I have been obsessed with pineapples before they became a trend. A friend of mine once shared the funniest story about pineapples and since then, every time I saw something pineapple related I thought of him. Being from the south, they are also a welcoming sign of hospitality so it's no wonder why I incorporating pineapple decor for the shemakescents office was a must. I was on the hunt to replace my desk lamp since the layout of the new shemakescents office is totally different that where I blogged since 2011. Then it came down to two options.
The more expensive lamp gave me the chic and slightly playful design and I wanted to blend into the design. What it was lacking was respect to my budget. I kept looking and while shopping at Hobby Lobby one day with my best friend, I found the exact lamp I was looking for; aesthetically and financially. In fact, I loved it more for the gold accents that match other gold accents in the office. Retailing at $59.99 + the 40% off coupon that I use EVERY TIME I shop at Hobby Lobby, I ended up paying $36.00 (not including taxes). This has been my favorite decor steal, thus far, for the shemakescents office!
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Sachin Tendulkar 70 not out passed new milestones in his 157 test career after posting his 52nd half century and becoming the second most capped player in history.
India reached 278 for four as Gautam Gambhir made 72 Rahul Dravid 66 and V.V.S.Laxman 30 in support of Tendulkar.
Day 2, 1st Test Hamilton Mar 2009.


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Ray Keating has been called "a great novelist" by the host of "BookTalk" radio. A Washington Times reviewer, who happens to be a pastor who once worked for the CIA, noted, "Mr. Keating also allows you to discover how each of his characters tick in a style and tone reminiscent of some of the best-loved books of all time."
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The Truth About Drug Companies
The author calls the pharmaceutical industry a ?vast marketing machine? that thrives on monopoly rights and public-sponsored research but produces few innovative drugs.
The high price of prescription drugs has put — and kept — U.S. pharmaceutical companies in the news recently, but Dr. Marcia Angell argues that problems with the industry run even deeper. In her new book, The Truth About Drug Companies: How They Deceive Us and What to Do About It (reviewed in the current issue of Mother Jones), the former editor of the New England Journal of Medicine contends that the industry has become a marketing machine that produces few innovative drugs and is dependent on monopoly rights and public-sponsored research.
Angell disputes the industry's reputation as an "engine of innovation," arguing that the top U.S. drug makers spend 2.5 times as much on marketing and administration as they do on research. At least a third of the drugs marketed by industry leaders were discovered by universities or small biotech companies, writes Angell, but they're sold to the public at inflated prices. She cites Taxol, the cancer drug discovered by the National Institutes of Health, but sold by Bristol-Myers Squibb for $20,000 a year, reportedly 20 times the manufacturing cost. The company agreed to pay the NIH only 0.5 percent in royalties for the drug.
The majority of the new products the industry puts out, says Angell, are "me-too" drugs, which are almost identical to current treatments but "no better than drugs already on the market to treat the same condition." Around 75 percent of new drugs approved by the FDA are me-too drugs. They can be less effective than current drugs, but as long as they're more effective than a placebo, they can get the regulatory green light.
Finally, Angell attacks major pharmaceutical industry — whose top ten companies make more in profits than the rest of the Fortune 500 combined — for using "free market" rhetoric while opposing competition at all costs. She discusses Prilosec maker Astra-Zeneca, which filed multiple lawsuits against generic drug makers to prevent them from entering the market when the company's exclusive marketing rights expired. The company "obtained a patent on the idea of combining Prilosec with antibiotics, then argued that a generic drug would infringe on that patent because doctors might prescribe it with an antibiotic."
Angell, who is a doctor and a lecturer at Harvard Medical School, wants to see the industry reformed. She recently sat down with MotherJones.com to talk about how to "ensure that we have access to good drugs at reasonable prices and that the reality of this industry is finally brought into line with its rhetoric."
MotherJones.com: Pharmaceutical companies say higher prices are necessary to pay for heavy R&D investment.
Marcia Angell:These companies are justifying extremely high prices by saying they need this money to cover their high R&D costs, and they're very innovative, and that we should be willing to spend the money in return for the innovation. In the book, I question those premises. I say that, yes, they spend a lot on R&D, but still they make more in profits, and they spend two to two-and-a-half times as much on what they call "marketing and administration." If you want to argue that they need the high prices to cover R&D, it would make more sense to argue that they need the high prices even more to cover their marketing costs. I just want to put that in perspective. Also, their profits are enormously high. Until last year, [they were] the number one industry in the U.S. in terms of profits. In 2002, the top 10 American [pharmaceutical] companies in the Fortune 500 made 17 percent of their sales in profits, whereas they spent only 14 percent on R&D. The median for the other Fortune 500 companies was between 3 percent of sales. So, you can't make an argument that they're just eking out a living, just managing to cover their R&D costs.
MJ.com: Your numbers for how much companies spend to bring drugs to market are very different from the industry's. How come?
MA: The industry arrives at that $802 million [per drug] figure by looking at a tiny handful of the most costly drugs. Those are drugs that were developed entirely in-house, and that are new molecular entities. That's a very tiny handful of the drugs that come to market each year. They're the most expensive drugs. Second, even for those drugs, they come up with a figure of $403 million per highly selected drug. They then double that to $802 million simply by adding in what they call the "opportunity costs" — what they could have made if they'd spent the same money on investments. Third, the figure is inflated by not including the tax deductions and tax credits. They get very large tax deductions and credits. So the figure is highly inflated. That gets buried in the reporting of it. When you hear the figure, you hear it given with the implication that for any random new drug, that's what it costs to develop it. And that's just simply not so.
MJ.com: In your book, you charge that even some of what the industry calls R&D is actually marketing. Can you elaborate on that?
MA: Well, no one knows for sure what goes into the R&D budget, because the companies aren't telling. It's been estimated that about a quarter of it is spent on Phase IV clinical trials, many of which are just excuses to pay doctors to prescribe the drug. They don't yield any real scientific information. But no one knows for sure.
MJ.com: So should the pharmaceutical industry be making its books public?
MA: Yes, because it's an industry that is so dependent on the public for special favors. This industry, despite its free-market rhetoric, is on welfare big-time. It lives on taxpayer-funded research to a very great extent, and it lives on government-granted monopoly rights in the form of patents and FDA-conferred exclusivity. An industry that is so beholden to the public has some obligation in return. That includes opening their books. We ought to know more about their business. We ought to know whether the claims they make can really be justified.
MJ.com:Why should the industry have to open its books — or be asked to charge less for its products, for that matter — when other industries aren't held to those standards?
MA: The public is absolutely dependent on this industry for drugs that people need to take for their health and even their lives. So, I think there are some special obligations.
MJ.com: In the past you've written that "there can be no better example of something that does not belong in the market [than prescription drugs]," but you don't address that in the current book. Do you still think so?
MA: I don't think I've ever said that they should come off the market, but there need to be reforms that accomplish several things. [Pharmaceutical companies] have too much influence over the education of physicians in this country. They have too much control over the evaluation of their own products, and that's a conflict of interest. I think the industry needs to be regulated, but I've never suggested taking it out of the market altogether. It's now a funny mix of free enterprise and welfare. On the one hand, it is free to choose to make whatever drugs it wants to make. If it wants to make one more me-too drug, it's free to do that instead of making an antibiotic that may really be needed. It's free to charge whatever the market will bear in this country. And at the same time, it claims all sorts of special favors. It claims that Americans should not be allowed to purchase drugs in any other country. It claims the right to license taxpayer-funded research. It not only claims the right to very long patents, but extends them in all kinds of quite dubious ways. Now, this is hardly free enterprise.
MJ.com: In terms of licensing drugs from publicly-funded institutions, how much do companies generally pay? Is it relative to how much they charge?
MA: I don't know. I know in the case of Taxol, it was very little. In general, when companies license a drug from universities, it's not all that much compared with the profits. They're licensing now from small biotechs as well. The industry likes to portray itself as the engine of innovation, but in fact its major products are me-too drugs—minor variations of drugs already on the market. For example, we have six cholesterol-lowering statins on the market right now; we have five SSRI anti-depressants; we have nine ACE inhibitors to treat high blood pressure. If you look at the top-selling drugs on the market right now, most of them are me-too drugs, and the original of these drugs came on the market back in the '80s, or even earlier. The companies have been stringing out variations on the themes ever since. The original drugs were usually based on government university research.
MJ.com: Regarding me-too drugs, can't one make the argument that there should be as many different variations of a drug as possible on the market? Shouldn't the market decide?
MA: We have an FDA because what drugs to sell isn't something for the markets alone to decide. It's also a technical decision that requires scientific evidence. The companies don't want to provide that evidence. They don't test their me-too drugs against other me-too drugs at comparable doses for the same conditions. The companies also make the case that there need to be several me-too drugs on the market because if one doesn't work, maybe another one will. But until they test that, it's just an assertion. They don't test their me-too drugs in people who have not done well with an earlier drug of the same class. They have to do that in order to prove that assertion. I suspect that in most cases, a second drug will not work any better, since me-too drugs are so similar, but no one can know until it's tested.
MJ.com: Speaking of the FDA, you characterize the agency as one that facilitates new drugs, rather than regulating them. To what degree is the agency controlled by the industry it's supposed to regulate?
MA: Too much. The FDA now gets "user fees" from drug companies—about a half a million dollars for any drug that the FDA reviews. Those user fees are small for the companies, but it's a substantial part of the FDA budget. In fact, it's more than half [the budget for] the Center for Disease Evaluation and Research, which is responsible for approving new drugs. In return, the FDA is supposed to review drugs faster.
MJ.com: So you would propose getting rid of those user fees?
MA: Absolutely. I think that the FDA should be funded adequately by taxpayers, and it should see taxpayers as the "users." It should not be funded by the industry it's supposed to be regulating.
MJ.com: One of the changes you propose in this book is that the NIH — and not drug companies — be responsible for clinical research. But you propose that drug companies help pay the NIH to do this. Couldn't this lead to a similar problem?
MA: No, because instead of paying user fees by drug, companies would be levied a very small percentage of their revenues. It wouldn't be tied to research on any particular drug. This would be only for clinical trials, not the early development stage. The NIH would put out contracts to universities and medical centers to actually design and carry out the clinical trials, but the NIH would have oversight.
MJ.com: FDA commissioner Lester Crawford recently warned against buying drugs from Canada, citing potential terrorist threat if drugs are tampered with. Is there a valid concern there?
MA: There's no reason to think that drugs that are imported from Canada are any more likely to be unsafe than drugs that one gets right here. In fact, the cases of counterfeiting that I know of have all occurred in this country. So there's some reason to think that maybe it's safer to get your drugs from Canada [laughs]. The drugs that an American would purchase from Canada are going to be the drugs that they ordinarily pay much more for here—that is, FDA-approved drugs. They're not going to be buying just something in a bottle; they're going to be buying FDA-approved drugs that were shipped to Canada from European and American companies which have manufacturing plants all over the world. We have to remember that drugs are crossing borders all the time. Pfizer, for example, said on its website last year that it had 60 manufacturing plants in 32 countries. That right there constitutes a lot of borders. There's nothing about the Canadian border that's going to render these drugs poison. It's a scare tactic. What the industry does not want people to realize is the great price disparities between the United States and every other advanced country.
MJ.com: In the past, you've criticized the U.S. health care system, saying that "if we had set out to design the worst system we could imagine, we couldn't have imagined one as bad as this." Do you still believe that?
MA: The market-based pharmaceutical industry is one problem in the larger problem of a market-based health care system. We spend twice as much per person on health care as the average of all the other advanced countries, and that gap is growing. Yet, we get less for our money. We have over 40 million people with no insurance at all. Most of the rest of us are under-insured. The usual indices of health, like life expectancy and infant mortality, are toward the bottom in the U.S. compared with other advanced countries. So, something's wrong, and it's the system. A market-based system distributes health care as a commodity according to the ability to pay, instead of as a social service distributed according to need. Yet, there's an inverse relationship between one's ability to pay for health care and one's medical needs. The situation gets crazier when you allow competing, investor-owned insurance companies to insure Americans, because they have learned that the best way to compete is to keep costs down by skimping on health services. We have the only health care system on the world that's based on dodging sick people. [Insurers] do everything they can to avoid covering people at high risk of getting ill, and when they do get ill, [companies] fight paying for it. They exclude certain expensive conditions as much as possible. They pass those costs back to the patient or another insurer. And that takes a lot of paperwork, and a lot of overhead.
MJ.com: In the book, you mention that every other developed nation regulates prescription drug prices—
MA: Yes, but they have different ways of doing it. If you look at Canada, it's a very mild form of regulation, really. They have a national board, and when a me-too drug comes on the market, they say it can't be priced any higher than the highest-priced drug for that condition already on the market. Nor can it be priced any higher than the median in seven advanced countries, and these countries include the U.S. Then they say the prices cannot rise any faster than the inflation rate. So, that's not too onerous. Drug companies make profits in Canada.
MJ.com: Is that an example of a system you'd like to see in the U.S.?
MA: Yes. Importing drugs from Canada is not a very sensible solution, because Canada can't possibly supply the U.S., and the drug companies are now retaliating against Canada and squeezing their supplies. So, importation is not a long-term solution. It's just a symptom of the real problem of price-gouging in this country. We should be looking at the Canadian system, and maybe import that rather than importing the drugs.
MJ.com: Realistically, do you think a system of price controls like that could ever be instituted in the U.S.?
MA: Well, something's going to have to happen, because there's no one around any longer who can afford the drug company prices. Not only are individuals having problems, but states are having problems. They feel these prices through the Medicaid system. The federal government is going to find that this fairly open-ended Medicare drug benefit is going to be completely outpaced by the rising prices.
MJ.com: If pharmaceutical manufacturers were forced to lower prices, couldn't it backfire if they cut back on research as a result, rather than marketing?
MA: Well, they might choose to do that, but they wouldn't have to. They could cut their marketing instead, or they could cut into their profits. Their R&D very often comes from the NIH or other publicly sponsored research. Most of their R&D expenditures go for clinical testing after the creative work is already done. This is true for the most innovative drugs, as well as for cancer and HIV/AIDS drugs.
MJ.com: You say that there's "palpable" discontent among seniors and others about drug prices. Do you see this as having an effect on the problems you described in the book?
MA: I think that there are political effects, and I think that's what you're seeing right now with the importation issue. Congress has passed a law saying that you can import drugs from Canada, but that the administration must certify that it not add any risks. Both the Clinton and Bush administrations have refused to do that. It's giving Congress an opportunity to play both sides of the street.
MJ.com: Given that Congress is torn between seniors and the pharmaceutical lobby, do you think change will ever occur?
MA: I think that the public doesn't seem to be buying the argument that drugs from Canada are dangerous. If it comes down to choosing between the money that drug companies provide and the votes that citizens provide, I think members of Congress are going to go with votes. That's what I hope will happen.
MJ.com: In the conclusion of the book, you stress that citizens should grill their doctors regarding drugs they're prescribing. Why do you recommend that type of action most heavily?
MA: The other reforms will take time, but in the meantime, doctors are too willing to provide drugs for very minor conditions. Those drugs are too often the very most expensive, heavily advertised, me-too drugs. I think that patients have to get a little savvier about that. Instead of just grabbing that sample and thinking they've gotten something for free, they ought to think about what it means. Nearly every drug has side effects. I do think that we are an overmedicated society.


