Returning to the pickup truck side of the automotive universe, Jeep has finally bought back an option for buyers looking for a serious off-road vehicle with the functional benefits of a cargo bed. The 2020 Jeep Gladiator made quite a splash at the 2018 Los Angeles Auto Show as the newest mainstream mid-size pickup player.
Related: Jeep Fight: What Sets Gladiator and Wrangler Apart?
What do we think? We'll go ahead and say it: This is not necessarily the perfect small truck Jeep and pickup enthusiasts have been waiting for. We're guessing that Jeep will discover that many of the Gladiator buyers will come from its Wrangler SUV customer base. The truth is, once you remove the Toyota Tacoma (and even the Chevrolet Colorado) from the mid-size pickup class, there are not many sales to be had, especially with the aggressive pricing and incentive spending going on in the much bigger, more capable and more powerful half-ton pickup class. Pricing for the new Jeep pickup has not been announced, but the cost of a fully loaded Gladiator could set a record for mid-size trucks.
Despite those concerns, we have no doubt the Jeep Gladiator will sell quite well and have Jeep's Toledo, Ohio, production plant running two full shifts (and possibly a third) for a long time to come. But we strongly advise parent company Fiat Chrysler Automobiles to improve the bed and provide a better trailering setup during the mid-model refresh.
There are plenty of details to look at on the 2020 Jeep Gladiator; this video covers just a few of the unique selling points that stood out to us and the tons of showgoers we saw eyeballing the new pickup.
The Chevy Bison will be $48,000 with out options, I am thinking the Jeep with out options might be around $45,000.
A guy at the gym said he might get rid of his Escalade and bu one of these Jeeps, if he can get the dealer to add all the after market stuff he wants on it, all show, no go stuff..
@Dave -- We hope your ballpark guesses on pricing will be correct but we're never surprised anymore when marketing folks want to mess with pricing in the wrong way. Good feedback about who some of the first adopters might be. Time will tell.
As a midsize truck owner I have to say that the extra rear leg room appeals to me.
avg midside now over 40 grand out the lot,no thanks!
I own a 2016 Colorado. I am excited about the Gladiator. This is about as excited as I was when the Colorado was announced and ended up buying one of those.. Pricing is going to be a concern though, my guess is low 50s for the Rubicon. Which is a bit pricey but probably realistic. Otherwise, I think Jeep may have a hit. This thing should tow well. Most Jeep's do not tow much currently because the rating/suspension is just not good enough. At the same time someone who owns a Jeep is probably someone who would own a dirt bike, atv, etc. This is new JLT will fit that bill. It has a bed and appears to have the same Wrangler off road DNA. This is the midsize pickup market in a nutshell. The bed/towing comment to me is coming from a full-size pickup owner. Yes, those are features one would expect in the full-size market but these midsize consumers are the weekend warrior type. We want a truck for fun, not work. It needs to work but it also needs to fit the lifestyle.
BTW, I fully believe Jeep has an opportunity in the full-size market too. I think they could probably do very well with a full-size pickup based on the upcoming Grand Wagoneer platform.
The Rubi is going to price into the $50K+ range; the base model probably about $42K+.
Who said there is no sign of inflation. Hold on to you cash folks the crash is coming.
Stop watching CNN. That's an order. It will make you crazy. Your comment is silly.
Commodity prices are very steady, gasoline is cheaper than it's been in years. Employment numbers are the best we've seen since the Reagan days.
Even the federal reserve is running out of excuses for bumping the interest rate, but you'd have us believe that people should hoard paper money. Fool.
Would be nice if they offered a 2-door version with a longer bed. Empty-nesters don't need more than 2 seats. Other than that and the probably too-high price, it looks great!


A dog attack is no joke, and your Active Self Protection must include defense against dogs who could get violent. I am a dog lover (and an American Bulldog owner!) and hate to see a dog shot, but this is the kind of instance where a firearm is the appropriate tool against a dog attack for sure. NOTE: please read the news story on this one…the officer was responding to a dog attack complaint when he came up to the house.
How do I protect myself from a dog attack?
First aid skills are important, whether it's a dog attack or a human attack. If you're going to train and prepare to take a life to defend yourself, you should also have skills, training, and equipment to save life should you need to. (I carry an individual first aid kit at a minimum) Often that will not involve defensive encounters, and in a defensive encounter your primary responsibility is to yourself and your loved ones. Here the officer is fairly badly chewed up by the dog attack, so having a first aid kit on his person would have been a great idea to start some wound control before EMS arrived.
To defend against this kind of attack, you need emotional fitness. Emotional fitness is defined as the ability to internally represent a situation or predicament to yourself in such a way as to make you strong and able to successfully defend yourself against it. Repeated practice and thousands of reps of sparring and self-defense absolutely build your emotional fitness to be able to handle whatever comes your way. A dog attack is no joke emotionally, so being able to process it and stay mentally engaged to defend yourself is important.
Empty-handed skills are absolutely critical for self-defenders. First of all, more conflicts you will encounter as a self-defender will require empty-handed skills than will require firearms skills, simply because more self-defense encounters are physical than deadly. Second, since a firearm is a tool of last resort, self-defenders need to have non-lethal options that include empty-handed skills to protect themselves from likely incidents. Third, in the moment of the encounter you may not have the time to get to your gun before you can fight your way to it. In this dog attack the officer had to use his hands to fend off the first attack, which is not uncommon!
Whether you're LEO or CCW, you need to know what force options you have available and when to abandon one and move to another. ("force options" are a better model than the older "force continuum" model) You need to know when your pepper spray is the best option, or when to abandon it (or the TASER) in favor of your firearm in a split second decision. The best way, of course, to learn and embed these options in your mind is to train in force on force scenarios with the options and then respond to the situations appropriately. In this dog attack the officer had been badly bitten in the first attack, and so going to the firearm against that threat was very wise and certainly justifiable.
While we know that shooting with both hands on the gun is best for recoil control and putting fast, accurate shots on target, we also know that it's not always possible to do. We must train and prepare to use our firearm with both our gun hand and our guard hand in case of injury or incapacitation. This dog attack certainly showcases that need.
Keep your firearm ready to fire. Some people carry their firearm with an empty chamber, but doing so is not recommended for several reasons. First, it assumes that you will have both hands available to you to draw your firearm, which isn't necessarily the case. You might have a hand engaged or injured. Secondly, it assumes that you'll have time to chamber a round in a gunfight, but gunfights are won and lost on tenths of seconds. Third, it assumes that you'll have the dexterity to chamber a round under duress, though in the moment many times I have seen people fumble their chambering attempt. Keep your defensive firearm ready to fire, with a round in the chamber!


Many houses built between the late 1800s and the mid-1900s have a gravity heating system, also known as an octopus furnace. Unlike a modern furnace, a gravity system has ducts but no fan. Usually located in the basement, floor or wall, a gravity heating system allows warm air to naturally rise into a home.
You may find a gravity heating system in an older home.
Most gravity systems were designed to burn coal, but they will also burn propane, oil or natural gas. After the coal or other fuel enters the combustion chamber in the basement, the heated air flows upward through the ducts and into the rooms through floor vents.
A gravity heating system is quiet and does not blow dust into a room because it does not have a fan. The system functions for many years because it has fewer parts and requires less maintenance than a modern furnace.
A gravity system takes longer to heat a home because it lacks a fan to force the warm air into the rooms. An efficient modern forced hot air system uses 95 percent of the heated air to warm a home, notes the National Association of Certified Home Inspectors. Only 50 percent of the heated air in a gravity system warms a home, while the rest of the warm air escapes through the chimney.


Estimated delivery time 4-8 business days.
Actual color may vary from picture.
Our 48 piece screw kit allows you to mount Ulticlip products and other accessories to a wide variety of sheaths and holsters. With our combination of screws, posts and washers you can custom mount hardware on items up to ¾" thick.
We guarantee our products to meet your complete satisfaction for 30 days from the date of purchase. If for any reason you are not satisfied with our product within the first 30 days follow our Return Procedure instructions to receive a refund for the full purchase price, less shipping and handling. See our Terms & Conditions for full details.


