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https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/asia-july-dec01-afghanistan_11-21
Taliban Denies Knowing Bin Laden's Whereabouts
World Nov 21, 2001 5:45 PM EST
Tayab Agha, spokesman for Taliban supreme leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, said, "There is no relation now, there is no communication."
"We have no idea where he is because our areas are limited now to three or four provinces, so we do not know where he is."
The United States has accused the Taliban of harboring bin Laden, suspected of masterminding the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks that killed nearly 5,000 people.
Even though the Taliban has lost nearly 65 percent of its land to opposition forces over the past two weeks, Agha said the Taliban militia would never abandon its southern spiritual center of Kandahar.
"We will not give any chance to anybody to disturb our Islamic rule in Kandahar and other provinces," Agha said.
Agha asserted the Sept. 11 attacks were "not something concerned with Afghanistan." In retaliation for the U.S. strikes against the Taliban and the al-Qaida terrorist network hiding in Afghanistan, the Taliban "hope mighty Allah will break America," Agha said.
Gen. Tommy Franks, head of the U.S. Central Command, said the U.S. and its allies would continue to put pressure on the Taliban and al-Qaida leaders.
"We need to complete the work in Kandahar … and most importantly we need to complete the destruction of the al-Qaida terrorist network," Franks said during a press conference in Uzbekistan.
To aid in capturing bin Laden, the U.S. military has instructed the Navy to stop and inspect merchant ships off the coast of Pakistan if the ships are suspected of carrying al-Qaida leaders.
Lt. Gen. Peter Pace, director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said U.S. warplanes are targeting al-Qaida hide-outs in cave and tunnel complexes in the rugged Afghan terrain.
Asked about military methods of destroying such complexes, Pace said "our specialized approach to caves and tunnels is to put 5,000 pound bombs in the entrances."
U.S. warplanes also flew in and around Kandahar and the northern city of Kunduz today in support of anti-Taliban Northern Alliance forces. Bombing was relatively light because cloudy winter weather obstructed visibility.
The stand-off in Kunduz, the only northern city still occupied by the Taliban, continued today as thousands of Taliban fighters inside the city tried to negotiate a surrender with the Northern Alliance forces surrounding them
The Northern Alliance has said it will accept the surrender of Afghan Taliban troops, but not of the Arab, Pakistani or Chechen fighters that entered Afghanistan to fight alongside the Taliban. Refugees fleeing Kunduz have said the foreign fighters, left without an escape, were killing Afghan Taliban troops who wanted to defect.
Tracking bin Laden
In other military news, the Pentagon is employing various new tactics to aid in the capture of the Taliban and al-Qaida forces in Afghanistan.
AC-130 gunships, loud and low-flying aircraft capable of firing 2,500 rounds of ammunition per minute, could be moved closer to northern Afghanistan to support anti-Taliban forces around Kunduz, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said.
Also, the Global Hawk, a new unmanned surveillance plane, has been operating over Afghanistan for about a day to help collect intelligence.
U.S. aircraft continued to drop thousands of leaflets advertising the $25 million reward for the capture of bin Laden. Radio messages touting the reward are also being broadcast into Afghanistan via radio transmitters aboard EC-130 Commando Solo airplanes.
A battalion of Marines trained for counterterrorism could soon join Army and Air Force special operations troops on the ground in Afghanistan.
U.N. talks to be held in Bonn
Representatives from four different Afghan groups plan to attend the U.N.-sponsored talks on the formation of a post-Taliban government in Bonn, Germany next week.
Lakhdar Brahimi, the top U.N. envoy to Afghanistan, said he hopes fewer than 30 Afghan leaders will participate to allow for a quick decision on a provisional administration for Afghanistan. However, German Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Sabine Sparwasser says she is expecting between 50 and 70 participants.
The Northern Alliance delegation will be led by Interior Minister Yunus Qanuni. Former King Zahir Shah, an ethnic Pashtun in exile in Rome since 1973, plans to include at least one woman in his delegation. No Taliban representative was invited.