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Kaia Gerber Slays in Denim Cutoffs on a N.Y.C. Outing with Dad Rande
By Olivia Bahou
Updated Sep 08, 2016 @ 12:15 pm
Credit: Splash News
New York Fashion Week is just underway, and 15-year-old Kaia Gerber is taking advantage of her time in N.Y.C. in every way. The rising model (and Cindy Crawford look-alike) was spotted out with dad Rande on Wednesday, beaming on the fun family outing.
Kaia showed off her endless legs in a pair of high-waist denim cutoffs and a white crop top, accessorizing with a long printed duster, round sunnies, a Lili Claspe choker ($70; liliclaspe.com) and a pair of white Adidas Stan Smith sneakers ($75; nordstrom.com). The teen walked arm-in-arm with dad on Madison Avenue for some window-shopping, and spotted a familiar face in a storefront.
"Wonder who that is," she joked as she posed in front of portraits of herself at Chrome Hearts' N.Y.C. store at 870 Madison Avenue. The teen was just named as the face of the brand's spring 2016 campaign, and stuns in a black trench in the photographs. "What a privilege it has been to watch Kaia blossom into her own," said company co-owner Laurie Lynn Stark earlier this year.
The new model has certainly come into her own, and she's about to receive the award to prove it: Kaia will be honored with the breakthrough model of the year award at Thursday's Daily Front Row Fashion Media Awards.
RELATED: Cindy Crawford and Family Show Their Support for Kaia Gerber's Acting Debut at Sister Cities Premiere
We're predicting that we'll see a lot more of this rising star in the future.


