Sources say President-elect Obama will nominate Sen. Clinton as his secretary of state.
(CNN) - President-elect Barack Obama will officially nominate members of his national security team at an event Monday morning, including Sen. Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State, according to two officials.
The Obama transition team announced Sunday that Obama will unveil the full team at a press conference at the Chicago Hilton around 10 a.m. ET.
CNN and CNN.com will carry the event live.
The officials said Obama is also expected to finally confirm that he is keeping Defense Secretary Robert Gates in his current post, and plans to name retired Marine Gen. Jim Jones as his National Security Adviser at the White House.
Also, two sources close to the transition said Obama will nominate Susan Rice as United Nations ambassador, Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano as Homeland Security secretary and Eric Holder as Attorney General.
Either way the fixed Republicans will complain.
This broad looks worn out!!!
I am so disappointed in his choice of Hillary for Secretary of State. The Clinton family has been in politics far too long. When people make a career out of being politicians is when they forget the reason they went into politics and begin looking out only for their own best interests, not our country's. I truly believe there should be term limits for every political office.
While I don't want Democrats to lose a Senator with Sen. Clinton's skills, she will certainly be an outstanding Secretary of State. People who ridicule her foreign policy experience haven't bothered to study her public service record. She's capable, focused, and dedicated to serving this country and promoting the general welfare of the nation for future generations. President -elect Obama is organizing an incredible team with a nice mix of experience and fresh ideas. The task before him is daunting but his leadership skills are impressive. I'm hopeful.
This is NOT the Change I wanted or Needed.. I will NOT be tunning In ,Nor do I care to Listen to Hillary!! This woman is very scary indeed, and Scared My grands with her 3AM Phone Call.. Obama You make a HUGE Mistake in Having her for this Position, and I Hope and Pray that her Nomination DOES NOT go through.... NO MORE HILLARY !!!!!!!!
The world remains a dangerous place, as evidenced by the terrorist attacks in India last week. President-elect Obama has made some good choices for his national security team. Among them is Senator Hillary Clinton for Secretary of State. My feeling is that this one appointment could be the most important master stroke of the entire first year of the Obama Administration, provided that it works for all involved. I would have like to been a fly on the wall when Senator Clinton discussed her appointment with President Clinton, that would have been an interesting and revealing conversation. President-elect Obama and the Senator are pros in the field of image making and message sending. My feeling is that this appointment is going to work well because both the President-elect and the Senator want it to.
I cannot wait to see Hillary's cheesy smile. I am happy for her. I read in another article that Barack made it clear that she will be able to chose her own staff for the State Dept and will hae direct access to him. Also, kudos to President Clinton for the sacrafices he made to allow his wife to be Secretary Of State.
Yes ...Hillary is the right choice....good choice..... finally we are one united family.............one United States of America!!!!!!!!!!
Her only experience is standing next to Bill Clinton and greeting foreign dignitaries and their spouses. She did nothing for New York other than get elected due to presidential pardons on the last day in a state she was not a resident in. Her only accomplishment in the past 8 years is a failed run for president.
America we have a right as to the say of who is the person who represents us to the rest of the world. Hillary Clinton should not be that person for thousands of reasons. She and her husband bring too much baggage to America for just a couple of "civilians in public service".
The Secretary of State is not a job for lightweights with minimal experience and are only recieving the position for once again political favors.
Demand more from this president elect. Demand real Change. Not political favors. Thats the same not change.
Now thats what statesmanship is all about, and the dream team afterall will still be in place.
Good for you barak, and hilary all the best, you sure deserve it.
Wise choices for his cabinet. Glad to see that President-Elect Obama is already setting things in place to start from Day One. He will have great minds behind his decisions. Time to get to work and clean up the mess the Republican Administration has made. It will really take some time fixing but I am confident it will get done. Proud to be a Democrat!!!
How can she run the State Dept. when she couldn't even run her own campaign?
She hired her friends rather than real pros and blew a 25 point lead she had over Obama. Then she left her campaign $ 20 million in debt.
Is this how we want our State Dept. run?
Good. They'll all be in one spot for the next 4 years. Easier to keep an eye on them while they keep an eye on each other. Of course it will be easy for them. Most lizards can look behind without turning their heads.
It is a great piclk Hillary for secetary of state, she worked her heart out for Obama in the last months of his campaign she well deserves it, lets hope Willy doesnt interfear in any way.
another dream team, hello madame secretary.
Hillary will soon move to the Obama dog house (dot com). Lets face it, Hillary has a pathological need to be President.
I think the name Clinton does more good than harm globally and I am excited to see them work together. Hopefully, like the mild effect that the announcement of the economic team had on the financial world, this announcement will have a positive effect on the global state of affairs. One can hope.
I am so excited for Hilary and for Bill and for the Obama Administration.
Obama will get 2 for the price of one (Bill and Hillary!).
Whether you like the Clintons or not, people abroad do and those are the ones we need to impress.
No mention of Gov. Richardson for Dept of Commerce? When will that appointment happen.
