The Partiologist: Neapolitan Rice Krispie Treats!
Want something sweet? Something Chocolate? Something Krispie? Well, I've got the perfect treat for YOU. The Original Neapolitan Rice Krispie Treat!
It was only appropriate that I make these little Rice Krispie Treats for the baby shower. They were perfect for my pink and brown theme, and I love Rice Krispie Treats!
I made them in a bread loaf pan...Three layers of goodness - Chocolate, Plain and Strawberry. Here's how.
Didn't have Cocoa Krispies - so I added Cocoa to Plain Rice Krispies.
After melting the marshmallows and butter.
I poured it over the chocolate rice krispies and pressed it in a greased loaf pan. Then I made the plain layer and pressed it on top of the chocolate.
And on top of the plain layer, I made a strawberry layer.
Strawberry Mallows - they are Berry-Licious.
I layered the three flavors together.
Then I popped it out of the pan.
I sliced them in half one more time before serving. So we could all have more! And if I were having an ice cream party - I would have added little Popsicle sticks to each.
Generously spray your loaf pan with cooking spray.
Vanilla Layer - melt the butter in a large pot over medium-low heat. Add the marshmallows and stir continuously until they have melted completely. Quickly stir in the rice cereal until it is completely coated. Pour the mixture into your prepared pan. Spray your hands with cooking spray and then firmly press the marshmallow covered cereal into the pan. Place the pan in the refrigerator.
Chocolate Layer - melt the butter in a large pot over medium-low heat. Add the marshmallows and stir continuously until they have melted completely. Quickly stir in the Cocoa Krispie cereal until it is completely coated. Pour the mixture on top of the vanilla layer in your prepared pan. Again, spray your hands with cooking spray and then firmly press the marshmallow covered cereal into the pan. Place the pan in the refrigerator.
marshmallows in a large pot over medium-low heat. Quickly stir in the rice cereal until it is completely coated. Pour the mixture on top of the chocolate layer in your prepared pan. Spray your hands with cooking spray and then firmly press the marshmallow covered cereal into the pan. Place the pan in the refrigerator.
When the treats have cooled completely, remove them from the pan. Place them on a cutting board. Then cut each large slice into smaller squares.
What a great idea, Kim! And they look adorable in those colors... thanks for sharing!
Thanks for stopping by Bea!
You should totally add the popsicle sticks for your pool parties!
I love this! So pretty. How creative you are!
oooh! So fun! Maxwell had a great idea too about putting the popsicle sticks in for a summer treat! That strawberry layer looks too delicious!!
Thanks Kristen! Yes, I thought that adding popsicle sticks for summer would be fun. And they're pretty easy to make!
I love these, Kim! What a wonderful idea!!!!
Just saw this on FB through SugarBelle. I made these for my daughter's Neapolitan Bday party, they are in the freezer waiting. Oh darn, I had to eat the "scraps" that I cut from the edges. I also used CHOCOLATE 'mallows for the chocolate layer (& chocolate krispies,)added 1/2 tsp vanilla to the vanilla layer and 1/2 tsp strawberry extract to the sberry layer. WAY good!
Oh yes, that sounds great - more chocolatey flavor! Thanks for coming by! Wait until you see my Easter Treats!
Finding these on Pinterest tonight has made me giddy! I seriously can't wait to make a batch.
YEA! So happy to make someone giddy! Come by for my Easter party and you'll be sure to find more to make!
These look fantastic. We are a rice krispie loving family. I am sure to make these!
I don't think anyone grows out of rice krispie treats!
Hi Marlyn!!! Thanks for stopping by!
Looks really great and yummy! I love how simple this treats are! Thanks for sharing them! Would love to grab some yummy treats while designing scrapbook pages!
You're very welcome! Thanks for coming by!
Do these keep for a few days?
Yes, if you wrap them tightly, or you can wrap and freeze for a few weeks!
Love everything...the cake is just DIVINE!!!
I just made these for a bake sale! Instead of the strawberry marshmellow I used 1/3 cup of strawberry milk mix and they turned out great! I also used chocolate milk powder for the chocolate layer!
What size pan did you use? I'm intending to make these for my birthday but the measurements seem rather large for the size pan I'm gonna use so I need to know which you pan size you used by Tuesday, July 12th (if possible) to see if I need to make a quantity adjustment to the recipe.
Thanks Jen! I think it would work fine with a food color paste, just add it to the marshmallow mixture and stir before adding the rice Krispie treats.


What will challenge you in 2019?
We have lots of ideas to inspire you to challenge yourself whilst raising money for Saint Catherine's this year.
By supporting Saint Catherine's you will be helping patients and their families receive the support and care they need at a difficult and challenging time in their life.
Below are some of our ideas!
GO EXTREME! Sign up for a parachute challenge here.


NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN BY the Planning and Zoning Commission of the Town of Ocean View that a public hearing will be held for the review of the Comprehensive Land Use Plan (C.L.U.P.).
This review is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. or as soon as possible thereafter on Thursday, September 15, 2016, in the Ocean View Town Hall located at 32 West Avenue. All interested parties are welcome to attend.
McMullen at 302 539-1208 or via email at admintov@oceanviewde.com.


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Q: NavigateUrl with NavigateUrlFormat populated from AppSettings (dynamically) I have a gridview with a hyperlink inside an TemplateField. The NavigateUrlFormat will be populated from the Web.Config file, it has the following format:
mysite.com/{0}
Where {0} will be populated from the gridview datasource, however, my current code doesn't work:
<asp:TemplateField HeaderText="WorkOrder #">
                <ItemTemplate>
                    <asp:HyperLink ID="HyperLink1" runat="server"
                        NavigateUrl='<%# Eval("WorkOrderKey", "<%$ AppSettings:DispatchLink %>") %>'
                        Text='<%# Eval("WorkOrderKey") %>'></asp:HyperLink>
                </ItemTemplate>
            </asp:TemplateField>

The problem is right after "AppSettings:DispatchLink", it closes the tag when it see "%>". Is there a way around this problem?
Thank you,
Kenny.

A: You cannot nest <%# and other tags. Use ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["DispatchLink"] (pls. lookup correkt Class/Property in MSDN) instead.
Or: If your are using that HyperLink Control more than once I would suggest that you create an own MYHyperLink derived from System.Web.UI.WebControls.HyperLink and set the Property NavigateUrlFormatString in your Constructor.
Something like this:
public class DispatchLink : System.Web.UI.WebControls.HyperLink
{
    public DispatchLink()
    {
        this. NavigateUrlFormatString  =  ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["DispatchLink"]
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Film to Be Made About Nuremberg Trials 99-Year-Old Prosecutor Ben Ferencz
Ben Ferencz, the lead prosecutor in the Nuremberg Trials that followed World War II. Photo: Screenshot.
A film about the head prosecutor in the Nuremberg Trials following World War II will be made.
Producers Barry Avrich and Patrice Theroux have acquired the film and television rights to the life story of Ben Ferencz, now 99 years old.
"I am honored to take this journey," said Ferencz. "I never dreamed as a 27-year-old standing in a Nuremberg courtroom prosecuting Nazis that my life would be the subject of a film. I am now in my hundredth year; let's get this done!!"
Ferencz, a Harvard University Law School graduate and a lifelong advocate of "law not war," became lead prosecutor, at 27 years old, in the Einsatzgruppen case at Nuremberg, which has been called the biggest murder trial in history, after witnessing Nazi concentration camps shortly after liberation.
The trials lasted from Nov. 20, 1945 to Oct. 1, 1946.
In his first trial, all 22 Nazi officials who were tried for murdering more than 1 million people were convicted.
Ferencz went on to advocate for restitution for Jewish victims of the Holocaust and later assisted in the establishment of the International Criminal Court.
He was an adjunct international law professor at Pace University from 1985 to 1996.
This is the second collaboration between Avrich and Theroux with Ferencz. The documentary "Prosecuting Evil: The Extraordinary World of Ben Ferencz," which was directed by Avrich and produced by Avrich and Theroux, premiered at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival and launched last week on Netflix.
"This is an extraordinary honor to tell the story; one of the most iconic and historic figures of our time," said Avrich. "I feel a real responsibility to continue to bring this important story to as many people as we can, this time through a scripted project."
"I am thrilled to help bring this prestigious, inspiring and historic story to the big screen," said Theroux. "Ben has lead an incredible life, and it is a privilege that Barry and I have been allowed to share it with the world in a new capacity."
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NIR BARKAT – THE LIKUD'S NEW ACQUISITION AND HIS MESSAGE TO U.S. JEWS →

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Q: How to pass data from javascript to c# (asp.net mvc) how i return a value from javascript function to a c# variable (in controller)
and also  i have a multicolum dropdown box in a form , eg book details , when the user makes the selection the book name is set in the dropdown , but when submit is hit i want the code book to be returned(this value is returned by my javascript) for billing purpose , in short for a test box i want to set a display value visible to the user and original value that is returned from the form ?
i read about ajax postback , that you could send data from client to server ??

A: You're best bet is to set values on appropriately named hidden text inputs. That way, the model can be updated by the post action, which keeps the architecture simple.