Here is an article about Toyota's Fujio Cho. I don't take the view of another blog, which calls Toyota "racist" for having an solely Japanese board. I'm convinced that Toyota is changing and giving more control outside of Japan. We can argue about the pace of change, but Toyota consistently is moving in this direction.
It seems like a necessary step in becoming a truly global company.
Next month, Toyota's board is expected to approve a slate of promotions in the North American operations, bolstering the ranks of highly-qualified executives.
"Toyota appoints Japanese executives to run new plants, he said, but North American managers hold top positions at established factories, such as Georgetown and Cambridge, Ontario.
"The area we need to work on more is research and development and engineering," Cho said.
The Toyota Technical Center in Ann Arbor employs about 600 engineers who develop upper bodies for many models destined for the U.S. market, such as the new full-size Tundra pickup. But Toyota still develops the platforms, or underbodies, in Japan.
"I believe R&D functions in America will be localized and expanded rapidly," he said.
Americans and Europeans are good enough to call the shots in America and Europe, but only Japanese are on the Board of Directors – 100%, always has been that way.
Not a Smith or a Jones among 'em.
A new Board is scheduled to elected this month. We'll see how ready Toyota is to change. Until then, I stand by my statement. If it walks like a duck, and it looks like a duck and it quacks like a duck…..
Let's see how many Japanese are on the boards of GM and Ford. None? They must be racist too.
Saying a Japanese company is racist because they don't have a Jones on their board is a ridiculous statement. I think it speaks more to your racism than theirs.
GM and Ford don't have a major presence in Japan. They do in Europe, and their boards contain and have long contained, Europeans.
Toyota does many things well and there is much to learn from them.
Further, the Toyota board has openly acknowledged that their failure to include anyone from another culture is a major failing and one they need to correct. Thus far, however, they have been unable to bring themselves to find anyone in the entire world capable of contributing to the strategic direction of their business at the board level who is not Japanese born and raised.
Call it by whatever name you want, but excluding people solely on the basis of ethnicity or national origin (which Toyota acknowledges it does at the board level) clearly meets the definition of the term 'racism' as it is used in the U.S., both legally and practically.
While your passion is admirable, blind adulation of Toyota or any other organization will not lead you to a better understanding of lean manufacturing.
I don't care about supporting Toyota, I care about people throwing around the term racist. And "excluding people solely on the basis of ethnicity or national origin" is NOT what they said.
Bill however is correct. It doesn't matter what you said it only matters what you did. You either walk the talk or you don't.


text:
Q: How to make class-validator work with custom decorator and nested validation? So I have this in my DTO:
@Validate(SomeCustomDecorator)
@ValidateIf(o => o.someProp === false)
@ValidateNested()
@Type(() => SomeOtherDTO)
prop?:SomeOtherDTO

I also have stopAtFirstError enabled.
Problem is that the custom validator gets executed no matter what, even if @ValidateNested() finds an error. No error will be reported.
Is this a bug? It's supposed to not execute the custom validator if previous one (ValidateNested) fails, right?
How can I fix this or what am I doing wrong here?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Vol 20, No 1 (2016) > Marine Engineering >
Maneuverability of Ships with small Draught in Steady Wind
Daeng Paroka 1	, Andi Haris Muhammad 2	, Syamsul Asri 2
Department of Naval Architect Hasanuddin University
Department of Naval Architects, Faculty of Engineering, Hasanuddin University, Makassar, Indonesia 990245)
Abstract: Wind force and moment may force a ship to drastically decrease its speed and use a large drift angle as well as a large rudder angle in order to maintain its course. Shipswith a small draught might have more risk in maneuvering to its point of view compared with a ship with a larger draught. This paper discusses maneuverability of a ship with a small draught in steady wind. The effect of wind on ship speed, drift angle, and rudder angle are investigated in a steady state condition. Five different ratios of wind velocity to ship speed from 1.0 to 20.0 are used in the simulation. The variation in wind direction is examined from 0°to 180°. Results of the numerical simulation show that thewind has a significant effect on the reduction in ship speed with a wind direction less than 100°. The drift angle increases due to increasing wind velocity in the same wind direction. Wind direction also has a significant effect on the drift angle especially when the wind direction is less than 140°. The same phenomenon was found for the rudder angle. The necessary rudder angle is greater than the maximum rudder angle of the ship when the wind direction is 60°with a wind velocity to ship speed ratio of 20 or more.
Keywords: drift angle, maneuverability, rudder angle, ship speed, wind
Published at: Vol 20, No 1 (2016) pages: 24-30
Access Counter: 2146 views, 774 PDF downloads, .
Maritime Safety Committee on Ship Maneuverability of International Maritime Organization (IMO), MSC 76/23, Resolution MSC. 137(76), IMO, London, 2002.
T. Fujiwara, M. Ueno, Y. Ikeda, Proceedings of the Sixteenth International Offshore and Polar
Engineering Conference, San Francisco, California, USA, 2006, p.304.
H. Yasukawa, T. Hirano, Y. Nakayama, K.K. Koh, J. Mar. Sci. Technol. 17/3 (2012) 291.
K. Spyrou, J. Ship Res. 41/1 (1995) 21.
N. Umeda, H. Hashimoto, J. Mar. Sci. Technol. 6/3 (2002) 112.
S. Khanfir, Ph.D Thesis, Department of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering, Graduate
School of Engineering, Osaka University, Japan, 2011.
M. Hirano, J. Takashima, J. West Jpn. Soc. Nav. Archit. 59 (1982) 71.
K. Kijima, T. Katsuno, Y. Nakiri, J. Soc. Nav. Archit. Jpn. 168 (1990) 141.
Y. Yoshimura, H. Sakurai, J. Kansai Soc. Nav. Archit. Jpn. 211 (1988) 115.
J. Carlton, Marine Propellers and Propulsions, 2nd ed., Elsevier, UK, 2007, p.103.
T. Fujiwara, M. Ueno, Y. Ikeda, J. Jpn. Soc. Nav. Archit. Ocean Eng. 2 (2006) 243.
T. Fujiwara, M. Ueno, Y. Ikeda, J. Jpn. Soc. Nav. Archit. Marine Eng. 2 (2006) 257.
J. Holtrop, G.G.J. Mennen, International Ship Building Progress, 1987, p.25.
D. Paroka, Bulletin of Indonesian Classification Society (Accepted for Publication).

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


NEW YORK CITY (JTA) – Stephen Bannon, the former chief strategist for President Donald Trump, called himself a "Christian Zionist" at the Zionist Organization of America's annual dinner.
He also praised Republican Jewish megadonor Sheldon Adelson for his help in guiding Trump through a sexual assault scandal.
Bannon, at what may have been his first speech at a Jewish event since becoming associated with Trump last year, received a standing ovation and loud applause throughout his speech on Sunday, Nov. 12, in New York City. He was one of many current and former Trump administration officials to attend the event, including Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, who also spoke, former press secretary Sean Spicer and Sebastian Gorka, a former adviser to Trump who has ties to the Hungarian far right.
The ZOA, which takes hawkish positions on Israel, has been outspoken in its support of Trump, as compared to other large Jewish organizations. Its lineup of speakers Sunday included several Republicans, including Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton, and a couple of centrist Democrats: legal scholar Alan Dershowitz and former Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut.
Bannon shepherded the final months of Trump's presidential campaign and served as one of his chief advisers until August. He supports what he calls "economic nationalist" policies, including limits on immigration and wariness of international agreements. He is the chairman of Breitbart News, a hardline right-wing publication.
In particular, he said Adelson's advice helped Trump overcome the release of the "Access Hollywood" tape in which Trump boasted about sexually assaulting a woman.
Liberal Jewish groups protested Bannon's appointment to the Trump White House last year because of Breitbart's links to the "alt-right," a loose network that includes white supremacists. Bannon has called Breitbart "the platform for the alt-right." But he has disavowed white supremacists on a few occasions and said he is not a white nationalist.
A group of protesters from IfNotNow, a Jewish group that opposes Israel's West Bank occupation, demonstrated against Bannon's speech outside the dinner, which took place at the Grand Hyatt. The group also protested the event last year, when Bannon was invited but did not come.
The crowd at the dinner warmly welcomed the Trump advisers, and they touted the president's record on Israel. In his address, Friedman, Israel envoy, harshly criticized the Obama administration's Israel record while praising Trump's. In particular, he lambasted the U.N. Security Council resolution in December that condemned Israeli West Bank settlements. The United States abstained, declining to veto the measure.
Friedman also said Trump sees eye to eye with Israel's government on opposing the 2015 agreement on Iran's nuclear program, which Israel views as dangerous for its security. Referencing a terror attack this year in the West Bank, he said Trump is more sympathetic to Israeli settlements than previous administrations—though he avoided using the word "settlement." He said that Trump's peace plan, which is still being formulated, will prioritize Israeli security.
Speaking at a news conference before the dinner, ZOA President Morton Klein criticized the Trump peace plan, saying that he feels negotiations are useless because the Palestinian Authority (P.A.) is not interested in peace. He compared the P.A. to Nazis and slammed it for providing stipends to families of terrorists.
Bannon in his speech framed Trump's Israel record as part of fighting Islamic terrorism in the Middle East. He said two of Trump's top priorities coming into the White House were moving the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv—a promise Trump repeatedly made but has yet to fulfill—and decertifying the agreement on Iran's nuclear program, which Trump did last month.
"He said, 'Destroy the physical caliphate of ISIS, designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization, decertify or renegotiate the Iran deal and move the embassy to Jerusalem,'" Bannon said of Trump.
Later, he called Trump "the strongest supporter of Israel since Ronald Reagan," though Reagan as president was not unequivocally supportive of Israel.
"We're leading an insurgency movement against the Republican establishment, against the permanent global class in Washington, D.C.," he said.
That line did not receive applause from the mostly Jewish crowd.


My good friend Shan Stratton, owner of Core Health Products and a Kangen Water Advocate has posted the following recently. I feel that it should receive a wider awareness and as such have posted his information.
Don't fall for all the Pinkwashing!
Not familiar with the term pinkwashing? Well, it's when a company or organization claims to care about breast cancer by promoting a pink-ribbon product but at the same time manufactures or sells products that are linked to the disease. Pinkwashing publicity stunts serve one purpose: They generate public goodwill and profits for corporation and nonprofits alike but not for true cancer research!
Get your pink bucket of fried chicken or lather yourself in beauty products known to contain carcinogens linked to breast cancer. What?! A good friend of mine, Dr. Patrick Vickers of the Northern Baja Gerson Center, says it best in an article he wrote Estrogen: A Silent Killer.
Previous Previous post: A Product that Every Human on Earth needs daily!
Next Next post: Follow up to the Breast Cancer post.


text:
Achatocarpus är ett släkte av tvåhjärtbladiga växter. Achatocarpus ingår i familjen Achatocarpaceae.