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Two Million People Call for Pornhub to Be Shutdown for Sex Trafficking Videos
Viral #Traffickinghub movement, now two million strong, wants Pornhub shut down for allegedly enabling and profiting from rape and sex trafficking.
Reynolds Announces Ten Additional Counties Will Receive FEMA Individual Assistance
Published on September 1, 2020
Ben Sasse,
Laila Mickelwait,
Pornhub,
TraffickingHub Campaign,
U.S. Department of Justice,
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – With signers from 192 countries, anti-trafficking expert Laila Mickelwait's "Traffickinghub" petition to shut down Pornhub for allegedly enabling and profiting from the sex trafficking and rape of women and children has surpassed two million signatures.
The campaign, based on numerous cases of real videos of child sexual abuse, adult trafficking, assault, and rape—all monetized on Pornhub—also released a viral video which has gained 33 million views globally. The movement has been featured in hundreds of media articles, drawn support from celebrities, and inspired protests in front of Pornhub's offices in Montreal, Canada and Los Angeles, California.
Inspired by the petition, U.S. Senator Ben Sasse, R-Neb., released a letter to Attorney General William Barr, demanding that the U.S. Department of Justice open an investigation into Pornhub and its parent company MindGeek. A multi-party group of Canadian members of parliament also sent a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, asking the Government of Canada to investigate Pornhub and MindGeek.
Recently, Mickelwait met with lawmakers in Washington, D.C. to present a thorough, evidence-base case against the site, which draws 42 billion visits per year.
The non-religious, non-partisan movement to shut down the world's largest porn site for allegedly profiting from the rape and trafficking of women and children has been endorsed by over 300 anti-trafficking, child protection, and women's rights organizations, and has even drawn support from professionals in the adult entertainment industry, who released a manifesto rejecting Pornhub and its illegal, exploitative practices.
The grassroots movement was sparked by the February 9 release of an op-ed, written by campaign founder Laila Mickelwait, exposing the crimes on Pornhub and calling for justice. The following day, the BBC published the harrowing story of Rose Kalemba who, at 14 years old, was taken at knifepoint and raped for 12 hours, after which the videos of her torture were uploaded to Pornhub by her attackers.
Another recent example was the case of a 15-year-old girl from Florida, who was missing for a year and was located after 58 videos of her sexual abuse and rape were found monetized on Pornhub.
"All it takes to upload content to Pornhub is an email address—no government-issued ID is required. Pornhub doesn't bother to reliably verify the age or the consent of the millions featured in the videos it hosts and profits from. The site is set up for exploitation and is infested with videos of the real rape, trafficking, abuse, and exploitation of women and children. We have significant evidence and it is just the tip of the iceberg. Pornhub is arguably the largest public collection of sexual exploitation evidence in existence," asserts Mickelwait. "Shut it down and lock them up."
The full story, along with a way to sign the petition, is available at traffickinghub.com.
Pro-life Groups Target Planned Parenthood with #100YearsofAbuse Campaign
National pro-life groups rally grassroots to expose the truth about America's largest abortion business, Planned Parenthood, ahead of its 100th Anniversary.
New Journal Examining Foreign Policy From a Christian Perspective Has Launched
The Institute on Religion & Democracy plans to fill a void by providing conservative Protestant and Evangelical perspectives on international issues.
Mark Tooley
A Religious Left Revival?
A new report from a center-left think tank is questioning the appeal…
New NRA Ad: "Moms Like Me" (Video)
In a new NRA commercial, The Blaze TV and talk radio host Dana Loesch lays out the position of moms who demand protection and their right to bear arms.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Home Objections to plaintiffs' requested findings in 'The Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations v. The United...
Objections to plaintiffs' requested findings in 'The Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations v. The United States of America.' Cong. No. 17641. (Copy 3).
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Title Objections to plaintiffs' requested findings in 'The Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations v. The United States of America.' Cong. No. 17641. (Copy 3).
Original Order Box 22
Collection Name Melven Cornish
Relation Native American Manuscripts Collection
Special Collection University of Oklahoma Western History Collections
Rights University of Oklahoma Libraries
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After yesterday's couple messages, I will come back with a brighter story.
I presented a roughly thrown together idea to the ATDC program. The program that I stumbled upon during last week which is geared to establish a base for your business. The idea was well received.
I will explain the idea later, but will sum it up here.
To give land owners the opportunity to monetize their produce.
Which could come as wild, planted, or grown foods. To sell, trade, or donate to a connected corporation (possibly—but not likely a Non-profit). The corporation, whether profit based or non will contain guidelines to support the local community.
Speaking with a new friend tonight, about this and his great ideas, and I may have inspired him onward. He should be joining the program. I am delighted to see some action from him. He feels he must either commit to a grand gesture or go do… haha, I cannot say, but it was a hoot!!
The kicker is the $5,000 prize for best presentation at the end of the 12 weeks, that was a surprise today to hear. Though the prize sounds great, it changes nothing of my own plans. Because I know that if I commit to twelve weeks, then that rolling snowball will already have its own momentum.


OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THE NEW : LITERALLY!
Every year around New Year's time, I think of my first few months of living in Naples, Italy. At the time, I was not yet 21 years old and although I thought myself to be worldly and much older than my years, culture shock was getting the better of me.
I arrived in Italy in August and through a chance meeting, I landed a beautiful (and furnished) apartment overlooking the bay of Naples, a telephone, electricity, and a genuinely smart and beautiful crowd of Italian friends. Someone neglected to tell me that apartments are impossible to come by, especially furnished; that telephones take around eighteen months to get; and electricity is easy to get as long as you had a couple of month's patience. As for the Italian friends, from day one I learned that all one needed to do was to ask for directions on the street and they were likely to receive an invitation to dinner. What, me worry? I am the worldly guy. This is normal, right?
The only thing I worried about was the language. I did not speak Italian. But my new friends were determined to teach me and constantly dragged me to every social function imaginable. So I learned Italian by watching reruns of Star Trek and Loveboat with an Italian dictionary, pen and pad nearby, and socializing with my Italian friends who spoke very little English. By holiday's time, I had this "living abroad thing" down to a science because I spoke conversational Italian with little effort. What, me worry? I can handle anything. Day in and day out, I learned new things about Italian culture. But nothing prepared me for the holidays.
When the holidays arrived, I had no place to celebrate Chanukah. This meant that I would celebrate my holidays the Italian Catholic way. I had a wonderful Christmas with an Italian family, that practically adopted me as one of their own, and I experienced first hand the graciousness and love of the Italian people. They even found a menorah and we lit candles (forget which day it was)---all of them. It was a wonderful evening and I was emotionally overwhelmed at the affection afforded me. I thought that this was one cultural difference I could easily warm to. But this is normal for me, right? I am the worldly guy.
The rest of the week was a barrage of holiday parties and strange little customs. All were in good fun. I was told that on New Year's Eve to not park my car on the street and be ready for dinner at 10:00 pm. Did I mention that dinner plans usually started at 9:00 pm anyway? What, me worry?
On, New Year's Eve, my friends arrived to my apartment promptly at 10:00 pm. We walked around the corner to a beautiful little restaurant called the "Il Cottone Club" or the Cotton Club. We had a spectacular meal, wonderful conversation and more wine than I care to admit---but hey, we were walking remember. I learned that the remainder of our evening involved coffee afterwards and then a trip to a jazz club. My culture shock was disappearing more with each passing minute.
I left the restaurant with a wonderful feeling. Anxious for more conversation over coffee, our group settled at the sidewalk tables at the little Café behind my apartment. I noticed that the streets were eerily quiet and devoid of parked cars or traffic. Someone announced the time and the crowd agreed in unison to something that I did not understand. We all ordered our coffee and conversation picked up where it was left off in the restaurant. This was the life, I told myself. Just then some shouted "Due minuti". "Two minutes?" I wondered aloud.
Without interrupting conversation, the group picked up their coffees, cigarettes and purses, and they all casually moved to the archway of the Café. I then heard the familiar count down to a New Year's Eve. "Tre, due, uno, Buon Felice Anno" rang out. And kisses and hugs broke out all around. I stepped out of the archway to give a friend a hug on the other side of the crowd. In a flash, I was grabbed by my collar and yanked into the archway. Still trying to determine if I had broken some Italian custom on New Year's Eve, I heard an amazingly loud crash behind me. I turned to see a television that saw its last good day when the Honeymooner reruns were on (and only a few months old). I heard more crashes and looked down the street to see every imaginable old item in pulverized piles. It was apparent that the old adage, "Out with the old, in with the new" was a literal expression in Italian culture.
Well, hello culture shock! What the hell is this? My friends assured me that this was normal and it was evident because conversation truly went on uninterrupted. We proceeded to the jazz club that evening and it was the most amazing New Year's Eve I ever had. What, me worry? I had this "living abroad thing" down right? Are you crazy? Every day for the remainder of the four years I lived there, I constantly lived in fear of being crushed by an appliance older than I was.
So much for being worldly.