" Water, water everywhere, and not a drop to drink". In this day and age doesn't it sound absolutely ridiculous for the people of any of our large cities to fear a water shortage? As your good writer (Robert D. Adams, Letters, June 17) has said, " Most large cities are seacoast metropolis locations". All they have to do is have the brains, the guts and the political purpose to use it. Let me recount a brief story.
In November 1963, when I was Chief of Special Operations with the Joint Staff in the Pentagon. I was sent to Antarctica with a large group of VIPs industrialists, newsmen, and others. We went there to witness a most important event. A small nuclear plant was going to be activated at the Navy Base of the shore of McMurdo Sound, Antarctica; and from that moment on all water, all heat, and all electricity for that huge scientific establishment was going to provided by that tiny, inconspicuous nuclear plant.
The marvel of it was that we saw this unit activated. We saw the electricity come on, we felt the heat and in short time we bathed in and drank pure water from the ocean that had been desalinated by this plant. Meanwhile, on the foothills above the base a field of oil tanks were shut off; and for 10 years that base did not draw on those tanks for another barrel of petroleum.
Ten years, that was from 1963 to 1973. We all recall that 1973 was the year of the "Gas Lines" the "Oil Shortage", the "Energy Crisis", and all of the dire predictions that were certain to befall this great consumer nation as soon as that "last barrel" of petroleum had been pumped from the sand domes. So: In 1973 someone was sent to McMurdo Sound to that scientific base and he shut off that wonderful little nuclear plant and took it away. The oil barons were afraid that the penguins might talk.
For half of every year, Antarctica is cut off from the rest of the world. The Navy's job of supporting that base and its vast scientific programs becomes bigger. Petroleum for diesel is shipped across thousands of miles of glacial terrain, and inland stations must be resupplied by air. Since a two-year fuel supply for that nuclear plant, a Martin Marietta PM-3A, is no larger than a single oil drum, the logistical advantage was obvious. That single PM-3A core replaced millions of gallons of diesel fuel. The PM 3-A's electrical output was five times the normal load which was being carried by diesel generators before its installation. It was most efficient.
The entire nuclear plant was installed in three small buildings less than the size of three ordinary dairy barns, above ground. The nuclear element was at the bottom of a hole about 180 feet deep where it could not bother or be dangerous to anyone. It was remote from, but in sight of, the main station. The plan in 1963 was to install other such facilities all over Antarctica in remote facilities, including the "under-ice" station at the South Pole Station itself.
The next question really is unnecessary. "Why, oh why, when we have seen such magnificent things done well, productively and safely with nuclear energy, have these most successful units been withdrawn and hidden from view"? How ridiculous can things get?
There is no reason why such tiny facilities can not be placed all along the South California shoreline to produce cheaply and reliably all the pure, desalinated water needed for all the people and for the irrigation of all the farms in the area.
I am not talking about something that can be designed such as a Space Station or a trip to Mars. This was done in 1963, and operated flawlessly for 10 years. I was at McMurdo when that switch was thrown and that nuclear plant went into action. I was there with officials from Kennedy White House, with congressmen and with industrial leaders. We all know what it did then and what it can do now.
We do not need Mr. McAdams' proposed $10,000,000 to come up with a method of producing potable water. We know how to do it on a large scale. All we need is the brains, the courage to fight the oil barons and their political puppets, and the good old American brand of ingenuity that stops at nothing....nothing at all.....for the good of man.


text:
import java.util.*;

class Test {
  public void test(Object o) {
    o = o <caret>!= null? o : new Object();
  }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


The acting in Deirdre Kinahan's "Moment" at Studio Theatre is so sharp it's like seeing a play in a live equivalent of high-def. The drama revolves around a criminal incident that blew a family apart years ago; "Moment" captures a brief encounter as they fleetingly reunite in their mother's suburban kitchen.
The secret that the audience slowly learns is well-known to all of the characters, and it involves Nial, the prodigal brother who's now an acclaimed painter and is just passing through. Nial's reemergence practically knocks his sister Niamh sideways, although it takes her a while to say exactly why.
Withholding the family history from the audience is only moderately successful at generating suspense; it's no spoiler to say that Nial did something dreadful and Niamh hasn't forgiven him. Kinahan's strength here isn't originality of plot, nor is it a play's striking insight about how a traumatized family communicates (or fails to, despite the episodes of lashing out and the calmer moments of quiet advice).
Yet Kinahan writes with such exactitude about her characters that "Moment" is an effectively watchable, playable play. Director Ethan McSweeny, better known in Washington for his bigger shows with the Shakespeare Theatre Company, handles "Moment" with a delicate touch in Studio's coziest venue, the Milton Theatre. The result is acting that never hits a wrong note and is as absorbingly detailed as designer Debra Booth's humble and functional-looking kitchen set.
The evening's heat comes from Emily Landham's resentment as Niamh, who works in a local publishing house and enters with a hopeful beau named Fin trailing her (a wonky and solicitous Avery Clark). Landham never overplays the character's tension, even when Niamh rebuffs not only Peter Albrink's brooding Nial, but also his unexpected new English wife, Ruth.
As Ruth, Hannah Yelland is superb as the outsider trying to charm her way in, and she and Albrink — who creates a nuanced portrait of a damaged man trying to move on — have a lovely fragile rapport. Caroline Bootle Pendergast and Ciaran Byrne supply spirited turns as the good-time couple Ciara (sister of Niamh and Nial) and her husband, the simple-spirited Dave. The bustle and banter around the family table couldn't have a more everyday texture as Kinahan's dialogue begins to overlap, as tea and wine are poured, and as frictions finally catch fire.
The most profound instance of vanishing inside a character is Dearbhla Molloy's utterly natural performance as Teresa, the addled matriarch of the clan. Molloy's credentials are impressive — Tony nomination for "Dancing at Lughnasa," associate artist at Dublin's famed Abbey Theatre, a member of the excellent Druid ensemble that brought Martin McDonagh's "The Cripple of Inishmaan" to the Kennedy Center a few years ago. There is nothing flashy about Teresa, yet Molloy is subtly, authoritatively gripping. The believability is absolute as this long-suffering mother waves away attention yet fusses to keep her almost disintegrated family together just for an afternoon.
Intriguingly in this season of women's playwriting voices, Kinahan is the first female Irish dramatist that Studio has produced, and next month, Kinahan's new "Wild Sky" will be staged by Solas Nua in private residences downtown. Kinahan seems to be a keen observer, and the actors certainly make the most of "Moment's" slow, steady fuse.
Moment by Deirdre Kinahan. Directed by Ethan McSweeny. Set design, Debra Booth; costumes, Philip Witcomb; lights, Scott Bolman; sound design, Palmer Hefferan. With Mira Cohen. About two hours. Tickets: $54-$91. Call 202-332-3300 or visit studiotheatre.org.


1. As the blade is extremely sharp, please do not touch it directly.
2. Please guarantee that your blade is locked securely before use.
3. Keep the tool stay away from children and under 16 years of age, who need to under adult supervision.
Wood Handle - Offers anti-skid and good-grip feeling; Back clip design is easy to carry.
Liner Lock Design - Safe to use, locks the blade in place, avoid risk to be hurt by the accidental close of the blade.
Steel Blade - Made of high quality steel with sharp edge, which ensures the hardness, sharpness and durable quality.
Rust Protection - The blade with gray titanium coating, can prevent it from rusting even in severe conditions, and perfect for outdoor use.
Package Content - Wood Pocket Knife; Black Velvet Bag; Black Package Box.
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text:
Critical Language Scholarship
CLS Program
About CLS
Language Levels and Prerequisites
CLS Program Alumni
Alumni Development Fund
Alumni Support Network
CLS Alumni Society
Information for Advisors
Advisor Role
CLS Program Timeline
Language Learning Outcomes
Participant Handbook
Essay Considerations
Advisor Community Best Practices
How are applicants selected for the CLS Program?
Award recipients are selected on the basis of merit, with consideration for:
Academic record and potential to succeed in a rigorous academic setting;
Commitment to language learning;
Connection between target language and career/academic goals;
Ability to adapt to an intensive program and a challenging cultural environment; and
Contributions to the CLS Program and program goals.
All other factors being equal, the CLS Program gives preference to veterans of the United States armed forces.
All other factors being equal, applicants are selected with the goal of representing geographic diversity and a diversity of institutions and fields of study.
Preference may be given to candidates with limited or no previous study abroad experience.
Each application is initially read by two independent evaluators chosen from a pool of faculty and administrators at colleges, universities, and international education institutions across the United States. Top applicants (semi-finalists) are then reviewed by panels of academic and international education experts, who convene in Washington, D.C. in early February. The U.S. Department of State reviews and approves the finalists and alternates for the CLS award.
For the 2019 CLS Program, 431 professionals representing 48 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, and 301 institutions participated in the selection process.
What does the ideal CLS applicant look like?
The CLS Program welcomes applications from students who represent the full diversity of the United States. Students of all disciplines, majors, and varying language abilities are encouraged to apply. Participants in the 2018 CLS Program represented:
Public and private institutions, community colleges and minority serving institutions;
49 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico; and
A wide variety of fields of study, including 21% from STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) fields.
42% identified as students of color
3% reported having a disability
80% undergraduate students and 20% graduate students
21% first-generation college students
27% Pell grant recipients
Please review the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs Diversity Statement for further information.
While CLS is a merit-based award, the CLS Program does not have a minimum GPA requirement and conducts a holistic review process based on each applicant's completed application, academic record, and input from two recommenders.
How do I become an application evaluator for the CLS Program?
A survey is sent to CLS advisors each fall to collect information from those interested in reading and evaluating applications for the CLS Program.
To select a diverse student body that reflects the range of institutions, geographic regions, and fields of study in U.S. higher education, the professionals who evaluate applications must reflect a similar diversity of perspective. From the responses to the evaluator survey, we select a group of both new and experienced evaluators based on the total number of applications received.
The Critical Language Scholarship Program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, with funding provided by the U.S. Government. It is supported in its implementation by American Councils for International Education.
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Learn the Big Dipper 3A trick.
Now before starting this trick, you want to make sure that you know how to do a 1.5 kink mount. So if you have not already, check out that video. We are going to break the trick down into a few parts.
The very first part is undoing the kink mount to set yourself up for the Big Dipper. The easiest way to learn that is just with one yoyo. What you are going to do is practice with your dominant hand, throwing a 1.5 mount. Then you are going to unmount the yoyo and you are going to take your dominant index finger and pinch the string. From here, you are going to take the yoyo and you are going to throw it over. Just like that. You just want to get smooth at that, get that motion all in one, unmounting, pinching, and throwing the yoyo.
Once you are used to that, we are going to put it into the kink mount. So you will want to get into your kink mount, just like this. You are here, you are going to dismount the yoyo, pinch, and throw over in between both of your hands. You will notice that there is two strings. I will show you from a different angle here, what string you are going to land on.
We get into that kink mount, again we unmount the yoyo, we pinch, we throw the yoyo in between both hands, and you see there is a front string and a back string on your non dominant hand. You want to land the yoyo on the back string, that string that is closest to you. Then from there, we can do a roll and then a second roll. That gets you into a big dipper mount.
I will show you those rolls one more time. Kink mount, dismount, throw over, land it on that back string. You are going to roll with just your dominant yoyo into the string. Then, both yoyos. That gives you that big dipper mount. The easiest way out is just to pop the dominant hand yoyo out the front, and you can bind and bring the yoyos back to your hand.
But there is another way to dismount that I prefer. That is once you have ended the trick, you get into it, land that yoyo, do your rolls. What I like to do is pop the yoyo out front and then take the loop on my index finger and put it on my thumb. Then mount my dominant yoyo over my index finger again, so both yoyos are mounted. You can drop the strings at the same time. Then bind your dominant hand. And that creates a kind of magic knot effect, it sets you up for a nice bind in your dominant hand. You can bring your non dominant hand back however you like. Once you have got the whole thing, that is the big dipper.