Kladogram enligt Catalogue of Life:

Källor

Externa länkar

Nejlikordningen
Achatocarpus

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Q: Google+ API Login working only on mobile devices I am using a wordpress plugin WSL (wordpress social plugin) to add social login buttons to my login form. I have connected google client ID to the settings and I believe the settings are correct.
The problem is the following. If I test Google+ login on mobile device it works. I tested it on an android phone using chrome and on IPhone (safari and chrome) and it works as intended. After authenication the following picture appears, and after choosing either option I get redirected and logged in.
Procedure that is missing on desktop and shows on mobile devices
If I try this on any device largr than a mobile phone, the screen seen on the image above doesn`t show up at all and the authenication popup is closed and nothing happens, leaving the form with "connect with G+" still opened. So basically on desktop I get to the part of choosing google account but then the popup closes and nothing happens. And this in only on desktop devices.
Does anyone have a clue, what might be causing that? Is it possible that my wordpress theme is blocking something? I tried literally everything. And the browser console and PHP error log are free of errors. I dont know how to debug this problem...
Thank you in advance for any thougts on this.

A: I figured it out. Under the "widgets" tab of the plugin settings I had to change the Authentication display to "in page" rather than "popup". Now It works!


Hahaha... blog co-writer wheeler sent me this gem. Brilliant! Not that I'm personally against president bush, (it's the administration and its ideals that makes me want to vomit), but this is just hilarious. Enjoy!


Cheryl Sigler was born and raised in Tuscola, Illinois. Following the death of their father, her sisters and mother moved to Oklahoma to be closer to her mother's family. She graduated from Putnam City High School and raised her family in Norman. Her daughter and son-in-law are both meteorologists and live in Colorado. Her son lives in Atlanta and is an IT Manager for McKesson Pharmaceutical.
Cheryl has owned her own business and feels that experience can help her with clients by understanding the difficulties small business owners face. She strives to live by the "Golden Rule" each and every day! She brings over 35 years of accounting experience to Polston.
Outside of the office, Cheryl loves to go to Wichita State University basketball and baseball games, crocheting, swimming, golfing, hiking, and being outdoors as much as possible.


text:
BY KAREN BOSSICK
Sun Valley Opera and the Big Wood 4 Cinema in Hailey will present an abridged version of "Cinderella" sung in English at 2 p.m. today—Saturday, Jan. 8.
Laurent Pelly's storybook staging of Massenet's "Cendrillon," which was a hit of the 2017-18 season, features a rags-to-riches princess who is bullied by her stepsisters after her father, a country gentleman marries an imperious countess.
The nagging countess, of course, refuses to let Cinderella attend the ball to be given at the royal court. But Cinderella's fairy godmother has other ideas, conjuring the ill-treated young woman a coach, horses, beautiful gown and glass slippers that prevent her family from recognizing her.
Prince Charming, meanwhile, has been ordered by the king to find a wife at the ball and he is immediately charmed by Cinderella. But, alas, she must scurry away at midnight before the spell evaporates, losing one slipper as she does.
Of course, the prince tries the slipper on all the women of the land, desperate to find the woman for whom it is a perfect fit. And…..well, is there anyone who doesn't know the rest of the story?
The 1.5 hour Met HD Simulcast production features Jessica Pratt as the Fairy Godmother, Isabel Leonard as Cinderella and Emily D'Angelo as Prince Charming. Mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe and bass-baritone Laurent Naouri star as Cinderella's feuding guardians.
Proof of vaccination and masks are required, and audience members are asked to socially distance when choosing their seats.
The 2022 Met HD Simulcast starts on Jan. 29 and runs through June 4.
Jan. 29—"Rigoletto
March 12—"Ariadne auf Naxos"
March 26—"Don Carlos" in a Met premiere
May 7—"Turandot"
May 21--"Lucia di Lammermoor," a new production
June 4—"Hamlet," in a Met premiere.
Muffins and Mimosas will be served at the Jan. 29 opener.
~ Today's Topics ~


text:
The women's bantamweight is a competition featured at the 2017 World Taekwondo Championships, and was held at the Taekwondowon in Muju County, South Korea on June 27 and June 28. Bantamweights were limited to a maximum of 53 kilograms in body mass.

Medalists

Results
Legend
DQ — Won by disqualification
P — Won by punitive declaration
W — Won by withdrawal

Finals

Top half

Section 1

Section 2

Bottom half

Section 3

Section 4

References
Draw

External links
Official website

Women's 53
World


As a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol, ratified in 2007, Australia committed to limiting increases in net GHG emissions to 108 per cent of its 1990 levels from 2008 to 2012.
Risks from changes to land management arise mainly through potential hydrological and water quality changes, whereas those from water management relate to changes in the timing and nature of flows that may be beneficial or detrimental to aquatic ecosystem health.
Land clearing is a fundamental pressure on the environment. It causes the loss, fragmentation and degradation of native vegetation, and a variety of impacts on our soils (e.g. erosion and loss of nutrients), waterways and coastal regions (e.g. sedimentation and pollution).
Climate change is driving global and regional sea level rise, and more intense and frequent extreme sea levels.
Like many features at the interface of the land and water, beaches are dynamic environments and vary widely in morphology, wave climates, tidal regimes, sedimentology and degree of modification.
Lead levels have declined since the early 1990s, because of the ban on lead in petrol for motor vehicles. Although isolated hotspots of lead concentrations still exist in locations where lead smelting is undertaken, some of these are also decreasing.
Although Australian cities, as they function currently, demonstrate environmental footprints that are not sustainable, they generally rank high on measures of livability.
Australian officials actively participate in the international forums of the Antarctic Treaty System to promote improved environmental protection and conservation outcomes for the Antarctic region.
It is has been widely acknowledged that management agencies are required to manage biodiversity despite an incomplete understanding and limited resources.
Biodiversity management is undertaken at all levels of government, by private enterprise, and by thousands of landholders and volunteers across Australia.
Along with overall land-use planning, management of the built environment also requires planning around several specific components of the environment and human activity. Current focus areas include transport and traffic, water, energy, waste, and disaster management.
Each level of government—Australian, state and territory, and local—plays a role in managing the impacts of air pollution by preventing or minimising air pollutant emissions.
NRM funding provides key measures that include many practical elements of protecting and sustainably managing biodiversity.
Environmental agencies in the states and territories are responsible for controlling pollutant emissions from large industrial point sources, such as power stations, refineries, smelters, manufacturing plants, cement works and abattoirs.
Several processes contribute to the overall management of the Antarctic region, including the framework for protected areas, as well as activities on the stations and in the field.
Australia has an agreed intergovermental strategy for developing a comprehensive, adequate and representative National Reserve System: Australia's Strategy for the National Reserve System 2009–2030.
The ability of ecosystems to tolerate and recover from disturbance is a phenomenon that is vitally important to understand.
Most management systems aimed at maintaining or enhancing resilience in components of the marine environment focus on reducing the cumulative nature of multiple impacts and avoiding dramatic shifts in species composition, also known as regime shifts.


text:
package me.artspb.idea.jdk2trove.hashmap;

import com.intellij.codeInspection.LocalQuickFix;
import com.intellij.codeInspection.ProblemsHolder;
import com.intellij.psi.*;
import me.artspb.idea.jdk2trove.TroveInspection;
import me.artspb.idea.jdk2trove.TroveUtils;
import org.jetbrains.annotations.Nls;
import org.jetbrains.annotations.NotNull;

import static com.intellij.psi.util.PsiTreeUtil.getChildOfType;
import static me.artspb.idea.jdk2trove.TroveUtils.JDK_HASH_MAP;
import static me.artspb.idea.jdk2trove.TroveUtils.JDK_IDENTITY_HASH_MAP;

/**
 * @author Artem Khvastunov
 */
public class THashMapCreationInspection extends TroveInspection {

    @Nls
    @NotNull
    @Override
    public String getDisplayName() {
        return "Trove 'THashMap' instead of JDK 'HashMap'";
    }

    @NotNull
    @Override
    public PsiElementVisitor buildVisitor(@NotNull final ProblemsHolder holder, boolean isOnTheFly) {
        return new THashMapCreationJavaElementVisitor(holder);
    }

    private class THashMapCreationJavaElementVisitor extends JavaElementVisitor {

        private final ProblemsHolder holder;

        public THashMapCreationJavaElementVisitor(ProblemsHolder holder) {
            this.holder = holder;
        }

        @Override
        public void visitField(PsiField field) {
            super.visitField(field);
            analise(field);
        }

