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davidgies100
by davidgies100 November 17, 2017 November 19, 2017 4 Comments
Tsavo National Park, Kenya, 2012 D.Gies
Trump removes the Ivory Ban for U.S. Citizens hunting in Zimbabwe and Zambia.
It is disturbing that our country is often characterized as largely self-serving, materialistic and elitist. We have become small yet we shrink more. There is something very mischievous in our president removing the 2014 Obama ban on transporting ivory back into the United States. Reading the news today there is speculation this executive order is a solution for sons to bring their big game trophies home. His pronouncement is retroactive to 2014 forward. Larger editorials and repeated comments from readers of the Washington Post, New York Post and Snoops and a host of others observe that this reversal is really about undoing absolutely everything Obama ordered during his administration.
Countries in East Africa like Tanzania allow elephant hunting. Kenya does not. It is a mixed bag in Africa but the continent is moving in the direction of saving wildlife for camera safaris, future generations and sharing the experience of simply living in awe of life, its manifestation of creation against the swashbuckling avarice of powerful oligarchies.
Kenya experienced a trying election last month. Zimbabwe's government, one of the countries Americans can now import elephant parts from is in turmoil. There was a time when these countries looked to the United States for inspiration. For some, the United States still provides inspiration but it seems an exclusive arrangement benefiting world elites revealed in an honest display of winner-take-all in the personality of a sexist chest-pounding president standing over the carcass of animals, change, dignity, world citizenship, and capitalistic fairness.
The reality of today's leadership is revealed in blunt honesty about its self-serving nature. It appears we have met the enemy and it is us, in the words of Walt Kelly. But I think we are better than this, kinder to all people including a demonstration of the care for all living creatures. Time will tell. I hope so. Should citizens march on Washington D.C. again?
by davidgies100 September 14, 2017 Leave a comment
http://www.nation.co.ke/news/Leakey-announces-sweeping-changes-at-KWS-management-/1056-4089070-q54ijb/index.html
by davidgies100 July 14, 2017 Leave a comment
Earlier today I thought I had posted a link to the Africa Network for Animal Welfare's (ANAW's) second edition of their signature publication Animal Welfare. It is a great example of grassroots action to save African habitat and animals.
For anyone following my blog, the actual link is highlighted above. (Sorry to have omitted it and thanks to a reader for bringing it to my attention.)
If you are interested in what volunteers and staff are doing in connection with ANAW in Nairobi, please take a look at the magazine. One story highlights Dr. Lisa McCarthy, a Fort Collins, Colorado veterinarian, who mobilizes veterinarians for travel to Africa vaccinating animals and spay and neutering dogs and cats.
Read More "ANAW Contributes Perspective and Insight into Animal Welfare in East Africa"
Conservationists Throttled by Kenya Wildlife Service
by davidgies100 April 12, 2017 April 12, 2017 Leave a comment
The National Environmental Tribunal in Kenya has issued an order blocking the construction of the railroad across Nairobi National Park. Regrettably, the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) and the government do not recognize the Tribunal, also known as the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) as an authority for overseeing Kenya's natural resources. Steve Itela of the Africa Network for Animal Welfare (ANAW) and other conservation groups are throttled by the Kenya Wildlife Service whose agents are guarding the construction site and allowing the railroad work to proceed. This is reported by the Star News in Nairobi.
Advocates, friends of Africa, conservationists, world travelers, and others seeking to save Nairobi National Park and its wildlife can speak out by writing the Kenya Tourist Authority raising the concern about the damage taking place to one of the jewels of East Africa. Indeed, it is reported by The Business Daily that a key rhinovirus sanctuary is Kenya's habitat within the secure boundaries of Nairobi National Park. Damaging the integrity of the park's land mass harms the rhino population, all the park's wildlife and the recovery of Kenya's tourism. The influence of tourist dollars may be the only lever left in this fight for the park.
Jot a quick email to the Tourist Authority linked in the previous paragraph. Support ANAW. Make a little noise. Thank you for taking the time to read this note.
Kenya's Nairobi National Park Under Siege
Animal welfare advocate/conservationist are gaining on a few fronts so it seems. In the U.S., Ringling Brothers Circus is closing due to poor ticket sales. Young audiences prefer to have elephants, lions and the like left in natural habitat. It's good. At some point in their lives, they will travel to Africa, stimulate the economy, and see animals in natural settings appropriate to the space needed to live well.
The jury is still out on Sea World, under similar pressure with shaky ticket sales revenue. One of my financial advisory letters observed that now might be the time to invest in Sea World's stock speculating on a dramatic comeback. I'm not going to include it in my portfolio. It's too risky for my interests, and I don't agree with the ethics/business model. Just my opinion.
In Kenya, like-minded people are arguing against government plans to build
Red Line is proposed railway bisecting Nairobi National Park
the proposed elevated railway through Nairobi National Park. I have been to the wildlife refuge several times when I was living in Nairobi. It is a remarkable place set aside and encouraged by Jomo Kenyatta, the first President of Kenya in the early 1960's. It is literally adjacent to Langata Road on the eastern side of the city. It is remarkable to enter the park that is so close to the city and see rhinoceros, lions, ostrich, and a diverse abundance of Africa's wildlife. No elephants to speak of, but so much of everything else. The presence of construction, bulldozers, trucks, noise and the lasting result of building a massive railway through the park will be devastating.
In Nairobi, advocates are speaking out. They are taking the position that legendary Richard Leakey, the head of the park's administration should step down because he is not protecting the public resource. Richard Leakey, now in his 80's, is the son of the famous Louis Leakey. In the past, Richard Leakey championed the establishment of Kenya Wildlife Service. He has a reputation for effectively fighting corruption for decades. Now he is being accused of supporting questionable government moves to grab park land so close to the city for alternative development and private enterprise.
Hurray for mediating structures and the efforts of brave souls in East Africa willing to speak out against officials that break promises and do not follow due process. My view is to support these people fighting to conserve the animals and the land necessary for their existence. Indeed, the land is necessary for the people as well as the animals. We need to support these organizations in the non-governmental sector. Like my friends in Africa say, "We are better together".
by davidgies100 December 17, 2016 December 17, 2016 Leave a comment
Thanks to a friend in Seattle for bringing this lively article to my attention.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/12/15/travel/what-to-do-36-hours-in-nairobi-kenya.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=second-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news
An Open Letter to Friends of ANAW
by davidgies100 December 4, 2016 December 4, 2016 Leave a comment
The year 2016 has been a year of celebrations, successes, and milestones. If you are receiving the ANAW holiday direct mail piece you will be reading about my meeting Jos Ngonyo in 2005 and the friendship between our families that continues to grow. Indeed, the network of friends is a concentric ripple that extends far beyond just our families and friends, to also include what we now have started in the name of conservation and animal welfare.
The organization we create is a reciprocal door into the countries we represent, the U.S. to Kenya and Kenya to the U.S. From the perspective of the University of Denver, this is a gateway opportunity for students of the Graduate School of Social Work to meet Kenyans in their homes and in their lives. This year, for the three groups of visiting private practice veterinarians, it is service to the communities of pet and livestock owners. For Kenyans, it is an introduction to people in North America, an exchange of ideas, aspirations, and future possibilities. ANAW is our mutual gateway.
For the animals in Kenya, it is advocacy and people communicating and doing for those that cannot speak for themselves. ANAW stopped the road construction across the Serengeti with significant help from Serengeti Watch, brings attention to the encroachment of another roadway, a railroad, across Nairobi National Park, expands Animal Welfare Clubs into the curriculum of 33 Nairobi schools, facilitates the continued efforts for adding animal welfare to the country's national curriculum, works with the judiciary and countless others to remove trapping wire while advocating for ending bushmeat consumption.
It has been said that in life we need three things. "Someone to love, something to do, and something to look forward to". ANAW, for many of us, has become part of our lives, with the mission, and the people on both sides of the Atlantic striving to make the world a better place for all living creatures.
I wish to take this opportunity to say thank you to the Board of Directors and staff in Denver that makes the transmission of funds to Nairobi possible. From left to right, Philip Tedeschi, Bob Uttaro, David Gies, Richard Reading, Janet Rumfelt, Kristen Nelson, Professor James Nakansa (ANAW in Nairobi), Richard Male, Maria Galter, and Jos Ngonyo. Not pictured are Arielle Giddens, Nehemiah Rotich and Keith Gehring.
If you are interested in more of the particulars please visit the ANAW websites, http://www.anaw.org and http://www.anaw-usa.org.
ANAW is not eligible to be reviewed by Charity Navigators because our assets are less than $1,000,000. Until we can reach this threshold, and in the interest of staking our reputation as a reputable and worthy nonprofit organization, our 2015 Audit is available upon request, for anyone wishing to learn more about us. Also, our 990 tax returns can be accessed at www.guidestar.org.
Best wishes for this holiday season.
David Gies,
ANAW-USA Board President
Africa, conservation


Happy 21st Anniversary to Mrs. TRP.
24 Valentines Days ago I gave her a rose dipped in gold, followed it up the next year with another… see the pattern? Neither did I. She has two. Tonight I was informed there should be 2 dozen. Oh well.
Happy 95th Birthday Betty White! This is her Golden Girl Pop… I really do not have many Pop figures, but I do have all 4 Golden Girls. There will be a shoot soon.


Plugging an accessory into the jack socket of the RSM will mute the speaker on the RSM unit.
The RSM orange button does not exit the emergency mode.
The emergency feature may need to be programmed into your radio by your Airwave Manager.
Motorola state the RSM is a non repairable item.
There are some accessories and replacement clips available.


BOTH cattle and sheep will be sold on Thursdays at Newcastle Emlyn as a new firm takes over livestock market sales.
Current auctioneers Dai Lewis Cyf have announced that from August 9 all future livestock sales at the mart will be conducted by Nock Deighton Agricultural LLP.
Nock Deighton is a long established firm thato began in 1831 and run a successful livestock market along with professional services, all based at Bridgnorth Livestock & Auction Centre.
The member partners say they are delighted to have the opportunity to continue livestock sales at Newcastle Emlyn and thanked Dai Lewis for all his assistance in this business expansion.
They say the marts will be a major focal point for livestock procurement with partner Mark Burgoyne being principal in this new venture.
Paul Taylor, who has many contacts in west Wales will become Mart Manager. His main duties are procurement and the day-to-day staffing and running of Newcastle Emlyn mart.
Llŷr Jones is currently one of Dai Lewis' main auctioneers and will be employed as a link between existing customers and the new business.
Nock Deighton has a policy of encouraging young entrants to the business and Dafydd Parry from Ruthin, recently graduated from Harper Adams University will also join the team. Dafydd sold the cull ewes and calves in Bridgnorth market during his placement year at Nock Deighton Agricultural in 2016/17.
Llŷr and Dafydd, both Welsh speaking, will be integral players in the development of the mart and, alongside Paul Taylor, will complete the marketing team.
David Lewis, Geraint James and Bleddyn Davies will continue to operate, under the banner of Dai Lewis Cyf, as chartered surveyors, auctioneers, valuers and Principality Building Society agents both at their Newcastle Emlyn and Llandysul offices.
A spokesman said they looked forward to serving the local community in the future as the company has done for the past 22 years and wished Nock Deighton Agricultural LLP well in their new venture.