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A Need for Recycling as India's Plastics Consumption Grows
2016-08-01T00:00:00-05:00August 1, 2016|
Region/Countries: Asia, India Industry: Other, Water / Clean Technology Date: August 2016
Why this is important to Wisconsin businesses: Opportunities for Wisconsin companies with the equipment and technology to recycle plastic waste
Plastics is one of the fastest growing industries in India and is playing a vital role in the Indian economy. India is a growing market for plastics, consuming about 12.8 million metric tonnes (MMT) of plastics annually, compared to global consumption of 285 MMT annually. India has about 30,000 processing units (about 75 percent are small-scale) with 113,000 processing machines, creating an annual manufacturing capacity of 30 MMT.
The per capita consumption of polymers in India is around 10.5 kg (23 lbs), as compared to 109 kg (240 lbs) in the U.S., 45 kg (99 lbs) in China and 32 kg (71 lbs) in Brazil. Per capita consumption in India will be growing to 20 kg (44 lbs) by 2020. The current low level of per capita plastics consumption in India indicates the immense growth potential, signaling opportunities for foreign entrants in the market.
In the past, plastics use in India was largely limited to household consumer durables and packaging. Today, plastics are the material of choice in packaging for sectors such as fast-moving consumer goods, food and beverages, pharmaceuticals and agriculture. Growth in the automotive, organized retail and infrastructure sectors, rising population, rising incomes, changing lifestyles and a boom in e-commerce are all trends that are fueling the growth of the plastics industry in India. For the most part, plastic and plastic products have replaced wood products in India.
High inflation and rising prices, lack of a skilled workforce, difficulty in procuring raw materials due to a weak infrastructure, growing environmental concerns, and the challenges of recycling mixed plastic waste and plastic recovery are among the challenges the industry faces.
Although plastic has a negative reputation as a polluting material, the benefits of using it are manifold. Increased recycling and reuse of plastics will be an important for repairing its reputation. Many opportunities exist in India for Wisconsin companies in equipment and technologies for recycling plastics waste.
India imported $11.4 billion of plastic in FY 2016, with the U.S. as the fourth-largest source: $839 million in U.S. plastics exports accounted for more than 7 percent of India's total plastics imports.
The industry has invested $5 billion in machinery and is expected to make further investments of $10 billion to increase capacity over the next five years.
To restrict cheap plastic machinery imports, the Indian government has imposed anti-dumping duties of up to 44.7 percent on imports of plastics processing machines from Taiwan, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam for five years.
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At 2:43 pm on October 24, 1944, Rear Admiral Jesse B. Oldendorf received a dispatch from Vice Admiral Thomas C. Kinkaid, commander of the Central Philippines Attack Force. The message was straightforward and direct: "Prepare for night engagement," and was duly logged aboard Oldendorf's flagship, the heavy cruiser USS Louisville. Admiral Oldendorf, commander of the Leyte invasion fire support warships, was not surprised by the order. Naval intelligence had already been apprised of the fact that a Japanese force was on its way toward Leyte Gulf.
Rear Admiral Jesse B. Oldendorf.
At the height of the Battle of Leyte Gulf , Admiral Oldendorf, a stocky man with a cheerful disposition, was to intercept Japanese naval Force C, under the command of Vice Admiral Shoji Nishimura. That morning, Nishimura's task group had been spotted by aircraft from the carriers Enterprise and Franklin. Another task group was sighted less than three hours later. This was Number Two Striking Force, under Vice Admiral Kiyohide Shima. The main force, the First Striking Force under Vice Admiral Takeo Kurita, had been intercepted by the submarines Darter and Dace the day before.
The three Japanese task groups were to rendezvous at Leyte Gulf, with Kurita entering from the north and Nishimura and Shima from the south, and attack the American transports and their escorts off the Philippine island of Leyte where American forces under General Douglas MacArthur had landed on October 20. If everything went according to the Japanese plan, the three task groups would arrive at Leyte Gulf at dawn on October 25, sink the American support ships off Leyte, and isolate the American troops on the island.
When he received the order to prepare for a night battle, Admiral Oldendorf decided that his best course of action would be to block Surigao Strait. The northern end of the strait leads into Leyte Gulf, and Oldendorf intended to place a battle line "squarely across the Leyte exit of the strait," blocking Japanese access to the gulf. And he had enough warships at his disposal to accomplish what he had in mind.
The heart of Oldendorf's battle line were the old battleships Mississippi, Maryland, West Virginia, Tennessee, California, and Pennsylvania. All but Mississippi were veterans of Pearl Harbor and had been either sunk or badly damaged by the Japanese attack. Now they were going to be given the chance to return the compliment.
The rest of the American force consisted of four heavy cruisers, including the Australian HMAS Shropshire, four light cruisers, and at least 28 destroyers including HMAS Arunta. "This was more than enough to take care of the Japanese southern force," commented historian Samuel Eliot Morison. The Japanese Navy was well known for its lethal night torpedo attacks, and Oldendorf planned to overwhelm the enemy with superior numbers. "We didn't want them to pull another Savo Island on us," he commented. The Battle of Savo Island , fought by American and Japanese warships off Guadalcanal in August 1942, was one of the most humiliating defeats in the history of the U.S. Navy, and four Allied cruisers had been sunk. This time, nothing was being left to chance.
Admiral Oldendorf's plan was fairly simple. First, every available PT boat would be stationed at the southern entrance to Surigao Strait. There would be 39 PT boats on patrol in the strait after dark; their instructions were to report the approach of the enemy and to attack with torpedoes. Next, the destroyers would attack with their torpedoes. The cruisers and battleships would then open fire with their large-caliber guns when the enemy came within range.
Admiral Nishimura's Force C, which would be moving north toward Leyte Gulf, consisted of the old battleships Fuso and Yamashiro, the heavy cruiser Mogami, and four destroyers: Michishio, Yamagumo, Asagumo, and Shigure. Both Fuso and Yamashiro dated from World War I. Fuso was commissioned in 1915 and Yamashiro in 1917, although neither had taken part in any naval battles. Added armor protection, new boilers, and other improvements modernized both ships in the 1930s, but both were still considered too old and slow for an active role in the fleet. After Pearl Harbor, however, warships were needed for the confrontation with the U.S. Navy, and Fuso and Yamashiro were recalled from their training duties in the Inland Sea. Fuso was part of the Aleutian force during the Battle of Midway and took part in the reinforcing of Truk in 1943.