        @Override
        public void visitLocalVariable(PsiLocalVariable variable) {
            super.visitLocalVariable(variable);
            analise(variable);
        }

        private void analise(PsiElement element) {
            PsiNewExpression expression = getChildOfType(element, PsiNewExpression.class);
            if (expression == null) {
                return;
            }
            PsiElement psiElement = getChildOfType(expression, PsiAnonymousClass.class);
            if (psiElement == null) {
                psiElement = expression;
            }
            PsiJavaCodeReferenceElement reference = getChildOfType(psiElement, PsiJavaCodeReferenceElement.class);
            if (reference == null) {
                return;
            }
            String qualifiedName = reference.getQualifiedName();
            if (JDK_HASH_MAP.equals(qualifiedName)) {
                checkParameters(element, reference);
            } else if (JDK_IDENTITY_HASH_MAP.equals(qualifiedName)) {
                registerProblem(element, TCustomHashMapQuickFix.getInstance());
            }
        }

        private void checkParameters(PsiElement element, PsiJavaCodeReferenceElement reference) {
            PsiType[] parameters = reference.getTypeParameters();
            if (parameters.length == 2) {
                String type1 = TroveUtils.PRIMITIVE_WRAPPERS.get(parameters[0].getCanonicalText());
                String type2 = TroveUtils.PRIMITIVE_WRAPPERS.get(parameters[1].getCanonicalText());
                if (type1 != null) {
                    if (type2 != null) {
                        registerProblem(element, new TTypeTypeHashMapQuickFix(type1, type2));
                    } else {
                        registerProblem(element, new TTypeObjectHashMapQuickFix(type1));
                    }
                } else if (type2 != null) {
                    registerProblem(element, new TObjectTypeHashMapQuickFix(type2));
                } else {
                    registerProblem(element, THashMapQuickFix.getInstance());
                }
            } else {
                registerProblem(element, THashMapQuickFix.getInstance());
            }
        }

        private void registerProblem(PsiElement element, LocalQuickFix quickFix) {
            holder.registerProblem(element, "Inefficient collection use", quickFix);
        }
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Addressing a media conference held in Colombo this morning JVP General Secretary Tylvin Silva said that several particular factors should not have been included in the report to be prepared by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay on Sri Lanka.
Although the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has left the country after her fact finding mission, various opinions are sill expressed on her Sri Lanka visit.
Followings are such expressions made by Ministers Patalee Champika Ranawaka, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navaneedan Pillay, Ministers Keheliya Rambukwella, Mervyn Silva and JVP General Secretary Tylvin Silva.


At the Timberwolf Invite on Saturday, April 13th, the Pioneers earned 7 Personal best times on the season and had 5 top 10 finishes. The 200 Freestyle Relay of Hope Hanlen, Maya Brothers, Elizabeth Bert, and Alissa McCarter cut 4 seconds off their time from last week and got within 8 tenths of a 6A State Consideration time taking 7th at the meet. The 200 Medley Relay of McCarter, Gabby Victor, Bert, and Hanlen took 9th in 2:19.59.
Individually, Maya Brothers took 8th in the 500 Freestyle, swimming a personal best by 2 seconds. Brothers also took 15th in the 100 Butterfly. Elizabeth Bert took 6th in the 200 Individual Medley and also earned a personal best time. Bert also finished in 11th in the 100 Butterfly. Virginia Perry cut nearly 5 seconds in the 100 Backstroke, taking 17th place overall. Hope Hanlen took 10th and 11th in the 50 and 100 Freestyle, respectively.
The Pioneers will be back in the pool at the Lawrence Invite on Tuesday, April 16th.


text:
WebEditor Biden Admin, SEC 0
The indispensable transparency-in-government group Energy Policy Advocates has provided GAO a review of record productions from FOIA litigation with the Securities & Exchange Commission, including specifically from calendars of Chairman Gary Gensler and then-Commissioner Allison Herren Lee.
Between the near-obsession with advancing the "ESG" and "Climate Risk Disclosure" agenda which these reveal, and emerging information about an apparent revolving door example that's ostentatious even by Washington standards, GAO feels bold to say that an inquiry into the Securities & Exchange Commission's seemingly disproportionate focus on CRD and ESG, and its execution of this agenda, is warranted.
Factors includes:
Calendars for Chairman Gary Gensler and then-Commissioner Allison Herren Lee show a disproportionate investment of time and attention to CRD and ESG, troubling on its face but of course also arguably evincing Commission leadership's distraction from emerging, major financial market problems (e.g., FTX/Alameda)
These are not the publicly available calendars, but calendars that Energy Policy Advocates had to sue to obtain. These often contain details scrubbed from the public versions
SEC heavily redacted these calendars, which is the subject of continuing litigation. Also, thanks to the same group, soon the SEC will have to produce the Biden transition-team plan, related records and all Biden campaign communications over a relevant period of time (re possible evidence of politicization)
Notably, the principal financier of the CRD/ESG advocacy campaign is a foreign "ESG investor", Sir Christopher Hohn. As a GAO paper this past summer showed, Hohn has very close ties to Chinese officials but, more concerning still, also is concurrently financing the complementary "climate litigation" campaign, with tens of millions of dollars (despite denials of involvement in the U.S. climate litigation, records trace funds run through an opaque group in the Netherlands)
The SEC's position is that it must impose ESG, e.g., the CRD rule, because investors demand it. This is true so far as it goes (see Hohn, Christopher, BlackRock, et al.), if not as the SEC implies. For more detail, see GAO's comments here. Yet, given information developed over years of open records pursuits which leaves no doubt about CRD's political and activist origins (led by New York AG's Office, Ceres, BlackRock, and the obligatory Rockefeller interest), and pre-rule, high-level (Gensler) coordination with the Biden White House Climate Office, this claim seems pretextual
Calendars indicate that that coordination with the White House began in May and June 2021 at the Gensler level, carried on by his staff in September and December 2021
And now we have an apparent revolving door example that is ostentatious even by Washington standards
Regarding the latter, raising possible conflicts and undue influence issues re the climate risk disclosure rule, "Kristina Wyatt left the SEC [in February 2022] to join Persefoni, a climate management and accounting platform, as its deputy general counsel and senior vice president for global regulatory climate disclosure. Wyatt was serving as senior counsel for climate and ESG to the director of the Division of Corporation Finance at the SEC — she is steeped in the processes and decision-making that has underpinned this proposed ruling."
The CRD rule public comment docket shows that Persefoni, a little-known but well-funded startup, held a disproportionate number of meetings with SEC staff compared to other advocates. It seems most likely that Persefoni was pushing its methodology for claiming the climate rule's cost, given that the SEC has been unable to provide any methodology or citation for its lowballed cost of compliance estimate for CRD, and the only figure that comes close to the SEC's comes from a survey jointly commissioned by Ceres, ERM and Persefoni.
The sheer volume of senior staff time dedicated to this issue, including canoodling with activists, is troubling. That this is all in pursuit of a political agenda item demanded by investors, yes — ideologically activist investors, including obvious rent-seekers — is another story entirely.
Each of these AHL items is distinct, btw
Energy Policy Advocates' FOIA litigation with SEC continues on several fronts — one matter has revealed a four-alarm fire at the Biden White House when SEC passed along a FOIA request for correspondence between the two, "Importance: High", to which the White House replied, "Has this production been flagged for OMB, CEQ and the WH Military Office?". Expect more calendars, other documents and, ultimately, removal of certain redactions in coming weeks and months. GAO will stay on top of these important developments and this critical issue.
Fake Hearings? Boulder City Council Records Suggest Another 'Public-Private Partnership' with Activists DC Circuit Invites New Speaker to Reverse Pelosi Position on Secrecy re Oversight Abuses
"Independent Commission" SEC Coordinated with White House on 'Climate Risk Disclosure' Rule


Yes, all of our teas can be dissolved in hot (not boiling!) water. We recommend you follow the brewing instructions on the box (ideal is 170F for green and white teas and 180F for black and oolong teas). Water that is too hot may not only destroy polyphenols and other healthy compounds but also adversely impacts the taste of your tea!


The Glory Cruises experience is an immersion in culture, heritage and natural beauty of one of the most enchanting destinations in the world. Follow us on a journey rich in local color, luxurious surroundings, gracious services and discover the art of Glory Cruises Halong Bay. Natural wonders and unique cultural experiences lie every turn during this – your most memorable – Vietnam vacation.
Children from 06 – 12 Stay with parent 75% of adult price.
Note: The prices above are quoted in VND.
01 guide is free-of-charge (FOC) for every group book from 06 persons and above.


Different occupations need different types of training. Some require only on-the-job training, while others require an advanced degree. The jobs listed below are projected to be the top growing occupations by education level through 2019.


The mission of Holy Yoga Specialties is to train and equip leaders to provide the Holy Yoga experience for people of all ages and abilities. We do this by providing quality trainings for teaching specific populations, understanding God's love for all people. We equip teachers and leaders to provide a safe, caring, and spiritually nourishing worship experience by meeting individuals' unique needs. Explore what it means to extend Christ's love to others through the gift of Holy Yoga.