Anywhooo.....it seems like things are finally beginning to look good for the old USA. It's about time!! It feels good and it feels right! I believe if we as a people all work together, things will work out for the good.....for everyone! We are the United States of America....under God, indivisible.....with Liberty....and Justice for all!!


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J. K. Rowling has promised there will be a further two Harry Potter films
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them will be a trilogy
The best things come in threes. Harry, Ron and Hermione; Triwizarding tournaments. And new Harry Potter films. Author J. K. Rowling has promised that Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them will be delivered in three parts.
In responding to a tweet about the play The Cursed Child, J. K. Rowling revealed that Fantastic Beasts will be a trilogy.
You heard wrong, I'm afraid. #CursedChild is a play. #FantasticBeasts will be 3 movies, though! https://t.co/7tvw4rolcR
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) February 29, 2016
The first film, starring Eddie Redmayne as Newt Scamander, was announced last year and will be released on 18th November. It's not confirmed whether or not Redmayne will appear in all three films.
The film will be directed by David Yates – who directed the fifth, six, seventh and eighth films – and will also star Colin Farrell.
The film is set 70 years before the original Harry Potter series. Scamander studies magical creatures and inadvertently unleashes some of them in 1920s New York.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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News tagged with coal-fired power plants
Study: Impact of mercury-controlling policies shrinks with every five-year delay
Mercury is an incredibly stubborn toxin. Once it is emitted from the smokestacks of coal-fired power plants, among other sources, the gas can drift through the atmosphere for up to a year before settling into oceans and lakes. ...
Reducing US coal emissions through biomass and carbon capture would boost employment
While the need for solutions for the impending consequences of rising global temperatures has become increasingly urgent, many people have expressed concerns about the loss of jobs as current technologies like coal-fired ...
Asia coal plants worrying for climate targets: IEA
Coal-fired power plants operating and under construction in Asia pose a threat to achieving the goal of halting global warming, the head of the International Energy Agency told the Financial Times on Wednesday.
Study finds unexpected levels of bromine in power plant exhaust
Some coal-fired power plants in the United States emit gases that may have significant effects on the atmosphere and can produce harmful compounds in drinking water, according to new research.
S.Africa coal belt among world's pollution hotspots: Greenpeace
South Africa's eastern Mpumalanga province has the most polluting cluster of coal-fired power stations in the world producing record levels of nitrogen dioxide, a report by environmental campaign group Greenpeace said Monday.
'Hambi stays!': Thousands join German forest demo in anti-coal battle
Thousands of anti-coal demonstrators descended on Germany's Hambach forest Saturday, celebrating an unexpected court victory that suspended an energy company's planned razing of the woodland to expand a giant open-cast mine.
Despite studies, health effects of coal-burning power plants remain unknown
A review of studies over the past 30 years provides a body of evidence that people living near coal-fired power plants have higher death rates and at earlier ages, along with increased risks of respiratory disease, lung cancer, ...
US to miss Paris climate pact target by a third
The United States will fall short by a third on its commitment under the Paris climate treaty to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, according to a report released Wednesday in San Francisco.
Coal plant offsets with carbon capture means covering 89 percent of the US in forests
Researchers found that using bio-sequestration to capture carbon produced by US coal-fired plants even after carbon capture and storage would require using 62 percent of the nation's arable land for that process, or 89 percent ...
Trump's pollution rules rollback to hit coal country hard
It's coal people like miner Steve Knotts, 62, who make West Virginia Trump Country.


Criminal justice is an interdisciplinary career field that includes law enforcement, legal studies, and homeland security. The interdisciplinary field of criminal justice incorporates elements of sociology, psychology and law. Students who pursue degrees in criminal justice are prepared for careers in law enforcement and public safety. An increasing number of colleges and universities now offer online criminal justice degrees. Students choose to earn an online bachelor's degree for many reasons, including the ability to study from home while maintaining full-time work or family obligations.
Although many careers in criminal justice can be pursued with a bachelor's degree, a doctoral degree in criminal justice can prepare students for advanced educational and research-oriented roles, such as postsecondary criminal justice teachers, survey researchers and criminologists. An online criminal justice doctorate program offers flexibility for students who are also working professionals. Web-based programs typically follow the same rigorous curricula as brick-and-mortar options, leading to similar advancement opportunities for graduates. The online format is also ideal for students who must tackle additional commitments-such as child or family care-on top of their work and class schedules.
Those who study criminal justice tend to feel rewarded by the work they do after graduation. A high percentage of workers in occupations that are popular among criminal justice graduates-such as police and probation officers-report that they feel their jobs have high meaning. Prospective students should be aware of the median starting salary for graduates with a bachelor's in criminal justice. Typically, it takes a full-time student with no prior college education about four years to complete an online criminal justice bachelor's degree. While requirements vary across programs, most require 120-125 credits.
Online degrees in criminal justice follow the same rigorous curricula as their brick-and-mortar counterparts, and typically lead to the same job opportunities for successful graduates. Studying online allows students to complete their coursework on their own time from home, rather than in a classroom. Many online colleges and universities offer resources for distance learners, including web-based career counseling, online writing labs and full access to the school's library. Programs can also connect students with local police departments, courthouses and other community employers so they can complete required internships and practicums while getting a headstart on landing a career.