Nishimura's force was much smaller than the American fleet it would be facing, but Admiral Oldendorf was not about to show any leniency. "If my opponent is foolish enough to come at me with an inferior force," he later said, "I'm certainly not going to give him an even break." Also, one of his destroyer squadron commanders, Captain Jesse Coward, had faced the Japanese at night off Guadalcanal. He knew what the Japanese were capable of doing with their long lance torpedoes and night tactics and was not about to let them do the same thing at Surigao Strait.
The U.S. Navy force under Admiral Jesse B. Oldendorf harassed the Japanese the length of Surigao Strait and completed the rout of the enemy force with a classic crossing of the T.
At 10:36 pm on the night of October 24, the crew of PT-131 picked up Nishimura's group on radar. Visual contact was established 14 minutes later. About two minutes after this, the destroyer Shigure sighted the PT boats and began shooting. One shell hit PT-130 but failed to explode. The boat's captain broke off contact at maximum speed and sent his contact report. Aboard Louisville, Admiral Oldendorf received the report just after midnight on October 25.
Each PT squadron in the strait went through the same sequence of events: making contact with the enemy, usually sending a contact report, firing torpedoes that missed, coming under fire from Japanese destroyers, and retiring behind a smoke screen. Admiral Oldendorf followed the progress of the PT reports closely; they confirmed that he did not need to make any changes to his battle plan. Of the boats that came under fire, 10 were hit and one was sunk. Total casualties were three killed and 20 wounded.
Admiral Nishimura paid no attention to the PT attacks and kept advancing northward toward Leyte Gulf. His next contact with the enemy came at about 3 am, when he encountered the seven destroyers of Destroyer Squadron 54, commanded by Captain Jesse Coward. Captain Coward had already received notification of an unidentified contact at 2:40 am. The contact soon was confirmed to be a column of ships steering due north. Coward ordered his destroyers to attack with only torpedoes since their 5-inch guns would be ineffective against large enemy warships.
Admiral Nishimura's column had its four destroyers in the lead, followed by Yamashiro, Fuso, and Mogami. Destroyer Squadron 54 split into two groups. Melvin, McGowan, and Remy would attack from the east, while Monssen and McDermut would make their approach from the west. Captain Coward, aboard Remy, closed with Nishimura's ships at about 30 knots, making smoke. At 2:58, he turned his destroyers to the left, bringing torpedo tubes to bear, and gave the order, "Fire when ready." Remy, Melvin, and McGowan began launching their torpedoes, firing 27 in about 75 seconds. It would take about eight minutes before they completed their runs of between 8,200 and 9,300 yards. With all torpedoes expended, Coward turned hard to port on a base course of 21 degrees, the three destroyers zigzagging individually and making smoke. None of the American destroyers suffered damage.
Strangely, Admiral Nishimura did not take any evasive action, even though he must have guessed that the American destroyers had fired torpedoes at his column. Several explosions were observed by sailors aboard Coward's destroyers. A few minutes later, a large ship in the column slowed and began turning slowly to starboard. The battleship Fuso had been hit by a torpedo from the Melvin, but Admiral Nishimura continued to send orders to Fuso as though the ship were still undamaged.
While Captain Coward's division was withdrawing, the destroyers McDermut and Monssen were still steaming due south. The destroyer division's commanding officer, Commander Richard H. Phillips, turned to port to get into firing position, swinging his two destroyers back on a southerly course. A moment later, he ordered torpedoes to be fired when ready. McDermut began firing immediately; Monssen followed at 3:11.
This time, Admiral Nishimura did try to take evasive action. He turned 90 degrees to starboard, then 90 degrees to port, but this did not take him away from the torpedoes. At 3:20, flashes from explosions among Nishimura's ships were observed aboard both destroyers. A searchlight beam, probably from one of the Japanese destroyers, lit up Monssen. Shell splashes followed almost immediately, and some were so close that columns of water drenched the aft guns of both Monssen and McDermut. The destroyers made smoke, changed course, and increased speed. The searchlight beam disappeared along with the bursting shells.
Destroyer Squadron 54 fired a total of 47 torpedoes. Captain Coward was positive that they had scored at least three hits. Actually, five of the torpedoes had found targets, resulting in the sinking of three enemy ships. McDermut's torpedo salvo accounted for no fewer than three destroyers—Yamagumo, Michishio, and Asagumo. Yamagumo blew up and sank; Michishio was badly damaged and drifting and would sink shortly; Asagumo had her bow blown off but was able to make headway. Monssen scored a hit on Yamashiro, which continued steaming on course, but Melvin's hit on Fuso would prove to be fatal.
However, the attack of the destroyers was not over. Destroyer Squadron 24, under Captain K.M. McManes, also came south down the strait in two sections. The first section consisted of Hutchins, Daly, and Bache; the second of Killen, Beale, and HMAS Arunta. At 3:17, Commander A.E. Buchanan of the Royal Australian Navy heard Captain McManes's order, "Boil up! Make smoke! Let me know when you have fired." Two minutes later, the destroyer Yamagumo blew up, already hit by one of McDermut's torpedoes. The light from the explosion was a great help to Commander Buchanan in making his run.
The fire from Yamagumo's burning hulk might have helped the torpedomen see their targets, but it did not help to hit them. Arunta launched four torpedoes at a range of 6,500 yards. All four missed. Beale fired five torpedoes at 6,800 yards. These missed as well. Killen had better luck, firing five torpedoes at Yamashiro and hitting her once. Killen's captain, Commander H.G. Corey, had been at Pearl Harbor and must have taken pleasure in torpedoing one of the enemy's battleships. The second torpedo hit on Yamashiro slowed the ship to five knots, but only for a short time. The tough old battlewagon still made headway, and steadily regained speed.
Captain McManes's three destroyers, Hutchins, Daly, and Bache, were also coming south at 25 knots. At 3:29, they began launching torpedoes. Admiral Nishimura's neat column had disintegrated by this time. Yamashiro still pressed resolutely northward, now at about 15 knots. Shigure and Mogami, both still undamaged, fanned out on her starboard side. Fuso and the remaining destroyers were either drifting with the current or trying to withdraw to the south. This made for much more difficult shooting than Captain Coward had experienced.
McManes's destroyers fired a total of 15 torpedoes at Nishimura's force, or what was left of it. Bache also opened fire with her 5-inch guns at the damaged Japanese destroyers and was joined by Hutchins and Daly. The enemy returned an inaccurate fire of its own.