Lissone, Italy – December 03, 2018 - Alfamation, a leading provider of state-of-the-art turnkey test and measurement solutions, has launched its Wafer Level Tester for Diffractive Optical Elements (DOE), for high-volume micro-optics testing in a production line. This gives manufacturers quick and precise feedback to optimize and monitor their processes, as well as full wafer mapping and quality control to identify defective elements.
A DOE is as an optical structure on a glass substrate acting as a lens, such as in the camera module in a smartphone. DOEs are increasingly used today, for example for facial recognition in a phone. This machine is meant to test optical properties mainly at wafer level, although diced parts loaded on a tray can be tested too. Wafers up to a diameter of 400 mm with thousands of DOEs can be tested and qualified in one fully-automatic test run at high speed.
The DOE tester includes a custom-made wide angle conoscope lens coupled to a high-resolution camera. A collimated laser beam with controlled diffraction optical system is used to stimulate the DOE, which creates a diffractive pattern made of numerous output beams. The laser source is a super stable fiber-coupled laser diode paired with a series of beam-shaping optical elements that allow flexible beam shape and polarization state to meet customer-specific requirements.
The output image sensed is then transferred to the computer to be processed by a fast algorithm which applies on the diffraction pattern different metrics like single spot uniformity error and total power efficiency of the DOE. The system provides a maximum field of view (FOV) of 90° by 90°, with resolution over the whole FOV of 0.25°.
The new ATE is based on a high-end wafer handling system, with robust design and a flexible architecture. An automated wafer loading/unloading feature is optional, helping to save time and reduce labour costs on the production line.
The DOE tester can be customized under specific requirements, improving the design flexibility. It is based on a high repeatability positioning table equipped with alignment tools and an automated visual inspection system that can fulfil the most demanding optical tests. Additionally, an automated tip/tilt correction of the chuck can fix, module by module, the wafer tilt and height variation due to process issues like wafer warpage. Lastly, a barcode/OCR reading system allows the traceability of each module of the wafer.
The ATE has a small footprint to be cleanroom-friendly, measuring 1350 mm (height) by 1330 mm (width) by 675 mm (depth). It is compliant with CE/UL safety standards and offers ISO 5 cleanroom compatibility.
Alfamation's SuperNova software solution, based on NI TestStand, allows an easy integration with a database for result storage and analysis, the management of test diversities and the test sequence development and customization.


This is what I've always found so encouraging about gardening - you plant some seeds and they try their best, despite all your lack of attention - they want to grow.
Sadly the abuse of these seeds was too much! We collected a pile of acorns to plant a year or two back and promptly forgot about them.
When last spring came they all sprouted and reached down to find a bit of moisture, failing to find any in a pretty sturdy ceramic cup. The roots curled round and round, making this woven base that holds them all together in an acorn sculpture.
Of course, they all dried out after dying of thirst...but the results are quite lovely.


text:
Out of my gourd.
Thanks to a fair amount of Sculpey, a bit of paint, a lot of patience, and one tiny gourd, I was able to finish Gourd Fish. I don't want to sound immodest but it is the finest gourd fish I have personally ever seen.
This is possibly the finest gourd fish you've ever seen, too, because how many gourd fishes are there in the world? This might be the only one.
Even the Good Witch provided a begrudging, "That looks cute." Which would have been a lovely conversation, had it ended there, but then she had to ask if Glynn and I had FINALLY started on The Fifth Brother (sequel to The Sixth Brother, sequel to One Bride for Seven Brothers). I had to tell her we hadn't. So then she gave Gourd Fish one of those looks, as if G.F. was somehow responsible for the delay in our writing production. Then she left the room.
The Good Witch left the room, that is. Not Gourd Fish.
Oh, G.W. didn't go far. Not with her mother, the Bad Witch, lurking in the guest room back at her place. G.W. might have been a tad disappointed by my response but she wasn't crazy. She went into my kitchen, grabbed an organic apple, then returned to ask, "What's taking so long?"
The problem was, I didn't know how to start the next novella. Glynn and I had talked the bones of The Fifth Brother, we knew where we wanted things to go -- and, most importantly, what was going to happen romantically -- but we hadn't figured out the actual beginning scene. This usually falls on me and it's rarely an issue. Glynn encourages me to go wherever I'd like, since I enjoy starting stories. It's usually great fun but, this time, I'd drawn a blank. When I told my partner in word processing, he didn't know what to say. Neither one of us had a clue on what to do.
Gnawing on her (my) apple, G.W. shooed us out the door. (I loved that G.W. was chewing on a piece of fruit. In the past, she'd have gone for a high calorie/chemical-dense Little Debbie stomach grenade. She's doing great.) My friend knew that Glynn and I always walk and talk when we're plotting a tale...if the time comes that we can't walk, that's it, the writing career is over...and it worked again this time, too. Slowly an idea began to form.
The idea we had went something like this: Flora, our heroine, had always wanted a pet but her father, a man-shaped bag of evil, refused to consider the idea. He'd always admonished her, whenever she'd shown affection toward an animal. Now that she lived in Washington, away from his poison, she finds herself drawn to animals again. Maybe the story starts with her feeding one of the beasties on their property. Maybe she's feeding birds. Yes, we decided to use birds. Then Brody, her husband, comes outside as she's tossing a handful of crumbs to the ground....
Enthused, I returned home to start the story. Almost instantly, the words started flowing. The next day, the writing went even more smoothly. I wasn't surprised to discover that none of the finished pages involved Flora's father, birds, or any of the ideas we'd discussed. Somehow "Brody comes outside" was all that was needed to launch Brother #5.
I think our first ever sequel-to-a-sequel is going to move along quickly now. I'm excited.
"Slacker!" cried the Good Witch.
Bearing treats, the Good Witch let herself inside my Woman Cave. In the center of the platter she carried, there was a cup of avocado goo but she'd surrounded it with enough actual goodies that I felt my mouth water. (I detest the green goo, as G.W. knows. I agree with the Mongolian nomads, who referred to an uncut avocado as "the Devil's Testicle", and declared this least palatable fruit as unfit for man, child, or beast. The ancient peoples had great wisdom.)
Seeing what I was doing as she entered, G.W. actually pulled the platter aside, as if I wasn't deserving of her munchies. Belatedly, I realized she'd expected to find me in mid-story. She was used to seeing me with my butt planted in its swivel chair, my pale and sunken face illuminated by the blue-white color of my computer screen. When she came through the door, the computer screen was dark. For the first day this summer, I hadn't even turned the machine on. Instead, G.W. saw me playing with a small dried gourd, a hunk of Sculpey, and some acrylic paints.
So G.W. cried out what she cried out (see above), I felt guilty...but let's pause there for a moment. If I truly was a slacker, would I have felt badly about abandoning my keyboard for a day?
I don't think so, either. So I told her, "I'm having fun."
"This is no time for fun," she said.
In that, she was absolutely wrong. Whenever Glynn and I finish a writing project, we take a week off to recharge our emotional batteries, refresh the little gray cells, and pump ourselves up for life's next challenge. Usually, we only have a vague idea of what we're doing next but that's not the case now. Even as puzzle over the plotline for our first ever sequel-to-a-sequel, we know our next story is The 5th Brother.
The 6th Brother was a lengthy project for Team Anne Glynn. G.W. and Tegan, our two beta readers, had shared their notes with us, we'd made some corrections, and all involved seemed pleased with the final project. In every way except for the actual publication of the novella, we're finished. At this point, I was ready for a little R & R.
The Good Witch didn't care. An insatiably curious reader, she wanted to know what happens next in our bride tale...and, for that to happen, I needed to put words on paper. I love that she feels that way.
Realizing she wouldn't win this battle, G.W. placed her snack platter on the corner of my work table. "So what is this thing?" she asked.
"It's a gourd fish."
"Does it have a name?"
"I call it, Gourd Fish," I admitted, "because I'm creative that way."
"I'm going to the kitchen to get a butter knife," G.W. told me. "I'm putting avocado on everything."
If you're wondering, I blame Ronda V. for this whole thing. While she was busy writing an email to us, Glynn and I were buried in the world of Quincy Fix and our next mail order bride novel. Then Ronda's message hit our inbox, and our plans took a sharp left.
Ronda wondered when we were going to write a follow-up story to One Bride for Seven Brothers. She wasn't the first person to ask, I'm happy to say, but her request was apparently one too many. The tipping point, so to speak. Because Glynn looked up from the computer screen and asked, "Why haven't we written a sequel to One Bride?"
As if he didn't know. When we wrote the novella, we kind of felt it was complete in and of itself. It was only the readers who thought there was more to be shared.
Since Glynn already knew this, I didn't go into the conversation again. Instead, I simply reminded him, "We're currently working on something else. Our novel."
We weren't just writing the novel, we were fully engaged in the process. We'd just finished the book's latest chapter the day before. The. Day. Before. At 30,000 words in, we were officially halfway done.
"It could be fun to write a sequel," he said. "Our first ever. Another tale in Flora's saga."
"What saga? When did we ever talk about writing a saga? Besides, the new novel is a sequel, kind of."
"It's a long sequel, with weeks and weeks to go before we're finished. Another novella would be a short sequel. It would take us a month, tops. Even if we did one brother at a time, we'd be done will the entire clan by the end of summer."
I believed what he was saying, too, which only goes to show that ignorance truly is bliss. A homemade cranberry muffin later, I agreed to set aside our work in progress (sorry, Quincy), and start working on the plot. And then....
If you've glanced outside a window lately, you've probably noticed that summer is fading. I've noticed that we're far from done with this "short" project. Somehow, we've ended up spending more time on this novella than we had on half a novel. As the days flew past, the story began to grow in size and is now almost twice as long as we'd anticipated. It's markedly longer than the original.
Not complaining, just explaining.
How did this happen? I don't know; I've never written a sequel before. It's been a joy, returning to Flora and the Victorian era, but we were foolish to think everything would go smoothly. I should have known better. Even when we're in the groove, Glynn and I create pages slowly. My writer friend, Sue, once told me she'd completed 8,000+ pretty, polished words over a long weekend. I pretended not to hear her.
But I heard you, Sue. Oh, yes, I did.
The terrific news is, One Bride for Seven Brothers: The Sixth Brother is finished, complete, done, and we're happy with it. We like it as much as the original and we believe it can be read as a complete story all by itself. (Not that anyone will, but still.) For the next three months, it's an Amazon exclusive but it will escape into the rest of the world in time. We already have someone working on converting the tale into other formats.
First sequel done, five brothers to go. This is on you, Ronda.
Feliz que você parou hoje.
Have you ever heard of Babelcube? The website claims their crack team of Babelers provide, "the easiest way to sell a book in new languages", and that appears to be true...but only if you're the author of the original story, and not one of the translators. Once an agreement is signed, the translators have to work a lot, whereas the original author(s) are required to do very little, not that their book has been written.
At least, that's how Glynn explained it to me. As I remember the conversation, he said something like, "Wouldn't it be great to have some of our stories available in other languages?" and -- when that didn't sway me -- he went with, "It's easy money, babe. We list a few of our stories on their site, someone asks us if they can translate 'em, and we just enjoy the sweet, sweet royalties" and -- when that didn't sway me, either -- he tried, "I'll set everything up. I'll do it. Please?"
He had me. I'm a sucker for "please", especially when the request is accompanied by someone else volunteering to do all of the legwork.
(If you're wondering, the header to this post is intended to read: Glad you stopped by today. Being a bit behind in my Portuguese language studies, I don't know if it actually does read this way. If someone has been messing with Google Translations, it may actually read, Abandon hope, all ye who enter here.)
Once I'd given my approval, Glynn got to work. He did whatever it was he needed to do, then expressed vague disappointment a few days later when we weren't messaged by a flood of French, Japanese, Dutch and Afrikaans translators. Since vague disappointment isn't an unusual state in any household, especially this one, we continued on with our other writing challenges.
Then, one fine day, Babelcube told us that Karla Marques V. was interested in translating our words. She wasn't the first to make such a request; Glynn had already turned down a Spanish translation of One Bride for Seven Brothers and a different Spanish translator for World War Zelda. Those folks seemed nice, he told me, but they didn't have the chops for the gig.
KMV, though, wanted to do a Portuguese take on WWZelda, and her sample page was impressive. We signed up, Karla was professional throughout, and the translation rocks. (Or so we're told. We know people who know people, and they've said she did a sweet job.) Once everything was finished, Babelcube began contacting the different sales channels. As of two weeks ago, there were twelve different sites featuring Guerra Mundial Zelda, including Apple and Amazon.
I don't know if anyone's bought a copy yet, but you'd best believe I haven't forgotten Glynn's promise of easy money. One way (via Karla's translation) or another (meet Glynn, your new Wal-Mart greeter), I expect to see some green.