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The fact that there are lots of information which can be obtained online, many people usually have the question if it is really best to hire a real estate agency. This would be because there are actually a lot of people who usually wonder whether they could truly sell or buy a home using the internet or through the regular marketing and advertising channels without having to consider a real estate agency. There actually are some people who could inf act do this by themselves, but there are in fact more benefits which can be obtained from hiring a real estate agency.
You don't need to know about everything in buying and selling a real estate when hiring a real estate agency. Always remember that when you hire people who are smarter than you are, you are much smarter than them. The trick is in finding the right agency for the job. In most cases, they usually are the same with others, which is why it is best to hire one who is more experienced and have more education than you.
The fact about real estate agencies is that they really don't choose the price for their sellers or buyers. But, their agent will however be able to help guide clients in making the appropriate choice. The agency will ask buyers to weigh all the data that are supplied to them and to choose a price. Based with the market supply, conditions and demands, the agency will then create a negotiation strategy.
A real estate agency could disclose market conditions which governs the selling and buying process. There in fact are various factors which will help to determine as to how well you will proceed.
A real estate agency do work with other professionals. Many actually offer services which you need to sell or buy. Because of the legal liability, a lot of agencies hesitates in giving recommendation to a certain company or individual over another, but they know which vendors truly have good reputation on competency, efficiency and also on competitive pricing. Also, the a real estate agency will be able to provide you a list of reference who they have worked with before and give you background information that will help you in making a wise selection.
A reputable real estate agency is capable in negotiating because unlike the buyers and sellers, they could remove themselves from the emotional aspect of the transactions and because they have the necessary skill. They also are professionals who are trained in presenting the case of their clients and agree in holding confidential client information.


WASHINGTON (CNS) — The human rights office for the Archdiocese of San Salvador is taking the country's judicial system to task, urging the prompt prosecution of those responsible in the assassination of St. Oscar Arnulfo Romero, calling for an end to "creative" excuses for not doing so.
A Nov. 28 statement from Tutela de Derechos Humanos del Arzobispado de San Salvador, the archdiocese's office of human rights, said excuses and barriers have been used for more than 38 years (since St. Romero's assassination) for "not carrying out justice," not just in his killing but in the killing of thousands of Salvadorans, including many Catholics who were murdered, tortured and disappeared during the country's 1980-92 conflict.
On Oct. 23, days after the Catholic Church declared Salvadoran Archbishop Romero a saint, a judge in El Salvador issued a capture order for Alvaro Rafael Saravia, a former military captain suspected of killing the religious leader in 1980 as the archbishop celebrated Mass. But there's frustration that even though the order was issued, nothing will happen to bring Saravia and others to justice, said Father Estefan Turcios Carpano, director of the archdiocese's human rights office, in a Nov. 29 telephone interview with Catholic News Service.
Saravia, who for years has been a suspect in the killing, remains at large and is believed to be in hiding. The letter from the human rights office said Saravia, as well as other government and guerilla agents — former right-wing military strongman Roberto D'Aubisson; Saravia's chauffeur, Armando Garay; Mario Molina, a former president's son suspected of hiring St. Romero's hit men — have to be brought to justice for the killing. All were named in a U.N. Truth Commission report that investigated the archbishop's assassination.
El Salvador's office of the attorney general has conducted the case in a "slow and ineffective" manner, the human rights office letter said. It's time for justice for St. Romero and for other victims killed "by the right and the left" during the conflict, Father Turcios told CNS.
For years, prosecution of a slew of cases involving crimes that took place in El Salvador during the civil war proved fruitless because of a 1993 amnesty law that prevented prosecution of military human rights violations tied to the war. However, in 2016, the 1993 law was thrown out by the country's highest court, and the case involving the killing of St. Romero was reopened the following year. The case has not advanced, even as courts keep issuing arrest orders that go unfulfilled. It's hard to tell whether that's their real intention, to seek justice, but "I certainly hope so," said Father Turcios.


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Ramsey County Commissioner District 3 Questionnaire: Jennifer Nguyen Moore
Daniel Choma • August 10, 2018
For years, Streets.MN has published questionnaires for candidates for local office in the Twin Cities so that our many interested readers can make better informed decisions when they participate in local political races. This year we are focusing on the Ramsey County Board's District 3, representing Falcon Heights and Saint Paul neighborhoods of Payne/Phalen, North End/South Como, Como Park, Frogtown and Hamline-Midway.
These questions were compiled with support and input from Dana DeMaster, Eric Saathoff, Ethan Osten, Rebecca Reinke, Andy Singer, Tom Basgen, Bill Lindeke, Zachary Wefel, & Hunter Goetzman. They were sent to all three of the declared candidates for the office – Janice Rettman, Trista MatasCastillo, and Jennifer Nguyen Moore – and replies will be published when they are received.
Last year, Maryland Avenue between Payne Avenue and Johnson Parkway temporarily changed striping from 4 lanes into 3 lanes in order to test for improvements in safety. The project has been expanded to collect more robust data. Do you support making this conversion permanent? Do you support further test projects on other 4 lane county roads such as Lexington Parkway or Larpenteur Ave?
Yes, I do support creating additional test projects on 4 lane county roads as long as it ensures pedestrian, bike and vehicle safety and traffic reduction. I'd like to thank Commissioner Jim McDonough and decision makers who came up with the policy to analyze pedestrian safety in Ramsey County. It is a commendable method to build community engagement in policy making. From what I understand, the test project allowed for residents to try out the proposed methods for a specific timeframe and provide feedback on user experience and perception. Having a way in which folks have hands-on experience and understanding the policy change is key for gathering input. If this test project was done with rendering or conceptual explanation, it would be nearly impossible for residents to understand how the proposed improvement ideas would work. These methods that lack engagement typically generate unnecessary negative and uninformed biases. Furthermore, I fully support the community engagement method implemented to ensure residents can actively participate in the input process. This is how co-governance should work; where our experts are the service users and elected officials learn from our experts. We are experts from our lived experiences as Ramsey County residents; residents should have the ability to share our perspective and feedback. It's imperative that these modes of transportation (bicyclists, pedestrians and motorists) coexist so that we can live as a healthy community, increase walkability, address climate change and have the ability to feel safe when getting to point A to point B.
How can transportation and/or land use policy address historic imbalances in investments and improve equity? What specific land use or transportation policies, if any, will you pursue to achieve this?
Transportation and land use policy can address historical imbalances by creating and promoting equitable systems for renters and public transportation users. Rental properties tend to have environmental hazards such as led contamination, indoor smoking and not dealing with pests such as mice and cockroaches. Substandard conditions in rental housing can cause chronic illnesses such as stress, depression and asthma. As county commissioner, I will designate resources and efforts to enforcing environmental health policies to ensure renters have access to clean and quality housing. Everyone deserves access to safe and clean housing. There are other efforts that can thwart absent landlords, such as working with cities to pull their rental licenses and establishing and maintaining existing penalties.
The county's top transportation priority should be to ensure all residents have access to reliable and efficient transportation. Many residents within the county cannot afford a vehicle and must utilize public transportation or a bicycle. Our constituents rely on public transportation (buses and light rail) to get them to their jobs, doctor's appointments and schools. The infrastructure for public transportation is inaccessible and efficient for some constituents, especially for renters; Black, Indigenous, and People of color and for residents who live in poverty. To take the bus from Frogtown, North End of Payne Phalen to downtown Saint Paul, it may take up to 30 minutes on the bus as opposed to 10 minutes driving. I will prioritize funding Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and look at how we can increase bus stop frequency to improve efficiency. There are four key pieces that I would work to include in any future transportation plan:
Maximized accessibility to riders with physical and mental disabilities.
Ensure businesses are accessible to patrons (and advertise businesses are open) while major transportation construction occurs. The tenant who rents a building my family owns struggled to keep up with business during the green line light rail construction. Although the business was accessible to patrons, many customers refused to visit.
Adequate bikeways and corridors to these bikeways are needed to ensure safety for people walking and biking.
This transportation plan must include a health equity component. We should be asking this question when making policy: how is our policy encouraging healthy communities by reducing the exposure to poor air quality, reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and the ability to exercise?
Do the current mechanisms for collecting feedback on transportation projects work? a. If yes, why? If not, how would you change the process? b. How would you involve more people who don't normally participate in transportation conversations–such as young people, people of color, and people with low incomes?
I believe that the current mechanisms for collecting feedback have resulted in quality improvements and brought greater attention to necessary changes, but with that being said, I believe a large portion of the population's transit users are left out when collecting feedback. In order to increase participation to the feedback process, it's important to make those forums readily and easily available, whether that's in the form of online submission forms, paper forms, community dialogues, canvassing and interviewing community members, or translated and interpreted materials in braille and other languages. These public input initiatives need to be more widely advertised and brought to the attention of transit users, pedestrians, motorists and residents with disabilities.
Gathering feedback among young people, people of color, and people with low incomes is extremely necessary when designing transportation projects, as they make up a large percentage of transit riders. Historically, Black, Indigenous, People of Color, young constituents and people with low income have been left out of the conversation. As a young woman of color who has lived through severe poverty, I have been left out of the conversation. I am running to build this space for people who look like, is/was a Ramsey County recipient, was an avid transit rider and have lived through the same experiences as me. The people most impacted by county services should be the people who co-govern the county board. In order to involve more young people, people of color, and people with low incomes, I believe it's important to go to those spaces and engage in meaningful conversation about their feedback and elect officials with these lived experiences.
For any policy development process, commissioners and other elected officials must think outside of their own perspectives so that the policy is inclusive and beneficial to everyone. Creating policy with the lens of "intersectionality" is vital as residents who are Black, Indigenous, People of color; residents with disabilities, bicyclists, motorists, pedestrians all have different perspectives. When individuals have multiple identities (i.e. a woman of color, someone who has lived in poverty and a public transit rider), these perspectives are unique and require our elected officials to glean from their knowledge as experts. As your commissioner, I will demonstrate and implement that philosophy to engage and gather public input from a diverse range of perspectives and lived experiences.
Housing costs are rapidly increasing in the metro area for both renters and home owners. What policies can Ramsey county implement to keep housing affordable for residents of all walks of life?
There are multiple layers why our residents cannot afford housing: increasing prices, housing shortages, poverty, chemical dependency, and stagnant wages contribute to the problem. As a way to break the cycle of poverty, we need to look at short-term and long-term solutions to address immediate needs and broader systemic issues. We should start by implementing $15/hour wages for all Ramsey County residents. Through a recent report from the Citizen's League, we know that $15/hour is not enough break the cycle of poverty, it's actually closer to $19/hour. This first step will create a pathway to residents receiving a livable wage and begin to help address homelessness and unstable housing. Other policies must include examining solutions with a lens of equitable development and acknowledging potential impacts of gentrification and finding ways to diversify our neighborhoods instead of concentrating wealth and poverty. As we consider investing in infrastructure, let's work to ensure it honors our diversity and community members with roots in neighborhoods instead of displacement.
There are a number of important bicycle connections in Ramsey County that lack adequate infrastructure. Which of these will you commit to supporting as a commissioner: Will you commit to improving bicycle facilities on westbound Marshall Avenue between Cretin Avenue and the Lake Street Bridge? Will you commit to meet with Hennepin County officials including Peter McLaughlin to discuss extending the Midtown Greenway into Saint Paul? Will you commit to helping Saint Paul financially or in other ways to implement the "Capital City Bikeway (and spurs)" in downtown?
Yes, I will commit to build more corridors and access points to bike paths, trails and public transit stops. It would be amazing to have a "greenway" similar to the Minneapolis model and ideally connect to their existing trail, supporting the many Ramsey County residents (including myself) that work, play in Hennepin County and vice versa. Prioritizing infrastructure investment that ensure safer routes for bicyclists and pedestrians will help address my key platform piece of building healthy communities. These changes will ensure a reduction in our exposure to poor air quality, a reduction on our reliance on fossil fuels and increase our access to exercise as an integral part of our daily lives. These simple policy changes will help grow healthy communities, disrupt climate change, break the cycle of poverty and will ensure that our communities thrive rather than survive.
Will you commit to implementing the Saint Paul Bikeways Plan on all county roads/streets in Saint Paul where bike facilities are planned?
Similar to my answer in question 5, yes, I will commit to implementing the Saint Paul Bikeways Plan on all county roads and streets. Prior to this work will include a comprehensive community engagement and public input effort to ensure diverse perspectives are heard similar to the approaches I mentioned previously. I support the establishment and improvement of multi-modal options and safer streets for pedestrians, bicyclists, wheelchair users, strollers, etc.
The Rush Line running from downtown St Paul to White Bear Lake is slated to begin construction in the next 6 years. Given that Ramsey County is invested heavily in this project how do you envision the county balancing maintenance of the beloved Bruce Vento Trail and facilitating needed reliable public transportation for a corridor set to grow extensively in the next 20 years?
The County Board is responsible for distributing an over $700 million budget for various programs including bridges, roads, solid waste management, the county jail, and health and human services. There are competing interests and financial needs across all these valuable county services.
A deep dive into the budget and the past spending is needed to evaluate which programs and services have been neglected the last twenty years. I will be doing a comprehensive analysis to see what funds can be diverted to increase accessibility, create equitable systems and break the cycle of poverty. It will be a delicate balance to ensure the programs our constituents need the most will be prioritized. Collaboration with municipalities, state and federal resources can be employed to work towards prioritize funding for the Bruce Vento Trail and other public transportation projects that support accessibility. It's imperative to work in partnership with these entities to prevent working in silos, avoid the need to reinvent the wheel and utilize taxpayer dollars responsibly. I will be working to building these relationships so that we all work to provide programs that support all constituents.
How do you see buses, LRT, and streetcars in our overall transportation system?
Access to buses, LRT, and streetcars are essential for Ramsey county. The county's top transportation priority should be to ensure all residents have access to reliable and efficient transportation. Our constituents rely on public transportation (buses and light rail) to get them to their jobs, doctor's appointment, schools. The infrastructure for public transportation is inaccessible and efficient for some constituents. I was dependent on transit from infancy until I got a car four years ago. As Ramsey County Commissioner, I'll advocate for better transit service, including bus stop improvements and bus routes with higher frequency, and bus rapid transit that will better connect our neighborhoods to our employment centers and county service offices. I would prioritize cost and operationally efficient modes of transportation such as Bus Rapid Transit over Light Rail Transit and streetcars. Doing so will spread the funding to other avenues that will support building healthy communities, address disparities and break the cycle of poverty.
About Daniel Choma
Daniel Choma is a community advocate, a jazz musician, and a former bible salesman. He rides bikes, plays drums, and tells jokes. He can consume a bag of jelly beans faster than almost anyone.
View all posts by Daniel Choma →