text:
Q: How can I Knit a R Markdown file that contain data from another R Markdown file? Since I'm working with a huge Excel file and to avoid having an unnecessary giant and messy R Markdown file, I've decided to do all the necessary filters in a specific R Markdown file that only contain scripts related to my data modeling. I named this file as "filters.Rmd" and I created another R Markdown file called "plots.Rmd", that it only contains scripts related to the graphs' construction.
I can run all the chunks of "plots.Rmd" without any problem, even using data and values generated in "filters.Rmd". But when I try to Knit "plots.Rmd" it returns an error saying that the data weren't found.
How can I do this communication between those files? They are in the same project directory.


text:
Nabożeństwo główne – podstawowe nabożeństwo protestanckie, odprawiane przede wszystkim w niedzielę oraz w inne dni świąteczne (np. w Kościele ewangelicko-augsburskim występują m.in. w Adwencie nabożeństwo adwentowe, zaś w okresie Wielkiego Postu – nabożeństwo pasyjne). Co do zasady obejmuje ono najszerszy zestaw czynności kultowych na czele z czytaniem i zwiastowaniem biblijnego Słowa Bożego, modlitwą, śpiewem religijnym i sprawowaniem sakramentów Chrztu i Wieczerzy Pańskiej. Odróżnia się go od innych zgromadzeń liturgicznych, poświęconych zwykle wybranym czynnościom kultu (np. śródtygodniowe spotkanie związane ze studium Pisma Świętego). Nabożeństwa takie są odprawiane publicznie.

Kościół ewangelicko-augsburski w Polsce
Porządek nabożeństwa luterańskiego w zasadzie nie odbiega od porządku nabożeństwa wczesnochrześcijańskiego i średniowiecznego, od porządku katolickiej Mszy czy prawosławnej Liturgii, ale w poważny sposób różni się od nich teologicznie. Marcin Luter, przepracowując mszę rzymską sprawowaną wówczas według rytu przedtrydenckiego, usunął z niej rzeczy quae sonant oblationem ("które pobrzmiewają ofiarą").

Luteranizm zna także samodzielne nabożeństwo Słowa, ale powinno się dążyć, aby Sakrament Ołtarza był jak najczęściej sprawowany w nabożeństwie głównym. Nabożeństwo główne bez Sakramentu Ołtarza przestaje być nabożeństwem "głównym".