A student enrolled in an online criminal justice degree program may have the option to take more or fewer credits at a time to fit his or her schedule. Students with previous educational or professional experience may be able to finish their online criminal justice degree in less time than other classmates. Most accredited online schools allow students to transfer previously earned college credits. In addition, some online criminal justice degree programs offer credit for prior experience in the field, which may make them attractive options for professionals already working in law enforcement or related areas, such as private security. Students should speak to admissions counselors before applying to see if they qualify for these credits.
Most online doctorate degree in criminal justice programs include core coursework in criminal justice theory. These courses demonstrate how to apply theoretical perspectives to law enforcement and criminal investigations. Additional courses examine specific facets of the justice system, including law enforcement, criminal law and the protection of civil rights. The role of police in society is also covered, including the various challenges faced by police departments, as well as the various policies that guide law enforcement officers.
An online degree can prepare students for a wide range of professions within the criminal justice community. From traditional law enforcement specialities to the highly-technical detective work of cyber crime consultants, you have many disciplines to explore!


At first I wasn't too sure if I liked this Cinema Secrets Makeup Brush Cleaner, but now I really like it. It does have a strong vanilla smell but it doesn't bother me, but it might bother some people. Some people break out after using brush cleansers but my skin was okay nothing happened to it so that was another bonus with this cleaner. This stuff is amazing, it cleans my brushes so nicely… it always seems like I have new brushes every time I clean them. You can buy this off the Sephora website.


James Kwan is a Partner in the Dispute Resolution Group of Baker & McKenzie's office in Hong Kong. He leads the arbitration practice in Hong Kong. He specializes in infrastructure, engineering, and energy disputes. He has a range of international experience, having represented clients in arbitrations in Hong Kong, Asia, the Middle East, and Europe under the major institutional rules.
Peng Shen is a Consultant in the Dispute Resolution Group of Baker & McKenzie's office in Beijing. He represents international and domestic clients in domestic and international disputes in China. Prior to working in private practice, he was a judge of the Beijing People's Court.
Sarah Zhu is a Legal Assistant in the Dispute Resolution Group of Baker & McKenzie's office in Shanghai. Her practice focuses on arbitration and litigation for clients in the automobile, pharmaceutical and insurance sectors.
China distinguishes between "domestic" and "foreign-related" arbitrations, with distinct legal regimes for each.
The PRC Arbitration Law, which is China's main legislation on arbitration, regulates both regimes but does not specifically define these terms. The Civil Procedure Law is likewise silent on the meaning of "domestic" and "foreign-related." The Arbitration Law, together with certain provisions in the Civil Procedure Law, other legislation, court decisions and rules issued by arbitration institutions, form the legal framework for arbitration in China.


What Is Needed For Ag to Work Together?
What Is Needed For Ag to Work Together? What are some areas of common ground for those in ag to work on and move ideas forward? This Agchat discussion highlights some collaboration examples and challenges agriculture organizations face in working together.
Fred Rogge, Washington, Kansas, shares his thoughts on community leadership involvement after winning the Community Leadership award at the 2010 AgConnect Expo in Orlando, Florida.


CLEVELAND -- Chicago White Sox pitcher Michael Kopech had Tommy John surgery on his right elbow Tuesday and will miss the 2019 season.
Kopech, the top pitching prospect in the organization, is expected to be ready for spring training in 2020. The surgery was performed by Dr. Neal ElAttrache in Los Angeles.
Kopech, 22, was 1-1 with a 5.02 ERA in four starts this season. The right-hander was placed on the 60-day disabled list with a torn elbow ligament Sept 8.
"Michael understands intellectually what it's going to require to come back," manager Rick Renteria said. "We're confident that he'll be able to do that and become the kind of pitcher we know he can be."
Kopech was acquired in the trade that sent star pitcher Chris Sale to Boston following the 2016 season. He was drafted by Boston in the first round in 2014.