While this exchange was taking place, everyone's attention was distracted by what happened to Fuso. The hit by Melvin's torpedo—or possibly two torpedoes—had apparently caused internal fires that her damage control parties were not able to extinguish. The fires soon spread to one or more of the main magazines. At 3:38, the battleship exploded with a tremendous concussion and broke in half. Sailors on both sides witnessed the spectacle. The detonation was massive and was made even more spectacular by the moonless night. Both the bow and stern sections continued to float, drifting slowly away from each other. The two sections continued to drift until the forward section went down at 4:20. The stern sank less than an hour later.
As McManes's destroyers began to withdraw, Hutchins launched her five remaining torpedoes at Asagumo. All five missed their target, but one hit Michishio, which had drifted into the path of the spread. Michishio blew up and sank immediately. Admiral Oldendorf's destroyers had completely reversed the Japanese dominance in night torpedo attacks, which had plagued American forces at Guadalcanal two years earlier. The U.S. destroyers suffered no losses during the action.
Unlike the other squadrons, Destroyer Squadron 56 was deployed in three sections. Captain Smoot led Section One, which included Albert W. Grant, Richard P. Leary, and Newcomb. Section Two was under Captain T.F. Colney and consisted of Bryant, Hartford, and Robinson. Section Three, commanded by Commander J.W. Bouleware, was made up of Bennion, Leutze, and Heywood L. Edwards.
The swift assault of American PT boats in Surigao Strait threw the Japanese fleet under Admiral Shoji Nishimura into confusion.
All nine destroyers steamed south at 25 knots. Colney's three destroyers were the first to make contact with the enemy force, which now consisted of Yamashiro, Mogami, and Shigure, and began launching torpedoes at 3:54. Each destroyer fired five torpedoes, all of which missed. Bouleware's section was next. Its targets were Yamashiro and Shigure. The two Japanese ships began firing as the destroyers launched torpedoes and kept firing as Bouleware's ships retreated northward behind a smoke screen. Neither side scored any hits.
Captain Smoot's division began launching torpedoes at 6,200 yards. Leary launched three torpedoes, Grant and Newcomb five each. A few minutes earlier, Yamashiro had altered course 90 degrees from north to west, directly across the torpedo tracks. Two explosions were seen aboard Yamashiro at 4:11, matching the interval it would have taken for Newcomb's torpedoes to make their run. Yamashiro had already come under fire from Oldendorf's battle line, explaining the change of course.
By this time, shellfire from both Japanese and American ships crisscrossed over the destroyers. Some of the shells glowed in the dark and could be seen against the black sky as they arced overhead. Both Leary and Newcomb managed to get clear of the crossfire, although they were bracketed by falling rounds. Albert W. Grant was not as lucky. Just as she was beginning her turn, the destroyer took her first hit. During the next 13 minutes, she received 18 more. Eleven of these were 6-inch shells from American cruisers. At 4:20, she was dead in the water. The crew plugged the shell holes with mattresses, tables, and anything available.
Around 5 am, Newcomb sent her medical officer and two corpsmen over to Grant by whaleboat—94 of the destroyer's crew were wounded and 34 officers and men had been killed. Grant's captain, a large, muscular man, went below and pulled several sailors out of the flooding engine room himself. An hour or so later, Newcomb took Grant in tow and pulled her out of the battle area. The destroyer was repaired and later took part in the Okinawa campaign.
While the destroyers were making their torpedo attacks, Admiral Oldendorf's battle line and flanking cruisers waited for Nishimura's group to come within range of their guns. Explosions from the torpedo hits, along with the eruption of Fuso, were visible to anyone topside on any of the cruisers or battleships. Radar screens began to pick up the enemy at 3:23. The battleships and cruisers had been steering back and forth, east and west, across the northern end of Surigao Strait. At 3:30, they were all near the western side of the strait, steering east. Twenty-one minutes later Oldendorf ordered the cruisers to open fire; two minutes later the battleships joined in.
The situation was a Naval War College textbook exercise, at least from the American point of view. Admiral Nishimura's force, now down to three ships—one battleship, one heavy cruiser, and one destroyer—continued steaming northward. Oldendorf was about to cross the T  in a classic naval maneuver, which allowed the ships forming the horizontal stroke to bring all guns to bear, while the ships forming the downstroke could only fire their forward-facing guns at the enemy.
Of the American battleships, Tennessee, West Virginia, and California had the advantage of Mk 8 fire control radar. The radar data—the distance, speed, and course of the enemy—were fed into the gunnery computer and produced a firing solution before the enemy ships even came within range. Ammunition was in relatively short supply since the ships had been bombarding enemy shore installations and were carrying relatively few armor-piercing shells.
Yamashiro continued on a course of 20 degrees at 12 knots, firing at Denver, Columbia, and other left-flank cruisers. The battleship did not have any fire control radar and was limited to shooting at visible targets. The cruisers were closer and easier to see than Oldendorf's battleships. Denver, Columbia, and Minneapolis were straddled by shell splashes.
The cruisers and battleships returned a devastating fire of their own. Every caliber shell from 6-inch to 16-inch came cascading down in the immediate vicinity of Yamashiro and Mogami. "This was modern war at sea," wrote one commentator. "They fired at something they couldn't see and it fired back." Actually, Yamashiro and Mogami were firing at the cruisers and withdrawing destroyers and only managed to hit the unfortunate Albert W. Grant.
Aboard the battleships of both navies, the concussion from the big guns was staggering. Every time a salvo was fired, the recoil rocked the ship and seemed to push it sideways. The blast from the guns squeezed the breath out of the body and popped rivets out of the bulkheads. Shells weighing nearly a ton each rocketed out of muzzles at over 1,600 miles per hour. Thick clouds of cordite smoke burned the eyes and stuck in the throat. Flashless powder was being used, but the muzzle flashes still lit up each ship on this black night. An easterly breeze blew the smoke clear, a great help for visual spotting and observation.
West Virginia fired a total of 93 rounds of 16-inch armor-piercing shells, while Tennessee and California fired 69 and 63 rounds, respectively, of 14-inch ammunition. The other three battleships were hindered by their Mk 3 radar, which was far less effective in finding targets than the Mk 8 and resulted in dramatically fewer rounds fired. Maryland fired 48 rounds, its fire control managing to find Yamashiro by ranging on the splashes from West Virginia's shells. Mississippi fired only one salvo, and Pennsylvania did not fire a shot all night long.
During the Leyte Gulf fight, the super battleship Musashi is relentlessly assaulted by U.S. planes in the Sibuyan Sea.