Przypisy

Liturgia protestancka

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Reassessing Violence
By Orion on Mon, 05/09/2022 - 6:03pm |
During a conversation, Artappraiser took note of the fact that everything going on in Ukraine reinforces the need for people to have firearms in order to defend themselves or a community. I retorted by saying that the weapons there are only accessible by militia members, who get them after an application process.
Part of why gun rights are so salient is that there is a strong logic to it. In NRA literature, I once read that "the simple presence of a gun is enough to end a situation." This is honestly true. Display a weapon and you could very well end a toxic situation that would only just continue if people didn't realize that you could actually take it that far.
I would say that the Ukraine situation makes us reassessing weapons as tools that are quite necessary. Weapons are tools - you can use them to get a rapist to stop or you could use them to kill children.
Nevertheless the Second Amendment is pretty clear about what it intended:
An individualist, capitalist culture is going to lead to rogue individuals shooting people. The Second Amendment not only mentions "well regulated," which could constitute gun control but also "militia," which denotes a community of people tasked with defense. That is a fantasy that right wing survivalists would play out but the Ukraine situation actually shows it in action. A communitarian society is going to have those tools in the hands of those who are in a position to protect.
The simple presence of a gun is enough to cause a shootout as well. Seen it happen. Happening more and more - especially to/from rappers.
by PeraclesPlease on Tue, 05/10/2022 - 11:13am
Orion it's the same old same old. The solution is simple and has long been offered: firearms must be licensed and insured and users must be licensed JUST LIKE MOTOR VEHICLES.
The founders didn't know from licensing of anything, so they used the terminology "well regulated" instead.
Why can't we accomplish this like we did when horseless carriages started to become popular?
Well, libertarian types think if the gummint knows where the guns are, they will have all the into. to come door to door and confiscate them when they plan a totalitarian takeover.
I will then add this about Ukraine. Those individual firearms weren't enough for Zelensky's crew to fight back against against a takeover. You may have noted how he's been begging every day, every hour, every minute for more bigger weapons.
Not really - the Founding Fathers were all about militias as the way to preserve democracy, and militias are obviously more "regulated" than "licensed", which wouldn't make sense. There was a pretty decent article on this recently, but God knows where.
And seems Azov guys are much better behaved as part of a well-regulated militia, go figger.
by PeraclesPlease on Tue, 05/10/2022 - 4:23pm
Guns are maybe sort of useless in large scale war.
And Peracles is on point. When I've travelled, I've seen guns on guards and other individuals that I'm pretty sure weren't licensed - but when I asked, I was told there is a network by which as are made available.
That means you have to get informal social approval to get a weapon. If there's money involved, the money is informal too. I think the Second Amendment was really just reaffirming how weapons are usually distributed and prohibiting a ruler from screwing that up.
In a militia setting, weapons are provided and they get them by being in the militia. It's a transaction based on social trust, not necessarily a license and registration.
The concept got screwed up by us being a commercial republic in which nothing is commercially out of bounds.
I think there's also an implication there that in a society where everything is for sale, there's not much of a social trust.
Democrats have gone nowhere by treating the issue materially but current events in the world, I think, actually give them an opportunity to affirm what the role of weapons are. They can point to Zelensky and demonstrate that this is a man defending his country. They can point to women in Hindu fundamentalist India who have acquired guns. They can demonstrate that these are the social situations in which defending yourself or others is necessary, and they can then affirm that the Right has been affirming the right of anyone to have such tools for whatever context they see fit, even if that means evil.
Seriously guys, if Democrats used words like "social trust" on this issue, they would go gangbusters.
Gun advocates are always on about how kids used to be taught marksmanship and what not. Okay, so Dems should propose just such programs and then advocate them for community defense against people who shouldn't be armed. Flip the whole script on them.
Imagine the narrator's voice -."You want to defend your family, not those who would harm them."
by Orion on Wed, 05/11/2022 - 2:15am
I'm not convinced this would help the violence situation much, precisely because the crime epidemic we are experiencing in this country is not for the most part being executed by political "extremists" but by repeat career criminals ad criminally insane.
But if violent extremists is what keeps you up at night (irrationally I think), this is for you. You probably won't lke it, but here it is anyway
NEW: Since 2011, a nonprofit organization called Life After Hate has worked with hundreds of white nationalists and others on the far-right extreme, successfully deradicalizing countless people. Their secret? Treating them compassionately. https://t.co/XW2haHrkIu
— Zaid Jilani (@ZaidJilani) May 18, 2022
This section is important because we know the Buffalo shooting suspect got deeply enmeshed in many extreme online activities around May of 2020: That's when lockdowns and shutdowns isolated many people, including young people more prone to violence: https://t.co/XW2haH9JjU pic.twitter.com/cBJxoKIIFA
Sammy Rangel was a gang member with a long history of violence who spent time in a maximum security prison. Yet today he is an advocate for peace and helps people turn their lives around. What made the difference? Someone was willing to listen to him: https://t.co/XW2haHrkIu
by artappraiser on Thu, 05/19/2022 - 11:29pm
just a warning for those who want to go there and emphasize the danger of white supremacists-conservatives are making lists, checking them twice, and posting them on social media, like this one, for example:
pic.twitter.com/sJ5RW7ruFw
— Based Hospitallar (@BasedMedic) May 16, 2022
and in their heart of hearts, most urban dwellers know the problem is most definitely not racism
The problem is a lack of community. I said this to people around me a long time ago. If you don't communicate with one another, then you end up at war with one another. You end up suspicious of everyone, because you have no idea who they are and they must be the cause of your alienation.
We adopted an ideology a generation ago that has consequences more horrific than we could have ever anticipated. When you don't properly regulate pharmaceuticals, you end up messing up the chemistry of people who may have never even needed any medication, causing madness and/or illness.
When you break up families, you end up with overworked parents who do not communicate or spend enough time with their children, and if the children experience bullying, abuse or hardships, are left to come up with their own explanations for what is occurring or to get explanations from the worst kinds of people.
When you create a market system in which everything is for sale, there is truly nothing to stop anyone from buying weapons and causing mayhem.
And, I'm not sure how much this will go over with the Dagblog audience, but I'm not entirely convinced that the issue is material. Human interaction is natural and something spiritual had to send us to a place where we became this disconnected from one another, only to realize suddenly how bad it is.
by Orion on Wed, 05/25/2022 - 5:06pm
You know, until recently, people were agricultural and lived far distances from each other. 72% of the world was in agriculture in 1900.
In 1900, just under 40 percent of the total US population lived on farms, and 60 percent lived in rural areas. Today, the respective figures are only about 1 percent and 20 percent.
Which meant they were largely disconnected, no community except family on the farm - why didn't the saddle up, ride into town and kill everyone?
by PeraclesPlease on Wed, 05/25/2022 - 6:05pm
As someone who has studied a lot of 19th-century and early 20th century cultural history, I totally agree with you. Of course the societal situation then did drive a considerable number of small-town and farm people mad (not to mention the isolated insulated "protected" women and children of middle and upper class urban families) but they usually didn't take it out on the neighbors, instead they might hack their relatives to death. (Jack the Ripper and Ed Gein were outliers on that front, that's why they got so famous.)
by artappraiser on Wed, 05/25/2022 - 6:51pm
Sorry but I just see you projecting your own needs and desires onto society at large.
I think there's few people who pine for the mythical golden olden days when Gladys the local telephone switchboard operator knew everyone's business and spread gossip about it. So that everyone in town knew your kid had gay tendencies so they better shape up or else, and that artsy girl over there better shape up, settle down, get married and have children.
Yes I admit we did hire police forces so that Aunt Bea would no longer be in charge of policing the community.
Only reason so many more got the loneliness blues recently is that they were forced into lockdown without an ability to interact socially. Doesn't mean that in normal times, their extended family drove them crazy and they wish they could cut down on the contact.
Let's try this again: for over a decade recently NYC was one of the safest cities in the world. It's very possible, it's really is. WITHOUT any change in living conditions where people do not even know the person in the apartment next to them and everyone rode the subway in cold silence so as not to break anyone's privacy You don't need Aunt Bea snooping into everyone else's business to have total safety and a energized entrepreneurial and creative population into meeting people totally different from themselves
Piglet goes slasher, eats Eeyore
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/winnie-the-pooh-blood-and-honey-movie_n_6...
by PeraclesPlease on Thu, 05/26/2022 - 8:32pm
Here is the very good NYTimes article from Weds. comparing the U.S. on gun violence to other countries, in full.
The difference in shootings, IT'S REALLY ALL DUE TO LACK OF REGULATION OF GUNS. In a similar way to that which cars and drivers are regulated. THAT'S ALL THE DIFFERENCE IS. THERE IS NO NEED TO GO INTO ANY OTHER REASON.That's really the reason and the only difference. We Americans are not a different species.You have said it yourself: other countries have guns. The difference is that they regulate them somehow and we don't. It's actually loony to even argue about why they should be regulated, they are complicated machines like motor vehicles that can kill and no one argues about licensing registering and insuring motor vehicles.
Other Countries Had Mass Shootings. Then They Changed Their Gun Laws.
Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway: All had a culture of gun ownership, and all tightened restrictions anyway. Their violence statistics now diverge sharply from those of the U.S.
By Max Fisher, May 25, 2022
The world over, mass shootings are frequently met with a common response: Officials impose new restrictions on gun ownership. Mass shootings become rarer. Homicides and suicides tend to decrease, too.
After a British gunman killed 16 people in 1987, the country banned semiautomatic weapons like those he had used. It did the same with most handguns after a 1996 school shooting. It now has one of the lowest gun-related death rates in the developed world.
In Australia, a 1996 massacre prompted mandatory gun buybacks that saw, according to some estimates, as many as one million firearms melted into slag. The rate of mass shootings plummeted from once every 18 months to, so far, only one in the 26 years since.
Canada also tightened gun laws after a 1989 mass shooting. So did Germany in 2002, New Zealand in 2019 and Norway last year.
Only the United States, whose rate and severity of mass shootings is without parallel outside of conflict zones, has so consistently refused to answer those events with tightened gun laws.
Though such restrictions have always brought some controversy, most were broadly embraced by voters in other countries.
Even in Australia, where conservative-leaning politics and rural traditions had long favored gun ownership, citizens broadly accepted the buyback. Some even surrendered weapons they were legally permitted to keep, in a show of support for their country's tightening gun laws.
Every mass shooting is, in some sense, a fringe event, driven by one-off factors like the ideology or personal circumstances of the shooter. The risk is impossible to fully erase.
Still, the record is clear, confirmed by reams of studies that have analyzed the effects of policies like Britain's and Australia's: When countries tighten gun control laws, it leads to fewer guns in private citizens' hands, which leads to less gun violence — and to fewer mass shootings.
Britain: Sweeping Bans
Britain today has one of the strictest gun control regimes in the developed world, with even many police unarmed. But it was not always that way.
The country's history of sport hunting had ingrained a long cultural tradition of gun ownership, especially in rural areas.
That began to change in 1987, with the so-called Hungerford massacre, named for the small English town where it took place. A 27-year-old local man used two semiautomatic rifles and a handgun, which he owned legally, to kill 16 people. His motives remain unclear.
Britain's Conservative government swiftly banned rifles like those he had used and mandated that shotgun owners register the weapons with police
The 1996 school shooting in a small Scottish town, where a local man killed 15 students and one teacher, prompted more sweeping changes. A government inquiry recommended restricting access to handguns.
The Conservative government went even further, banning all but the smallest-caliber handguns, which a subsequent Labour government banned the next year.
The reforms also require owners of permitted firearms to pass a strict licensure process, which involves interviews and home visits by local police, who can deny approval if they deem the would-be owner a potential public safety risk.
Mass shootings did not completely disappear in Britain: An attacker killed 12 in 2010, and another killed five in 2021. But all forms of gun-related violence have dropped significantly.
Today, there are about five guns per 100 people in Britain (except in Northern Ireland, where this number is higher), one of the lowest rates in the developed world. The gun homicide rate is about 0.7 per million, also one of the lowest.
Australia: Nationwide Buybacks
American gun control activists often cite Australia's sweeping buybacks. Though no country rivals the United States' gun ownership rate, which is more than double that of second-place Yemen, Australia has had similar cultural and political affinities for gun ownership.
Despite this, after a mass shooting in 1996 in which a gunman killed 35 people in the town of Port Arthur, authorities successfully imposed sweeping new restrictions.
The nationwide buyback ultimately took between one in five and one in three privately held guns out of circulation. This mostly targeted guns like semiautomatic rifles and many shotguns that, under new laws, were no longer permitted.
The country also reframed gun ownership from being an inherent right, as it is in only a handful of countries like the United States, to becoming a privilege that citizens had to affirmatively earn.
Australia's would-be gun owners now face a national registry, a 28-day wait period and a licensing process that requires demonstrating a valid reason for owning a gun.
Since then, mass shootings have effectively disappeared in Australia. What was once an almost annual event has only happened once since the reforms, with a 2018 attack that left seven dead.
But the greater impact may have been on other forms of violence. A 2011 survey of crime and suicide data concluded that the program "seems to have been incredibly successful in terms of lives saved."
Australia's gun-related homicide rate subsequently halved, as did the rate of firearm suicides, the study found. Non-firearm homicides and suicides did not increase. Subsequent research confirmed these findings.
The reforms were initially controversial, including within the ranks of the conservative government that passed them, as well as some rural communities. But fears of electoral backlash or even violent resistance — Australia's prime minister, John Howard, wore a bulletproof vest during one address — never materialized.
"Few Australians would deny that their country is safer today as a consequence of gun control," Mr. Howard wrote in 2013 in The New York Times.
Still, Australian gun ownership rates have crept back up in recent years, as have rates of gun-related killings.
Canada and Norway: Gradual Change
Not all reforms have been as dramatic as Britain's or Australia's.
Canada tightened restrictions on gun ownership in response to a 1989 mass shooting that killed 14 female college students. Licenses became required for shotguns and rifles, and those firearms had to be registered with authorities. Similar rules already applied to handguns.
But the new rules, which proved controversial in rural communities, were not applied until 1995, six years after the shooting, and were mostly abolished in 2012.
While Canada's gun rules remain far stricter than those in the United States, they are looser than in most other countries. Its gun ownership rates, gun homicide rates and frequency of mass shootings all follow a similar pattern: a fraction of America's, but higher than in most other developed countries.
Norway, too, has moved relatively slowly in the wake of a 2011 far-right terrorist attack that killed 77 people.
Though the country has one of Europe's highest gun ownership rates, it has relatively lower rates of gun-related violence. The country has had strict rules for years, including mandatory gun safety classes and an involved licensing process. But it took seven years after the 2011 massacre to enact a ban on semiautomatic weapons that was inspired by the attack. It went into effect at the end of last year.
New Zealand, which like Norway has traditionally had a high gun ownership rate but tight restrictions, along with low rates of gun violence, moved more quickly.
When a far-right extremist killed 50 mosquegoers in 2019, authorities took less than a week to announce a ban on military-style semiautomatic rifles and high-capacity magazines like those the attacker had used.
But Norway, New Zealand, Canada and Australia are all outliers in one important way: Each began with high rates of gun ownership, relatively few restrictions or both.
In most countries, there are fewer guns or pre-existing gun rights to restrict in the wake of a mass shooting — and, perhaps as a result, there are also far fewer mass shootings in those countries.
Still, such governments often act. In Germany, after a gunman killed 16 people, the government raised the minimum age for carrying what few weapons were permitted to 21 years old, from 18.
When another attack hit Germany seven years later — both were exceedingly rare events in a country with little gun violence — lawmakers set new rules allowing for random police checks on gun owners.
With gun ownership already strictly controlled, there were simply few other measures left to impose
Max Fisher is a New York-based international reporter and columnist. He has reported from five continents on conflict, diplomacy, social change and other topics. He writes The Interpreter, a column exploring the ideas and context behind major world events.
Now if you have laws but let people continually break them and don't punish them for that, those laws are not going to work. That's another thing.
You need someone to enforce the gun regulations - POLICE - and you need adequate punishment, either through torts (lawsuits) or criminal prosecution. If you are going to threaten to abolish police, then of course people are going to want guns.