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Category "Sports"
COACHES SOUGHT…to move beach soccer and futsal forward
Sports - NationalBy Sol Star News January 23, 2014
AS part of energising the small-sided soccer code forward for 2014, the Solomon Islands Football Federation (SIFF) plans to recruit more qualified people. In a statement yesterday SIFF said it is seeking well qualified and interest individuals to fill coaching positions that have become available as the national football body looks to move forward with…
Govt urged to provide for coach
CONCERN citizens group, Forum Solomon Islands International (FSII) urges the Solomon Islands Government to seriously consider setting aside a budget purposely to engage international coaches to develop and improve the performances of our athletes. Forum Solomon Islands International's president Redley Raramo said it's about time that government recognizes the potentials of our athletes. "These men…
TriSI to stage first monthly comp
The Solomon Islands Triathlon Federation (TriSI) is looking forward to host its first competition for this year this Saturday, January 25. The event will take place at the usual Kakabona beach West of Honiara. The Series will be held for women and men over the Sprint for the Under 23s and Olympic standard distances and…
Mamaloni Cup a Success
A long week Tournament, the West Makira Mamaloni Invitation Cup (WMMIC) has ended up successfully. It was an exciting event as some of the players received mobile handsets give away prices for man of the matches starting at Quarter finals. It's a massive sponsorship, a first of its kind which definitely boosts the moral of…
Hopeful for good weather
Football fans, supporters and clubs vying in the Telekom S-league (TSL) are high in hopes for a better weather this weekend so as to kick of the second round of the Telekom S-league. The second round of the TSL could not start as earlier scheduled due to the week-long rainfall experienced in the Solomon Islands…
SOCCER ACADEMY SETUP
A new soccer academy is about to start. Called Pacific Football Academy it will be based in Honiara and privately funded. It will be open to interested players from all over the country. Headed by a well-known former Solomon Islands international the aim is to develop players both mentally and physically to the stage where…
Fijians superb athletes, says FIFA official
FIFA development officer Glenn Turner believes Fijians are superb athletes who can be nurtured and developed at an early age to become world stars. Turner was facilitating a three-year development plan workshop for Fiji FA and district officials in Nadi Saturday. He said there needed to be a structure in place to monitor the development…
Futsal trio leads Victoria into finals
The Solomon Islands Futsal trio, who teamed up with the Victorian Futsal team, has led Bayside Victoria into the U19 finals grand finals of the Craig Foster Futsal Challenge yesterday. Unfortunately they were held to a 10-9 defeat to Sunshine Coast. The three were reportedly late for their opening game which Victoria lost 3-2 to…
HFA: SIFF must send an U20 team
The Honiara Football Federation (HFA) has called on the Solomon Islands Football Federation (SIFF) that it is a must to send an U20 team for this year's U20 World Cup qualifiers. The HFA president William Lai yesterday made the call through the Solomon Islands Soccer page on Facebook which attracted a lot of support. Lai…
Visa delay denies our futsal squads
THE Solomon Islands national U12 and U19 futsal squad have been denied the chance to represent the country at the Greg Foster Futsal Championship in Australia. According to reports reaching Star Sports yesterday, the problem faced by the two teams was due to not enough funds and players' visas delay. "Many of the players have…
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Q: What are the "poles" of a signal (after it's reflected perhaps) I desire to learn about "estimating the poles of a resonant signal", specifically the complex natural resonance of objects.
However, I don't know what "poles" are. What would you suggest I look up for better resources? :)

A: First of all, signals don't have "poles", systems do.
The transfer function of a system in many cases can be expressed as a ratio of two polynomials.
$$G(s) = \frac{A_ms^m + A_{m-1}s^{m-1} + ... + A_1s + A_0}{B_ns^n + B_{n-1}s^{n-1} + ... + B_1s + B_0}$$
There are values of \$s\$ for which the upper polynomial evaluates to zero. When that happens, the value of \$G(s)\$ must be zero, regardless of the value of the lower polynomial. These values of \$s\$ — the roots of that polynomial — are referred to as "zeros" of the transfer function.
Similarly, there are values of \$s\$ for which the lower polynomial evaluates to zero. When that happens, the value of \$G(s)\$ goes to infinity, regardless of the value of the upper polynomial. These values of \$s\$ — the roots of that polynomial — are referred to as "poles" of the transfer function.
We sometimes imagine the response of the system — the values of \$G(s)\$ — as a "rubber sheet" that is stretched over the \$s\$ plane. The "zeros" of the transfer function are the places where that sheet is stuck to the \$s\$ plane, and the "poles" are frequencies where the sheet is pushed up by an infinitely tall pole, which is where the term comes from. In between, the sheet finds intermediate values that are determined mostly by the poles and zeros that are nearest to it.
Here's an example of such a visualization:

Source

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Occupy Poetry
All of the words in this poem are drawn, in chronological order, from the quotes in Lizzie Widdicombe's Talk of the Town piece on the Occupy Wall Street protestors in The New Yorker of October 24, 2011
Something good will come out of it
Don't get me wrong
But it's not good for business.
(We would like to find
A sign language interpreter
Available in the here and now.)
Honestly, it's great here
We're well-fed
Warm at night.
I've made more friends here
Than I did in college.
Here we are in Liberty Plaza
And we're trying to keep liberty going on this planet
And, actually,
This planet is in dire jeopardy.
(Think of all the reasons
you didn't want to be doing this!)
You have a right to protest
Brookfield, they have some rights too.
Fuck that.
I'm excited to be defending this space
We never knew
How publicly accessible
This kind of park would be
And now we're testing it
It's kind of fun.
Lovers' Discourse
This appeared in today's The Indian Express.
THE MARRIAGE PLOT Jeffrey Eugenides
One doesn't expect the conventional from a writer whose debut novel was a first-person plural account of teenage boys' fascination with the suicides of five virgin sisters, and whose second was a coming-of-age chronicle of a hermaphrodite of Greek descent. Jeffrey Eugenides' The Marriage Plot, however, turns out to be a tender love story that draws inspiration from the novelists of the 19th century. Earlier evidence that matters of the heart were on his mind came in 2008, with his anthology, My Mistress's Sparrow is Dead: Great love stories from Chekhov to Munro.