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We're experts at what we do so you don't have to be. But there's a lot to consider when making decisions about dental treatment, and you have a right to feel fully informed and have all your questions answered.
At Dr. Fairfax & Associates Family Dentistry, we're firm believers in educating our patients about the benefits of a healthy smile, so your questions are very important to us. We encourage your questions because we believe that an informed patient is a happy patient!
Here are a few of the questions we hear most frequently. Please give us a call if you're looking for other answers that you don't see here. A friendly member of our team will be happy to help you.
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IAC Webinars
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DEI Careers
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EXAMPLES OF IAC ADVOCACY POSITIONS
THE INCLUSION ALLIES COALITION RESPONDS TO THE DEREK CHAUVIN GUILTY VERDICT
After months of anxiously waiting for a verdict on the George Floyd murder that would test the impartiality of the judicial system against a legacy of racial injustice and countless incidents of police brutality against people of color, we learned that Derek Chauvin was found guilty of killing George Floyd. While the verdict held Derek Chauvin accountable, it was just one case, and one step in addressing systemic racism which devalues the lives of Black people. The journey to true justice is a long one, and this step should both give us hope and strengthen our resolve to take that journey together.
The IAC stands in full solidarity with the Floyd family and with all families whose loved ones in the U.S. or around the world have been senselessly killed. Daunte Wright, for example, was a Black man who was fatally shot by a police officer after a routine traffic stop on April 11, just a few miles from where Chauvin stood trial. And since Duante there have been more killings in the Black community by policemen, as we learned of two more this week—Andrew Brown, an unarmed father of 10 in North Carolina, and 16-year-old Ma'Khia Bryant in Ohio. These deaths remind us of the constant discrimination people face due to the color of their skin and of the exhaustion and frustration many people are feeling as we continue to work towards social transformation.
We also recognize the impact Floyd's murder has created on a national and global scale to build awareness about how deep racism goes in many countries. His death sparked one of the largest protest movements in American history. From Los Angeles to Paris to Tokyo, people have participated in Black Lives Matter (BLM) events to demonstrate action. Corporations have publicly vowed commitment to Black/African Americans and other marginalized communities.
Close to one year after George Floyd's murder, we encourage our members, and organizations in general, to not let up on the commitments they made a year ago. This is not the time for performative activism, but for real change and for all of us to become collaborators, accomplices, and co-conspirators who fight injustice and promote equity in the workplace. Our May IAC webinar will be devoted to understanding what companies have done one year following George Floyd's death.
Our work is far from done, but we believe that we can advance greater inclusion in the global workplace by collaborating with individuals, like you, who share our beliefs and by advocating for diversity, equity, and inclusion for all.
In allyship,
IAC Founders and IAC Leadership Council
PROTECTING THE CIVIL AND HUMAN RIGHTS OF ASIANS AND ASIAN-AMERICANS
The Inclusion Allies Coalition (IAC) stands against all hate and discrimination directed against the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community in the U.S. over the last year and especially in recent months. False stereotypes, misrepresentation, and heightened social media against Asians and Asian Americans have led to an increase in violence, culminating in last week's horrific events in Atlanta. We stand together and in solidarity with our Asian and Asian American members, colleagues and partners and uphold inclusion for all. We take seriously our vision to be the leading voice for DEI practitioners, globally and to work to end hate crimes directed against members of the community. A webinar is being planned for the month of April to delve more deeply into this critical topic and share resources for advocating change. In the interim, please find below several ways to stand together with our Asian and Asian American colleagues.
Asian Americans Advancing Justice
Act to Change
CHARLOTTESVILLE AND HATE SPEECH: IPAC POSITION STATEMENT AND PLEDGE
INCLUSION ALLIES COALITION SPEAKS OUT ON ZERO-TOLERANCE IMMIGRATION POLICY
The Inclusion Allies Coalition is a group of close to 750 organizations and individuals committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion within organizations and society. We strive to advocate for and serve as allies to those who are marginalized by policies and practices that exclude, discriminate against, or otherwise lead to people being treated unfairly. Founded in 2017 in response to the massive polarization on a number of socio-political issues exacerbated by the 2016 US Presidential election, the Coalition carefully considers the positions that it takes. We believe that inclusion means that we consider divergent viewpoints and attempt to bridge our differences with greater understanding and acceptance. We feel that we must speak up as a united body when there are situations that jeopardize the values of inclusion.
As diversity practitioners, we are often asked if there are boundaries or limits to inclusion. The answer is yes. For us, inclusion means that we care about each other's well-being. It means that we do not intentionally do harm to others. It means that we are empathetic and show compassion. Those whose actions would suggest the opposite are not practicing inclusion.
We were heartened to hear that by Executive Order President Trump put a stop to the practice of separating immigrant children from their parents. This practice was abhorrent and totally violated the values of inclusion and equity. Moreover, it violated the values of most religions and the espoused values of our country. Even with the halt of this practice, we continue to worry about the fate of these 2000 plus children and their families. So much damage has been done. How and when will they be reunited with their parents? What are the irreversible psychological effects that many experts believe these children will face? More broadly, we remain concerned that as the Zero Tolerance policy continues to be enforced, inhumane treatment will not stop. And Attorney General Jeff Sessions has excluded fears of domestic abuse or gang violence as valid reasons for granting asylum in the United States.
How do we wonder, in modern-day America could this be happening? There was no immigration law mandating that children be separated from their parents. Why would we exclude fears of personal violence as reasons for granting asylum? Where is the compassion that the President said led him to sign the executive order?
The Inclusion Allies Coalition members are dedicated in their respective roles to fostering practices, behaviors, and mindsets that respect and value the dignity of every individual. We are about righting the wrongs of global injustices that have occurred since the beginning of time and unfortunately continue today. The practice of separating children from their parents is reminiscent of this horrible practice used during slavery and in Nazi Concentration and Japanese Internment Camps. It is incomprehensible to think that in 2018, our moral compass would allow us to repeat such abuse and inhumane acts.
Admittedly, the immigration issue in this country is complex but lest we forget that we are a country born of immigrants and lest we forget the words at the base of the Statue of Liberty: "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
Speak out via your social media networks. Use your influence and platforms.
Attend a protest or vigil to show solidarity.
Donate to and support organizations, efforts that are being led by the communities that are impacted.
Call your elected officials. [Immigrant children detained-IAC position]
If you are a leader, hold your offices of D&I, CSR, Government Relations accountable for aligning themselves with equity and inclusion inside and outside the organization.
We often do not think that as one person we can make an impact. You can and we hope that you will join with The Inclusion Allies Coalition in denouncing this repulsive practice.
© 2023, Inclusion Alllies Coalition. All Rights Reserved.


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What we need for truly inclusive elections in South Africa
by Rafia Akram | Nov 22, 2021 | Blogs | 0 comments
Rafia Akram and Maymoona Chaugley
For many, heading out to cast our vote may seem like a standard process with the only concern being who to vote for. For others, there is unsaid complexity that goes unseen by many and perhaps even the organizers of the elections. This begs the question of inclusivity. Are the organizers taking persons living with a disability into account? Before jumping into perspectives on inclusion, I would like to reflect on the experiences of Maymoona Chaugley, who details her various arduous journeys to cast her vote as a visually impaired citizen.
My reflections on the 2021 elections and earlier experiences – Maymoona Chaugley
Being completely blind I have never had a voting experience that I can say was confidential. When we hear terms such as "human right, confidential, freedom of choice", I can say that this local government election (LGE) was my fifth experience where such a 'right' was infringed upon.
I have tried different approaches such as asking for assistance from my stepmother and my younger brothers. However, this ended up being a mess because they marked with a tick instead of a cross, which as you can imagine, I was not able to confirm. I even asked an Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) official to assist me in the last election, which was done in the presence of a party official. This experience was far from confidential. Would you believe that before I left that particular booth, the party that I voted for announced my vote to all present, and the other officials even asked my dad who he voted for seeing as his daughter had voted for the named party!
In 2021, I thought things would be better. I do not expect perfection, but I do expect a system that works to reasonably accommodate persons living with a disability to ensure a fair and free voting opportunity. In short, I expected a level of confidentiality. Sadly, my experience over the voting weekend was not a true reflection of what was advertised and campaigned by the parties.
On Saturday 29 October 2021, after registering for a special vote, I was accompanied to the voting station by my uncle and his wife, and when we got there I asked for a braille ballot. The official apologized, telling me that, unfortunately, they did not get the required stationary and that there was no braille ballot. All the official could say was "sorry". I decided that I was not going to vote.
The presiding officer then announced that he could get the braille ballot by the following day on Sunday. I explained that I could not come back a second time and should not have had to. The presiding officer agreed to collect me from my house and assist me to vote and take me back home.
The next day, the presiding officer was true to his word and did come to fetch me. However, he explained that the braille ballot did not correspond with the print ballot; and he decided to be creative. He explained to the parties what he would do to accommodate me. The presiding officer took a metal stick and made one small dot next to each party so that I could feel the dot and count to 25 and 46 respectively. He then read all the names on the first ballot and took me to the booth where he allowed me to count them. Before I could make my mark with a cross, he confirmed that I indeed wanted to make my mark where my finger was. We repeated the process for the second ballot and thereafter, he assisted me to place it in the envelopes and walked me to place it in the box. Despite the fact that it worked and allowed me to cast my vote, it was not a confidential process, and I felt my need for dependence galling.
*************************************************************************************
These past local government elections have seen a lower voter turnout and the impact has reverberated across the political spectrum. Of the people who registered to use the special vote like Maymoona Chuglay above, eight out of ten people voted. This is an extraordinary turnout keeping in mind the hurdles faced.
It is now time to take stock not only of the political outcomes, which will have an inevitable economic and social impact, but to look forward to refining the system to ensure the a well-run election process that is inclusive of all South Africans. And that way forward can be reached through the use of technology.
Technology is a divisive subject in an unequal society where access differs widely depending on where in the country one is. South Africa has one of the largest ICT markets on the continent, and a smartphone penetration of 80% with 91% of South African adults with mobile phones. However, the internet is mainly used through smartphones and the internet penetration was estimated at 62% for January 2020.
This was one of the main opposing arguments raised by opponents of the proposal tabled by the IEC to Parliament for an electronic voting system in 2020, a process which was initiated as early as 2009. For this to take effect, the IEC needed to set a process in motion to change three legislations. The proposed amendments under the Bill seek to align three key pieces of electoral legislation, namely the Electoral Commission Act, the Electoral Act and the Local Government: Municipal Electoral Act to allow for an electronic voting system. Amongst the concerns raised was the risk of electoral fraud, hacking and the rigging of election results. There were also concerns raised about the costs of an e-voting system, given South Africa's current fiscal constraints, as well as the exclusion of communities who may not have access to digital technologies.
Voting technology is advancing and the use of electronic or internet-based technology has been deployed across the globe in developed and developing countries alike. Pakistan, for instance, uses internet-based technology for overseas citizens, and Australia uses it specifically for those with a disability. 17 countries utilise Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) voting machines with and without voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT); among these are Bangladesh, France, India and Mexico. A true mixed bag of countries.
What would be the ideal system for South Africa? Certain requirements will have to be in place, particularly the legal infrastructure around elections.
Initially, it would need one singular voting system, which allows for a transition from paper to electronic, so that we can move away from paper over time, taking into account the fact that some voters will only feel comfortable with paper votes. It would also have to be a closed system so that there is minimal tampering with the vote itself. Finally and importantly, it would need to be inclusive and easy to use for people living with disabilities; providing options for voice, typing, and choice through easy scrolling. In such a system, a visually impaired person would review the ballot via speech output through headphones (voice) and use buttons to scroll through the ballot and choose candidates with certain accessibility features.
South African voters deserve a voting system that includes those living with disabilities, and not one that creates a separate stream for them. We must aim for an equal experience, one that facilitates inclusivity, confidentiality and independence for everyone.