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Sword Art Online: Alicization Lycoris Gamescom 2019 gameplay, screenshots
Original costume design contest underway.
Aug 19 2019 / 10:54 AM EST
Bandai Namco has released a new set of Sword Art Online: Alicization Lycoris gameplay videos and screenshots following the reveal of new character Medina Orthinanos at Sword Art Online Beaters Meeting 2019 this past weekend.
The new gameplay videos are the same as those shared over the weekend, but this time available in 1080p resolution at 60 frames per second.
The company also announced that fans can partake in an original costume design contest to potentially have their own costume design featured in the game. Fans can submit costume designs at the official from August 18 until September 6 via the game's official website.
Submissions from four different territories will be judged together by the Sword Art Online game development team, with the top three designs in each territory set to be announced at Tokyo Game Show 2019. The official website will then open up for fan votes from September 13 to 27, with fans able to vote for one design in their respective territory. In October, one winner will be announced for each territory for a total of four winners.
Sword Art Online: Alicization Lycoris is in development for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. A release date has yet to be announced.
Watch the footage below. View the screenshots at the gallery.
Medina Field Gameplay
Kirito vs. Eugeo Battle Gameplay
Kirito and Alice Field Boss Battle Gameplay
AQURIA
quodvadis » Xbox boss: 'We will honor existing agreements with Sony upon acquisition of Activision Blizzard and our desire to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation'