You know when you are standing in line at an airport, you know to not even joke about bombing or hijacking? That's because of harsh enforcement. It works. Nothing to argue about. You want commercial air flights or don't you?
by artappraiser on Fri, 05/27/2022 - 12:47am
BTW the Senate IS working on some gun laws for a vote, up or down, get everyone on the record, but first they're giving it the old college try on compromise so they can get something that might actually pass. Here's how it's going so far:
the senator tweeted from recess https://t.co/kwijeZeBHL
— gregorg (he/him) (@gregorg) May 28, 2022
by artappraiser on Fri, 05/27/2022 - 8:55pm
Just FYI, you have said in the past that other countries have guns BUT NONE HAVE ANYWHERE NEAR the astronomical number that the U.S. does now. So much so that it's like comparing apples and oranges, it won't get you anywhere thinking that way:
And that's in 2018! As the associated BBC article from May 25, America's Gun Culture in 7 Charts says
The US ratio of 120.5 firearms per 100 residents, up from 88 per 100 in 2011, far surpasses that of other countries around the world.
More recent data also suggests that gun ownership grew significantly over the last several years. One study, published by the Annals of Internal Medicine in February, found that 7.5 million US adults - just under 3% of the population - became first new gun owners between January 2019 and April 2021.
This, in turn, exposed 11 million people to firearms in their homes, including 5 million children. About half of new gun owners in that time period were women, while 40% were either black or Hispanic.
A separate study, published by the American Academy of Pediatrics in 2021, linked a rise in gun ownership during the pandemic to higher rates of gun injuries among - and inflicted by - children....
How do US gun killings compare with other countries?
In 2020, 43% of the deaths - amounting to 19,384 people - were homicides, according to data from the CDC. The figure represents a 34% increase from 2019, and a 75% increase over the course of the previous decade.
Nearly 53 people are killed each day by a firearm in the US, according to the data.
The data also shows that the vast majority of murders, 79%, were carried out with guns.
That's a significantly larger proportion of homicides than is the case in Canada, Australia, England and Wales, and many other countries.
Then there's this
Finally, this is interestng as to public mass shootiings in the U.S. The records are spread out over time. Others can use this information in other ways, but I think it shows that getting rid of high powered weapons will not really solve many of our related problems, it will only reduce the rare outlier events. The massive number of handguns is the real problem in this country and has always been, before this epidemic of owning them got worse during "Defund" protests combined with the Covid pandemic (going all the way back to the 19th century, when some sheriffs made people park their handguns at the civilization line)
by artappraiser on Sat, 06/04/2022 - 12:18am
^ p.s. I don't mean to mimimize the issue of mass public shootings by high-powered weapons, just that they are not as related to the overall problem of gun violence. They're more like a bombing, in that they have a terrorism effect, it is more of a psychological effect on the whole population. (Which is also something people in gun-crime-ridden neighborhoods live with 24/7, but is still not reflective of the whole problem because now many more than ever in "good" neighborhood are victims of domestic violence shootings, suicides, road rage type and other rage shootings etc. In the latter people are not afraid, but maybe they should learn to be.)
THE NYPD IS MAKING PROGRESS REVERSING THE DAMAGE OF THE DISASTER THAT WAS 2020 with the godawful Geo. Floyd anti-police protest hysteria taking over the city and country while Covid wreaked devastation of normal society. IT'S NOT ROCKET SCIENCE! YOU OUTLAW GUNS EXCEPT FOR THE LICENSED AND YOU HAVE A TOUGH POLICE & PROSECUTOR COMBO. Not to mention you return bail laws to the way they were before.( And secondarily, you don't have an administration in DC fucking with rule of law ten ways to Sunday while lefty idiots are agitating.)
IT'S NOT ROCKET SCIENCE, YOU ARE OVERTHINKING THIS and pulling the rest of us in to doing the same. I should have seen that sooner, my bad.
NEW YORK CITY HAD A MIRACULOUS ASTRONOMICAL FALLING CRIME RATE for more than 2 DECADES, peace and prosperity increasing greatly during Mayor Bloomberg's time in office! It can be done again, just watch.
Yes, please share. Perhaps policing is working better. Murder and shootings are down ~10% this year.
It's fascinating to me that this is used as some kind of "gotcha" from policing and NYPD haters. Murders are still up 20% and shootings ~65% from 2020. https://t.co/YdvOkrKymS pic.twitter.com/sE0GhohCJa
— Peter Moskos (@PeterMoskos) June 3, 2022
I am sure plenty of teens uptown were on SSRI's during that time, it's the demographic that resulted in the book "Prozac Nation" after all. The crack cocaine epidemic in the 80's did us in, but the SSRI and anti-depressant one did not, as a matter of fact, it may have contributed to the peace, certainly there is a correlation!
Much less no violent crime, we didn't have to lock our doors to our cars and homes. SERIOUSLY, REALLY. I dare say people might have tried not using bicycle locks either because more than once in my addled state circa 2014 to 2016 I left my purse in my yard overnight near the sidewalk and it was still there in the morning. One time I even left my car running all night near the sidewalk and it was still there as well! Not kidding, lucky it was cool out or it would have overheated and died (Compare the mid 1980's when my entire dashboard, not just radio was stolen while parked outside the Bronx zoo)
NO ONE, I REPEAT NO ONE was afraid to use our subways in the late 20th century and 21st century before Covid and the Defund protests. Now everyone in this city is!
Really stop overthinking this. It was abundantly clear to me what happened in NYC since I moved here in 1983 and why, just as it was abundantly clear how the utterly safe and civilized Milwaukee I left quickly descended in the opposite direction into a hellhole during the same time period.
by artappraiser on Sat, 06/04/2022 - 1:36am
p.s. the reason for the difference since 2020 is KNOWN, it's right at the top of the crime news thread I post on every day! a pandemic + protests against police caused
this record event
In 2021, Americans bought 19.9 million guns; in 2020, they bought 22.8 million.
together with this one
a total of 73 officers intentionally killed by perpetrators last year. This number represents a 59% increase from 2020. The total is the highest since 2001, a year that included the police officers killed in the September 11 terrorist attacks in which 72 officers were killed in a single day. Excluding 2001, 2021 saw the most intentional killings of police officers in the U.S. since 1995, when 74 officers were murdered
We are back to 1995 but with a lot more guns, a lot lot more, and a lot more lack of respect for rule of law and police.Throw in a ton more felons on the street with no compunction about repeat offending or worse, for two reasons: 1) stupid pandering by prosecutors and courts in liberal blue districts to the "abolish" crew on bail and sentencing, and 2) early release from prisons and jails, lack of strict bail, and lack of normal working courts, prosecutors and parole officer, due to the covid pandemic lockdowns.
It really makes no sense to talk about SSRI's or screwed up men within the context of two years, 2020 through 2022!!! You're ignoring elephants in the room to verify beliefs you have that have no bearing on the matter of the rapid rise in the violent crime rate since 2020! We still had an overall low crime rate before that!!! (You can even find it on dagblog, rmrd arguing that there's only been a "small uptick" in homicide in mid-2020 and that it means nothing, meantime police have all of a sudden turned into brutal monsters just look at all the stories in the media, yadda yadda... Biden was one of the brave few to step up and say we need more police, not less)
by Orion on Mon, 06/06/2022 - 2:16am
how would you review this? I'm sorry, I was against Tipper Gore's crusade, but some of this stuff just goes too far
HOMICIDE FIRST DEGREES https://t.co/wZhUo8S5cT
— the bts industrial complex (@bibilIyhills) June 10, 2022
by artappraiser on Fri, 06/10/2022 - 1:42am
"social organization does not have much direct influence on crime and we should avoid policies that depend on invoking residents' informal social control"
A thought-provoking challenge to neighborhood community organization as effective crime control https://t.co/BznNuF3Xmo
— Jerry Ratcliffe (@Jerry_Ratcliffe) June 26, 2022
Pretty radical. Not going to go ever well in the traditionnal halls. Good job addressing definitional problems of "community" (something we over-apply to poor minority areas). Also addresses the seeming conundrum of why most areas in high crime areas are non problematic. pic.twitter.com/aI6wgwWyZt
— Peter Moskos (@PeterMoskos) June 26, 2022
The line "public safety is a shared responsibility" has always bothered me. Like, how much sharing are we talking? How does that work for someone who works two jobs? Then they have to come to some meeting to ask government to do its job?
— John Hall (@jjhall_77) June 26, 2022
by artappraiser on Sun, 06/26/2022 - 6:31pm
Australia, Britain, Canada, and other countries have enacted reforms that turned mass shootings into rare, aberrational events rather than everyday occurrences. https://t.co/0daeY30eZP
— The New Yorker (@NewYorker) June 30, 2022
by artappraiser on Mon, 07/04/2022 - 6:28pm
ONE mass shooting happens in a different country & now all the americans wanna talk about how "regulations don't work". We've had two mass shootings in the last 10 years. You've had 68 in june.
— Matilde (@lotsofadhd) July 3, 2022
by artappraiser on Tue, 07/05/2022 - 4:15am
Shades of Sandy Hook. https://t.co/r04hNGRpMl
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) July 6, 2022
If you made parents or co-signers criminally and financially liable for firearms, this would happen less often. Firearms are not a toy that you get for your autistic, lonely or depressed troubled kid to keep him busy. They are more dangerous than a car.
It's beyond me why more people see the equivalence with cars! As soon as cars started to become popular, people just accepted there would be rules of the road, and then required insurance, etc. No one complains that driving is a privilege with licensing and responsibilities, not a right you are born with.That's because everyone wants driving to work, they see following rules is to their benefit...(it's only when rules veer into personal risk taking that they complain, i.e. wearing seat belts or helmets with motorcycles. No one complains that there are Stop signs.)
Ken White, being a lawyer, thinks like this immediately (they never forget what they learned in Torts class even if they go into something else):
Pursue that dad to the gates of Hell and take every penny from him
— CyborgSlavesOfPopehat (@Popehat) July 6, 2022
Getting into the politics of the parent or guardian is beside the point, a diversion. In this case he happens to be a Trumpian conservative nut who ran for mayor. So what? If he were a liberal, he should still be responsible. It really shouldn't be mixed with politics at all.
Billionaire hedge funder (who donated $18K to the GoFundMe for the Highland shooting orphan)
There have been 309 mass shootings in the US YTD, an average of 12 per week, nearly two per day. The trend is not our friend. Do we do anything differently when there are 50/week? 100? What about when there is one every hour and no community is safe? Should we change anything?
— Bill Ackman (@BillAckman) July 5, 2022
To steal a misattributed quotation: the definition of insanity is doing the same thing again and again and expecting a different result. https://t.co/s6jSScBYlY
Everyday Violence - We look at where most of America's gun violence happens.
By German Lopez and Ashley WuJuly 8, 2022Updated 8:42 a.m. ET
You're reading the The Morning newsletter. Make sense of the day's news and ideas. David Leonhardt and Times journalists guide you through what's happening — and why it matters. Get it sent to your inbox.
Since a gunman killed seven people at a Chicago suburb's July 4 parade, more than 160 people have died from other gun homicides across the country. In Chicago alone, at least 10 people were killed in multiple shootings during the holiday weekend.
These everyday killings received far less attention than the mass murder at the parade. But they are the standard for American gun violence: More than 95 percent of gun homicides this year have been shootings with one to three victims.
Today, we want to help you understand where and why most everyday gun violence happens. We're going to focus on Chicago, because it has one of the country's highest murder rates and because a local group — the University of Chicago Crime Lab — keeps detailed data. But the trends in Chicago are also present in many other places.
One crucial point is that violence tends to be highly concentrated: A small sliver of blocks — just 4 percent in Chicago, for example — can account for a majority of shootings in a city or a county.
Many of the people in these blocks live in terror. The sound of gunshots is common, sometimes coming multiple times a day. Parents worry that their kids could be next, and young people fear for their own lives. As Jomarria Vaughn, a 24-year-old Chicagoan, told this newsletter: "I'm scared. I have my guard up all day."
This map of shootings in Chicago shows the concentration. Shootings are rare in much of the city, particularly on the wealthier North Side, but not on the poorer West and South Sides.(go to link to see complete version)
This concentration is not exclusive to Chicago. Across the U.S., neighborhoods that contained just 1.5 percent of the population accounted for 26 percent of gun homicides, a 2017 analysis by The Guardian found. (Again, go to link to see complete version)
Poverty and violence
There are several factors behind the concentration of violence. A major one is poverty.
In Chicago, violence and poverty closely overlap, as these maps demonstrate: (Again, go to link to see complete version)
Experts have long debated why violence and poverty are linked. Is it something specific to poverty, such as insufficient housing or jobs? Is it the environment that poverty fosters, in which people are stressed and desperate — and more likely to act out?
One theory, cited by Sharkey, blames the breakdown of "collective efficacy." That might sound academic, but the concept is straightforward: When society's institutions have unraveled, people feel that they are on their own. They are then less likely to watch over one another or come together to address common interests.
By reducing social trust, concentrated poverty hurts communities' ability to enforce norms against violent behavior. And when people are left unchecked and feel they have nothing to lose, they are more likely to take extreme measures, such as violence, to solve their problems.
The past few years may help you understand this dynamic even if you're not poor. Many Americans felt a hit to their own collective efficacy because of the Covid pandemic, George Floyd's murder and its aftermath, and the polarized political atmosphere. Sure enough, murders and other violent crimes increased during this period.
A spiral downward
It is difficult to talk about gun violence without talking about race, because Black Americans are most likely to be the victims of shootings. Poverty explains part of the disparity, since Black people are more likely to be poor. But individual poverty is not the full explanation.
Black Americans are also less likely to live in communities with strong institutional support. Exclusionary housing policies and discrimination have pushed Black Americans into segregated neighborhoods. Both governments and the private sector then neglected these neighborhoods, leaving people without good schools, banks, grocery stores and institutions.
This kind of economic neglect, which experts refer to as disinvestment, fosters violence. These maps show the correlation in Chicago between shootings and a lack of banks: (Again, go to link to see complete version)
The relationship also goes the other way, Roseanna Ander, executive director of the Crime Lab, told us: Violence can perpetuate disinvestment. Business owners do not want their shops, restaurants and warehouses in violent neighborhoods. People do not want to live in places where gunshots are fired daily. And governments shift resources away from places that officials deem lost causes. It is a vicious cycle.
A greater understanding of this spiral in recent years has driven activists and policymakers to address not just violence itself but its root causes, too. The Chicago mayor's office told us it had adopted a broader approach to combating violence, focused on boosting businesses, local clubs, mental health care and other social supports, on top of traditional policing work. As this newsletter has explained before, most experts support an all-of-the-above strategy to crime, involving both the police and alternative approaches.
But this work is difficult and, even if it succeeds, takes money and time — years or decades to rebuild long-neglected communities. Until then, the people in these neighborhoods will likely suffer the worst of American gun violence.
^ there is one big problem with the above: the figures are all from 2015-2020! A LOT of things have changed.
Guns around the world: A group of people opened fire at a bar in South Africa, killing 15
Updated July 10, 20229:07 AM ET THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
the way to say it
"As a nation, we cannot allow violent criminals to terrorize us in this way, regardless of where such incidents may occur," Ramaphosa said in a statement.
"As government, citizens and structures of civil society we must all work together even more closely to improve social and economic conditions in communities, reduce violent crime and stamp out the illicit circulation of firearms," he said.
Well regulated militia: Give everyone easy access to guns and encourage public shootouts. Cheer when gunmen get shot and killed (even if some people are murdered in the process), but think and/or pray if gunmen kills self or gets arrested.
Am I doing this right? pic.twitter.com/4HGicsCnt8
— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) July 18, 2022
by artappraiser on Mon, 07/18/2022 - 1:58am
Do consider the role of parents, it's not the only thing but it is definitely a thing if basically you've only been taught that violence is how you get what you want.
A George Floyd in the making. What a waste. https://t.co/yRkpicVzRu
— Jeremiah Gooner (@JeremiahGooner) July 12, 2022
The kid still needs diapers and he tries to get his way by hitting the cop! Much less being taught to be wary of strangers, he's attacking!
There is a reason middle-class "Black twitter" uses #ghetto as a derogative.
BTW the law changing gun ownership from 18 to 21 will have very little impact on school shootings - she would know:
"A female actor, playing a woman having a dispute with her husband, a teacher, forced her way into a classroom."
Why aren't Florida police training for the most likely scenario? They would have to shoot a male student who took an adult's gun from home. https://t.co/843lOPK3O4
by artappraiser on Sun, 07/24/2022 - 11:20pm
Texans surrender over 700 guns at Houston gun buyback https://t.co/tDBNY61hTb
— Heal the Planet -- #BetoForTexas (@fwtoney) August 1, 2022
"As the NRA has faltered, the NSSF has been on the rise. And while the organization markets itself as something of a kinder, gentler NRA - on a mission to 'promote, protect and preserve hunting and the shooting sports' - critics say that's just a fantasy." https://t.co/2hjUK2WArD
— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) August 1, 2022
Don't be like this nigga here #fights #schoolfights #hoodfights #shooting #ex #WSHH pic.twitter.com/1DG2xgKeI3
— we fight mike (@letsfightmike) July 23, 2022
Kids and RPGs. What could possibly go wrong? https://t.co/hvq0k8colp
— KT "Special Intelligence Operation" (@KremlinTrolls) August 14, 2022