Free Holiday Movies at Showcase Cinemas!
On Saturdays leading up to Christmas, Showcase Cinemas is showing classic holiday movies for free with a non-perishable food item donation.
Below is the holiday movie schedule, with movies showing at 10am each Saturday.
The Participating Showcase Cinemas in Massachusetts are Showcase Cinema de Lux Legacy Place, Showcase Cinemas Lowell, Showcase Cinema de Lux Patriot Place, Showcase Cinemas Randolph, Showcase Cinema de Lux Revere, and Showcase Cinemas Woburn.


text:
British Judge Denies Bail to WikiLeaks' Founder Assange
A British judge has rejected a request to release WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange on bail, ordering him to remain incarcerated while British courts determine whether he should face espionage charges in the United States.
District Judge Vanessa Baraitser said Wednesday that Assange could fail to appear in court if he is released and therefore must remain in a high-security prison while British courts consider a U.S. appeal of her decision not to extradite him.
The decision to deny bail to Assange came two days after Baraitser rebuffed an American request to extradite him to the U.S. to face spying charges over WikiLeaks' disclosure of confidential military and diplomatic documents a decade ago. Baraitser's extradition denial was based on concerns over Assange's well-being, saying he was likely to commit suicide if held under harsh conditions in U.S. prisons.
Assange's lawyer, Edward Fitzgerald, said the decision to refuse extradition greatly reduces Assange's motivation to escape. "Mr. Assange has every reason to stay in this jurisdiction where he has the protection of the rule of law and this court's decision," he said.
Fitzgerald also said it is not known if the incoming Joe Biden administration will pursue the prosecution of Assange, initiated under President Donald Trump.
The U.S. has appealed the decision not to extradite the 49-year-old Australian, leaving it to Britain's High Court to hear the case on a date that has yet to be determined.
Assange will remain in London's Belmarsh Prison, where he has been detained since his April 2019 arrest for skipping bail seven years earlier in a separate court case.
The U.S. has indicted Assange on 17 espionage charges and one charge of computer misuse over WikiLeaks' disclosures. Assange could be sentenced to up to 175 years in prison if convicted.
Assange's attorneys say he was acting as a journalist and therefore is entitled to U.S. constitutional free speech protection for leaking documents that exposed U.S. military wrongdoing in Afghanistan and Iraq.


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The item "Goode Rider Equestrian Jean Full Seat Breech-Premium Wash-30L" is in sale since Wednesday, November 15, 2017. This item is in the category "Sporting Goods\Outdoor Sports\Equestrian\Clothing & Accessories\Women's Clothing\Jodhpurs & Breeches". The seller is "suekhorses" and is located in Parker, Colorado. This item can be shipped worldwide.


text:
package org.asteriskjava.util.internal;

import org.asteriskjava.util.Log;
import org.asteriskjava.util.LogFactory;

import java.io.File;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.RandomAccessFile;
import java.net.Socket;
import java.nio.ByteBuffer;
import java.nio.CharBuffer;
import java.nio.channels.FileChannel;
import java.nio.charset.Charset;
import java.text.DateFormat;
import java.text.SimpleDateFormat;
import java.util.Date;

/**
 * Writes a trace file to the file system.
 */
public class FileTrace implements Trace
{
    public static final String TRACE_DIRECTORY_PROPERTY = "org.asteriskjava.trace.directory";
    protected static final String FILE_PREFIX = "aj-trace";
    protected static final String FILE_SUFFIX = ".txt";

    private final Log logger = LogFactory.getLog(FileTrace.class);

    // ok to share instance as access to this object is synchronized anyway
    private final DateFormat df = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyyMMddHHmmsszzz");
    private Charset charset = Charset.forName("UTF-8");
    private FileChannel channel;
    private boolean exceptionLogged = false;
    private RandomAccessFile randomAccessFile;

    public FileTrace(Socket socket) throws IOException
    {
        randomAccessFile = new RandomAccessFile(getFile(socket), "rw");
        channel = randomAccessFile.getChannel();
        print(getHeader(socket));
    }

    private String getHeader(Socket socket)
    {
        final StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
        sb.append("Local:  ");
        sb.append(socket.getLocalAddress());
        sb.append(":");
        sb.append(socket.getLocalPort());
        sb.append("\n");
        sb.append("Remote: ");
        sb.append(socket.getInetAddress());
        sb.append(":");
        sb.append(socket.getPort());
        sb.append("\n");
        sb.append("\n");

        return sb.toString();
    }

    private File getFile(Socket socket)
    {
        final String directory = System.getProperty(TRACE_DIRECTORY_PROPERTY, System.getProperty("java.io.tmpdir"));
        final String fileName = getFileName(socket);

        logger.info("Writing trace to " + directory + File.separator + fileName);
        return new File(directory, fileName);
    }

    private String getFileName(Socket socket)
    {
        final StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder(FILE_PREFIX);
        sb.append("_");
        sb.append(df.format(new Date()));
        sb.append("_");
        sb.append(socket.getLocalAddress().getHostAddress());
        sb.append("_");
        sb.append(socket.getLocalPort());
        sb.append("_");
        sb.append(socket.getInetAddress().getHostAddress());
        sb.append("_");
        sb.append(socket.getPort());
        sb.append(FILE_SUFFIX);
        return sb.toString();
    }

    public synchronized void received(String s)
    {
        try
        {
            print(format("<<< ", s));
        }
        catch (IOException e)
        {
            logException(e);
        }
    }

    public synchronized void sent(String s)
    {
        try
        {
            print(format(">>> ", s));
        }
        catch (IOException e)
        {
            logException(e);
        }
    }

    private void logException(IOException e)
    {
        // avoid excessive failure logging
        if (exceptionLogged)
        {
            return;
        }
        logger.warn("Unable to write trace to disk", e);
        exceptionLogged = true;
    }

    protected String format(String prefix, String s)
    {
        final StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder(df.format(new Date()));
        final String filler = String.format("%" + sb.length() + "s", "");
        String[] lines = s.split("\n");
        for (int i = 0; i < lines.length; i++)
        {
            if (i != 0)
            {
                sb.append(filler);
            }
            sb.append(" ");
            sb.append(prefix);
            sb.append(lines[i]);
            sb.append("\n");
        }
        return sb.toString();
    }

    protected void print(String s) throws IOException
    {
        final CharBuffer charBuffer = CharBuffer.allocate(s.length());
        charBuffer.put(s);
        charBuffer.flip();
        print(charset.encode(charBuffer));
    }

    private void print(ByteBuffer byteBuffer) throws IOException
    {
        int bytesWritten = 0;
        while (bytesWritten < byteBuffer.remaining())
        {
            // Loop if only part of the buffer contents get written.
            bytesWritten = channel.write(byteBuffer);
            if (bytesWritten == 0)
            {
                throw new IOException("Unable to write trace to channel. Media may be full.");
            }
        }
    }

    public void close()
    {
        try
        {
            randomAccessFile.close();
        }
        catch (IOException e)
        {
            logException(e);
        }
    }
}