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Creation Stories: The Cosmogony Account from the Vedas
By David Reigle on February 28, 2013 at 11:41 pm
Part 2: Translation of Ṛg-veda 10.129, the "Hymn of Creation"
There are, I think, at least six important points in Ṛg-veda 10.129 on which there is disagreement among translators. Despite collecting more than thirty English translations of this hymn, I was unable to find any one translation that understood all six of these the way I understand them. This at last caused me to undertake a new translation, in order to have what I regard as an adequate basis for comparison with the Book of Dzyan. Before giving my translation, I here list these six important points and how I have understood them. The first two of these differ from almost all the translations known to me (but not from the two Sanskrit commentaries of Sāyaṇa), the next two differ from most of the previous translations, and the last two differ from more or less than half of them. There are, of course, differences on a number of other points as well (e.g., the meaning of rajas in 1b), sometimes also significant (e.g., the meaning of tapas in 3d). How I understood them may be seen in the translation notes. The six important points of difference are:
(1) In the second half of verse 3, the "one" (ekam) that was born is the germ (ābhu) of verse 3, not "that one" (tad ekam) that breathed without air of verse 2. The word that I and some others have taken as a germ (a very rare word of uncertain meaning), also described as "one," is here understood to be distinct from "that one" itself. This makes a subtle but philosophically quite significant distinction. Following the natural grammatical construal of the standard yat-tat pronoun correlative found in this line, this verse says only that the germ is born, and applies the adjective "one" to it. Unless the germ is taken to be completely identical with "that one" that breathed without air of the previous verse, this verse does not say that "that one" itself is born.
(2) In the first half of verse 4, the "that" (tat) that desire came upon is the germ of the previous line, not the "that one" (tad ekam) that breathed without air of verse 2. This is the natural grammatical construal. Again, unless the germ is taken to be completely identical with "that one" that breathed without air of verse 2, this verse does not say that desire arose in "that one" itself.
(3) In the first quarter of verse 1, an implied "it" is supplied, saying, "[It] was not non-existent, nor was [it] existent then," rather than the equally possible, "There was neither non-existence nor existence then." Supplying "it" is based on parallel passages in the Vedic texts that specifically say "it" in this context. When this verse is translated as saying that there was neither non-existence nor existence then, it is sometimes understood to mean that there was absolutely nothing then, with the result that the cosmos arises from nothing rather than from something.
(4) In the second half of verse 4, the "desire" (kāma) from the first half is carried down. Rather than saying just that the sages found the link between the existent and the non-existent ("hardly any discovery at all"—Maurer, p. 228), the verse says what the sages found that link to be, when its two halves are taken together. Desire is the link between the existent and the non-existent. This is how the Sāyaṇa Taittirīya-brāhmaṇa commentary understands it, as does Walter Maurer, who regards it as "the key to the entire hymn" (p. 220 in his article linked in the previous post on this topic).
(5) In the third quarter of verse 1, the verb āvarīvar is taken as derived from the root vṛt, "exist, turn, move," rather than from the root vṛ, "cover." The verse therefore asks "what moved?" rather than "what covered?" This apparently describes the breathing without air of "that one" in verse 2. In taking the verb this way, I follow many of the later translators, based on the meaning found in parallel passages in the Vedic texts, rather than most of the earlier translators, based on the gloss given by Sāyaṇa ("covered"). Further, this being an "intensive" verb, I show the intensive sense with the word "incessantly" in my translation of it as "moved incessantly."
(6) In the second quarter of verse 7, the unstated subject of the verb dadhe ("produced, made, established, upheld") is taken to be "it" ("this creation or manifestation") rather than "he" (the "overseer"). This applies whether the perfect middle verb dadhe is taken in a middle sense, "[it] made [itself]," or in a passive sense, "[it] was made." When taken as "[he] made [it]," the "he," the "overseer" from the next line, is usually understood to be a personal being, a creator, "God" (īśvara), as the Sāyaṇa Ṛg-veda commentary glosses "overseer" (adhyakṣa). However, there is no indication in the previous verses of anything but an evolutionary process of creation or manifestation, nothing that would require the involvement or direction of a personal being as creator. Only about a third of the English translations take "he" as the subject; mine is among the majority that do not.
Translation of Ṛg-veda 10.129, the "Hymn of Creation":
ná̄sad āsīn nó sád āsīt tadá̄nīṃ ná̄sīd rájo nó výomā paró yát
kím á̄varīvaḥ kúha kásya śármann ámbhaḥ kím āsīd gáhanaṃ gabhīrám || 1 ||
1. [It] was not non-existent, nor was [it] existent then. There was no world, nor sky, [nor] what is beyond. What moved incessantly? Where? In the abode of what? Was [it] water, dense [and] deep?
ná mṛtyúr āsīd amṛ́taṃ ná tárhi ná rá̄tryā áhna āsīt praketáḥ
á̄nīd avātáṃ svadháyā tád ékaṃ tásmād dhānyán ná paráḥ kíṃ caná̄sa || 2 ||
2. There was not death nor life ("non-death") then. There was no distinguishing sign of night [or] of day. That one breathed without air by [its] inherent power. Other than just that, there was not anything else.
táma āsīt támasā gūḷhám ágre 'praketáṃ saliláṃ sárvam ā idám
tucchyénābhv ápihitaṃ yád á̄sīt tápasas tán mahiná̄jāyatáikam || 3 ||
3. Darkness was hidden by darkness in the beginning. All this was water without distinguishing sign. That one germ which was covered by the void was born through the power of heat.
ká̄mas tád ágre sám avartatá̄dhi mánaso rétaḥ prathamáṃ yád á̄sīt
sató bándhum ásati nír avindan hṛdí pratí̄ṣyā kaváyo manīṣá̄ || 4 ||
4. Desire in the beginning came upon that [germ], which was the first seed of mind. Sages, having searched in the heart with inspired thought, found out [desire to be] the link of the existent in the non-existent.
tiraścí̄no vítato raśmír eṣām adháḥ svid āsí̄3d upári svid āsī3t
retodhá̄ āsan mahimá̄na āsan svadhá̄ avástāt práyatiḥ parástāt || 5 ||
5. Their cord was extended across. Was there a below? Was there an above? There were seed-placers, there were powers; inherent power below, impulse above.
kó addhá̄ veda ká ihá prá vocat kúta á̄jātā kúta iyáṃ vísṛṣṭiḥ
arvá̄g devá̄ asyá visárjanená̄thā kó veda yáta ābabhú̄va || 6 ||
6. Who really knows? Who here can say? From where has [it] been born? From where [has come] this manifestation? The gods are later than the manifestation of this [cosmos]. Then who knows from what [it] has come into being?
iyáṃ vísṛṣṭir yáta ābabhú̄va yádi vā dadhé yádi vā ná
yó asyá̄dhyakṣaḥ paramé výoman só aṅgá veda yádi vā ná véda || 7 ||
7. From what this manifestation has come into being, whether [it] was made or whether not, its overseer who is in the highest heaven, he surely knows; or else [he] knows not.
Translation Notes
". . . a mere translation of the Veda, however accurate, intelligible, poetical, and even beautiful, is of absolutely no value for the advancement of Vedic scholarship, unless it is followed by pièces justificatives, that is, unless the translator gives his reasons why he has translated every word about which there can be any doubt, in his own way, and not in any other." (F. Max Müller, Vedic Hymns, Part I, p. x, Sacred Books of the East, vol. 32, 1891.)
RV 10.129.1a: ná̄sad āsīn nó sád āsīt tadá̄nīṃ, "[It] was not non-existent, nor was [it] existent then." Most translators take this line as the equally possible, "There was neither non-existence nor existence then." I understand this line with an implied subject, "it," in agreement with Walter Maurer (1975, p. 221), though he takes its referent as "all this (world)" (sarvam idam) from verse 3, while I take its referent as "that one" (tad ekam) from verse 2. To me, the convincing evidence for understanding an implied subject here ("it, this, that") comes from what are by far the oldest extant re-statements of this line. These are found in the brāhmaṇas. There, the word idam, "this, it," is explicitly stated. Śatapatha-brāhmaṇa 10.5.3.1 says: neva vā idam agre 'sad āsīn neva sad āsīt, "In the beginning this was certainly not non-existent, [it] was certainly not existent." (In translating this, I follow Joel Brereton's convincing explanation of neva, na iva, as a strong negation in his article, "The Particle iva in Vedic Prose," Journal of the American Oriental Society, vol. 102, 1982, pp. 443-450, especially p. 448, paragraph 4.1.2.) In the next sentence the Śatapatha-brāhmaṇa quotes the same line that we are discussing, Ṛg-veda 10.129.1a. Similarly, Taittirīya-brāhmaṇa 2.2.9.1 says: idaṃ vā agre naiva kiṃcanāsīt | na dyaur āsīt | na pṛthivī | nāntarikṣam |, "This, indeed, in the beginning, was not even anything; not the heavens; not the earth; not the atmosphere." We see here also a re-statement of our next line, Ṛg-veda 10.129.1b: "There was no world, nor sky, [nor] what is beyond."
Some of the translators who take the line under discussion as, "There was neither non-existence nor existence then," understand it to say that there was nothing then. Thus, creation would be creation out of nothing. But this is more an Abrahamic than an Indian idea. It is not that there was nothing then, but rather that what there was cannot be called either existent or non-existent, being or non-being; it is beyond dualistic conception. This is a basic idea in Indian thought. This idea is basic to what is often regarded as the pinnacle of Hindu Vedānta thought, the Advaita or "non-dual" tradition; and this idea is basic to what is often regarded as the pinnacle of Mahāyāna Buddhist thought, the Madhyamaka or "middle way" tradition. The Madhyamaka view is defined in an often-quoted verse as follows:
na san nāsan na sad-asan na cāpy anubhayātmakam |
catuṣ-koṭi-vinirmuktaṃ tattvaṃ mādhyamikā viduḥ ||
"The Mādhyamikas know reality free from the four positions of the tetralemma: neither is it existent, nor non-existent, nor both existent and non-existent, nor is it neither."
(found in the Jñāna-sāra-samuccaya, etc.; here translated by David Seyfort Ruegg, Three Studies in the History of Indian and Tibetan Madhyamaka Philosophy, Wien, 2000, p. 143).
In accordance with Indian thought, the commentator Sāyaṇa assumes here an implied subject, which he specifies as the root cause (mūla-kāraṇa) of this world (asya jagataḥ). This subject that is neither non-existent nor existent cannot be nothing, because in Indian thought creation out of nothing is impossible. Sāyaṇa comments: "At that time, what remained in the state of dissolution, the root cause of this world, was not non-existent, i.e., totally non-existent like the horns of a hare. For not from a cause of such kind is the arising of an existing world possible."
RV 10.129.1b: ná̄sīd rájo nó výomā paró yát, "There was no world, nor sky, [nor] what is beyond." Most translators take the word rajas here to mean "atmosphere" or "sky" or "air" or "midspace" rather than "world" as I have taken it, and therefore see only two things here rather than three. For example, Arthur Macdonell in his very helpful Vedic Reader for Students (which most of us in the West learned with) translates this line as: "there was not the air nor the heaven which is beyond." Of course, rajas does mean "atmosphere" in many Vedic passages. But it also means "world," as in Ṛg-veda 1.164.6 for example, where six worlds are spoken of; and it was glossed as loka in the plural (lokāḥ), "worlds," in the very early Nirukta by Yaska (4.19). It does not necessarily mean our world, but can refer to any globe in a series of worlds. These are often given as fourteen in number in Hindu texts. To us, the higher such worlds would be the same as higher heavens or heaven worlds. They may be placed by us in what we call the atmosphere or sky. Both of the commentators, Veṅkaṭa-Mādhava and Sāyaṇa (in his Ṛg-veda commentary), gloss rajas here as loka, "world" (the Sāyaṇa Taittirīya-brāhmaṇa commentary takes rajas as the guṇa rajas). They see three things here rather than two, as does the old Taittirīya-brāhmaṇa at 2.2.9.1. As we saw in the previous note, these three are there given as: "not the heavens; not the earth; not the atmosphere." This gives us a perfectly logical and fitting interpretation as the world, the sky, and what is beyond.
There are important references in The Secret Doctrine that include the term rajas. The first is vol. 2, p. 385 fn., where the plural form rajāṃsi, "worlds," is used. The second is vol. 2, pp. 621-622, where both the singular form, rajaḥ (mistakenly changed to rāja in the 1978 ed.), and the plural form, rajāṃsi, are used in an extract from the secret commentaries.