There's no denying that Victorian sagas of men and women heading towards marriage -- with concomitant courtship rituals -- have had far-reaching influence. (Where, for example, would the Bollywood movie be without it?) Here, Eugenides seems to be making the point that most contemporary fiction that aims at modernity misses a trick or two when it comes to fulfilling the pleasures of reading. As one of the character's professors asserts, "the novel had reached its apogee with the marriage plot and had never recovered from its disappearance".
The Marriage Plot concerns itself with the lives of three individuals: the caring, bibliophilic Madeleine; the charismatic, bipolar Leonard; and the sensitive, confused Mitchell. It is the early Eighties, and, to begin with, all of them are students at Brown University. The first part of the book is virtually a campus novel, charting Madeleine's interest in Victorian romance plots, Leonard's firecracker brilliance and Mitchell's obsession with theological questions, as well as their interactions with each other. An infatuated Madeleine begins an affair with Leonard while Mitchell, who's in a "long, aspirational, sporadically promising, yet frustrating relationship" with her, decides to remove himself from the scene by travelling to India.
A love triangle, then. How quaint. It must be said, though, that much of The Marriage Plot is gratifying to read, given its immersion in the lives of its characters, notably the heroine. She's a modern-day combination of Isabel Archer and Dorothea Brooke, whose ambivalence towards those close to her is metaphorically represented by the scratched, ill-fitting glasses she periodically dons.
Eugenides brings alive the dilemmas of Madeleine as she careens between a committed relationship and independence, as well as the travails of Mitchell as he journeys to Calcutta to volunteer at Mother Teresa's home for the destitute and dying in Kalighat. (This being a time without text or e-mail, both also write letters to each other: a reminder of the importance of such epistles in 19th century novels.)
As for Leonard, his tobacco-chewing and bandanna-wearing habits, not to mention depressive tendencies, are pointers that, in part at least, he's drawn from David Foster Wallace. A trifle cheeky, given that Wallace's own fiction relentlessly veered towards the hyper-modern.
The novel can also be said to be about another sort of love affair, that with books and reading. More specifically, it involves itself with the influence of books upon malleable minds. Almost from the start, there's a spate of titles mentioned, from Madeleine's beloved Eliot and Austen, to Mitchell's search for succour in texts such as James' The Varieties of Religious Experience. Elsewhere, Eugenides is droll about American academe's initial obsession with structuralism, when you weren't cool if you weren't carrying around a copy of Derrida's On Grammatology. Later on, Madeleine also finds unexpected comfort in the pages of Barthes' A Lover's Discourse.
There are many well-done passages, such as the accounts of Leonard's bouts of mania and depression, "his laziness, his over-achieving, his tendency to isolate, his tendency to seduce, his hypochondria, his sense of invulnerability, his self-loathing, his narcissism". Such interiority is matched by attention to detail, for example during Leonard's lab work with paired and unpaired yeast chromosomes, or Mitchell's stint at the Calcutta hospice. (One wishes, though, that the tendency to "explain" India had been toned down: at one point, the "real" India is described as "the ancient country of Rajputs, nawabs and Mughals". Fancy that.)
At a time when the novel is in search of new models and forms, making a point of returning to its traditional verities signals a disappointing retreat from this necessary quest. Despite its many virtues, that's the niggling thought The Marriage Plot leaves one with.
The Shipping News
This appeared in today's The Hindustan Times.
THE CAT'S TABLE Michael Ondaatje
An 11-year-old boy named Michael, "green as he could be about the world", climbs aboard "the first and only ship of his life". Michael Ondaatje's lyrical The Cat's Table starts with this embarkation, and though one is tempted to think of the novel as a personal account, the author takes pains to point out in an afterword that though it "sometimes uses the colouring and location of memoir and autobiography", it is indeed a work of fiction. (Bear in mind, though, that the narrator's nickname is Mynah: "an unofficial bird, and unreliable, its voice not fully trustworthy in spite of the range".)
It's a 21-day journey, from Colombo to London in the 1950s, undertaken by the protagonist to meet his mother. The cat's table of the title is the least privileged place on board – as opposed to the captain's table – and it is here that Michael strikes up a relationship with two other boys, the quiet Ramadhin and the studious Cassius.
As the vessel embarks upon a "slow waltz" to its destination, Ondaatje gives us pen portraits of the others on board, seen through the eyes of the fascinated, wide-eyed Michael: gentle bridge players, intense musicians, energetic roller-skating Australians, knowledgeable botanists, rich entrepreneurs and suave thieves, among others. As we're told: "...we came to understand that small and important thing, that our lives could be large with interesting strangers who would pass us without any personal involvement."
There's also a prisoner on board, and his actions and relationships – echoing into later years -- provide a skein of plot to a novel that is otherwise an evocatory record of a voyage that leaves an indelible mark on Michael's mind.