The week of April 7 to April 13 has officially been proclaimed "Judo Week in the Creek" by Goose Creek Mayor Greg Habib.
Mayor Habib and City Council were joined by members of the Samurai Judo Association at the April 9 City Council meeting. The proclamation recognizes Judo as a popular and demanding Olympic sport that teaches many valuable character attributes such as self-discipline, patience, self-confidence, courtesy, humility and physical fitness to students of all ages.
See more information about the Samurai Judo Association.
Pictured with Mayor Habib are Judo 8th Degree Black Belt and Ju-jitsu 6th Degree Black Belt Dr. Ronald Allan Charles, center, and instructor Don Ort of the Samurai Judo Association.


The votes have been counted and the results are in; here are your City of Onkaparinga elected members for the next four years.
A total of 58 candidates — 29 men and 29 women — nominated for Council in the November local government election. Five of them contested the mayoral role.
Council meetings are held at the Council Chamber in the City of Onkaparinga's Civic Centre at Ramsay Place, Noarlunga Centre once a month on a Tuesday, starting at 7pm. They are open to the public. The 2019 meeting schedule was still to be confirmed at time of printing.
I'm excited to work with everyone to promote our wonderful city, foster a positive community spirit, build our local economy, and ensure a sustainable future.


Container ships are getting larger, but pressure from climate change activists and governments has forced shipping companies to develop more efficient ships that save on fuel and pollute less. The Danish conglomerate Maersk is leading the way in ultra-large, ultra-efficient ships that not only pollute less but can carry more cargo. Through a combination of advanced ship design, improved sailing strategy and ultra efficient systems, Maersk has succeeded in lowering fuel consumption and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions with its newest Triple E Class container ships. The new ships use a strategy called slow steaming which reduces fuel consumption by 37 percent and CO2 emissions per container by 50 percent (when compared to typical ships on the Asia-Europe route).
The Danish giant has also joined forces with Odense Steel Ship Yard A/S, MAN Diesel and Alfa Lava to design and build Waste Heat Recovery (WHR) Systems that use waste heat from a ship's diesel engines to heat up steam for a turbo generator. These systems have the potential to reduce the emission of CO2 and NOx (nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide) by up to 14 percent, which is significant when you take into account that each ship has a deadweight tonnage of 165,000 tonnes and can carry 18,340 TEU containers. Maersk already has 16 of its gigantic Triple E Class ships in service, with four more under construction. Lessons learned in engine efficiency and Waste Heat Recovery are now transferring across to an industry that carries 90 percent of non-bulk cargo around the world, these savings will go a long way.


As a follow up to our article on Instagram from last week, we thought it would be good to share a few tools to make you a more effective Instagramer.
Let's say you've got a big event coming up – Textgram is exactly what you want. It allows you to create word based images. Obviously, in an ideal world, you would utilize electronic versions of your own promotional materials, but the reality is that they don't always translate well on the platform. Textgram gives you an easy way to get the pertinent information out there. Textgram is available for iOS and Android users.
Interesting in before & after or "how it's made" photos? Pic Stitch is one of the most user friendly collage apps out there. The free version comes with dozens of different collage templates that allow you to combine up to six different photos. Additionally, it has a built in photo editor that allows you to edit each image individually before exporting them to a plethora of social media apps besides Instagram. Pic Stitch is only available for iOS users.


"Bullish sentiment, expectations that stock prices will rise over the next six months, fell 9.7 percentage points in the latest AAII Sentiment Survey. Bullish sentiment registered 30.1%, a six-week low. The historical average is 39%.
Neutral sentiment, expectations that stock prices will be essentially unchanged over the next six months, fell 2.7 percentage points to 27.4%. The historical average is 31%.
Bearish sentiment, expectations that stock prices will fall over the next six months, rose 12.4 percentage points to 42.5%. This is a four-week high. The historical average is 30%.
Although the Fed and most economic forecasters are all looking ahead to the recovery, small business owners do not seem convinced. Please consider Economic Confidence Plunges; Low Expectations for the Holidays.
52 percent of owners say they have experienced cash flow issues in the past 90 days, up from 44 percent in October. Forty-one percent of owners say they have not experienced cash flow issues, which is the lowest response in this category since the Watch began. The remaining 6 percent said they weren't sure.
53 percent of small business owners see conditions getting worse in the next six months, up from 43 percent in October; while 19 percent report that conditions are improving, a sharp decline from 29 percent in October; 23 percent see conditions as the same, and 5 percent weren't sure.
A majority of small business owners think the economy is getting worse, not better. And if small businesses are not confident, then they are not hiring.
This is just an opinion, and it could be wrong, as all opinions may be.
To be long US equities at this point seems risky, bordering on reckless, for anything but a daytrade. And there is plenty of that going on.
The US markets in general have every mark of a maturing Ponzi scheme in the steady run ups on weakness, and the ramps into the close with the selling after hours on weak volumes.
Thursday is option expiration, a quadruple witch as we recall. September is one of the big ones, often setting up declines in the month of October. Further, we have Rosh Hoshanah beginning at sundown on Friday September 18. As the saying goes, Sell Rosh HaShana and Buy Yom Kippur.
The government is anxious to encourage 'confidence' to the extent of skewing the statistics to create hope in the public, the consumers. The banks are flush with liquidity, but really have no place to put it but for a minimal return at Treasury, or in some hot money trades.
Where is Goldman Sachs business revenue and profit coming from now? How much real investment banking is being done? How much M&A activity and IPOs are there to sustain it at this size, unscathed by the recent market downturns?
Obama and his team have NO credibility for reform on Wall Street after their handling of Goldman Sachs and the AIG payouts. We hear that Goldman had shopped the idea of those derivatives to them, became their biggest customer, and then managed the 100 cents on the dollar payouts from the government even as AIG became hopelessly insolvent.
Bonds, stocks, metals, sugar, cocoa, and oil are all moving higher, while the dollar sinks. Is the dollar funding a new carry trade?
The markets are increasingly the flavor of choice, and if the markets do not show a way, they will make one. Volatility is a screaming buy. Put vertical spreads are remarkably cheap.
Be careful. October looks to be the stormiest of months, if we hold out until then. The market is overdue for a correction, which can be up to 20%. Given the distance we have come on thin volume, what may make this correction shocking is the speed with which it will come.
Have you wondered, is it true, is the rally really due to tons of money lying around with nowhere else to go?
IT'S ALL ABOUT LIQUIDITY, ROSENBERG!
This is what we are hearing. The fundamentals take a back seat because there is so much liquidity to be put to work, and it all must go into equities. This reminds us of all the liquidity talk during the bubble peak of late 2007. The reality is that the mountain of money is no higher or lower than it was when the market was plumbing the depths through 2008 — money market mutual funds back then were $3.5 trillion and guess what? Today they are $3.5 trillion. Go figure.
So you see, liquidity is a catch-all term when nobody can really explain why the market is going up. This rally is based on a lot of hope that we are going to see a V-shaped economic recovery in the U.S. The S&P 500 is priced for 4% real GDP growth. We don't see it. Try 2%, which is what the investment-grade corporate bond market is priced for. If we get 4% GDP growth then the equity market is fully priced, but that sort of economic expansion would take Baa spreads of U.S. Treasuries down another 100bps to 200bps, if historical relationships were to hold. But if we see 2%, then at least you will clip your coupon in the fixed-income market. The S&P 500, which at one point would have licked its chops over such a possible outcome (back when it was priced for -2.5% growth last March), would now see 2% growth as a disappointment and would correct down towards 850, again, based on our models.