RV 10.129.1c: kím á̄varīvaḥ kúha kásya śármann, "What moved incessantly? Where? In the abode of what?" The verb āvarīvar (ā avarīvar), an intensive imperfect third person singular active, may be derived from the root vṛ, "cover," or possibly from the root vṛt, "exist, turn, move." In the former derivation, this verse quarter would begin, "What covered [all]?" I have taken it in the latter derivation, "moved." Veṅkaṭa-Mādhava takes it as "covered," glossing it as ācchādayām āsa. Sāyaṇa also takes it as derived from vṛ, "cover," as has long been known. The majority of translators followed him in doing this, especially the earlier ones. More recently, most of the translators who have critically studied the Vedic Sanskrit of this hymn (in contradistinction to the translators whose intent was more to improve the language of the previous translations) have taken avarīvar as derived from the root vṛt, "exist, turn, move."
The method of trying to determine the meaning of Vedic words by comparing their usage in all their occurrences in the Vedic texts was pioneered by Rudolph Roth, and he contributed the results to the massive seven-volume Sanskrit-Wörterbuch (1855-1875, in German). There (vol. 6, 1871, page column 757, lines 5-6) he derived āvarīvar in Ṛg-veda 10.129.1 from vart (vṛt), specifically rejecting the commentator's (Sāyaṇa's) derivation of it from var (vṛ). He translated āvarīvar into German as, "regte sich," or in English, "stirred." Hermann Grassmann followed Roth in deriving avarīvar from the root vṛt in his still widely used Wörterbuch zum Rig-Veda (1873, page column 1333; hymn 10.129 is there numbered 955). Grassmann in his 1876-1877 German translation of the Rig-Veda (vol. 2, p. 406) translated this phrase as, "Was regte sich?," or in English, "What stirred?" Among English translations, "stirred" was used by Edward J. Thomas (1923), Franklin Edgerton (1965), Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty (1981), and Joel Brereton (1999). Karl Geldner and Adolf Kaegi in their joint 1875 German translation of this hymn (p. 165) translated this phrase as, "Bewegt' sich was?," taking āvarīvar as "moved" (likewise derived from vṛt). Geldner used the derivation from vṛ in his 1908 German translation of this hymn (p. 14) that included the commentary by Sāyaṇa (who derived avarīvar from vṛ). Geldner ultimately used the derivation of avarīvar from vṛt in his posthumously published 1951 German translation of the Rig-Veda (vol. 3, p. 359), "Was strich hin und her?," adding the phrase "back and forth" to the general idea of "moved." The first English translation to depart from the meaning "covered" for āvarīvar was Macdonell's 1900 translation, which used "motion" ("What motion was there?"). However, he returned to the derivation from vṛ in his translations of 1917 ("What did it contain?") and 1922 ("What was concealed?"). Closely related to "move" is the meaning of vṛt as "exist," taken by Walter Maurer in his 1975 translation ("What existed?").
Taking avarīvar as derived from the root vṛt, "exist, turn, move," is done on the basis of the meaning as found in parallel passages. In Ṛg-veda 10.51.6 the term ā avarīvur is used in connection with a chariot. Like avarīvar, there is no "t" in avarīvur, and here the meaning is evidently related to motion rather than covering (vṛt rather than vṛ). Hermann Oldenberg in his Ṛgveda: Textkritische und exegetische Noten has succinctly stated the case for vṛt (vol. 2, 1912, pp. 346-347, in German). Geldner has done so even more briefly in a note to his German translation (vol. 3, 1951, pp. 359-360). He cites parallels where cognate forms describe the alternating motion of wind and of breath. To me, the convincing evidence is that the next verse, 10.129.2c, speaks of the breath: "That one breathed without air." So we would expect the verb āvarīvar here in 10.129.1c to be describing the alternating motion of the breath, its coming and going. In a parallel passage at Ṛg-veda 1.164.30-31, after speaking of the breath in the prior verse, the verb ā varīvarti (clearly from vṛt) is used in the next verse to describe "coming hither and going afar" (Vasudeva S. Agrawala translation, Vision in Long Darkness, 1963, p. 112). I have used "moved" rather than the more poetic "stirred," because "stirred" describes an awaking from sleep, while the hymn apparently describes the regular movement of the breath during sleep.
In my translation of āvarīvar as "moved incessantly," the "incessantly" is an attempt to render the sense of "repeated" in the intensive verb form. The so-called intensive is a verb that shows either repeated or intensified action. Thus, repeated action is shown by Jan Gonda's translation (1966), "moved intermittently," by Hans Henrich Hock's translation (2007), "kept on moving," and by Geldner's German translation (1951), "hin und her" ("back and forth"), while intensified action is shown by Paul-Emile Dumont's translation (1969), "was violently moving," and by Louis Renou's French translation (1956), "mouvait puissamment" ("moved powerfully"). The other translations mentioned above, "stirred," etc., do not reflect the intensive sense. Since the verb āvarīvar has been associated with alternating motion, the intensive sense of repeated could perhaps just as well be rendered "rhythmically" as "incessantly." In regard to the coming and going of the breath, "moved rhythmically" would certainly be applicable.
The phrase, kasya śarman, translated by me as, "In the abode of what?," is most often translated as, "In whose protection?" (The interrogative pronoun kasya can equally mean "of what" or "of who, whose.") While the word śarman means "protection" in Ṛg-veda verses such as 6.75.11, I could never see the relevance of such a meaning in this verse, asking such a question here. It always seemed incongruous to me to ask "In whose protection?," when the entire cosmos was out of existence, or in a state of dissolution. Such a question would assume a "who" outside of the cosmos, who had not dissolved with it, and who was there to protect it. One must also wonder what there was then that it would need protection against, when the entire cosmos was dissolved. Therefore I have accepted the meaning of śarman as found in the ancient Vedic word-list known as the Nighaṇṭu, where (3.4) it is given in a group of twenty-two words for gṛha, "house," and have translated it as "abode."
Veṅkaṭa-Mādhava, who often follows the Nighaṇṭu, glosses śarman here as gṛhe, "in the house." The Sāyaṇa Ṛg-veda and Taittirīya-brāhmaṇa commentaries give us another meaning of śarman, taking it as sukha, "happiness," which is explained in relation to bhoga, "enjoyment." The meaning "house" can be seen behind Ananda K. Coomaraswamy's 1933 translation of śarman here as "resting-place." I think this translation of śarman is a good take on "house," and was going to adopt it; but then the question, "In the resting-place of what?" would be answered with, "The formerly manifested cosmos." I do not think that this obvious fact is what is being asked about here. I understand the question to be asking about the ultimate reality that is now asleep during pralaya when the cosmos is not in manifestation. So I have chosen "abode" for śarman, and translated this phrase as: "In the abode of what?"
Like the Veṅkaṭa-Mādhava gloss of śarman in the locative case, "in the house," so the Sāyaṇa Ṛg-veda commentary has śarman in the locative case, śarmaṇi, "in the enjoyment/happiness." The many translators who translate this phrase as "In whose protection?" similarly understand śarman as a locative here. This is because, for words such as śarman ending in "-an," locatives without the final "i" are actually more common in the Ṛg-veda than those that have it. This fact was ascertained by Charles R. Lanman in his comprehensive study, "A Statistical Account of Noun-Inflection in the Veda," presented to the American Oriental Society in 1877 (published in Journal of the American Oriental Society, vol. 10, 1872-1880, pp. 325-601). Of 330 instances, 127 have the final "i," while 203 have dropped it (see pp. 535-536). The word śarman has it 11 times, and drops it 17 times. Lanman writes: "I examined the passages in which the above 330 forms occur, and found that the choice between the two forms was often decided simply by the metre." The fact about the dropped locative ending was duly reported by A. A. Macdonell in his Vedic Grammar, p. 203, paragraph 325, and in his Vedic Grammar for Students, p. 67, para. 90.
RV 10.129.1d: ámbhaḥ kím āsīd gáhanaṃ gabhīrám, "Was [it] water, dense [and] deep?" The interrogative kim can be taken in more than one way, so that this could be asking: "Was there water?" (as most translators take it), or even "What was water?," besides "Was [it] water?" The two words gahana and gabhīra both mean "deep, thick." They are so closely related in meaning that, in order to make good English, they have often been given in a phrase (or paraphrase) here, such as "fathomless abyss." Veṅkaṭa-Mādhava does not gloss them, but the two different commentaries that go under Sāyaṇa's name gloss them consistently. The Sāyaṇa Ṛg-veda commentary glosses gahanam as duṣpraveśam, "hard to penetrate." The Sāyaṇa Taittirīya-brāhmaṇa commentary (2.8.9.3) glosses gahanam as praveṣṭum aśakyam, "unable to penetrate." Seeing no reason not to accept these glosses, I have therefore translated gahana as "dense." Sāyaṇa in both his Ṛg-veda and Taittirīya-brāhmaṇa commentaries glosses gabhīram with the word agādham, "not shallow, deep, bottomless." So I have translated gabhīram as "deep."
The Sāyaṇa Taittirīya-brāhmaṇa commentary says that this water, dense and deep, is not the water known to us. It is not the water that remains during an intermediate pralaya or period of dissolution, when the earth remains in status quo and only its life-forms disappear. In the great pralaya, the earth itself disappears, along with everything on it including water. The water that the verse asks about is something different.
(Translation Notes to be continued)
Category: Creation Stories | 2 comments
David Reigle says:
I am glad that you raised this question, Nicholas. I may not have fully discussed it in my translation notes on verse 4. The verb here is samavartata, "became, occurred, arose," plus the separate auxiliary word adhi, "over, upon." So what can simply be translated as "arose" elsewhere must here be translated as "came upon" or "came over." I do not think that the meaning is really different. They seem to be used interchangeably as to meaning. The difference is that adhi makes the otherwise intransitive verb samavartata transitive. That is, it now takes an object. So rather than just saying that desire "arose," it now says that it "came upon" or "came over" something. It is still saying that desire arose in that something, but can now be used in a sentence with a direct object.
At some point I guess you will say more about these words:
"4. Desire in the beginning came upon that [germ]…"
'Came upon' is pretty mysterious & sounds different from 'arose within'. Whence came desire?
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The promise of a massive Chinese customer base hasn't necessarily delivered huge numbers for every company doing business in Asia's most populous country, but try telling that to Starbucks (SBUX).
Last month, the coffee retailing giant revealed that quarterly revenue in China and the Asia-Pacific region jumped 28% from a year ago to $214.1 million.1 That was easily the company's best-performing region, as overall company revenue rose 11%.
And Starbucks is betting on even more growth: It plans to have more than 1,500 stores open in China by 2015 (double its current amount), and the company expects to more than double its employee headcount to 40,000 in the next five years, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Starbucks' China strategy parallels what it's also doing in the rest of the region. It entered India last fall with seven stores and just this month opened the first of hopefully hundreds of outlets in Vietnam.
As enviable as the company's position is, with more than a quarter of the region's coffee sales, we may also be witnessing a secular change that could benefit other players in the space. The Journal cited data from Euromonitor International that found consumer spending in Asia-Pacific coffee shops has jumped 66% in the past five years to $9.3 billion.
While tea has traditionally been more popular in countries like China and India, coffee consumption is clearly on the rise as Western companies flood in, said the Journal. That premise is the theory for the Caffeine Fix motif, a portfolio of coffee-related stocks. It's up 6.8% in 2013, and has risen 11.8% in the past 12 months. The S&P 500 has also gained 6.8% year-to-date, and is up 13.9% in the past 12 months.
1Kathy Chu, "Starbucks Bets On Asia-Pacific Growth," WSJ.com, Feb. 18, 2013.
2Leslie Patton, "Starbucks Profit Meets Estimates on Americas Sales Gain," Bloomberg.com, Jan. 25, 2013, http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-24/starbucks-profit-meets-estimates-as-european-sales-slide.html," (accessed March 12, 2013).