The three boys get to know every inch of the ship, "bursting all over the place like freed mercury". Much of the novel progresses via effective set pieces, such as the passengers' attempts to watch a movie on board as the storm progresses, or Michael and his cohorts lashing themselves onto the deck to face the onslaught of the storm itself, or a vivid account of a night journey through the Suez Canal. Ondaatje frequently makes use of telling detail, especially when it comes to the differences in social class or living conditions of those on board; this both tempers his lyricism and prevents the nostalgic journey from foundering on the reefs of the maudlin.
Some of Ondaatje's earlier works, poetic though they may have been, have been marred by obliqueness and too-frequent spatial and temporal shifts. In The Cat's Table, too, there are detours into the lives of the protagonists in later years: in particular, describing the fate of the weak-hearted Ramadhin and his life as a tutor in London, as well as the narrator's relationship with his sister. However, the overall tone of wistful remembrance and clear focus on the antics of those on board, holds the novel together, giving the whole an elegiac glow.
Towards the end, however, Ondaatje delves into fragments of other lives, such as that of a mysterious circus girl, detailing her background and relationship with the ship's prisoner. This weakens the narrative, for what makes the book magical -- the boy's mediating consciousness -- is lost.
At one point in the novel, the narrator, as a grown-up, visits an art exhibition by Cassius, who has gone on to become a well-regarded artist. Here, he sees a painterly record of Cassius's memories of that earlier journey along the Suez Canal. The Cat's Table is the novelistic equivalent of those canvases, a sequence of impressionistic vignettes of a voyage enlivened by a capacity for wonder.
Not Child's Play
This appeared in today's DNA.
PIGEON ENGLISH Stephen Kelman
What is it about child narrators that Man Booker Prize judges can't resist? Off the top of one's head, one can recall Roddy Doyle's Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha (winner, 1993), DBC Pierre's Vernon God Little (winner, 2003), Emma Donoghue's Room (shortlisted, 2010) David Mitchell's Black Swan Green (longlisted, 2006) and Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (longlisted, 2003). Now, there's Stephen Kelman's debut novel, Pigeon English, on this year's shortlist at the time of writing.
The 11-year-old protagonist of this novel is portrayed as endearingly innocent; indeed, there's little that is arch and precocious in his utterances. An example of the sort of style that Kelman adopts for his narrator's consciousness comes early on: "My jumper's blue. My uniform's better. The only bad thing about it is the tie, it's too scratchy. I hate it when they're scratchy like that". This is the sort of thing it's very easy to like; equally, it can annoy with its faux-naif posturing. And there's a lot of this in Pigeon English.
It's the voice of Harrison Okupu, recently re-located from Ghana with his mother and elder sister to one of London's poorer housing estates. (His father and infant sister remain in Africa, planning to join the rest of the family as soon as they can.) Harrison is a quick study, picking up the ways and language of his schoolmates easily enough. We hear much of their schoolyard games – in a sign of the times, one of their pastimes is called "suicide bomber". Casual delinquencies, with knives, gang initiations and petty theft, are very much a part of the daily routines of some of those in his ken.
With wide-eyed naiveté, Harrison also conveys his impressions of new experiences such as travelling on the tube. When he isn't obsessing over whether he's wearing the right kind of sneakers, he muses on the differences between his homeland and England, from the way barbers behave to the way traffic does. His Ghanaian backdrop, then, serves the important function of establishing him as a stranger in a strange land. This is a report from the inner city by an insider with an outsider's point of view.
When a boy is stabbed to death outside a fast-food restaurant, Harrison, with some of his mates, decides to play amateur detective to bring the miscreant to book. With this as the plot device, Kelman has him keeping tabs on other boys, as well as sparring with his sister and her mates, acquiring a girlfriend of sorts and gradually becoming more attuned to the ways of the world in which he finds himself. Death and dying are very much on his mind, serving both as a foreshadowing of the future as well as a reflection of his environment.
Harrison's predicament is one that elicits affection, not to mention compassion. However, the tone of voice employed has many repetitive simplicities and overstated pieties, and these can grate after a while. "I saw a bird nest in the tree," he informs us. "It was very sad. The birds all fell out when the tree came down." Then again: "Do you know what's a superhero? They're special people who protect you. They have magic powers. They use them to fight the bad men. They're very great". The use of schoolboy argot, too, is overdone, with words such as "hutious", "bo-styles" and "dope-fine" appearing on almost every page.
Curiously enough, there's also the voice of a pigeon that butts in from time to time. This winged creature, roosting on the balcony of Harrison's house, is given to gnomic, mock-prophetic pronouncements such as "I do know the shape of a mother's grief". As a device to incorporate another minority voice, this comes across as unnecessary.
Immersing oneself in a child's point of view can be a rewarding experience for the way in which it brings to life the gap between what is seen and what is understood. Despite being affecting in parts, and revelatory of the lives of children in violence-prone neighbourhoods, Pigeon English is only partially successful in this regard.