The history of Wartburg cars goes back a long way, right back as far as 1898 when the first cars were produced in Eisenach in Germany.
Before WWII a diverse range of vehicles were produced at Eisenach including the Dixi, a version of the Austin 7 built under licence. Prior to the War, the Eisenach factories were part of BMW building high quality cars and motorcycles.
After the war, Eisenach fell within Communist ruled East Germany. The car and motorcycle factories in Eisenach were incorporated into Industrieverband Fahrzeugbau, or IFA. The group incorporated all the major vehicle manufacturers in East Germany. Production of cars and motorcycles restarted in the Eisenach factories with modified versions of pre-war BMW cars and motorcycles. Initially these were sold under the BMW badge but this was quickly changed to avoid problems with BMW in West Germany. Cars were subsequently badged as Autowelo and later as EMW (Eisenach Motoren Werke) as they were further developed while motorcycle production faded away.
There was a great need in the Eastern Bloc countries for cars that were simple to build, maintain, and own. There was also a need to export cars and earn vital foreign currency. As a first step to achieving this, production of the IFA F9 car was moved to Eisenach.
Before the war DKW had been developing a new 3 cylinder 2-stroke car. Development continued after the war along divergent paths in both East and West Germany. The East German version, the IFA F9, was initially produced in Zwickau by the Sachsenring factory which was later to go on to produce the Trabant.
The F9 was exported to many countries including Europe and South America (where it was also manufactured under licence), but did not come to the UK other than one or two imported for evaluation purposes.
The 1950s saw much work on the development of a new range of cars. The chassis and engine of the F9 was used as a starting point. The new cars featured a more powerful 900cc 3 cylinder 2-stroke engine and a separate 'perimeter' type chassis with independent suspension by transverse leaf springs.
In 1956, production of the new range of cars started with a wide variety of models based on a common engine/chassis configuration. This included a saloon, two estates, a coupe and convertible, plus a 2-seat sports car and sports convertible. These cars initially bore 'Eisenacher' badges and were known as Eisenacher Typ Wartburg or EMW Wartburg. They were exported to many countries including Europe, South America, USA, South Africa and China. It wasn't long before the cars simply became known as Wartburgs with the model number 311 for all cars except the sports which had the model number 313 (the F9 was model number 309).
The cars were built to a very high standard, as one would expect from workers previously used to producing BMWs. Heavy gauge steel was used giving strong sturdy construction – much use was made of polished aluminium castings and pressings. Some of the cars featured wood and/or leather trim too.
During production, the range was expanded to include van and pick-up versions. A 4-door convertible was produced in small numbers for military and police use.
In the late 1950s a few Wartburgs were imported into Ireland but were still unknown in the UK. They were probably imported in kit form and assembled in Ireland, as was the case with DKW and other imported marques, as locally assembled cars attracted much less tax.
In 1962 the range of cars received its first major revision. The basic body style was retained but the car had many improvements including increasing the engine size to 992cc with major improvements to the cooling system, transmission and drive train. Many other changes resulted in the new cars sharing surprisingly few parts with the visually similar previous model. At this time the cars continued with transverse leaf spring suspension. The new cars, given the model number 312, were sold in various countries such as Poland and Czechoslovakia as the Wartburg 312, but strangely it continued to be known as the Wartburg 311 in East Germany. This leads to much confusion and heated debate over Wartburg model numbers!
Right hand drive cars were made from the start of production with initial exports probably going to India and Africa, and reaching Cyprus in 1963.
In 1963 Wartburg cars were displayed for the first time at the London Motor Show (along with Trabants!). An agreement was reached with Industria Ltd to import the cars into the UK. Industria were already importing Jawa and CZ motorcycles from Czechoslovakia and had been in talks with East Germany for some time initially looking at importing the F9. Industria set up a network of dealers in the UK and the first cars were sold in 1964. Initially, only 4-door saloon cars were sold in the UK. About 300 of these RHD cars were imported, together with an odd one or two 3-door estate cars.
In 1965 the range of cars received its second major revision. Again, the basic body style was retained but underneath the car was all new featuring a new chassis with coil spring suspension, a much revised more powerful engine and many more improvements. A big selling point of this model was its 30,000 mile service interval – this was at a time when many cars needed servicing every 3,000 miles! To add to the confusion over model numbers this car was given the model number 312/1 and is usually referred to as just 312. Between 1965 and 1967 about 450 RHD Saloons and just under 100 RHD Estates were imported into the UK.
In 1967 a completely new car started production. This featured a much more modern body but underneath was a perimeter chassis and 3 cylinder 2-stroke engine based on the final incarnation of the previous model 312/1 cars. Two main models were produced: a 4-door saloon and a 5-door estate. A pick-up truck version was later produced together with a small number of open top 'Jeep' like cars for the military.
This new range was given the model number 353 – the estate was called the 'Tourist'. For the UK market the saloon was called the 'Knight', and the estate the 'Knight Tourist'.
The exact number of vehicles imported into UK between 1967 and 1976 isn't known but is likely to have averaged between 500 and 1000 per year. During this time the 353 underwent three major revisions culminating with the Mark 4 introduced in 1971.
Industria had already branched out into importing Mazda cars from Japan. When changes in vehicle regulations made it increasingly difficult to import Wartburgs into the UK, they simply stopped importing Wartburgs and concentrated on Mazda cars. The current Mazda importers can trace their history back to Industria.
After 1976, development of the cars continued in East Germany with further improvements made from time to time. Right hand drive cars were still made but were no longer available in the UK. A few Wartburg cars were personally imported by private owners, usually LHD cars bought new from a dealer in Belgium. In the early 1980s a cancelled export order of LHD Wartburgs for Egypt ended up sitting in the docks at a UK port. Approximately 100 of those cars, built several years earlier. were acquired by an old, established UK Wartburg dealer. Most were converted to RHD using parts from older, rusty UK specification cars and sold as the Wartburg Lancastrian.
In the 1980s negotiations with VW resulted in IFA securing a licence to produce engines based on the Polo and Golf units. In 1988 an adapted version of the 1300cc Golf engine was fitted to a new model, the Wartburg 1.3. This was visually similar to the previous model 353 but, apart from the engine, had many differences. The 1.3 remained in production until 1991 when, following the collapse of sales after German unification, the factory closed its doors for good. General Motors Opel division built a new factory in Eisenach to employ some of the redundant Wartburg factory workers.
A few Wartburg 1,3s were imported into the UK including one estate which was converted to right hand drive but is now believed to have been scrapped. More recently, a steady flow of Wartburgs have been imported to UK from Germany and former Eastern Bloc countries as interest in these vehicles and the Cold War period generally has increased.


Penza, 20 March 2013. PenzaNews. Penza communists laid flowers at the memorial plaque of the former member of the State Duma, the prominent Russian opposition politician Viktor Ilyukhin, installed on the wall of the house in Suvorova St, 160, where he lived with his family.
The communists took a moment of silence for Victor Ilyukhin at the end of the event.
"It should be mentioned again, that earlier the communists from Kostroma organized the All-Russian action "Flowers for Viktor Ilyukhin" at Troekurovsky Cemetery in Moscow. The delegates from across the country laid carnations bought for donated money at Viktor Ilyukhin's monument. The event showed that Viktor Ilyukhin is alive and will live in the memory of our people," the press service concluded.


text:
El Rally de Jordania de 2011, oficialmente 29th Jordan Rally, fue la 29º edición y la cuarta ronda de la temporada 2011 del Campeonato Mundial de Rally. Se celebró en las cercanías del mar muerto entre los días 14 y 16 de abril y contó con un itinerario inicial de veinte tramos que sumaban un total de 333.04 km cronometrados, aunque finalmente solo se disputaron 259.56. También la segunda ronda del Campeonato Super 2000. Ese año debido a los retrasos que se produjeron con los barcos que llevaban los camiones de asistencia la organización decidió suspender los tramos previstos para el primer día, el jueves 14, por lo que el rally comenzó el viernes 15 de abril.

El vencedor fue Sébastien Ogier que se impuso con su Citroën DS3 WRC frente a al Ford Fiesta WRC de Jari-Matti Latvala al que aventajó en solo dos décimas, la diferencia más pequeña en la historia del campeonato del mundo. Tercero fue Sébastien Loeb a menos de medio minuto de su compañero Ogier. El ganador del campeonato Super 2000 fue Bernardo Sousa.

Itinerario y ganadores

Power Stage

Clasificación final

Referencias

Enlaces externos
 Rally Jordania 2011 juwra.com

Temporada 2011 del Campeonato Mundial de Rally
Jordania en 2011
Rally de Jordania

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Are you looking for a cool, fun and refreshing way to start the New Year? The Central Klickitat County Park and Recreation District and Maryhill State Park has the answer for you, join us for our 12th Annual Polar Plunge 10am on New Year's Day at Maryhill State Park. The polar plunge is co-sponsored by the Washington State Park's and Recreation Commission.
This annual tradition is a fundraiser for the Central Klickitat County Park & Recreation District. Maybe you don't want to plunge, you could always donate to have someone else plunge, or just come and watch the fun and fast event. Whatever you do, don't be late! The Plunge starts at 10am and ends a few seconds later.
We are happy to report that January 1, 2019 is a free admission day to all Washington State Parks, so you won't have to use your Discover Pass nor pay admission the park.
or call the swimming pool at (509) 773-0506 or (509) 250-0981.