text:
An Imperial Language: Alphabet Ceremonies in Constantinople and Rome|Intellectuals & Empire
Thursday, March 11, 2021, 5:30 pm – 8:00 pm
Teresa Shawcross
Abstract: This talk examines the role played by intellectuals in shaping the rituals and ceremonies of the imperial court in Constantinople and the papal curia in Rome during the period from the tenth to the twelfth centuries. We shall compare and contrast two manuscripts – the De Ceremoniis associated with Basil Lekapenos and the Liber Politicus associated with Benoit of Saint Peter's –, focusing on the prescriptions they contain for the performance of alphabetical poems during celebrations for the high feasts of Christmas and Easter. These poems, which were organised according to mnemonic elements that drew on a well-established educational tradition, constituted highly dramatic declarations of religious conversion and political allegiance. Often dismissed as obsolete by the time they were recorded in ceremonial handbooks, the poems can be shown to have drawn the attention of officials in both courts because of the potential they afforded for showcasing the cultural superiority of the prince and enhancing his prestige both at home and abroad.
Teresa Shawcross is Associate Professor of History and Hellenic Studies at Princeton University and a Senior Member of Robinson College, Cambridge University. As a historian of the Middle Ages, she works at the interstices between the Byzantine, Latin, and Islamic Mediterranean. Publications include The Chronicle of Morea: Historiography in Crusader Greece (Oxford, 2008) and Reading in the Byzantine Empire and Beyond, co-edited with Ida Toth (Cambridge, 2018). She is completing a monograph on the ideas and practices of empire – and its alternatives – from the eleventh to the fifteenth centuries.
For joining Zoom, click here.
The lecture is a part of the CEMS "Intellectuals and Empire" lecture series. The series asks what role intellectuals played in formulating notions of empire and spreading imperial policy, on the one hand, and, on the other, how they criticized emperors and challenged imperial ideology or practices. How did intellectuals navigate power structures and their asymmetrical relationship with relevant powers? What strategies did they use to maintain a critical distance from those on whom they often depended for their livelihood? How did they shape their personas to carve out a place for themselves within – or outside – the machinery of imperial administration? By looking at the intellectual production and socio-political roles of different kinds of intellectuals in various historical periods, the series invites meditation of the complex yet constant tension between power and intellectual life.
Thursday, March 11, 2021 - 4:30PM - Thursday, March 11, 2021 - 7:00PM Add to Calendar 2021-03-11 16:30:00 2021-03-11 19:00:00 An Imperial Language: Alphabet Ceremonies in Constantinople and Rome|Intellectuals & Empire Abstract: This talk examines the role played by intellectuals in shaping the rituals and ceremonies of the imperial court in Constantinople and the papal curia in Rome during the period from the tenth to the twelfth centuries. We shall compare and contrast two manuscripts – the De Ceremoniis associated with Basil Lekapenos and the Liber Politicus associated with Benoit of Saint Peter's –, focusing on the prescriptions they contain for the performance of alphabetical poems during celebrations for the high feasts of Christmas and Easter. These poems, which were organised according to mnemonic elements that drew on a well-established educational tradition, constituted highly dramatic declarations of religious conversion and political allegiance. Often dismissed as obsolete by the time they were recorded in ceremonial handbooks, the poems can be shown to have drawn the attention of officials in both courts because of the potential they afforded for showcasing the cultural superiority of the prince and enhancing his prestige both at home and abroad. Teresa Shawcross is Associate Professor of History and Hellenic Studies at Princeton University and a Senior Member of Robinson College, Cambridge University. As a historian of the Middle Ages, she works at the interstices between the Byzantine, Latin, and Islamic Mediterranean. Publications include The Chronicle of Morea: Historiography in Crusader Greece (Oxford, 2008) and Reading in the Byzantine Empire and Beyond, co-edited with Ida Toth (Cambridge, 2018). She is completing a monograph on the ideas and practices of empire – and its alternatives – from the eleventh to the fifteenth centuries. For joining Zoom, click here. Passcode: 056007 The lecture is a part of the CEMS "Intellectuals and Empire" lecture series. The series asks what role intellectuals played in formulating notions of empire and spreading imperial policy, on the one hand, and, on the other, how they criticized emperors and challenged imperial ideology or practices. How did intellectuals navigate power structures and their asymmetrical relationship with relevant powers? What strategies did they use to maintain a critical distance from those on whom they often depended for their livelihood? How did they shape their personas to carve out a place for themselves within – or outside – the machinery of imperial administration? By looking at the intellectual production and socio-political roles of different kinds of intellectuals in various historical periods, the series invites meditation of the complex yet constant tension between power and intellectual life. Teresa Shawcross grigoryans@ceu.edu UTC public
Center for Eastern Mediterranean Studies
grigoryans@ceu.edu