On the American left flank, Denver began firing at Yamashiro at 3:51. Minneapolis, Columbia, and Portland quickly joined in. Columbia alone fired 1,147 rounds in 18 minutes, equalling a 12-gun salvo every 12 seconds. Portland shifted fire to Mogami at 3:58, while Denver tried to stop Shigure but probably hit Albert W. Grant instead.
The right-flank cruisers concentrated fire on Yamashiro. Phoenix fired full 18-gun salvos on an average of every 15 seconds. Boise had also gone to rapid fire but was ordered to "fire slow and deliberate" to conserve ammunition. The Australian cruiser Shropshire started firing slowly but went to rapid fire after changing course to begin a westerly run across the strait. These cruisers fired a total of 1,181 rounds. Spotters observed large, bright flashes on Yamashiro and believed that their own gunfire was responsible.
Aboard Louisville, Admiral Oldendorf received a message that Albert W. Grant and other destroyers were being hit by friendly fire, and he ordered all ships to cease firing at 4:09. Oldendorf wanted to give the destroyers time to get out of the battle area, but he also gave Nishimura some breathing room. Yamashiro turned 90 degrees and began to retire southward. In spite of the damage, the battleship was still able to make 15 knots, although she had sustained fatal wounds. No records exist to indicate exactly how many shell hits had penetrated Yamashiro's armor, but a realistic estimate would be several hundred. At 4:19, the big ship rolled over and sank. Nishimura and most of the crew went down with the ship.
Mogami had already begun to withdraw, turning south at 3:53. As she made her way out of the strait, she was targeted by American cruisers and destroyers. By 3:53, Mogami was on fire and still taking hits. At 4:02, a shell, probably from Portland, exploded on the bridge, killing all officers including the captain. Other hits to the engine room slowed her to a crawl. She launched torpedoes at 4:01, but this was probably done as a precaution to prevent them from exploding.
Whatever the motive behind it, Mogami's torpedo salvo certainly made the Americans take notice. The destroyer Richard P. Leary, which was heading north toward the battle line, reported that torpedoes were overtaking her at 4:13. The West Virginia, Maryland, and Tennessee turned due north with their sterns away from the approaching torpedoes, while the other three battleships headed westward. When Oldendorf ordered all ships to resume firing at 4:19, the battleships were out of position. It didn't really matter, though, since there were no targets remaining. Yamashiro had gone down, and Mogami and Shigure were too far away.
By this time, Mogami was too badly damaged to be of any threat, and Shigure was leaving the battle area. But Vice Admiral Shima's Second Striking Force had not yet made its presence known. Shima's force was made up of two heavy cruisers, Nachi and Ashigara; the light cruiser Abukuma; and the destroyers Shiranuhi, Kasumi, Ushio, and Akebono. Throughout the night action, Shima had been receiving reports from Nishimura as he continued toward the strait. At midnight, he received a communiqué that Nishimura was being attacked by torpedo boats. About an hour later, his leading destroyers could see muzzle flashes from gunfire ahead. At about 3:15, the seven warships were attacked by torpedo boats. No hits were scored.
Ten minutes later, Shima's luck took a turn for the worse—another torpedo fired by a PT boat hit the Abukuma, killing about 30 men and slowing the cruiser to 10 knots. The PT boat's captain had actually been aiming at a destroyer in the column and hit Abukuma by mistake.
Undeterred, Shima continued northward. At about 4:10, he sighted two ships on fire and decided that they must be Fuso and Yamashiro. Actually, they were the drifting bow and stern sections of Fuso. Shima hurried due north to aid Nishimura. At about 4:20, just after Nishimura went down with Yamashiro, Shima's radar detected what appeared to be two enemy ships at 13,000 yards, bearing 25 degrees. Nachi and Ashigara fired eight torpedoes each at the targets. The enemy ships were actually the two Hibuson Islands.
Admiral Shima had exercised more discretion and common sense than Nishimura. Had he continued toward the American battle line, his cruisers and destroyers would have been chopped to pieces by Oldendorf's battleships and cruisers. Shima's force did, however, endure another bit of bad luck before leaving the area. The Nachi, Shima's flagship, was overtaking the damaged Mogami, which appeared to be dead in the water. Mogami had not stopped, though. She was actually moving south at a greatly reduced speed, almost a crawl. Nachi's captain misjudged both the speed and distance of Mogami, and the two ships collided at 4:30.
At 7:07, a half hour after sunrise, the Asagumo was discovered by the Denver and Columbia and three screening destroyers. The five warships had been sent down the strait to sink any lingering Japanese warships and proceeded to do just that. Asagumo's bow had been blown off by Coward's destroyers a few hours earlier, and her forward section was awash. The Japanese destroyer was quickly overwhelmed by a torrent of 5-inch and 6-inch shells but fought back with fire from her after turret. It was a futile gesture. Asagumo sank at 7:21; her survivors made their way toward the shore.
Off the coast of Leyte, the sailors aboard the U.S. support vessels were too far away to see or hear the battle, but they did see the flashes of gunfire reflected in the clouds. They could tell that "one hell of a shootin' match" was taking place. Nobody knew the outcome of the battle until morning, when reports began to filter in that the Japanese had been stopped. The news was not conclusive, mostly bits and pieces based on radio reports, but the word that was going around was certainly reassuring.
There was no need to worry. Oldendorf had certainly plugged Surigao Strait, as he had intended. No Japanese ship had come anywhere near Leyte Gulf, and what was left of the enemy fleet was retiring south.
Later in the morning, American Grumman TBF Avengers caught up with Mogami. A bomb hit on her engine room left her dead in the water. The destroyer Akebono took off the crew and sank the cruiser with a torpedo at 12:30. Of Nishimura's force, only the Shigure survived to be torpedoed by the submarine USS Blackfin on January 21, 1945.
Shima's force proved to be much luckier. All four of its destroyers escaped destruction at Surigao Strait, along with the heavy cruiser Ashigara. Two days later, Abukuma, which had been struck by a PT torpedo at Surigao Strait, was hit several times by U.S. bombers. One of the bombs touched off the ship's torpedo warheads, and the cruiser went down south of Negros Island. Nachi was sunk by dive- bombers from the aircraft carrier USS Lexington in Manila Bay on November 5.
"In no battle of the entire war did the United States Navy make so nearly a complete sweep as in that of Surigao Strait, at so little cost," pronounced historian Samuel Eliot Morison. American casualties totaled 39 killed and 114 wounded, most of them aboard Albert W. Grant. No records of Japanese casualties exist, but they probably total in the thousands. Fuso and Yamashiro each had complements of 1,400 men, most of whom went down with their ships.
Surigao Strait also saw the end of the battle line in naval warfare. The development of the aircraft carrier meant that no line of battleships could withstand a sustained air attack.


