. The company was formerly known as Banco Frances S.A. and changed its name to BBVA Banco Frances S.A. in October 2000. The company was founded in 1886 and is headquartered in Buenos Aires, the Republic of Argentina.


Here at mkwii.org, all the codes you see posted in this forum have been TESTED and they WORK***! Many other code sites have incorrect codes, non-working codes, fake codes, etc. Other code sites might have a working code, but their porting for other regions is incorrect. Also on mkwii.org, the Korean MKW is not neglected. Due to the rules, all codes must be supplied with a NTSC-K version. Other code sites don't have this rule.
To ensure legitimacy with the codes posted on mkwii.org, all threads here in the Codes forum go through approval by me. Before you post a thread, please test your code. When I see a thread pending for approval i will review the code(s).
Please read the entire rules in this thread HERE before posting a thread for approval. Actually, read the rules twice.
Just because I review all code(s) doesn't mean you ignore the rules completely before posting a thread for approval. If you create a pattern of constantly posting bad codes thinking I will 'fix' it for you, then you will receive a strike on your reputation and/or receive a ban.
If thread approval is denied due to the code not working at all, being fake, made up, etc; it will be moved to the Graveyard forum.
If code(s) is all good, I will simply approve the thread.
2. Find the Icon Picture at the top that says 'Graphics'. Click on it to open Graphics settings.
3. Go to the Hacks Tab.
4. Underneath External Frame Buffer settings, be sure the box for "Store XFB Copies to Texture Only" is unchecked.
Current time: 04-23-2019, 12:25 PM Powered By MyBB, © 2002-2019 MyBB Group.


text:
Pictures: Amazing Couple From New York tie the Knot!
Yaya Toure: African Football Legend leaves City at end of season
Senegal's $575 Million Airport is the Latest Talk of Town
Nigerian Becomes the First Black Female President at Harvard Law Review
Who is your BBC African Footballer of the Year 2016?
Top 10 African Players to Feature For Chelsea and Manchester United
Feature: Wizkid, Patoranking and All Winners at MAMA Awards 2016
Big Opportunity: General Electric to invest $150 million in Nigeria by 2017
Ethiopia will create 100,000 jobs to tackle its refugee problem
[Photos] – The Wedding That Brought New York to a Standstill
Politics & Diplomacies
Diaspora, Inspiration, MAGAZINE, Photos
March 9th, 2019 will go down as one of the memorable for this beautiful love birds from New York. They crowned their love story with…
Diaspora, Inspiration, Personalities, Sports
Yaya Toure has made 16 appearances for Manchester City in all competitions this seasonManchester City midfielder Yaya Toure will leave the Premier League champions at…
The largest airport in Senegal will open its doors on December 7, after more than a decade of development and delays. Blaise Diagne International (AIBD)…
Business, Diaspora, Editorial
In 1990, Barack Obama, 28 at the time, made history as the first black president of the Harvard Law Review. Almost three decades later, ImeIme…
Diaspora, Sports, Uncategorized
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Andre Ayew, Riyad Mahrez, Sadio Mane and Yaya Toure make up the five-man shortlist for the BBC African Footballer of the Year award….
Diaspora, Photos, Sports
In this feature, we profile the top 10 African players to have featured for either Manchester United or Chelsea. Ahead of…
Diaspora, MAGAZINE, MUSIC
The MTV Africa Music Awards (MAMA) 2016 rolls out the glamour with thrilling performances and awards presentation. South Africa rap talent Cassper Nyovest picks up…
Business & Finance, Featured, Politics & Diplomacies
U.S. industrial firm General Electric (GE.N) plans to invest around $150 million in Nigeria by 2017, a senior executive said on Monday. "There are development…
Culture, Diaspora, Politics & Diplomacies
The United Kingdom will support a plan to create 100,000 jobs in Ethiopia, as part of a wider campaign to tackle the migration crisis in…
City, Culture, Diaspora, Personalities, Photos
A Hopewell Junction, New York, couple Anthony Francis Appea and Afua Nuamah on August 27th, 2016 pulled off one of the most memorable weddings the…
Diaspora, Personalities, Sports
Manchester United player ratings:Ivorian Defender Eric Bailly Delivers Brilliantly on his Debut
Ivorian defender Eric Bailly displayed a man of the match performance during the community shield match on Sunday, August 08, 2016. He ensured that Leicester…
Diaspora, Featured, TECH
South Africa exports online courses back to the West
When Moocs – "massive online open courses" – first launched a few years ago they offered the prospect of unfettered expansion for higher education. These…
Diaspora, FOOD
5 Famous Ethiopian Dishes to Try Today – Africans Abroad Magazine
TECH 4 articles
Morocco Is Building The World's Largest Concentrated Solar Power Plant
This is Truly Free: Facebook will beam the Internet to Africa using this satellite
Tweets by @AfriqueAbroad
Copyright Africans Abroad Inc © 2015


Pete Falloon, Pete Smith, Richard Betts, Chris D. Jones, Jo Smith, Deborah Hemming et al.
Climate change is directly linked to the human activities, according to the Fourth Assessment Report of IPCC (2007). In last two decades of 20th Century, accelerated anthropogenic activities pushed up the atmospheric abundance of greenhouse gases, mainly CO2, CH4, and N2O, alarmingly which enhanced the radiative forcing of the Earth's surface and thus perturbed its heat radiation balance. As a consequence, atmospheric characteristics, such as temperature, rainfall pattern, levels of CO2 and O3 have changed significantly, affecting the farm productivity. Although rising level of CO2 may have fertilizing effect on C3 crops, but concomitant rise in atmospheric temperature, O3 level and extreme weather conditions can not only nullify the fertilizing effect of CO2, but also drastically reduce the crop production, threatening food security to burgeoning world population. Agricultural crops are not only victim of climate variability and extreme whether conditions, but also serve as a potential source of CH4 and N2O.
Therefore, in changed scenario, Kyoto Protocol (1997) has sought all signatory developed nations to cut down their emission levels as per their differential commitments to UNFCCC and developing nations to invest in less carbon emission projects to avert the process of global warming process.
In this context, the present edition, which compiles latest findings of studies carried out by the scientists on climate change and crops around the world, serves as a ready reckoner to crop scientists, atmospheric scientists, ecologists, environmentalists, research scholars and post- graduate students to update their knowledge and understanding on this issue.