Give out the best services to tax payer in development, cleanliness, beautify, health and comfortable life.
Implement regulations and policies by Federal Government, State Government and Council itself.
Improve tax collection and non-tax collection for management, development project sponsorship, services and public infrastructure maintenance purpose.
Plan, control and determine a course of systematic and beneficial development to races, religions and country.
Establish an organization with efficiency, quality which always applies a good attitude in administration systems.
Give cooperation to other government department or other departments.


text:
Kristen Bell Says Opening Up About Mental Health Struggles Has Been Therapeutic
December 17, 2019 – 1:23 PM – 0 Comments
By Nicole Pajer Parade @@NicolePajer
More by Nicole
Chyler Leigh Speaks Out About Bipolar Disorder and How She Learned Not to Be a Superhero
Rob Lowe on the Tricks He Uses to Stay Low-Carb and Why Ice Cream Is His Kryptonite
(Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney)
As the star of a variety of hit television shows like Veronica Mars and The Good Place, as well as the head of the cult franchise film series Frozen, it may seem like Kristen Bell has it all together. She's also the mother of two adorable daughters and wife to fellow actor and Armchair Expert podcast host, Dax Shepard—their marriage is often deemed "#CoupleGoals." But that doesn't mean everything always runs smoothly in her world. The 39-year-old actress has been very vocal about the fact that she is 100% human and has her own share of issues to deal with. And fans absolutely adore that about her.
Related: Kristen Bell Has Been Quietly Helping Teachers Get the School Supplies They Need
In recent years, Bell has opened up about living with anxiety and depression, something that many of her followers have very much appreciated hearing about. And while talking about her condition has helped to fight the stigmas surrounding mental health, Bell tells Parade.com that speaking out has been equally as therapeutic for her. She also admits that the decision to be forthcoming about her mental state wasn't entirely easy for her:
"I still feel funny when I talk about it because even I suffer from the stigma of shame of like, 'Should I be talking about this?' But my reality is that the minute I started, which was at the encouragement of my husband, I immediately felt so much more responsible and I recognized—and hindsight is 20/20—that for so many years I had presented this bubbly human being who didn't seem to have any problems," she explains. Bell adds that looking back, she found holding her struggles inside of herself to be irresponsible because "that wasn't the whole truth and I could have been helping people by saying, 'Look, I suffer from it. We all suffer from it. If you have these problems, there are answers out there. There are hotlines, there are therapists, there are psychologists, there are support systems, there are family members, there are books, there are shows on mental health. You don't have to feel isolated,'" she explains. "So yes, I feel an enormous sense of pride when I'm able to share about my anxiety and depression."
Healthy Now Tip
Take a mental health day to beat burnout. It's about shutting down the sympathetic nervous system response, which governs your fight or flight response, so spend the day doing whatever makes you feel most grounded and in control.
From Our Partners at the Cleveland Clinic
Related: Lizzo Believes Anxiety Fuels Her Concert Performances
The Frozen 2 star takes medication to manage her conditions but notes that while she finds this to be a helpful tool for herself, it's not a universal solution. "Not everybody needs a medication but if you do, you can entertain talking to a doctor about it. It's very individual," she says. In her circumstances, Bell says her mental health tends to suffers the most when she finds herself experiencing bouts of inactivity. "For me, my depression and anxiety will hit if I'm not working out," she explains. Thus, she makes an effort to hit the gym whenever she gets a chance. "If I'm not getting my heart rate up minimally two times a week, I just don't have enough endorphins to love life as much as I want to. And the awesome side effects are that I stay a little bit fit. But I really I go to work out for my mental health," she says.
In terms of boosting herself out of a funk, Bell says it's the tried and true remedies that seem to work best for her. "Something we've heard before, but it's the truth: I either eat something really healthy and take a ginger shot or I eat a salad, not fries. I force myself to go to a workout class or I meditate," she says. So if she's feeling down, The Good Place stars says that means she is not producing enough endorphins. "I don't have enough vitamins or my brain is too crowded. Those are the three things that are happening to me. So I try to fix all three of them," she explains.
Find out why singer Jewel swears by meditation for her anxiety.


According to Wired Blogs, VW is working with the Hybrid Technologies company (see the press release on their site) to develop a concept car in North Carolina, using lithium ion batteries. The announced in September their plans to build a hybrid car to be sold in China.
The Wired blogger is rooting for a hybrid Golf, but if I had to guess my girlfriend would rather have a hybrid Jetta.
and in NC, no less!
mooresville is about 2 1/2 hours west of me, on the way to the mountains. along the route is high point, nc, home of two "the world's largest chair" and "the world's largest buearau".


That doesn't look like an OS X error message. In fact I was using a cut'n'paste to create both password files, only replacing the node name. No settings can be changed in Retrospect to fix this error since the problem is being reported by Shadow Copy Service itself. All Rights Reserved.
Unless this file is a working business-related file, I would disregard the error in Retrospect, few system files can be restored successfully anyway. I am not sure if I have a damaged copy of the program or its an issue with it. 0 Write Comment First Name Please enter a first name Last Name Support Apple Support Communities Shop the Apple Online Store (1-800-MY-APPLE), visit an Apple Retail Store, or find a reseller. Change "LocalSystem" to the account you want to use and then enter your password in the two password fields.
Get properties on the network volume and configure it for automatic login. Tagged: 16191, logging onto standby, ora-01017, shipping redo logs. We have an environment with 30+ macs and users connect and authenticate using Open Directory to the file shares. OCISessionBegin failed.
What do I need to do?"Can't use Open File Backup option for on hostname - username, error -1017 ( insufficient permissions ) Edited by Interact, 21 June 2011 - 08:21 AM. Stay logged in Odin Forum Home Forum > Server Virtualization Products Discussion > Virtuozzo Containers for Windows > General Questions > Home Forum Forum Quick Links Search Forum Recent Posts Members If you can fix the -1017 error, the -1020 errors will go away. Eventually I fixed the problem by re-creating the password files on both nodes (for the 3rd or 4th time) and restarting the databases.
Subject: Open File Backup error -1017 (insufficientpermissions) Date Index Thread: Next Thread Index Hi, I've just started using Retrospect Express philmee95 Bit Poster Messages: 8 I have just gotten my first few Virtuozzo containers running on windows 2003 and want more than container snapshots. If you are in a workgroup environment, enter the local computer name into the "log on to" field. VSS could be failing due to a conflict with a 3rd party program that is already utilizing the Volume Shadow Copy Service.
So I will try to disable the shadow copy service and run a backup, after contacting VZ support of course to find out ramifications. I read a bunch of people using the 1 touch backups and some form of retrospect in the mac forums, but I do not know if the mac product is comparable I have excluded the window directory from he backup procedure and get a few dozen less errors. EMC does the proactive backups and volume snapshots and takes miniscule amounts of space (10 servers, 10 laptops, exchange on 1 TB).


Maya has been doing great in the past two weeks after we changed her diet following the result from Glacier Peak Allergy Test. She still scratches a few times a day, but comparing to the past two years or even this spring, the improvement is significant.
She still has the habit of licking her feet, but the frequency does seem to be decreasing as she's less itchy. The new Mal-a-ket wipe I've been using also helps discourage licking and keep it dry between the toes.
I am really thrilled to see the big improvements, but somehow still worried that it's too good to be true and that everything can fall apart rather quickly. Paws crossed!