E. Coyac, V. Gripon and C. Langlais, "Impact du bruit synaptique sur les performances des réseaux de cliques neurales," in Proceedings of the GRETSI conference, 2015.
Artificial neural networks are inspired by biological neural networks present in the brain, and biological plausibility is often used as an argument to validate or criticize a neural network proposal. However, the brain is a system with a lot of interferences and the behaviour of neural networks with respect to this noise has not often been studied. This paper introduces a model to represent noise inside the brain, and studies how neural clique networks respond to that noise. It is shown that the noise can improve the neural clique network performance by avoiding local minima. We also show the impact of this noise on the widely-known Hopfield networks.


Like most western states, Washington is a community property state. Early on, western states adopted community property regimes in order to entice women to move out west. The idea was that if women were granted actual property rights, then they would hazard the journey to the frontier. It worked. This property rights regime still governs marital property rights division in Washington to this day.
How is Property Divided in a Community Property State?
In essence, community property laws analogize marriage to a business partnership. When you're a sole proprietor, you work for yourself; when you have a partner, you work for the partnership. Prior to marriage, your labor, income, and the stuff you buy all belongs to your separate estate. Once you get married, however, your income and the stuff you buy with it belongs to the marital community. Just as a partner in a business labors on behalf of the partnership, the married person now labors on behalf of the marital community.
It usually doesn't really matter how things are titled. Often, what matters most is when an asset was acquired. If an asset was acquired during the marriage it is almost always community property. This time of acquisition presumption can be rebutted, but only by showing that the asset was acquired with separate property funds (i.e., money that existed prior to the marriage, inheritance, or income from a separate property asset).
This fact surprises many people. Couples will often maintain separate bank accounts during their marriage, thinking that holding their income in separately titled accounts somehow means the money is their separate property. This arrangement does not, in fact, preserve or create separate property. Indeed, to the extent that marital earnings are placed into a separately titled account that existed prior to marriage, any separate funds in the account will likely be deemed "comingled" with the post-marital deposits and deemed transmuted into community property.
If you have a premarital agreement (sometimes referred to as a "prenuptial agreement" or "prenup"), however, it could supersede some or all of Washington's community property laws. The family law attorneys at S.L. Pitts are skilled at evaluating existing agreements during the separation process to preserve the best interests of our clients.
For most people, identifying property simply entails sitting down and writing a list of the separate and community property that they and their spouse own. Because people usually have a lot of personal possessions of minimal value, it's best to limit the list to items with at least a nominal minimum value. Limiting the list to items worth at least $1,000 usually keeps the list more manageable.
It is important to remember that "property" also includes contractual rights. This includes, for instance, life insurance contracts. There are also a host of employment-related assets that should be included in the identification of property where appropriate: retirement benefits, deferred compensation plans, severance pay, or unemployment benefits.
In addition, certain forms of income are deemed property in Washington State. Unvested stock (or other derivative securities) paid as part of a compensation plan is considered property in Washington State. A licensed professional's income (doctor, lawyer, CPA, etc.) will often be deemed to be, in part, "professional goodwill" and should be identified as community property and divided in the divorce.
Having an experienced family law attorney ensures that all property is properly identified for property division in a divorce.
How is Property Valued in Washington State?
After every asset has been identified as either separate or community property, the next step is to place a value on each one. Washington State courts typically try to ascertain the fair market value of each item of property. "Fair market value" means the price that a reasonable buyer and seller would agree to in an arm's length transaction in which neither was under any duress. For a house, that means getting it valued to see what a potential buyer would pay for it. For a car, that means looking it up on Kelly Blue Book.
For many assets, like checking accounts or retirement accounts, the value is determined simply by looking at the balance on a statement.
It can sometimes be difficult to determine the fair market value of certain assets, such as small businesses, professional practices, or some illiquid assets (i.e., an interest in a venture capital/private equity fund, art, or antiquities). In these instances, you or your attorney will retain valuation experts to ascertain their value.
When selecting a valuation expert, it is important to select someone that has both the proper qualifications (producing valuation reports for use in divorce is its own specialized area) and the ability to persuasively testify and present their opinion of value in the context of the divorce litigation (many CPAs have neither the experience nor the desire to testify in court). An experienced family law attorney will already know and have established relationships with relevant valuation experts.
Once all separate and community property has been identified and valued, it is then possible to divide it equitably between the divorcing couple. Generally speaking, there is a starting presumption that each party will be awarded their separate property. In addition, there is a starting presumption that community property will be divided equally. However, Washington State courts have the authority to invade one party's separate property and award it to their spouse. And they have the authority to make lopsided divisions of community property.
and whether one spouse has special health-related needs or limitations.
There is no formula for how a court weights all of these factors. Each divorce judge will endeavor to factor in the totality of circumstances when determining a fair division of property. Because this is necessarily a subjective exercise, it can be difficult to predict exactly what a court will do.
This is why experienced divorce attorneys are so valuable when making and evaluating potential settlements – there is no substitute for having the advice of an attorney who regularly sees how Washington State courts and individual judges handle property division.
The divorce lawyers at S.L. Pitts have decades of experience helping clients in Seattle, Washington and Los Angeles, California resolve their property division disputes. If you have questions about community property, fair market value, retirement assets, marital debt, and other marital property, contact the property division attorneys at S.L. Pitts today. We can help to ensure that you get your fair share during the divorce process.