text:
using System.Collections;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using UnityEngine;

public class PlayerController : MonoBehaviour
{
	public float fireRate = 0.5F;
	public float speed;
	public float tilt;
	public Boundary boundary;
	public GameObject shot;
	public Transform shotSpawn;

	private float myTime = 0.0F;
	private float nextFire = 0.5F;
	private Rigidbody rb;
	private AudioSource audioSource;

	void Start()
	{
		rb = GetComponent<Rigidbody>();
		audioSource = GetComponent<AudioSource>();
	}

	void Update()
	{
		myTime = myTime + Time.deltaTime;

		if (Input.GetButton("Fire1") && myTime > nextFire) {
			nextFire = myTime + fireRate;
			Instantiate(shot, shotSpawn.position, shotSpawn.rotation);

			audioSource.Play();

			nextFire = nextFire - myTime;
			myTime = 0.0F;
		}
	}

	void FixedUpdate()
	{
		float moveHorizontal = Input.GetAxis("Horizontal");
		float moveVertical = Input.GetAxis("Vertical");

		Vector3 movement = new Vector3(moveHorizontal, 0.0f, moveVertical);
		rb.velocity = movement * speed;

		rb.position = new Vector3(
			Mathf.Clamp(rb.position.x, boundary.xMin, boundary.xMax),
			0.0f,
			Mathf.Clamp(rb.position.z, boundary.zMin, boundary.zMax)
		);

		rb.rotation = Quaternion.Euler(
			0.0f,
			0.0f,
			rb.velocity.x * -tilt
		);
	}
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Cleaning Up!
Introducing Dyson's DC06
James Dyson has become something of a hero in the invention community. Not many inventors have become household names or achieved phenomenal success with their inventions. The Dyson Dual Cyclone Vacuum Cleaner has revolutionised the way we clean our homes and gone on to become the brand leader in the floor-care market.
Of course, achieving this lofty position took many years of struggle – most people do not realise that his bagless vacuum principle was originally conceived back in 1978.
Now that Dyson is established as one of Britain's leading manufacturers, new designs and inventions are still rolling off the production line. Not content with just providing a superior cleaner, the latest in the range – the DC06 – is the first robotic vacuum cleaner to pick up dust as effectively as the mains powered Dyson and is intelligent enough to cover a room thoroughly. It bristles with cutting-edge technology…
Over 50 Sensory Devices
The DC06 sensors are used collectively. They enable it to build up a picture of its environment and to constantly detect its position in a room.
3 On-board Computers
The on-board computers perform many tasks. Most importantly, they process data received from its sensory devices. They use this information to make decisions about where the DC06 should go next. Collectively they can complete 200 task operations every second.
There are 27 separate PCB's within DC06. They mount and connect all the components within the vacuum cleaner.
22,000 lines of computer program are stored in memory. The programs enable methodical coverage. It does this by storing information on exactly where the DC06 has been.
DC06 is built from over 2,000 latest technology electronic components. Every component was carefully selected to ensure high performance and compactness.
SR Motor
DC06 is the first domestic vacuum cleaner with an SR motor. It has no carbon brushes and should last at least four times as long as a conventional motor.
It takes around one hour to fully charge DC06 batteries – this allows for a 30minute running time.
In use, the machine is simplicity itself. All you have to do is press 'on', choose a speed, press 'go' and your room will be vacuumed. Its built-in intelligence stops it falling down stairs and will make it pause if a dog or a child gets too close.
DC06 can even tell you how it's feeling. Its mood light is blue for happy, green when it's moving around an obstacle and red when it feels in danger.
With all those clever people working at Dyson Research and Development, I only have one request – when can we have the automatic ironing machine? Please!
Dyson's rise to success
Editors note: This article first appeared in Inventors & Investors Magazine, 2000, and is unchanged from the original text.
DC06 -
on the move!


text:
Q: Why must the electron's electric dipole moment (EDM) always be aligned with the spin? The electron has magnetic dipole moment which points in the spin direction, which is relatively easy to understand because it mostly follows from the definition. However, why is it that the (possibly non-zero) electron electric dipole moment (EDM) also has to be collinear with the spin? i.e. why must any possible internal polarisation of the electron have to align with spin?

A: As explained in the comments, this is due to the Wigner-Eckart Theorem. This is a bit of a hard one to really grok, but what it really says is that if you have a quantum-mechanical system with well-defined directional characteristics (in the sense that it is in a state with a well-defined angular momentum), and you're studying the properties of an observable that has some kind of directionality (like, say, a vector-valued operator like the electric dipole moment), then there are some tight constraints on how the orientation of the observable and the orientation of the state can interact.
That's about the best I can sum it up without immediately getting more technical. So, having done that bit of hand-waving, and since the only thing I can do is get technical, I guess I'll do that.
More specifically, to use the Wigner-Eckart theorem you need to have:

*

*a system in an angular momentum state $|\ell m\rangle$, and

*an observable that "transforms like a spherical tensor", i.e. a set of $2k+1$ observables $T_{-k}^{(k)}$, $T_{-k+1}^{(k)}$, $\ldots$, $T_{k-1}^{(k)}$, $T_{k}^{(k)}$, the set of whose linear transformations is closed under spatial rotations, and which follow the same rules under rotation as the spherical harmonics $Y_{kq}$.

*

*An explicit example helps: vector operators fit that bill, with $k=1$, by setting $T_{0}^{(1)}=v_z$ and $T_{\pm1}^{(1)}=\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}(v_x\pm i v_y)$ (up to a sign).

Once you have that, then the theorem dictates that the expected value of your operator in that state,
$$
\langle \ell m'|T_{q}^{(k)}|\ell m\rangle,
$$
(possibly including a transition to some other orientation $m'$), will split into

*

*a "meaningful" part, denoted by $\langle \ell ||T^{(k)} ||\ell \rangle$, which depends on which representation the state and the observable live in, i.e. on $\ell$ and $k$, but not on the specific "orientation", i.e. on the specific component $q$ of the observable that you're asking for, or the orientation $m$ of the state, and which carries all of the true dynamical information about the expectation value; and

*a factor that encodes all of the dependence on the orientation $m$ and $m'$ and on the choice of the observable's component $q$, known as a Clebsch-Gordan coefficient and denoted $\langle \ell m' kq|\ell m\rangle$, but with no knowledge of what $T$ actually is.

If you put that all together for your operator $T_{q}^{(k)}$, it reads as the equation
$$
\langle \ell m'|T_{q}^{(k)}|\ell m\rangle
=
\langle \ell m' kq|\ell m\rangle \:
\langle \ell ||T^{(k)} ||\ell \rangle
.
$$
So, let's specialize this to some vector operator $v$, like an electric dipole moment, for a spin-1/2 particle, giving
$$
\langle \tfrac12 m'|v_q|\tfrac12 m\rangle
=
\langle \tfrac12 m' 1q|\tfrac12 m\rangle \:
\langle \tfrac12 ||v ||\tfrac12 \rangle
,
$$
and let's compare that with how the angular momentum behaves in this context:
$$
\langle \tfrac12 m'|S_q|\tfrac12 m\rangle
=
\langle \tfrac12 m' 1q|\tfrac12 m\rangle \:
\langle \tfrac12 ||S||\tfrac12 \rangle
,
$$
where $\langle \tfrac12 ||S||\tfrac12 \rangle$ is some numerical constant.
With this, we now have enough tools to tackle the claim as you posed it:

the electron electric dipole moment (EDM) has to be collinear with the spin.

What this really means is that, as regards orientation, our vector operator is pretty much indistinguishable from the spin, i.e.
$$
\langle \tfrac12 m'|v_q|\tfrac12 m\rangle
=
\frac{
 \langle \tfrac12 ||v ||\tfrac12 \rangle
 }{
 \langle \tfrac12 ||S||\tfrac12 \rangle
 }
\langle \tfrac12 m'|S_q|\tfrac12 m\rangle
.
$$
Or, multiplying by the basis vectors $\hat{\mathbf e}_q$ and summing over $q$, we can recover the vector character of our equation:
$$
\langle \tfrac12 m'|\mathbf v|\tfrac12 m\rangle
=
\frac{
 \langle \tfrac12 ||v ||\tfrac12 \rangle
 }{
 \langle \tfrac12 ||S||\tfrac12 \rangle
 }
\langle \tfrac12 m'|\mathbf S|\tfrac12 m\rangle
,
$$
which simplifies to
$$
\mathbf v
=
\frac{
 \langle \tfrac12 || v ||\tfrac12 \rangle
 }{
 \langle \tfrac12 || S ||\tfrac12 \rangle
 }
\mathbf S
$$
as an operator equality, since the matrix elements it considers span a basis for the space. And that puts in some context into what is meant by the claim: formally speaking, they're not "parallel" as such, but for all the measurable matrix elements that matter, and for all possible components (or linear combinations of components), the two operators yield the same result modulo a multiplicative constant. Since that is about as strong a statement of parellelism as you can make in quantum mechanics about two vector operators (which, generically, won't even commute), then we just take that as-is and keep the claim in its simplified form, which is easier to remember.

Having said all that, though, there is more that you can say without getting all that technical, at least in the common case of spin-$1/2$ systems, and indeed without invoking the Wigner-Eckart theorem at all. More specifically, consider the following observation observation:

For a spin-$1/2$ system in an arbitrary pure state $|\psi\rangle$, there is always a direction $\hat{\mathbf n} \propto \langle\psi| \mathbf S |\psi\rangle $ such that the state $|\psi\rangle$ is an eigenstate of the spin component $S_{\hat{\mathbf n}}={\mathbf S}\cdot\hat{\mathbf n}$ along that direction, with eigenvalue $+1/2$.

This is relatively easy to show via a variety of routes, but the most important part is that it is false for any higher spin. (As an example the $m=0$ of a spin-$1$ system will never be an $m=+1$ eigenstate of any other axis orientation, and any state $a|m=1\rangle+b|m=-1\rangle$ with unequal nonzero weights $|a|\neq |b|\neq 0$ is precluded from being an eigenstate of any component of the system's spin.)
Moreover, that observation has a few direct consequences:

*

*The state $|\psi\rangle$ is therefore rotationally invariant about the axis $\hat{\mathbf n}$.

*That means that the two components of ${\mathbf S}$ orthogonal to $\hat{\mathbf n}$ must have vanishing expectation values, or they would break the rotational invariance.

*The same is true for any vector operator $\mathbf v$.