The Bethel Post Office is located in the state of Washington within Pierce County. This location serves 43,173 Spanaway residents with a median income of $64,155. It's estimated that approximately 68,909 packages pass through this post office each year.


text:
Animation keeps spotlight on Save Goat Islands campaign
Published:Sunday | December 15, 2013 | 12:00 AM
Sadeke Brooks, Staff Reporter
With environmental groups staunchly against the formation of a logistics hub on Goat Islands, the Jamaica Environmental Trust (JET) is now lobbying to protect the area through an animated video.
The minute-long piece, Don't Mess with Goat Islands, was uploaded to JET's YouTube and Facebook pages earlier this week.
With audio to match, the video shows two lizards, as well as fish being affected by the new development.
The lyrics were written by Inilek Wilmot, vocals by Quecee, and music and production by Jeremy Osbourne, while the animation was done by Nivek Animations.
Earlier this year, it was announced by the government that they were giving serious consideration to a proposal from a Chinese investor to construct a transshipment hub on the protected islands that are located off the coast of Old Harbour, St Catherine. The property is owned by the Urban Development Corporation (UDC) and has 617 acres.
Environmental groups have opposed the plan as they say it is likely to affect flora, fauna and marine life.
JET is one of the groups against the plan. While animation is not the only method being used, Diana McCaulay, chief executive officer at JET, said animation was used because "we think it has a wider appeal and is another way of getting the information out. We also wanted to try something new and Jamaicans respond to images, music and humour".
She said there is also a 30-second version of the video that, if given funding, might be put on TV.
But since the posting of the minute-long video only a few days ago, it has racked up almost 2,000 views on YouTube, and more views on its Facebook page.
Since the posting, she said the response has been good, with some persons suggesting it should be turned into a serial. She said there were also suggestions to do videos of a similar nature that tackle other environmental issues.
"We are just asking everybody to watch and comment. My job is to generate interest in the subject. This is just one method," McCaulay said.
In addition to the animated video, McCaulay says there is also a website, savegoatislands.org. And over the next six weeks, JET will continue to roll out its campaign that include 'Save Goat Islands' T-shirts, a calendar, a TV infomercial, and a briefing paper about the issue.
"I would like to encourage the public to look at the various products, comment on them and buy the T-shirt," she told The Sunday Gleaner.
'For sure we are coming March 18,' Chandler Moore, Naomi Raine promise
Five Questions with Sheryl Lee Ralph
Koffee for City of Miramar Afro-Carib Festival
Movie Review: Even J.Lo can't save this 'Shotgun Wedding'
Justin Bieber sells rights to 'Baby', rest of music catalogue
'All of you Marley children out there, stay together,' Lauryn Hill urges
J'can home could be on the horizon for Stonebwoy
The Fablemans
Top 6 moments at Rebel Salute
'Everything Everywhere' tops Oscar nominations with 11


867007 - Korb (Kunststoff, blau) für Tassen / Mokkatassen, Fassungsvermögen: 24 / 48 Tassen, 1 Stk.
864242 - Gelber Besteckbehälter, 2 Stk.
304 Stainless steel construction to include double skin insulated hood, external, front and side panels, wash tank, tank filter plus wash and rinse arms. Uses 2 liters of clean water per final rinse cycle. 84°C rinse temperature and pressure guaranteed by built in atmospheric boiler and built in rinse booster pump. Washing performance is guaranteed by a powerful 0.8 kW wash pump and upper and lower stainless steel revolving washing spray arms. Unit to feature Guaranteed Rinse System (ACTIVE) led light. Green light will indicate that all items washed have been properly rinsed. Advanced Filtering System removes majority of soil from the wash water. The unit shall include drain pump, detergent and rinse aid dispenser pumps and is equipped with flexible fill hoses. Convertible from straight to corner operation and delivered on height-adjustable feet.


text:
Q: Conversion PHP to VB.NET     <?php

  function bter_query($path, array $req = array()) {
        // API settings, add your Key and Secret at here
        $key = 'key here';
        $secret = 'secrethere';

        // generate a nonce to avoid problems with 32bits systems
        $mt = explode(' ', microtime());
        $req['nonce'] = $mt[1].substr($mt[0], 2, 6);

        // generate the POST data string
        $post_data = http_build_query($req, '', '&');
        $sign = hash_hmac('sha512', $post_data, $secret);

        // generate the extra headers
        $headers = array(
            'KEY: '.$key,
            'SIGN: '.$sign,
        );

        // curl handle (initialize if required)
    static $ch = null;
        if (is_null($ch)) {
            $ch = curl_init();
            curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);
            curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_USERAGENT,
                'Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; Bter PHP bot; '.php_uname('a').'; PHP/'.phpversion().')'
                );
        }
        curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL, 'https://bter.com/api/'.$path);
        curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, $post_data);
        curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, $headers);
        curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYPEER, FALSE);

        // run the query
        $res = curl_exec($ch);

        if ($res === false) throw new Exception('Curl error: '.curl_error($ch));
        //echo $res;
        $dec = json_decode($res, true);
        if (!$dec) throw new Exception('Invalid data: '.$res);
        return $dec;
    }

    try {
        // example 1: get funds
        var_dump(bter_query('1/private/getfunds'));

    } catch (Exception $e) {
        echo "Error:".$e->getMessage();

    }
?>

Hi guys i need to convert the above PHP code to VBNET
I'm using the following functions:
Private Function StringToSHA512(ByVal content As String) As String
    Dim M5 As New SHA512Managed
    Dim bytestring() As Byte = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(content)
    bytestring = M5.ComputeHash(bytestring)
    Dim signer As String = Nothing
    For Each bt As Byte In bytestring
        signer &= bt.ToString("x2")
    Next
    Return signer
End Function

Private Function GetUnixTimestamp(ByVal currDate As DateTime) As Integer
    'create Timespan by subtracting the value provided from the Unix Epoch
    Dim span As TimeSpan = (currDate - New DateTime(2012, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0).ToLocalTime())
    'return the total seconds (which is a UNIX timestamp)
    Return span.TotalSeconds
End Function

    Private Function response(ByVal postdata As String) As String
        Dim postReq As HttpWebRequest
        Try
            postReq = DirectCast(WebRequest.Create("https://bter.com/api/1/private/getfunds"), HttpWebRequest)
            Dim keyer As String = LCase("Keyhere") 'your key goes here
            Dim secret As String = "SecretHere" 'your secret goes here
            Dim KeyByte() As Byte = Encoding.ASCII.GetBytes(secret)
            Dim HMAcSha As New HMACSHA512(Encoding.ASCII.GetBytes(secret))
            Dim messagebyte() As Byte = Encoding.ASCII.GetBytes(postdata)
            Dim hashmessage() As Byte = HMAcSha.ComputeHash(messagebyte)
            Dim Sign As String = BitConverter.ToString(hashmessage)
            Sign = Sign.Replace("-", "")
            postReq.Method = "POST"
            postReq.KeepAlive = False
            postReq.Headers.Add("Key", keyer)
            postReq.Headers.Add("Sign", LCase(Sign))
            postReq.ContentType = "application/x-www-form-urlencoded"
            postReq.UserAgent = "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.1; ru; rv:1.9.2.3) Gecko/20100401 Firefox/4.0 (.NET CLR 3.5.30729)"
            postReq.ContentLength = messagebyte.Length
            Dim postreqstream As Stream = postReq.GetRequestStream()
            postreqstream.Write(messagebyte, 0, messagebyte.Length)
            postreqstream.Dispose()
            Dim PostRes As HttpWebResponse = DirectCast(postReq.GetResponse(), HttpWebResponse)
            Dim postreqreader As New StreamReader(PostRes.GetResponseStream())
            response = postreqreader.ReadToEnd.Replace(Chr(34), Chr(39))
            postreqreader.Dispose()
            PostRes.Close()
        Catch ex As Exception
            response = ""
        End Try
    End Function

But when i call response("nonce=" & GetUnixtimestamp(Now)) it returns:
{'result':'false','message':'Error: invalid data'}
What am i doing wrong?

A: Kow this is an old thread, but I am/was having the same issue. Here's my solution:
randomn = CLng(DateTime.UtcNow.Subtract(New DateTime(1970, 1, 1)).TotalSeconds)
postData = "method=" & lstmeth.SelectedItem & "&nonce=" & randomn


text:
Arecibo Observatory to receive prestigious award at Nov. 3 ceremony
Filed under Cornell University, US
ITHACA, N.Y. — In a joint ceremony Nov. 3, the Institute of
Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) and the American Society
of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) will commemorate the engineering and
scientific contributions of Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico.
The 1,000-foot-diameter Arecibo radio/radar telescope, the world's
largest, will be declared an IEEE Milestone in Electrical Engineering
and an ASME Landmark in Mechanical Engineering. Arecibo Observatory
will be the eighth recipient of these prestigious joint awards, most
recently given to the Stanford Linear Accelerator. The award was
requested by the Puerto Rico and Caribbean Section of the IEEE.
The Arecibo Observatory is part of the National Astronomy and
Ionosphere Center (NAIC), a national research center operated by
Cornell University under a cooperative agreement with the National
Science Foundation.
The observatory was dedicated in 1963. Its unique design was based
on the efforts of William Gordon, then a professor of engineering at
Cornell, to build an instrument that would use radar to study the
ionosphere, an upper layer of the Earth's atmosphere, and objects in
the solar system. The telescope's radar transmitters and sensitive
electronic systems for picking up and analyzing weak signals have
produced a host of significant scientific results, from the Þrst
binary pulsar and confirmation of gravitational radiation, to
detection of ice on the surface of Mercury.
"None of this would have been possible without the contribution of
numerous innovations in radio frequency antenna, electronics and
signal processing design," says Paul Goldsmith, director of NAIC and
the J.A. Weeks Professor in the Physical Sciences at Cornell. "These
honors reflect the creativity and dedication of the staff of the
observatory and the NAIC. I join in saluting all the individuals,
starting with Bill Gordon, who have contributed so much to
technological and scientific innovation through their work with the
wonderful instrument at Arecibo that is being honored through these
awards." The telescope's design also led to advances in electrical
engineering, through antenna design, signal processing and electronic
instrumentation. In mechanical engineering, it advanced antenna
suspension and drive systems. The drive system, for example,
positions all active parts of the antenna with millimeter precision,
regardless of temperature changes and wind effects, enabling the
telescope to maintain accurate focus and pointing.
Related World Wide Web sites: The following sites provide
additional information on this news release. Some might not be part
of the Cornell University community, and Cornell has no control over
their content or availability.
o Arecibo Observatory: http://www.naic.edu/