Posted by Unknown at 2:41 PM 1 comment:


- It wasn't long ago Jeremy Gallon seemed undersized and underwhelming, but it wouldn't surprise me if he is an All-Big Ten receiver. He had a big game against ND two years ago, but this is turning into one for the ages. He has really taken off since Devin Gardner became Michigan's primary QB.
- These are two well-drilled football teams. It's been an impressive game so far considering it is early in the season. It's been very hard hitting. When Notre Dame tried running up the middle a few times in a row during the third quarter, the pads really started cracking. It's college football at its best in every way.
- Notre Dame's scoring drive was impressive. Ninety yards, 12 plays, five-plus minutes mixing both the run and pass effectively. The Fighting Irish remain formidable. They were not going to fold at the first sign of pressure. A bright side for Michigan has been preventing the big play and pretty much staying ahead of the curve. The Wolverines did respond with an impressive drive of their own.


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class AddLongitudeToJob < ActiveRecord::Migration
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    add_column :jobs, :longitude, :float
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


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Articles: Europe
Scandinavia tops healthcare satisfaction ranking
sarita1 · May 3, 2016 · Edited by Moderator May 3, 2016
Health care is an important issue for expats wherever they are in the world and it looks like they could be most satisfied if they live in Scandinavia.
Sweden has topped a new ranking from customer satisfaction measurement consultants HappyOrNot, with Finland second and Norway third.
Sweden scored a satisfaction rate of 92.37%, Finland 91.92% and Norway 90.75% in the global survey which went out to six million people in 25 countries.
The average satisfaction level was 88.02% with the United States ranking fourth on 89.33%, Denmark in fifth place with 89.29%, Italy next with 87.85%, then Ireland on 85.84%, New Zealand at 85.77%, the Netherlands at 83.77% and the UK making up the top 10 at 81.6%.
Typical questions asked in the poll included "Were your concerns heard and addressed today?" and respondents were also asked about their overall satisfaction, the length of time they waited, and the service received in emergency departments.
For many healthcare facilities, the performance level of their patient experience of care is linked to financial incentives associated with operational improvement strategies, the research report suggests.
It mentions that patient satisfaction is evermore becoming an imperative measurement in identifying and optimising the health system performance in many countries.
The data also shows that the best days of the week to visit a healthcare provider, ranked according to the highest patient satisfaction levels during those days, to be Tuesdays and Saturdays. Thursday visits rank at the bottom of the week for overall patient satisfaction.
"The importance of improving patient satisfaction by gathering feedback is a rising theme in the many countries, for example the UK which has a number of initiatives aimed at improving the patient experience including the Friends and Family Test to implement feedback tools to support collecting, measuring, and monitoring patient experience," said a spokesman.
"One of the key motivating factors behind the success of a healthcare facility is the better the patients feel emotionally, the faster they will heal physically," the spokesman added.
It gives as an example the Rotherham Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation Trust which has found patient satisfaction feedback valuable. The Trust found it was able to make changes in quality of care after looking at specific areas such as hours, or days with lower satisfaction levels.
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Unruly Days:
Territory life 1911 – 1921
Part of this exhibition is closed until further notice for maintenance
The Northern Territory has always been an impossible land to master. From its monsoonal Top End to its arid Centre, it promises bountiful resources, but almost every attempt to exploit them has failed. It is too immense, too remote, its resources too inaccessible.
By 1900, the Territory had been largely neglected by its South Australian administrators. Few Europeans ventured there. The first peoples, the Aboriginal population, were the majority, and Chinese people outnumbered white Australians.
To Australia's statesmen the Territory's vast unpopulated reaches invited unwelcome foreign interest. So, in 1911, the Commonwealth took control. They invested in industries and infrastructure, bringing an influx of workers. It seemed the Territory might finally prosper.
But cracks soon appeared. World War One diverted the Commonwealth's funds, and the Territory's climate and isolation, as always, proved difficult to surmount. The government's own policies led to trouble in race and labour relations and threatened the investment they had made. Four governments and eight different ministers would take responsibility for the Territory over the next ten years. Ruling from Melbourne, the Commonwealth never understood the unique conditions at play.
Territorians grew restless with the new order, which had left them with no say in their own affairs. Conflict was inevitable, and the first decade of Commonwealth rule would prove to be the Territory's most unruly to date.
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Key works


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This tutorial should only be completed once you see the Fibe TV Activation Screen on your TV screen and have completed the physical installation of the wireless HD receiver and wireless transmitter.
If this is a new receiver continue to How to activate your wireless HD receiver once pairing is completed.
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2. Press the WPS button on the front of the transmitter. Below the Wi-Fi symbol, a green light will start to flash indicating that the unit is in pairing mode.
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Tournament Field
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FanDuel PGA: Travelers Championship
Michael Riek
This article is part of our FanDuel PGA series.