In other words, that's enough to conclude that
$$
\langle\psi| \mathbf v |\psi\rangle
\propto
\langle\psi| \mathbf S |\psi\rangle
$$
for all states $|\psi\rangle$, and indeed we can go further and conclude that the proportionality constant $K$ in that relationship must be independent of $|\psi\rangle$, because all states (in spin $1/2$) are unitarily equivalent through a rotation of the coordinate axes. Putting in some convenient notation for that proportionality constant, we get that
$$
\langle\psi| \mathbf v |\psi\rangle
=
\frac{
 \langle \tfrac12 || v ||\tfrac12 \rangle
 }{
 \langle \tfrac12 || S ||\tfrac12 \rangle
 }
\langle\psi| \mathbf S |\psi\rangle
$$
for all states $|\psi\rangle$.
Now, that's not quite enough to conclude that $\mathbf v\propto \mathbf S$ as operators, as we concluded in the rigorous Wigner-Eckart section above, but the full operator identification is not that far off: to get it, you simply have to do as you do with the polarization identities and consider the multiple equations you get when you replace $|\psi\rangle$ with some other arbitrary state $|\phi\rangle$ as well as with the various superpositions $|\psi\rangle \pm |\phi\rangle$ and $|\psi\rangle \pm i|\phi\rangle$, and you will get enough equations to conclude that
$$
\langle\phi| \mathbf v |\psi\rangle
=
\frac{
 \langle \tfrac12 || v ||\tfrac12 \rangle
 }{
 \langle \tfrac12 || S ||\tfrac12 \rangle
 }
\langle\phi| \mathbf S |\psi\rangle
$$
for all states $|\psi\rangle$ and $|\phi\rangle$, and therefore that
$$
\mathbf v
=
\frac{
 \langle \tfrac12 || v ||\tfrac12 \rangle
 }{
 \langle \tfrac12 || S ||\tfrac12 \rangle
 }
\mathbf S
$$
as operators on that spin-$1/2$ space, completing this second version of the proof.
So: is this proof better? It is certainly as rigorous as the Wigner-Eckart one (or it can be made to be), but it doesn't really inscribe itself into a larger framework, and it suggests that the result is restricted to spin $1/2$ when the Wigner-Eckart argument is far more general. So, there's some play on both sides, and both arguments are worth understanding and exploring.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Chinese fashion retailer SHEIN revives plan for New York listing in 2022, say sources
Chris Xu, SHEIN's founder, was eyeing Singapore citizenship partly to bypass China's new and tougher rules on overseas listings
Image: REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Ilustração
25.Jan.2022 16:20 BRT
SHEIN, whose investors include Sequoia Capital China, IDG Capital and Tiger Global, was valued at $50 billion in early 2021;
The company made around 100 billion yuan ($15.7 billion) in revenue in 2021;
SHEIN IPO, if finalised, would be the first major equity deal by a Chinese company in the U.S. since regulators in the world's second-largest economy stepped in to tighten oversight of such listings.
Chinese fashion retailer SHEIN is reviving plans to list in New York this year and its founder is considering a citizenship change to bypass proposed tougher rules for offshore IPOs in China, two people familiar with the matter said.
It was not immediately clear how much the company was looking to raise from its New York debut.
The initial public offering (IPO), if finalised, would be the first major equity deal by a Chinese company in the United States since regulators in the world's second-largest economy stepped in to tighten oversight of such listings in July.
READ ALSO: Mercado Libre leads the charge as e-commerce blooms in Latin America: Beyond Borders 2021/2022 study
SHEIN, founded by Chinese entrepreneur Chris Xu in 2008, first started preparing for a U.S. IPO about two years ago, but shelved the plan partly due to unpredictable markets amid rising U.S.-China tensions, the sources said.
Both sources declined to be named as the plans are confidential. A SHEIN spokesperson said the company had no plans to go public.
The Nanjing-based company is one of the world's largest online fashion marketplaces targeting overseas consumers. The United States is its biggest market.
READ ALSO: Singapore's Shopee changes the game in Brazil's e-commerce sector
The sources said SHEIN founder Xu was eyeing Singapore citizenship partly to bypass China's new and tougher rules on overseas listings. The change in citizenship, if applied for and successful, would ease the path to an offshore IPO, they said.
Neither Xu nor other SHEIN executives have applied for Singaporean citizenship, the company spokesperson said, without elaborating. Xu did not respond to Reuters queries sent via this spokesperson.
New rules issued by China's cyberspace administration and the offshore listing filing regime to be finalised by China's securities regulator are set to make a U.S. listing process for Chinese firms more complicated, if not lengthier.
READ ALSO: EBANX sees business doubling in Mexico for the second year in a row in 2022
The securities regulator's draft rules for offshore listings targets companies where a majority of senior management are either Chinese citizens or reside in China, or whose main business activities are conducted in China.
Valuation jump
SHEIN ships to 150 countries and territories from its many global warehouses, according to its website.
It made around 100 billion yuan ($15.7 billion) in revenue in 2021, taking advantage of the pandemic that shifted global consumption online, said one of the sources and another person with knowledge of the matter. Its valuation was around $50 billion in early 2021, they said.
READ ALSO: Latin American e-commerce to skyrocket 37% in 2021, shows EBANX's Beyond Borders 2021/2022 study
The valuation is estimated to have as much as doubled in the past year, one of the first two sources said.
The company, whose investors include Sequoia Capital China, IDG Capital and Tiger Global, was valued at $15 billion in its last funding round in August 2020, according to CB Insights data.
According to Coresight Research, SHEIN's estimated sales in 2020 jumped 250% over the preceding year to $10 billion, with over 2,000 items added on its website weekly.
READ ALSO: Amazon: the giant's awakening in Brazil
The SHEIN spokesperson said as a private company it did not disclose financial figures.
SHEIN has hired Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan to work on the IPO, said the source with knowledge of the company's valuation, and another person familiar with the matter.
Ecommerce, IPO
Blockchain as means to 'democratize' physical art and demystify NFTs: This is Alpha'a Inc's new business
Growing much faster than Nubank in Brazil, Nu Mexico is planning to go way beyond credit cards
Debt for growth: Brazilian entrepreneurs start falling for Venture Debt
Brazil-based Velvet has a new business model: to offer liquidity as a corporate benefit
A thousand startups are just the beginning: get to know João Kepler's plans for Brazilian VC firm Bossanova


Plans are underway to twin Chitungwiza Central Hospital with a hospital in China, in a move that is expected to see health professionals from the two institutions embarking on exchange programmes.
The development comes as part of celebrating the success of the Brightness Journey, a programme which saw three Chinese eye specialists conduct free cataract removing surgeries at Chitungwiza Central Hospital.
The Chinese Embassy in Harare hosted a reception for the cataract surgery beneficiaries, Chitungwiza Hospital staff and the local eye specialists, Dr Archie Kufa and Dr Boniface Macheka, who assisted the Chinese doctors.
Chitungwiza Central Hospital Chief Executive, Dr Obediah Moyo commended the excellent relations between Zimbabwe and China, saying Chitungwiza Hospital was built by the Chinese and the first group of foreign doctors to work at the institution, who were also Chinese doctors.
He noted that Chitungwiza was the first hospital in the country to perform acupuncture therapy and plans are now underway to twin Chitungwiza Hospital with a hospital in China to further strengthen the exchange of modern medical technology between the two institutions.
"The eye camp was a huge success and we hope to see more eye camps in future. We are also very excited that Chitungwiza Hospital will very soon complete the formalities of twinning with a hospital in China and we hope that our medical staff will be going to benefit tremendously from the Chinese expertise through exchange programmes," said Dr Moyo.
Chinese Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Mr Xin Shunkang, who is now popularly referred to as Mr Chakanaka Chakanaka by residents of Chitungwiza, sang the National Anthem in Shona, much to the amusement of the invited guests.
Ambassador Xin highlighted that the Chinese government will continue to render assistance to the people of Zimbabwe as a way of demonstrating the excellent bilateral relations that exist between the two countries, adding that two Chinese companies that specialise in cotton production are coming to invest in the country, while the Chinese government has allocated funds towards the procurement of furniture for two local orphanages that are currently under construction.


Handmade Mooncup box in porcelain. A practical and hygienic way to keep your Mooncup. The box has an hole in the lid and in the bottom. Porcelain is a material that is more hygienic than the fabric, as most other storage options available on the market are made of.


I'm a Baltimore, Md based Photographer and Videographer. I've been doing photography since the early 2000s and more recently have been getting into making videos. I'd consider myself more of a documenter than an artist. My life's work is essentially documenting the constantly changing landscape of Baltimore with a heavy emphasis on it's past history. I love exploring the unseen elements of Baltimore and using what I find to "paint a picture" of what life here is like in present day as well as what it was like in the past. Creating all these photos and videos is very time consuming and requires a good amount of often expensive equipment and computer programs. Even if I never receive a single penny from Patreon I'm still going to be out there documenting the city I love. This page is just a way for people who also share my vision to help support me and what I do as I strive to put out the best product possible.
Explore Baltimore is my weekly YouTube show. I'd like to set a goal to earn money to upgrade the equipment I have and thus increase the quality of the show.


text:
Q: problem with importing tensorflow probability I am using Anaconda and Ubuntu 18.04. I installed TensorFlow probability base on Anaconda's command:
 conda install -c conda-forge tensorflow-probability

but when I wanted to import TensorFlow probability, I faced with below error:

ImportError: cannot import name 'compiler' from 'tensorflow.python.autograph.pyct' (/home/alireza/anaconda3/envs/tf-gpu/lib/python3.8/site-packages/tensorflow/python/autograph/pyct/init.py)

I check Anaconda by conda list tensorflow and TensorFlow probability version 0.8 was installed.
I appreciate your suggestion.

A: I think it's been a long time since the conda recipe for TFP was updated (TFP is now at 0.12), so you would need to ensure the version of TensorFlow you have is compatible. FWIW from the 0.8 release notes: "It is tested and stable against TensorFlow version 2.0.0 and 1.15.0rc1."


Lasting, meaningful Christmas Gift on Canvas.
Away From Home This Christmas?
Remember remember the 5th of November! Well this year you can , upload your photos to Canprint and we will turn them into quality canvas prints ready to hang on your walls.