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In Defense of Cinematic Violence, Rated R = "Made for Adults"
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'Battle Royale' (2000): The Movie Everyone Compares to 'The Hunger Games' (2012-2015)
Posted by The Celtic Predator ⋅ April 28, 2013 ⋅ 6 Comments
Filed Under Action, Thriller
Directed by: Kinji Fukasaku || Produced by: Masao Sato, Masumi Okada, Teruo Kamaya, Tetsu Kayama
Screenplay by: Kenta Fukasaku || Starring: Tatsuya Fujiwara, Aki Maeda, Taro Yamamoto, Masanobu Ando, Kou Shibasaki, Chiaki Kuriyama, Takeshi Kitano
Music by: Masamichi Amano || Cinematography: Katsumi Yanagishima || Editing by: Hirohide Abe || Country: Japan || Language: Japanese
Like most snobs contend that The Man from Nowhere (2010) is the much better, much more Asian (Korean) version of Hollywood's France's Taken (2008), just as many snobs claim that Battle Royale (BR) is the much better, much more Asian (Japanese) version of Hollywood's The Hunger Games (2012). The comparisons between these films and snobbish attitudes toward the Westernized versions are not surprising, especially in the case of BR, where the more violent Asian piece preceded its Hollywood "counterpart" by over a decade. BR, based on the 1999 novel of the same name by Koshoun Takami, a movie about a class of high-school students forced to fight each other to the death by dystopian government rule, easily wins the hearts of hardcore fans due to the film's and the novel's cult status, its infamous banning in many countries, its graphic nature, and the fact that it came out "way before The Hunger Games was cool!"
The chilling, if somewhat awkward introduction to the killing frenzy.
As far as gory action goes, BR will satisfy even the most hardcore Quentin Tarantino-junkie (including Tarantino himself), while also making any squeamish, violence-adverse moviegoer squirm uncomfortably in their seat. The bullet-ridden action and in-your-face, blood 'n gore displayed by the most mentally unstable high-school classroom ever delivers time and time again, serving as effective pacing mechanisms that keep the movie's rhythm varied and its excitement fresh.
The best parts of the film though, are the ways director Kinji Fukasaku's son, screenwriter Kenta Fukasaku, paces dialogue with hardcore violence. He stages intense, foreboding confrontations between the competing classmates, cranking up the anticipation for the bloodshed and making the action hit harder when it occurs. These intense confrontations between students also give valuable insight into the minds of these characters and reveal plenty of instances of emotional instability that, in turn, lend more believability to their over-the-top antics. Other positive writing touches include flashback sequences of the protagonist (Tatsuya Fujiwara) that flesh out his character, as well as multiple points where the conflicted, confused students refuse to participate in the mindless violence, and either form alliances to combat their grave situation or choose to "opt out" entirely.
Where the narrative stumbles is how we discover most of the aforementioned information on the fly. These key moments of character development are crucial, but there is little prologue where we get to know the class before all the shit hits the fan. Thus, the story takes a while to build up steam, and much of the initial bloodshed is confusing, cartoonish, and silly. I'm sure the violence's suddenness was meant for shock-value, but in reality, the introduction of the Battle Royale rules and introductory kills feel forgettable and awkward with hardly any character development to precede them. We don't get to know any of the students (save for perhaps the protagonist) until about halfway into the movie. That robs the introductory violence of its tension and impact. This lack of explanation and buildup also test suspension of disbelief, as the kids engage in mindless killing almost as soon as they are told what the stakes are by the adults.
Additionally, a key force in the movie, Kazuo Kiriyama (Masanobu Ando), also known as "the Uzi kid," has no personality or growth, and functions as a mindless antagonist. Until the film's climax, he is the primary threat to our heroes' survival, and yet he is given no memorable character traits, lines, or qualities of which to speak. He is more or less a characterless villain, and is a big missed opportunity of the movie.
Finally, the ending is a disorganized mess. The staging of its penultimate scene is awkward, various character motivations are poorly explained, and the acting is nonsensical. This is one of a handful of sequences in Royale that are unintentionally funny, and undercut much of the tension, excitement, and character goodwill built throughout the movie. It's not the movie' Achilles Heel, but it's a baffling scene worth criticizing.
Much like in John Carpenter's The Thing (1982), the dynamics of fear, paranoia, and trust play a big part in Battle Royale's best moments.
With all that said, Battle Royale rides high on its expertly orchestrated violence and intense scenes of paranoia, insanity, and revenge. Its strengths outshine its weakness, although perhaps not as definitively as I would've liked. It has its fair share of writing inconsistencies, what with the awkward ending, the missed opportunity with "Uzi kid," and of course the lack of any substantial prologue, but ultimately, it can still be enjoyed for what it is: A fun, hyper-violent, Japanese version of the "kids-killing-each-other" story archetype. I still find it hard to believe that that archetype even exists. Now I have to see The Hunger Games and read Lord of the Flies (1954) to have full literacy in this argument.
SUMMARY & RECOMMENDATION: Intense scenes of paranoia and confrontation between frightened (and often mentally disturbed) high school classmates make Battle Royale worth watching. The violence itself is Tarantino-esque and, for the most part, bloody brilliant. Fujiwara's protagonist is likable and sympathetic.
— However… the lack of a drawn-out prologue means the story has to build momentum. The film's primary antagonist is uninteresting and forgettable. Various story elements and plot-holes are confusing and left entirely unexplained. This culminates in the awkward ending.
? So I guess nobody will be going to a class reunion, then?
About The Celtic Predator
I love movies, music, video games, and big, scary creatures.
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6 thoughts on "'Battle Royale' (2000): The Movie Everyone Compares to 'The Hunger Games' (2012-2015)"
I loved this film. When it came out it really shook the foundations and showed what was possible in film. A sort of twisted Lord of The Flies.
I am interested to know which films you think were better as remakes than the originals. You said many and I was wondering which ones. I, for the most part, hate a remake, it's usually lazy and doesn't come close to the power of the original but I am intrigued to know your thoughts on this.
I love that you are looking at world cinema as many of the greatest films are probably not in the English language.
Keep up the great work and happy new year. :O)
Posted by themoviemusings | December 30, 2014, 9:15 pm
https://expresselevatortohell.com/2015/01/01/top-10-remakes-reboots-and-re-imaginings-in-cinema/
I finished a post I'd been meaning to write for a long time on that exact subject. I think some remakes that immediately come to mind that are superior to the originals (or all other franchise properties that came before them) include The Dark Knight trilogy, The Thing, and Scarface, among others.
I agree with you on the universality of cinema beyond the English language, but honestly my favorite non-American films are usually genre films (i.e. action, comedy, horror, romance, sci-fi, etc.) rather than artsy, quiet dramas in the vein of, say Michael Haneke or Federico Fellini. The reason for this is that I often find dramas extremely boring, and dramas made overseas tend to be particularly boring. In fact, my favorite foreign cinema is actually Bollywood, which is India's big, industrial blockbuster machine. It's very similar to Hollywood as you'd expect, more so than anything that plays at Sundance or that wins big at the Oscars.
I would caution you from comparing BR to Lord of the Flies because the former is more a totalitarian dystopian tale while the latter is about reverting to barbarity. One is looking fearfully forward to the future while the other is looking ominously back into the past. That's why The Hunger Games is seen as such an "offense" to Fukasaku's film because they're both dystopian-1984 settings that revolve specifically around gladiatorial child-murdering sessions — regardless of your thoughts on either film, that's a pretty damn similar premise.
Thanks for the comment, and Happy 2015 🙂
Posted by The Celtic Predator | January 1, 2015, 7:52 pm
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Top 5 Plays of The Charlotte Bobcats Season
April 20, 2013 / Dwayne Thompson
This past Wednesday, the 2012-2013 season for my beloved Charlotte Bobcats mercifully came to an end. I'd be lying if I said this season wasn't tough. It was. This team is not very good and at times watching them filled my spirit with sadness. Being a Bobcats fan is like being a fan of a bad band. All the criticisms about them is valid. You know it. But you don't care. You like them anyway.
As hard as this season was to watch, it was MONUMENTALLY easier to stomach than last years 7-59 campaign. This team still has a long way to go before we can even begin to think about being in playoff contention. But I sincerely think we are on the right path.
There were moments this season that the Bobcats were fun to watch. There were many games where the Bobcats played well (relatively speaking) and just couldn't pull out the win. There were not a lot of highlights. But, there were some. Here are my top 5 plays from the Bobcats season:
#1. Gerald Henderson Game Winner vs Minnesota
This play sums up the Bobcats entire season. Great hustle from MKG. Great veteran clutch shot from Henderson. Great leadership from Hendo to keep the team focused to finish out the game. Fumbled pass from Biyombo. All wrapped up in a great big dose of WTF???
#2. Byron Mullens Dunks on LaMarcus Aldridge
I know this one will hurt Brandon. But I'm sorry. This play is just great. Full of unintentional comedy. Also, it's only fitting that this dunk comes off of a horribly missed 3 pointer by Mullens.
#3. MKG Dunks on Greg Monroe
If there is a play on this list that should give Bobcats fans hope for the future, it's this one. MKG has the athleticism and motor to be a star. Plays like this prove it. Sure he can't shoot. But...hey don't rain on my parade. Let me enjoy this.
#4. Kemba Walker Game Winner vs Minnesota
I've struggle with my feelings about Kemba these past 2 seasons. He's small. Not really a true point. But the kids got heart. And he's got a clutch gene if I've ever seen one.
#5. Gerald Henderson Dunks on Dwight Howard
Ok, this wasn't technically a dunk. More of a throw in. Either way, it was awesome. Sidebar: Am I the only one still pissed that we let two wins against the Lakers just slip away?
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Q: SSL call from Spring Boot using feign client It's first time when I am trying to configure keys for a secure call. I have a pair of private and public keys for an endpoint and I don't know how to configure it using Spring boot with Feign client.
I tried adding the keys in the keystore but the private key didn't work. Can you help me figure out how to import certificates to my spring boot app?
Thanks!