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The Fight Over Government Mandates to Religious Organizations: Women's Health used to Fuel Another Attack on the First Amendment
Written by: Tim George Politics, Top Headline 2 Comments
WASHINGTON, DC – The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) is taking advantage of the current controversy over the Obama administration's contraceptive mandate to raise campaign funds. In an email to potential Democratic donors, signed by DSCC Chair Sen. Patty Murray (D-Washington), the administration's decision to require insurance providers to provide contraceptive and sterilization services free of charge is hailed as a great victory for women's health rights.
Catholic bishops in New York say their dioceses won't abide by the new federal regulation requiring Catholic hospitals, charities and schools to provide birth control coverage in their health insurance plans. And they aren't alone.
Numerous religious groups have condemned the mandate, saying it violates their First Amendment right to religious freedom because it would compel them to provide contraceptives to their employees despite the fact that they have religious convictions that see contraception and sterilization as immoral.
The DSCC sees this as an opportunity to draw battle lines for the coming national election. The email labels opposition to the Obamacare mandate an "attack" on women's health.
"Our right-wing opponents continue to launch attack after attack against women's rights, women's health, and women's economic security — and we've got to fight back every single day," the email says. "The next battle over the Obama administration's decision to make contraception more affordable under the new health care law is already underway."
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has created what it calls a new grassroots effort, Standing Strong for Women Project, "to combat the Republican war on women." Since a large majority of Catholics are registered Democrats it would seem the "grassroots effort" has a lot more to do with politics than women's rights.
The DSCC urged supporters to give money in support of the mandate. "It's hard to believe that in the 21st century we have to fight for access to birth control, but that is the fact — and there will be many more fights in the weeks ahead."
The email also cites the liberals' "victory" in forcing the Susan G. Komen foundation to reverse its decision to defund Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood does not provide mammograms yet somehow feels it is entitled to funds from a foundation established for providing them.
"Our opponents tried to defund Planned Parenthood, in the federal budget and in many states, "said the DSCC. "They tried to destroy our Medicare and Medicaid lifelines, which would be particularly devastating to women. They tried to get the Susan G. Komen Foundation to cut off support for Planned Parenthood. Enough is enough. We may have won this latest round, but our opponents aren't going away. They're launching endless attacks against women every single day, and we need to rise to the challenge."
Lost in the political theatrics is yet another attack on the Constitution itself. The First Amendment's guarantee of protection from the intrusion of the government into church matters is fundamental to the formation of this country. The majority of the Founders of this country came here with a determination to ensure separation of the church from state control. They would, no doubt, be up in arms over yet another attempt by the federal government to dictate what the church can and cannot do.
Update: The White House announced earlier today that instead of requiring religious organizations to provide contraceptives and abortifacients in violation of their beliefs, that insurance companies will now be required to provide these services free of charge. The shell game this administration uses to achieve its goals is astounding. In the end, either the taxpayers will be required to foot the bill or increased insurance premiums paid by religious organizations will fund the mandate. Despite this attempt at smoke and mirrors, the majority of Americans realize full well there is no free ride. Someone ultimately pays the price.
Tim George
birth control Catholic church contraceptives first amendment health regulations ObamaCare women's health right
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Winter Preparation for Spring Crops
By Tim George
Insider Threat Program Encourages Federal Workers To Rat On Each Other
The 4 Acts That Led To The American Revolution
President Obama Bashes Private Religious Education
SHOCKING: Mystery Surrounds Death Of Journalist Michael Hastings
Facing Your Giants: A Call From Outside the Comfort Zone


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Q: how to set coordinates (x,y) for each id inside the tree I have a problem when I try to calculate the position of each ID so I can spread them out on canvas hierarchically.
It can be a tree or many trees (I guess it called forest).
cannot be cycles.
boxes need to be? 240 X 100.
I start from the connections I get: connectionsArr.
Inside the function graphWithTopLeft is the way I calculate the positions for each ID , in my example some of the ID's on top of each other & spacing between them not as I wish for.
In the end I tried to get something like this for all cases:

I know these algorithm are nontrivial, but I don't want to use an external library.
Thanks in advance to those who helped and will help.
Code example: codesandbox & also here.

const connectionsArr = [
  { sourceId: 1, targetId: 2 },
  { sourceId: 1, targetId: 3 },
  { sourceId: 1, targetId: 4 },

  { sourceId: 2, targetId: 5 },
  { sourceId: 2, targetId: 6 },
  { sourceId: 2, targetId: 7 },
  { sourceId: 2, targetId: 8 },
  { sourceId: 3, targetId: 10 },
  { sourceId: 3, targetId: 9 },
  { sourceId: 4, targetId: 11 },
  { sourceId: 4, targetId: 12 },
  { sourceId: 11, targetId: 12 },
  { sourceId: 13, targetId: 12 }
];
const WIDTH = 200;

//Find the roots id
function findParents(connections) {
  const parents = [];
  const notParents = [];
  connections.forEach((con1) => {
    const t = connections.filter((cf) => cf.targetId === con1.sourceId);
    t.forEach((t2) => notParents.push(t2.targetId));
  });

  const allIds = connections.map((con) => con.sourceId);
  const arrayWithDuplicate = allIds.filter((val) => !notParents.includes(val));
  arrayWithDuplicate.forEach((a, index) => {
    if (!parents.find((p) => a === p)) {
      parents.push(a);
    }
  });
  return parents;
}
//return arrays of objects (object is like a tree)
function getTrees(flatList) {
  const graph = [];
  flatList.forEach((item) => {
    if (!graph[item.sourceId]) {
      graph[item.sourceId] = {
        id: item.sourceId,
        children: []
      };
    }
    if (!graph[item.targetId]) {
      graph[item.targetId] = {
        id: item.targetId,
        children: []
      };
    }
    graph[item.sourceId].children.push(graph[item.targetId]);
  });
  return graph;
}
//function that return the number of the vertex all the way to the id given
function getAllIds(connections, id) {
  const result = [];
  connections.forEach((connection) => {
    if (connection.sourceId === id) {
      result.push(connection.targetId);
      result.push(...getAllIds(connections, connection.targetId));
    }
  });
  return result;
}
//function that return tree with levels
function updateLevels(trees, level) {
  for (let i = 0; i < trees.length; i++) {
    if (trees[i].children && trees[i].children.length) {
      updateLevels(trees[i].children, level + 1) //next level for children
    }
    trees[i].level = level;
  }
  return trees;
}
//get the max children in the level tree
function getMaxChildren(tree) {
  let max = 0;
  let id = 1;
  const getMax = (node) => {
    if (node.children) {
      if (node.children.length > max) {
        max = node.children.length;
        id = node.id;
      }
      node.children.forEach((child) => {
        getMax(child);
      });
    }
  };
  getMax(tree);
  return { max, id };
}

const parents = findParents(connectionsArr);
// console.log(parents);

const filterArray = getTrees(connectionsArr).filter(
  (f, index) =>
    f.id === parents[0] || f.id === parents[1] || f.id === parents[2]
);

const updated = updateLevels(filterArray, 0);
// console.log( JSON.stringify(updated, null, "   ") );

//get the tree hight
function getDepth(jsonTree) {
  let depth = 0;
  const recurse = (obj, currentDepth) => {
    if (obj.children) {
      depth = Math.max(depth, currentDepth);
      obj.children.forEach((child) => recurse(child, currentDepth + 1));
    }
  };
  recurse(jsonTree, 0);
  return depth;
}

function graphWithTopLeft(
  trees,
  newPositionNodes= [],
  index = 0,
  depth = 0,
  parent = 0
) {
  const findLevel = trees
    .filter((lev) => lev.level === index)
    .sort((a, b) =>
      getAllIds(connectionsArr, a.id).length <
      getAllIds(connectionsArr, b.id).length
        ? 1
        : -1
    );

  findLevel.forEach((node, indexLevel) => {
    if (node.level === 0) {
      const y = 0;
      const x =
        indexLevel === 0
          ? 0
          : indexLevel *
            getAllIds(connectionsArr, findLevel[indexLevel].id).length *
            findLevel.length *
            200;

      newPositionNodes.push({
        id: node.id,
        name: `Node${node.id}`,
        left: x,
        top: y,
        isDragging: false
      });
    }
    if (node.level === 1) {
      const getMaxChildInLevel = getMaxChildren(node);
      const findParent = newPositionNodes.find((f) => f.id === parent);
      const axisX =
        Math.pow(findLevel.length, depth - 1) * getMaxChildInLevel.max;
      const y = node.level * WIDTH;
      const x =
        indexLevel === 0
          ? -(axisX / 3) - (indexLevel * WIDTH + WIDTH)
          : axisX / 3 + indexLevel <= 1
          ? (findParent?.left ) +
            indexLevel *
              WIDTH *
              (node.children.length > 0 ? node.children.length : 1)
          : (newPositionNodes[indexLevel - 1]?.left) +
            indexLevel * WIDTH * node.children.length;

      if (axisX === 0 && indexLevel === 0) {
        if (!newPositionNodes.find((n) => n.id === node.id)) {
          const findParent = newPositionNodes.find((f) => f.id === parent);
          newPositionNodes.push({
            id: node.id,
            name: `Node${node.id}`,
            left: findParent?.left ,
            top: y,
            isDragging: false
          });
        }
      } else if (!newPositionNodes.find((n) => n.id === node.id)) {
        newPositionNodes.push({
          id: node.id,
          name: `Node${node.id}`,
          left: x,
          top: y,
          isDragging: false
        });
      }
    } else {
      if (!newPositionNodes.find((n) => n.id === node.id)) {
        const findParent = newPositionNodes.find((f) => f.id === parent);
        const y = (node.level ) * WIDTH;
        const x =
          indexLevel === 0
            ? (findParent?.left) - WIDTH
            : indexLevel <= 1
            ? (findParent?.left) +
              indexLevel *
                WIDTH *
                (node.children.length > 0 ? node.children.length : 1)
            : (newPositionNodes[indexLevel - 1]?.left) +
              indexLevel * WIDTH * node.children.length;

        if (findLevel.length <= 1) {
          newPositionNodes.push({
            id: node.id,
            name: `Node${node.id}`,
            left: findParent?.left,
            top: y,
            isDragging: false
          });
        } else {
          newPositionNodes.push({
            id: node.id,
            name: `Node${node.id}`,
            left: x,
            top: y,
            isDragging: false
          });
        }
      }
    }
  });

  for (let i = 0; i < trees.length; i++) {
    const depth = getDepth(trees[i]);
    if (trees[i].children && trees[i].children?.length > 0) {
      graphWithTopLeft(
        trees[i].children,
        newPositionNodes,
        index + 1,
        depth,
        trees[i].id
      );
    }
  }

  return newPositionNodes;
}

const display = graphWithTopLeft(updated, [], 0);

console.log(display);