As you may know all good web sites icubein.com are designed with visitors in mind. There are a lot of00 website elements that can (and should) become customized to make you site visitors happy. Webpage content, the number of relevant and accurate info, eye different design, incorporated audio and visual effects are just some of the noted elements. These are generally well discussed topics and lots of professionals can easily argue regarding each of them, what they should and should not to do as well as how to avoid prevalent traps and mistakes.
? Divide your huge image into several scaled-down images and bring them mutually. By doing this, instead of one huge data stream that lots your solitary image, you may have several small data revenues that are packing simultaneously.
Example just like above can be even worse when you have the same image on several different locations since you are not using again your images. Should your images happen to be centrally located in support of a single copy exists for all of them, (ALL OVER YOUR WEB BLOG, not just each page individually) each graphic is stuffed only once once visitor arrives at your site first-time. All other instances of the same image are rich from visitor' s equipment cache, delivering less network traffic (which takes time, especially on dial-up connection) and faster web site load.
Besides dividing the large photo files into smaller portions and reusing of your pictures you can maximize your images with regards to Smaller load occasions. Currently, one of the most commonly used graphic formats happen to be Jpeg and Gif. All of them can be reduced in size with some simple techniques.
– Lessen a bit depth in graphic. Gif photo supports about 256 colours. Many pictures can be viewable with less color, without sacrificing the quality.
– Harvest all unneeded white areas in the background. Gif format facilitates transparency, thus use it prudently!


text:
Canada's largest gay rodeo suddenly cancelled in southern Alberta after 22-year run
Fans and town of Strathmore awaiting refunds as annual gay rodeo announces it won't go ahead this summer
Lorraine Hjalte, Calgary Herald
STRATHMORE, Alta. — What is billed as Canada's largest gay rodeo has been cancelled in southern Alberta.
The Alberta Rockies Gay Rodeo Association has announced on its website that the event won't be going ahead in Strathmore this summer.
No reason was given. The association said the decision was not made lightly and apologized to those affected by the cancellation.
Rodeo fans have been wondering if they'll be refunded the $99 they paid for a four-day pass, June 30 to July 3.
The town has dished out $10,000 from its community development program for the event. It's also waiting to see if the money will be refunded.
I suspect that the status of the current economy and so on has impacted their decision in a negative way
The 22-year-old event has been held in Strathmore for the past seven years and featured rodeo competitions, country music acts and goat dressing. The Strathmore and District Agricultural Society said the rodeo would have brought $20,000 to $30,000 in revenue to the community.
"We're trying to scramble to replace what would've been otherwise a very busy weekend here," society general manager Herb McLane told CTV Calgary.
"I suspect that the status of the current economy and so on has impacted their decision in a negative way, so all of us have to meet those challenges and go on."
'We've got Bud Light as a sponsor': Canada's once-secretive gay rodeo shows signs of change in cattle country
The oil crash is taking a heavy toll on Alberta and the worst is yet to come
Mayor Michael Ell said he would like some information, too.
"We're waiting like everybody else," Ell said.
Some rodeo fans are now planning a camp-out and cabaret in Strathmore on the Canada Day long weekend instead. The town will still hold fireworks at the grandstand as scheduled.


Property Location With a stay at Cebu Parklane International Hotel, you'll be centrally located in Cebu, just a 4-minute walk from Cebu International Convention Center and 7 minutes by foot from Ayala Center. This family-friendly hotel is 2.3 mi (3.8 km) from Magellan's Cross and 0.7 mi (1.1 km) from Cebu Business Park.Rooms Make yourself at home in one of the 241 air-conditioned rooms featuring refrigerators and flat-screen televisions. Complimentary wireless Internet access keeps you connected, and cable programming is available for your entertainment. Private bathrooms with shower/tub combinations feature deep soaking bathtubs and complimentary toiletries. Conveniences include safes and desks, and housekeeping is provided daily.Amenities Pamper yourself with onsite massages, body treatments, and facials. You're sure to appreciate the recreational amenities, including a 24-hour health club and an outdoor pool. Additional amenities at this hotel include complimentary wireless Internet access, concierge services, and supervised childcare/activities.Dining Grab a bite to eat at one of the hotel's many dining establishments, which include 2 restaurants and a coffee shop/café. Need to unwind? Take a break with a tasty beverage at one of the 2 bars/lounges. Buffet breakfasts are available daily for a fee.Business, Other Amenities Featured amenities include complimentary wired Internet access, a business center, and express check-in. A roundtrip airport shuttle is provided for a surcharge (available 24 hours), and free self parking is available onsite.
โรงแรม โรงแรมเซบู พาร์คเลน อินเตอร์เนชั่นนอล ต้นทุนขึ้นอยู่กับฤดูกาลและราคาสามารถแตกต่างกันมากขึ้นอยู่กับวันที่เลือก แผนภาพด้านล่างแสดงให้เห็นถึงการเปลี่ยนแปลงราคาแบบไดนามิกสำหรับ โรงแรมเซบู พาร์คเลน อินเตอร์เนชั่นนอล โรงแรมโดยเดือน ตัวอย่างเช่น ราคาต่ำสุด - โดยเฉลี่ย 1 410 ฿ - อยู่ใน พฤศจิกายน, และโดย มกราคม โรงแรม โรงแรมเซบู พาร์คเลน อินเตอร์เนชั่นนอล ต้นทุนเพิ่มขึ้นโดยเฉลี่ยสูงถึง 2 153 ฿.


text:
Decca 78s
(Australia - Import)
By KLEIBER,ERICH / MARTINON,JEAN
Decca studio recordings made between 1947 and 1949 with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, newly compiled and remastered by Mark Obert-Thorn and including material new to CD. Decca first presented it's 'ffrr' technology - full frequency range recording - in 1944, originally developed by the company's engineers as a means of detecting and identifying German submarines through their engine noises. Following the success of Stravinsky's Petrushka with Ernest Ansermet (made in 1946 and reissued by Eloquence in it's comprehensive series dedicated to the Swiss conductor) other major artists visiting London were invited to make records at the acoustically excellent Kingsway Hall. One of them was Erich Kleiber, who had attracted a considerable following in London through his concerts. 'Audiences did not merely listen and applaud,' remembered his friend, the scholar Jacques Barzun. 'They knew what they were doing.' His repertoire for Decca mirrored his concerts: symphonies by Mozart and Beethoven, overtures by Dvořák and Handel, and Strauss-family favourites, all done with superb attention to rhythmic lift and dynamic balance so that, combined with Decca's pioneering technology, listeners could (and still can) hear inside the scores to a degree still remarkable for the late 1940s. The old ideal of classical 'objectivity' was Kleiber's inspiration for Beethoven's 'Pastoral' Symphony: he was 'a conductor's conductor', observed The Spectator's reviewer, seeing Kleiber in concert at the time of these recordings, who obtained precisely what he wanted with 'instinctive ease and economy of means'. The French conductor Jean Martinon also had a short-lived relationship with Decca in London before making most of his records in the US for RCA. They include deliciously light-textured accounts of Ravel's Le Tombeau de Couperin and Chabrier's Suite Pastorale as well as another gramophone rarity: the farewell aria for Joan of Arc in Tchaikovsky's opera The Maid of Orleans, sung by the Polish mezzo-soprano Eugenia Zareska.
Title: Decca 78s
Label: Eloquence Australia


Spokane Police Officer Karl F. Thompson, Jr., is indicted on two federal felony counts in the Otto Zehm case.
After nearly two years of deliberations, a federal grand jury has indicted Spokane Police office Karl Thompson on two felony charges in connection with the March 18, 2006, violent encounter that resulted in the death of Otto Zehm, a 36-year-old Spokane janitor who had a history of struggles with mental illness.
The indictment was announced Monday afternoon by Jim McDevitt, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington. McDevitt said the grand jury reached its decision last Friday, and that the case is being prosecuted by Timothy Durkin, an assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of Washington, and Victor Boutros, a trial attorney with the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division in Washington, D.C.
McDevitt said he expects Thompson to be arraigned within the next week. The civil rights charge carries with it a maximum penalty of ten years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The falsification of records charge is more punitive, with a maximum sentence of twenty years along with a $250,000 fine upon conviction.
McDevitt also explained the reason for the federal interest and investigation of the Zehm case. While deference is typically given to local prosecutions, he said, "where there is no local action, or where the results of the state or local proceeding are insufficient to vindicate federal interests, a federal prosecution may be brought." McDevitt, however, refused to comment on how and why the FBI investigation of the incident led to indictments, whereas County Prosector Steve Tucker did not see evidence to file criminal charges in the case.
"The FBI spent hundreds if not thousands of hours poring over the evidence. These are the best law enforcement minds out there, and they determined that there is evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that officer Thompson had violated Otto's rights."–CFJ Chief Catalyst Breean Beggs.
The second count goes to what the grand jury obviously saw as an effort to cover up the unlawful violent arrest. It charges Thompson with a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1519 which makes it a federal crime to destroy, alter, or falsify records with the intent to "impede, obstruct, or influence" the investigation of matters under federal jurisdiction.
McDevitt was adamant from the start of the press conference that he wouldn't discuss the specifics of the investigation and the evidence brought before the grand jury. And although he specifically refused comment when asked to elaborate on the alleged false statements, the indictment itself reports that on or about March 22nd Thompson made "a false statement in an interview" and then reviewed and signed a transcript of the interview on 3/27/06. The reference is to a lengthy interview of Thompson by an investigating Spokane Police Department detective.
The Center for Justice represents the Zehm family in a civil suit that was filed against the City of Spokane in March. The suit alleges that Zehm's civil rights were violated because of the unlawful use of deadly force in apprehending him, and in the city's subsequent actions to "falsely portray" Zehm as the aggressor in the encounter.
Today's announcement by the U.S. Attorney came just 78 hours after the City of Spokane had sent out a press release, alerting the news media to its response to the civil suit, in which it asked a federal judge to dismiss the case. In its reply, the city once again sought to pin responsibility on Otto Zehm for the violence.
"The use of force used upon Mr. Zehm was caused and necessitated by his own acts," the reply motion stated, "and said force was necessary and reasonable" given what the responding officers knew and witnessed at the time.
That brought a sharp response from the Center's Chief Catalyst, Breean Beggs, who again accused the city of blaming the victim.
As for Monday's indictment, Beggs said that it confirms the basis of the civil suit that the Center has brought on behalf of Anne Zehm, Otto's mother, and his estate. He emphasized that the threshold of evidence needed for the criminal indictments is much higher than that which the plaintiffs face in a civil action, such as the one the Center is pursuing on the Zehm family's behalf.
The Center's case against the city goes beyond Thompson to name the city itself, Assistant Police Chief Jim Nicks, and six other officers.
McDevitt insisted there was no connection between the civil case and the federal criminal indictments.
"I can't foresee indictments against other officers at this point," McDevitt said, in response to a reporter's question today.


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