Robert Oster Australian Opal Mauve ($17 per 50ml bottle) is one of my favorite ink colors from 2017 and I cannot believe I hadn't written a review for it already. So, I'll start out with an apology for waiting so long to write a review and confess that this will be a wholly biased review.
I swatched this ink color from a sample at the Little Rock Pen Show in 2017 on a whim. Up until this point, I'd mostly tried Oster's blues and greens and Opal Mauve was so unusual from any of the other colors I'd seen from Oster at that point, that I walked across the aisle of the show and handed Chris at the Vanness table the requisite funds for a whole bottle.
I really wouldn't describe the color as mauve as the word as developed such a disreputable association over the years. It is absolutely luminous. It hovers between lavender and red-violet with an occasional flash of deep violet or pink shading depending on whether it gets dark or light.
Look at that range of color! It is like a purple opal for sure.
Even with a fine nib, its still fully legible for writing with a plummy tone — not too pinky but not a dark purple either. If you've read this blog for awhile, you might remember a few years back I was on a hunt for a smoky plum ink? Opal Mauve is a little bit pinker than what I had originally envisioned but a heck of a lot closer than any of the inks I tried.
Opal Mauve has little-to-no water resistance but would make lovely shading inks for painting.
Compared to some other inks in my stash, Opal Mauve certainly has the greatest range of color shading. Colorverse #4 Einstein Ring is a bit darker. Private Reserve Arabian Rose is very close in color but does not have the same range of shading not does Rohrer and Klingner Alt. Bordeaux.
Like I said at the beginning, this is one of my favorite inks from Robert Oster and one of my favorite ink colors in general. The color is beautiful, with tons of shading and color variation. The hue is unique but legible. Not that I could ever narrow my inks down to a Top 5, but if I could, this would probably be in that list.
Oh is that why it's disreputable, like avocado bathroom suites in the UK?
Stephen's Ink did a great mauve which was more purply.


People often ask me if I've been having any cravings – and the answer is always no!
I miss enjoying food; nothing ever sounds appealing 99% of the time but one has to eat nonetheless. These days I'm eating to live vs living to eat, and that's so not me.
Cravings aren't costing me anything, but lemonade's now a staple on the shopping list every week. It might be a placebo but quite frankly when the delightful pre-bed upset.indigestion sets in (usually peaks between 8-10pm) I don't care.
Fortunately, healthcare is mostly free here and my antenatal costs have been minimal. A few bucks here and there for prescriptions, and $50 a pop for scans (beyond the first free dating scan).
I have health insurance through work, however the (small) obstetrics allowance only kicks in after a year – so would only cover costs in about the last month of pregnancy and beyond. As far as I can tell there should be no charges associated with labour/birth, apart from perhaps the fee they charge for partners to stay overnight with you at Birthcare.
So far, I'm still fitting into my current bras (this was perfect timing actually, as this lot were all about to hit the end of their life, having stretched out over the past couple of years) and still squeezing into my pants with the help of a handy $20 extender though possibly not for much longer. So far I've spent about $25 on new (thrifted) clothing – two pairs of stretchy pants that I live in when I'm at home (surely now down to about 0.01 cents cost per wear) and a flowy skirt with stretchy waistband.
In terms of baby stuff, we're yet to actually begin shopping. I'm pretty set on avoiding mindless browsing and only buying the essentials, especially to start off with.
I'm so happy that you've been able to keep the costs so reasonable. I think I ended up spending a couple hundred dollars on pregnancy. And I felt so guilty at the time. Now I'm all lolz Penny.
We got most of our baby stuff second-hand : pram, bassinet, cot, clothes, etc. eBay was great – we picked up our cot/change table set for $120 when it normally goes for about $1500. The only thing we bought new (and you should always buy new…) is the car seat.
The biggest saving by far was the fact that I exclusively breastfed (and still do even after introducing solids) and that the baby never went on a bottle. We saved money on formula, breast pumps, bottles, etc. Of course that assumes that people are able to produce enough milk, have long enough maternity leave that they can be at home feeding, etc etc.
Oh, and we never tried cloth diapering but I'm glad we didn't – I'm already doing a load of laundry every two days now, compared to doing it once a week when it was just the two of us. The washer and dryer are almost running constantly these days in winter with the absence of sun to dry clothes, so factor electricity and water running costs into cloth diapering (especially in a climate like NZ).
Do you have space for a dryer? We didn't cloth diaper because we were in a severe drought during zir first years and I judged not wasting water to be the lesser of waste evils.
We got tons of clothing hand me downs but it was nice to discover that it's true, in the first several months you don't need MUCH. The time for solids crept up on us really fast so at around six months we bought some kid utensils because no one handed down spoons and bowls but we only used 2 of the 4 pack and gifted the remainder to young friends with their new one.
Depending on their growth pattern, they really can grow in and out of clothes super fast. One friend's kids grows super slow and is still in clothing for half their age, JB grew super fast and was in clothes sizes a year ahead. Also if it's the same as here in the US, don't exclusively rely on the tagged sizes, physically compare the clothes from each size range to see if they're really a match. We some 6 month clothing that was more like 3 month, and some 3 month that was more like 12 month. So weird.
Ahh designers, screwing with us even from size newborn up huh!


The first time I heard about the Seven Point Story Structure was through a presentation Dan Wells did a couple of years ago. I saw the presentation in a series of clips on Youtube (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5). Watch it, it's a great and informative presentation.
The Seven Point Story Structure is named so because it consists of seven important points that build the story from beginning to end. With the help of this structure you will map out the core of your story.
Below follows a short overview of the Seven Point Story Structure.
Hook — Your character's starting point. This is the opposite of the Resolution.
Plot turn 1 — The event that sets your story in motion and moves you from the beginning to the Midpoint. You introduce the conflict and your character's world changes. This is basically when you character sets out on his/her journey.
Pinch point 1 — This is where you apply pressure. This is often used to introduce the antagonist.
Midpoint — Your character moves from reaction to action. He/she determines he/she must do something to stop the antagonist.
Pinch point 2 — This is where you apply more pressure. Your story takes the ultimate dive. Your character is at his/her darkest moment. He/she has lost everything.
Plot turn 2 — Here you move the story from Midpoint to the end, the Resolution. Your character gets or realizes he/she has the final piece of information to achieve what he/she set out to do in the Midpoint.
Resolution — This is the climax of your story. Everything in the story leads to this moment. Here, your character achieves (or fails to achieve) what he/she set out to do.
In order for this structure to work effectively, start at the end, with the Resolution, first before you write down the beginning, the Hook. By starting with the Resolution you can make sure that your main character begins the story at the opposite end of where he/she will finish the story (if he/she ends strong he/she should start weak).
The next step is to write down the Midpoint before you write down the Plot turns. Since the Midpoint is central to your story because Plot turn 1 leads to the Midpoint and Plot turn 2 leads away from the Midpoint to the Resolution it will be easier to outline your story if you have the Midpoint before you think about the Plot turns.
At last, write down the two Pinch points to apply more pressure to your story.
Do you want a ready-made template of the Seven Point Story Structure?
Have you ever heard of the Seven Point Story Structure before? Have you used it? If not, do you believe this story structure would help you?
Do you want a Scrivener or Microsoft Word template that will help you with your story's structure?
The Story Structure Template is designed to help you create and develop your story and its structure.
It includes a template for the Three Act Structure, one for the Seven Point Story Structure, and one for The Hero's Journey structure so that you easily create or develop your story from the structure you like best.


Nepal registered a huge win by 243 runs in the first practice match against Hampshire Hogs Cricket Club as skipper Paras Khadka smashed brilliant 161 runs while Lalit Rajbanshi bagged 5 wickets.
Captain Paras Khadka played a brilliant innings of 161 runs off 106 balls and guidedNepal move to a huge total. Captain Paras hit19 fours and seven sixes in his innings. Besides Paras, Dipendra Singh Airee contributed 37 runs while Rohit Kumar Poudel contributed 44 runs. Arif Shaikh scored 27 and Karan KC scored 18 as Nepal set a target of 363 runs.
Hampshire Hogs was allout for just 119 runs. Lalit Rajbanshi was the pick of the bowlers for Nepal as he finished with the figures of 5-34 from his 10 overs including 4 maidens. Sandeep Lamichhane and Dipendra Singh Airee shared 2 wickets each.


DFG Graduiertenkolleg GRK 1692 "Curvature, Cycles, and Cohomology"
A project supported by the DFG of the Fakultät für Mathematik at the Universität Regensburg.
A PhD program in arithmetic geometry, global analysis and geometric PDE in interaction.
3rd Bavarian Geometry & Topology Meeting III, Regensburg, July 11-12, 2018.