// <------------------------------Canvas------------------------------>

const canvas = document.querySelector("#paper");

const WIDTHcA = canvas.width;
const HEIGHTCA = canvas.height;
// drag related variables
let dragok = false;
let startX;
let startY;

const ctx = canvas.getContext("2d");

function clear() {
  ctx.clearRect(0, 0, WIDTHcA, HEIGHTCA);
}

function drawLine(
  ctx,
  begin,
  end,
  stroke = "black",
  width = 1
) {
  if (stroke) {
    ctx.strokeStyle = stroke;
  }

  if (width) {
    ctx.lineWidth = width;
  }

  ctx.beginPath();
  ctx.moveTo(begin[0] + 100, begin[1] + 100);
  ctx.lineTo(end[0] + 100, end[1]);
  ctx.stroke();
}

const draw = (t) => {
  clear();
  ctx.translate(600, 100);

  ctx.stroke();
  for (let i = 0; i < display.length; i++) {
    const x = display[i].left;
    const y = display[i].top;
    ctx.fillStyle = "red";
    ctx.fillRect(x, y, 200, 100);
    ctx.fillStyle = "white";

    ctx.font = "24px Arial";
    ctx.fillText(display[i].name, display[i].left, display[i].top);
  }

  //draw line
  for (let i = 0; i < connectionsArr.length; i++) {
    const sourcePaths = connectionsArr.filter(
      (f) => f.sourceId === connectionsArr[i].sourceId
    );
    const from = display.find((f) => f.id === connectionsArr[i].sourceId);
    sourcePaths.forEach((s) => {
      const to = display.find((f) => f.id === s.targetId);

      if (to && from)
        drawLine(ctx, [from?.left, from?.top], [to.left, to.top], "green", 1);
    });
  }
};

requestAnimationFrame(draw);
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Sandbox</title>
    <meta charset="UTF-8" />
    <style>
      body {
        background: black;
        margin: 0;
      }
    </style>
  </head>

  <body>
    <canvas id="paper" width="10000" height="10000"></canvas>
    <script src="src/index.ts"></script>
  </body>
</html>

A: Please excuse my using an answer for what is really an extended comment.  It's far too long for the comment box.
Here's an answer that seems to meet all the requirements you've given us:

const unique = (xs) => [... new Set (xs)]

const vertices = (edges) =>
  unique (edges .flatMap (({sourceId, targetId}) => [sourceId, targetId])) .sort ((a, b) => a - b)

const coordinates = (edges) =>
  vertices (edges) .map (v => ({id: v, location: {x: 0, y: 0}}))

const connectionsArr = [{sourceId: 1, targetId: 2}, {sourceId: 1, targetId: 9}, {sourceId: 9, targetId: 3}, {sourceId: 3, targetId: 5}, {sourceId: 3, targetId: 7}, {sourceId: 5, targetId: 6}, {sourceId: 6, targetId: 10}, {sourceId: 11, targetId: 12}]

console .log (coordinates (connectionsArr))
.as-console-wrapper {max-height: 100% !important; top: 0}

For each vertex in the graph, we return an element with id and location properties, the latter itself containing numeric x and y properties.  The results look like this:
[
  {id: 1,  location: {x: 0, y: 0}},
  {id: 2,  location: {x: 0, y: 0}},
  {id: 3,  location: {x: 0, y: 0}},
  {id: 5,  location: {x: 0, y: 0}},
  {id: 6,  location: {x: 0, y: 0}},
  {id: 7,  location: {x: 0, y: 0}},
  {id: 9,  location: {x: 0, y: 0}},
  {id: 10, location: {x: 0, y: 0}},
  {id: 11, location: {x: 0, y: 0}},
  {id: 12, location: {x: 0, y: 0}},
]

I sense an objection.  The boxes can't all be at the same spot?  Well, why didn't you say so?  We can fix that easily enough.  Just change coordinates to
const coordinates = (edges) =>
  vertices (edges) .map ((v, i) => ({id: v, location: {x: i, y: i}}))

Now they're in different spots, as we can see with
[
  {id: 1,  location: {x: 0, y: 0}},
  {id: 2,  location: {x: 1, y: 1}},
  {id: 3,  location: {x: 2, y: 2}},
  {id: 5,  location: {x: 3, y: 3}},
  {id: 6,  location: {x: 4, y: 4}},
  {id: 7,  location: {x: 5, y: 5}},
  {id: 9,  location: {x: 6, y: 6}},
  {id: 10, location: {x: 7, y: 7}},
  {id: 11, location: {x: 8, y: 8}},
  {id: 12, location: {x: 9, y: 9}},
]

Wait, what's that?  They can't overlap?  Well, just make the boxes small enough and they won't overlap.  You can't do that?  Well, why didn't you say any of this?  How big do the boxes need to be?  You don't know?  Ok, we can make it a parameter.  But first, how about if we try with 50 x 50?
Oh, wait, you don't want them in a line?  Ok.  We can fix that too.  Here's another attempt:
const coordinates = (edges) => {
  const vs = vertices (edges)
  const angle = 2 * Math.PI / vs .length
  return vs .map ((v, i) => ({id: v, location: {
    x: Math .round (150 * Math .cos (i * angle)) + 300,
    y: Math .round (150 * Math .sin (i * angle)) + 300,
  }}))
}

Now they won't overlap at all, giving us something like this:

Is this not what you want?  So far each step has met all the requirements given so far.  Perhaps you need better requirements:

*

*Do you know if your edges form a tree?  A forest?  If it's either, is it a binary tree /forest?

*Or might there be cycles?

*Do you know if your graph is planar?  (That is, it can be drawn on the plane with no edges crossing)

*How do you want your nodes laid out?  A picture of a graph that doesn't even match your code sample is little help.
You need to put more thought into your requirements, and work into your own attempt before we can really help you.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Q: TypeError at /auth/login/twitter/ I've been trying to add log ins with social networks to one of my django projects. It works fine with Facebook but Twitter is broken.
I keep getting a the following error when I try to auth with Twitter.
TypeError at /auth/login/twitter/
sequence item 0: expected str instance, bytes found
Request Method: GET
Request URL:    http://127.0.0.1:8000/auth/login/twitter/
Django Version: 1.6.5
Exception Type: TypeError
Exception Value:
sequence item 0: expected str instance, bytes found
Exception Location: C:\Users\cdegen\face\lib\site-packages\social_auth\backends\__init__.py in fetch_response, line 708
Python Executable:  C:\Users\cdegen\face\Scripts\python.exe
Python Version: 3.4.1
Python Path:
['C:/Dev/django/face',
 'C:\\Program Files (x86)\\JetBrains\\PyCharm 3.4.1\\helpers\\pydev',
 'C:\\Dev\\django\\face',
 'C:\\Python34',
 'C:\\Windows\\system32\\python34.zip',
 'C:\\Python34\\DLLs',
 'C:\\Python34\\lib',
 'C:\\Users\\cdegen\\face',
 'C:\\Users\\cdegen\\face\\lib\\site-packages']
Server time:    Mon, 23 Jun 2014 08:33:39 -0400

I have the Twitter backends added to my AUTHENTICATION_BACKENDS. I have the TWITTER_CONSUMER_KEY and TWITTER_CONSUMER_SECRET set.

A: I found the solution. I was using the django-social-auth3 which is the python3 fork of django-social-auth. I set up a new virtualevn using django-social-auth and I was able to auth with facebook, twitter and google+.