Travelers Championship – Cromwell, CT
TPC River Highlands (6,841 yards, par 70)
$7.0M Purse
$1,260,000 and 500 FedEx Cup points to the winner
Tournament Preview
After a newsworthy U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills, the PGA Tour travels just 100 miles north to Cromwell, CT for the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands. Given its proximity to Shinnecock, the field is noticeably strong, with eight of the world's top 15 players in attendance. TPC River Highlands is now in its 35th year of hosting on the PGA Tour and boasts a Pete Dye overhaul completed in 1984. In the early 1990s the course got another upgrade, leading to a four-acre lake with holes 15-17 circumventing the body of water. The course is seen as a birdie-producing venue, yielding Jim Furyk's historic 58 in 2016, the lowest round ever shot on the PGA Tour. With that in mind, look for plenty of par-breakers to litter the property this week and a thrilling finish to unfold in the final stretch come Sunday.
Recent Past Champions
2017 – Jordan Spieth
2016 – Russell Knox
2015 – Bubba Watson
2014 – Kevin Streelman
2013 – Ken Duke
2012 – Marc Leishman
2011 – Fredrik Jacobsen
2009 – Kenny Perry
2008 – Stewart Cink
Key Stats to Victory
•	Par Breakers percentage
•	Par 4 Scoring Average
•	Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green
Champion's Profile
As of the PGA Tour's shortest courses, length has little to do with success at TPC River Highlands. A plethora of shorter holes mean birdies can come in bunches, so look for players with a propensity to make birdies on a first run-through. The par-70 course has 12 par-4s on the card, including a drivable one, so par-4 scoring average will prove important given the lack of par-5s. Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green is also an incredibly useful stat this week, because hitting it close is what separates players when they are - in many cases - forced to position themselves with less than driver off the tee. In the past four years, top finishers at the Travelers Championship leaderboard saw over half of their scoring advantage from Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green alone.
FanDuel Value Picks
The Chalk
Brooks Koepka, $12500 – After last week's impressive defense of his U.S. Open title, Koepka will be riding on fumes on a much easier course setup. But as he proved the past two U.S. Opens, he can win whether it's a birdie-fest (2017) or a grind (2018). Though it's pretty unlikely he will win again this week, there's a very good chance he will carry over the momentum from last week and produce at least a top-25 result.
Justin Thomas, $12300 – With a T25 last week Thomas notched his 15th straight top-25 in individual competition, making him the safest pick of the week. Thomas has no real weaknesses in his game and can pile up birdies as well as anyone in the world, as evidenced by him ranking fifth on Tour in Par-Breakers.
Rory McIlroy, $11800 – Last week's missed cut shouldn't scare you. It just means Rory probably played too aggressively at the tough Shinnecock track. At a much easier and forgiving venue, McIlroy's talent should rise to the top and provide him a good chance to pick up the win. In his first start here last season, he finished T17.
Jordan Spieth, $11500 – Spieth's hole-out to win the Travlers last season was easily the shot of the year, but this time around he's in a putting slump. His strategic ability to navigate the doglegs at TPC River Highlands should produce plenty of birdie looks, but he will need to convert for any chance at winning. He's a risky play at $11500 but obviously has the upside to defend his title.
Longer Shots Worth a Risk
Paul Casey, $11200 – Casey finished runner-up in 2015 here and followed it up with two more top 20s the past two years. Given the strong course history, Casey exudes value on FanDuel, and he should continue to be his consistent self after a T16 at Shinnecock last week.
Bubba Watson, $10400 – Watson has claimed victory at TPC River Highlands twice and notched three other top-6 finishes in just 11 career starts – this is clearly a favorite course of his. Regardless of his form entering this week, Watson is capable of rekindling fond memories of success. He's a solid value and one you can't ignore if you're entering multiple lineups on FanDuel.
Ryan Moore, $9800 – Moore's career record at TPC River Highlands speaks for itself: five top-10s in 10 starts. His game of strategic driving, elite short irons and great putting fits the champion's profile to a tee, so expect the underrated option to outperform his salary this week.
Xander Schauffele, $9600 –Last year Schauffele produced a T5 at the U.S. Open and went on to produce a top-15 at the Travelers. This year he enters this week on the heels of a T6 at the U.S. Open. Can you say, déjà vu?
Strategy Tips for this week (based on 60k standard salary cap)
This event has often produced a first-time champion, but last year in a strong field Jordan Spieth took the tourney in dramatic fashion. Expect a similar top-level talent to find his way into the winner's circle again this year in what should be a welcome return to under-par scoring. The salaries are bunched this week, meaning it's not difficult to fit 3-4 studs in your lineup and still fit in some decent low-cost talent from the bottom tiers. Don't be afraid to take some fliers in that range, with an emphasis on those who can produce plenty of birdies.
The author(s) of this article may play in daily fantasy contests including – but not limited to – games that they have provided recommendations or advice on in this article. In the course of playing in these games using their personal accounts, it's possible that they will use players in their lineups or other strategies that differ from the recommendations they have provided above. The recommendations in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of RotoWire. Michael Riek plays in daily fantasy contests using the following accounts: FanDuel: mriek25.
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Michael Riek @mrhacm25
Michael is the 2016 FSWA Golf Writer of the Year winner. He is a former collegiate golfer with a passion for analytics and strategy.
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