text:
Barron's Stock Pick: Equipment Maker Terex Is a Cheap Bet on an Economic Recovery
Investors betting on a cyclical recovery in the global economy would love to be able to cherry-pick industrial companies.
That would be
(ticker: TEX), a manufacturer of equipment used in construction, mining, maintenance, and other industries. It is a small-cap industrial with a strong balance sheet and the potential for profit growth. And its stock is cheap.
If you know the name Terex, it may be because of its cranes. Businesses including cranes accounted for half of the company's sales in 2015. But those divisions had operating profits of 4% or less that year. So the following year, a new CEO, John Garrison, set about slimming down Terex's portfolio.
"We developed a strategy predicated on focus, simplifying, and executing to win," Garrison tells Barron's.
What's left is a company that is leaner and potentially more profitable through economic cycles.
Today's Terex comprises two main segments. The larger one is aerial work platforms, or AWP—cherry pickers and other lifts that enable workers to reach high-up jobs. Its flagship brand is Genie, with its bright blue branding. The chief competitor is orange-hued JLG Industries, a division of
(OSK). Together, the two control north of 80% of the North American AWP market.
The pandemic bottled up Genie: Sales dropped 38% in the first half of 2020 from a year ago. Its main customers—large equipment-rental firms like
(URI) and Sunbelt Rentals, a unit of
Ashtead Group
(AHT.UK)—slashed their spending as the virus hit.
United Rentals' capital expenditures fell to a guided midpoint of $850 million from $2.4 billion last year. Sunbelt's went to a projected $512 million from $1.6 billion. That's below replacement levels, notes Christian Frenes, a managing director at Nuveen, TIAA-CREF's investment-management division.
"The point is, unless the world ends in 2021, this is very likely the trough of North American rental capex," Frenes says. "So this is the point of maximum pain."
Nuveen's funds own about 6% of Terex, having nearly doubled their stake in the past year. Wall Street consensus estimates are for Genie's sales to return to growth next year, but to take several years to fully recover.
AWP equipment tends to operate on an eight-year replacement cycle, which is now coming due. That and a potential infrastructure spending package from Washington could add fuel to Genie's sales rebound.
But it's more than just a cyclical bounce that can buoy sales of Genie's boom lifts, scissor lifts, and telehandlers. The company also has a clear opportunity for self-improvement.
"They used to have margins that were actually slightly ahead of JLG, and over the last three or four years they've lost that edge," says Jefferies industrials analyst Stephen Volkmann, who rates Terex a Buy. "I don't think they're getting much credit for their ability to close that gap."
His model has Terex's profit margin returning to its pre-2019 levels in the next few years. His $30 price target on the stock is a 48% premium to its recent $20.33. That's about 12.5 times his estimate for Terex's 2022 earnings per share, versus the stock's current roughly eight times. Competitor Oshkosh trades for about 11 times its fiscal 2022 consensus earnings, while Japan's
Sumitomo Heavy Industries
(6302.Japan) goes for 10 times. Large-cap machinery makers like
(CAT) and
(DE) trade for at least 16 times 2022 estimated earnings.
Garrison has taken a more hands-on approach to the Genie business. He assumed the role of president of Terex's AWP segment in June, and now spends about two weeks of every month at Genie's assembly plant in Redmond, Wash. "Our job is to return the business to its historical operating margin level, and I'm confident that we're going to be able to do that," the CEO says.
E= Estimate
He points to efforts to improve the sourcing of components, make manufacturing processes more efficient, and expand Genie's higher-margin parts and service business.
A longer-term opportunity for Genie could come from Asia, where the use of AWP is in its infancy. China is the world's largest construction-equipment market, but spending on AWP per dollar of construction spending is about an eighth of what it is in North America. Terex has manufacturing in China for the domestic market, and for exports to Europe.
Terex's other segment—materials processing—accounts for a third of revenue. It has product lines like crushing and screening equipment, concrete mixers and paving machines, and its remaining crane business.
The most promising opportunity is in mobile crushing and screening equipment, which is in a similar adoption phase globally as Genie is in Asia, Garrison says.
Barron's Preview
Get a sneak preview of the top stories from the weekend's Barron's magazine. Friday evenings ET.
Wall Street expects materials-processing sales to decline 13% this year, to $1.2 billion. Analysts see that growing about 10% a year through 2023, to about $1.6 billion. Operating profit margins have historically run in the low teens for the segment.
When the pandemic hit, Terex cut operating costs and suspended its dividend and share buybacks. Despite the drop in sales, the company expects to generate free cash flow this year. Its balance sheet is in good shape: The company has roughly $400 million in cash, $600 million available on its revolving credit line, and no debt covenants to meet in 2020. No major borrowings come due before 2024. There is little to worry investors.
To play a recovery in global economies, here is a cheap, industrial small-cap that can rise above.
Write to Nicholas Jasinski at [email protected]
Tags: Barrons bet Cheap economic Equipment maker Pick Recovery Stock Terex
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text:
"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."
~ Martin Luther King Jr
YesBiscuit Blog Exposes More Recent HSUS Lies
a good summary from YesBiscuit! of the tragedy of lies and deception delivered to an unsuspecting court (that didn't seem very interested in suspecting anyway) by the supposed "humane" society. I don't really care for her characterization as "bust" dogs though. Many folks have been found not guilty and these raids are frequently found not to be 'busts' at all (see below!). it's a little outdated, but I just ran across it.
the "humane" society has since changed their all-kill policy, supposedly. how convenient to do so now that they have almost single handedly exterminated 3/4+ of all quality, established US breeding stock from almost all major breeders in the last half dozen or so years.
I personally looked up and inquired about a bunch of stuff regarding the faron case and the law and facts involved there. I was pretty disappointed that a guy like ed, who seemed to be a lot more resourceful and motivated, let himself be run down and over like this.
146 Pitbulls, including 19 pups still nursing from their dams, were killed on order of the court in Wilkes Co, NC in February 2009. Most of the dogs had been seized in connection with a dogfighting investigation conducted by local authorities in conjunction with the HSUS. The remaining pups were born after the seizure.
The two HSUS representatives whose testimony Judge Wilson relied upon to make the decision on what to do with the dogs were Amanda Arrington and Chris Schindler.
Although Best Friends had made an offer to the county to save the dogs, their representative was not advised of this hearing which took place immediately after the third defendant in the dogfighting case plead guilty:
Best Friends Animal Society, which operates one the nation's largest animal sanctuaries, had contacted County Attorney Tony Triplett within days of the December raid. The group had offered to work with rescue agencies to place the dogs.
But when Judge Wilson asked yesterday if Best Friends had gotten involved at the last minute, Assistant District Attorney Fred Bauer told the judge that the group had called him last Thursday and Friday, and had called his boss, District Attorney Tom Horner, yesterday.
"That's just totally misconstruing the contacts we had with the county attorney and the attempts we tried to have with the DA," [Ledy] VanKavage [attorney for Best Friends] said.
She said she left a message for Bauer a month ago, on either Jan. 13 or 14, and had made at least three attempts to contact the DA's office. "I left a message for Fred Bauer and he never returned my call," she said.
After court yesterday, Bauer said he couldn't recall if he'd gotten a message from Best Friends, but that he didn't intend to mislead Wilson and would clear it up with the judge today if there was any misunderstanding.
The case had been set for trial next month. People working on rescuing the dogs thought they had more time.
VanKavage said that when she learned about yesterday's ruling she called Wilkesboro attorney William Burke to seek an injunction against destroying the dogs. She said Burke reported that when he got to the courthouse shortly before it closed, the judge was gone and the order was already signed. She said that Burke told her he thought the dogs would be dead before he could get the request before the judge.
VanKavage said that Bauer misrepresented her side's interest to the judge and it affected the proceeding.
"I think the judge wanted to hear our side of it and if we'd gotten some notice, we could have gotten into that courtroom, but the DA's office chose to stonewall us and because of that, these puppies died," she said.
After reviewing a transcript of the court testimony of the HSUS representatives, it does indeed appear that the case for saving the dogs was "misrepresented":
MS. AMANDA ARRINGTON: Amanda Arrington. I'm the North Carolina State Director for the Humane Society of the United States. And our concern is that the only offer of help has been from Best Friends, but they are not offering to take these dogs.
THE COURT: They are not offering to take the dogs?
MS. AMANDA ARRINGTON: They are offering to assist. That is their language that they used. That means it would still be the county's responsibility. And in their own words, it costs about $190,000 per dog to rehabilitate them.
THE COURT: $190,000 to rehabilitate a dog?
MS. AMANDA ARRINGTON: Yes, sir.
THE COURT: That's what Best Friends says?
MS. AMANDA ARRINGTON: Yes.
(Brief pause.)
THE COURT: Why is this the so-called humane thing to do?
MS. AMANDA ARRINGTON: To euthanize?
THE COURT: Yes, ma'am.
MS. AMANDA ARRINGTON: For the dogs themselves, I think, because of the way that they were bred. I think it is an unrealistic expectation for us to ask these dogs that have been bred generations for fighting to become regular pets. And it's an even bigger thing to ask people to take on that responsibility and the county to take on both the financial burden and the liability. You know, we could be a couple years down the road and one of these dogs could do something, and I think it ultimately could come back on the county of Wilkes.
To be clear, Best Friends had offered the following:
Best Friends is willing to send a certified applied behaviorist out to evaluate the dogs and puppies. Of those who do well, Best Friends will fund their sterilization and transportation to responsible rescue groups.
I interpret that to mean the county would not be left holding the bag financially or liability-wise. And I'm sure the attorney for Best Friends would have explained that to the judge had the group been made aware of the hearing to determine what to do with the dogs.
More testimony:
THE COURT: Sir, did you want to add something?
MR. CHRIS SCHINDLER: I'm Chris Schindler. I'm the Deputy Manager, Animal Fighting Law Enforcement, Humane society of the United States.
You can't -- you know, even the puppies, you know, as you have heard, have been displaying those you know, those tendencies to start fighting with each other, and that's something you are going to see as they grow older. Most of these dogs, you won't know their true capability until they are at least 18 months old. These guys don't even test them for fighting purposes until they are 18 months old. So the likelihood of being able to hold these dogs until they are almost two years old to find out how dangerous they may be is unrealistic. I mean, housing them just for now has cost, you know, maybe more than $60,000, just to hold them until now, to this point. I mean, these dogs, they are not on the same level. You know, people speak about the Michael Vick dogs. Those dogs have not even been rehabilitated.
Reading the HSUS testimony in the case is helpful in clarifying what was actually said and what the group's position was regarding the dogs. But for me, questions remain:
Did the judge get the whole story in this case?
Did the judge hear truthful testimony from the HSUS representatives?
Who actually killed the dogs and how was the killing funded?
Does HSUS honestly believe the Vick dogs have not been rehabilitated despite so much evidence to the contrary? And that it costs $190,000 to rehab a bust dog?
If HSUS does an about-face and adopts some sort of policy to save bust dogs (my two cents) at their Las Vegas hotel gathering this month, can we trust them to follow through on it?
Will HSUS use as many resources to save bust dogs in future as it has in past to get them killed?
https://yesbiscuit.blogspot.com/2009/04/court-to-hsus-why-is-this-so-called.html


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Vega Blue is a fictional character created by Thomas J Chee. Any similarities between this creation and any other Sim creation, fictional character or any person, living or deceased is purely coincidental.
Renáta is a fictional character created by Thomas J Chee. Any similarities between this creation and any other Sim creation, fictional character or any person, living or deceased is purely coincidental.