Song lyrics by Sara Hartman. Check-out these awesome song lyrics by the artist, learn every word of your favourite song and sing it like Sara Hartman. Get one of the 4 lyrics and watch the video by artist Sara Hartman.


text:
Q: TypeScript Incremental Strictness I have a fairly large Typescript project and I'd like to make it more strict. In particular, we have an issue with null-checking in a lot of places so I'd like to use the strict null-checks option. However, there are thousands of errors and its not exactly possible to fix that anytime soon.
But as I'm writing new code, I'd like to be strict with non-nullable types so I'm not piling onto the mess. Is there any way to incrementally improve the strictness of a Typescript project so all new code has strict null checks?

A: You can use typescript-strict-plugin which allows you to turn on strict mode in specific files or directories.
1. Install the package
npm i -D typescript-strict-plugin

2. Add the plugin to your tsconfig.json
{
  "compilerOptions": {
    //...
    "strict": false,
    "plugins": [
      {
        "name": "typescript-strict-plugin",
      }
    ]
  }
}

3. Mark files you want to strictify with @ts-strict comment
Before:
//no strict comment here
...
const name: string = null; // no error here

After:
//@ts-strict
...
const name: string = null; // TS2322: Type 'null' is not assignable to type 'string'.

A: I think that the optimal solution is to extend the tsconfig.json with a new one which enables strictNullChecks and which will be used in the IDE.

*

*When creating a new functionality there will be strictNullChecks errors in the IDE, it's OK.

*When refactoring existing code, the appeared strictNullChecks errors will cause you to fix the code. Thus, there will be a gradual migration of the source code to fully enable the strictNullChecks.

A: Build two TS config files:

*

*tsconfig.json:

*

*non-strict TS checks

*the include entry contains all the paths or globs in your old source code base. With a few lines of code it should be fairly easy to get it

*tsconfig-strict.json:

*

*strict TS checks

*the include entry contains your whole codebase

*extends tsconfig.json so as to avoid duplication

Use the first one for development, and the second one to build your code for production or programmatically check for strict error (eg tsc --project tsconfig-strict.json).

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
package org.searchisko.api.tasker;

import java.lang.Thread.State;
import java.util.Set;

import org.junit.Assert;
import org.junit.Test;
import org.mockito.Mockito;
import org.mockito.invocation.InvocationOnMock;
import org.mockito.stubbing.Answer;
import org.searchisko.api.testtools.TestUtils;

/**
 * Unit test for {@link TaskRunner}.
 *
 * @author Vlastimil Elias (velias at redhat dot com)
 */
public class TaskRunnerTest {

	private static final String TASK_TYPE_TEST = "taskTypeTest";
	private static final String TESTNODEID = "testnodeid";

	@Test
	public void constructor() {
		TaskFactory taskFactory = Mockito.mock(TaskFactory.class);
		TaskPersister taskPersister = Mockito.mock(TaskPersister.class);
		TaskRunner tested = new TaskRunner("ndid", taskFactory, taskPersister);
		Assert.assertEquals("ndid", tested.nodeId);
		Assert.assertEquals(taskFactory, tested.taskFactory);
		Assert.assertEquals(taskPersister, tested.taskPersister);
		// case - assert last heartbeat initialization so no HB runs after start immediately
		TestUtils.assertCurrentDate(tested.lastHb);
	}

	@Test
	public void handleCancelRequests() throws InterruptedException {
		TaskRunner tested = getTested();

		Task t1 = createTaskMock(true);
		Task t3 = createTaskMock(true);
		Task t5 = createTaskMock(true);
		Task t6 = createTaskMock(true);
		t6.setCanceled(true);

		tested.runningTasks.put("t1", t1);
		tested.runningTasks.put("t2", createTaskMock(false));
		tested.runningTasks.put("t3", t3);
		tested.runningTasks.put("t4", createTaskMock(false));
		tested.runningTasks.put("t5", t5);
		tested.runningTasks.put("t6", t6);

		Thread.sleep(1000);

		Mockito.when(tested.taskPersister.getTaskStatusInfo("t1")).thenReturn(createTaskStatusInfoCancelTest(false));
		Mockito.when(tested.taskPersister.getTaskStatusInfo("t3")).thenReturn(createTaskStatusInfoCancelTest(true));
		Mockito.when(tested.taskPersister.getTaskStatusInfo("t5")).thenReturn(null);

		tested.handleCancelRequests();

		Assert.assertEquals(false, t1.isCanceledOrInterrupted());
		Assert.assertEquals(true, t3.isCanceledOrInterrupted());
		Assert.assertEquals(false, t5.isCanceledOrInterrupted());
		Assert.assertEquals(true, t6.isCanceledOrInterrupted());

		Mockito.verify(tested.taskPersister).getTaskStatusInfo("t1");
		Mockito.verify(tested.taskPersister).getTaskStatusInfo("t3");
		Mockito.verify(tested.taskPersister).getTaskStatusInfo("t5");
		Mockito.verifyNoMoreInteractions(tested.taskPersister);
	}

	private TaskStatusInfo createTaskStatusInfoCancelTest(boolean cancelRequsted) {
		TaskStatusInfo ret = new TaskStatusInfo();
		ret.cancelRequested = cancelRequsted;
		return ret;
	}

	@SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
	@Test
	public void startTasks() throws UnsupportedTaskException, TaskConfigurationException {
		TaskRunner tested = getTested();

		// case - nothing to run in persister
		Mockito.when(tested.taskPersister.getTaskToRun(TESTNODEID)).thenReturn(null);
		tested.startTasks();
		Mockito.verify(tested.taskPersister).getTaskToRun(TESTNODEID);
		Mockito.verifyNoMoreInteractions(tested.taskPersister);
		Mockito.verifyNoMoreInteractions(tested.taskFactory);

		// case - start two new tasks
		Mockito.reset(tested.taskFactory, tested.taskPersister);
		Mockito.when(tested.taskPersister.getTaskToRun(TESTNODEID)).thenAnswer(new Answer<TaskStatusInfo>() {

			@Override
			public TaskStatusInfo answer(InvocationOnMock invocation) throws Throwable {
				return createTaskStatusInfoStartTest();
			}

		});

		Mockito.when(tested.taskFactory.createTask(Mockito.eq(TASK_TYPE_TEST), Mockito.anyMap())).thenAnswer(
				new Answer<Task>() {

					@Override
					public Task answer(InvocationOnMock invocation) throws Throwable {
						return createTaskMock();
					}
				});

		tested.startTasks();

		Assert.assertEquals(2, tested.runningTasks.size());
		for (Task task : tested.runningTasks.values()) {
			Assert.assertNotNull(task.context);
			Assert.assertNotNull(task.taskId);
			Assert.assertTrue(task.getState() != State.NEW);
		}
		Mockito.verify(tested.taskPersister, Mockito.times(2)).getTaskToRun(TESTNODEID);
		Mockito.verify(tested.taskFactory, Mockito.times(2)).createTask(Mockito.eq(TASK_TYPE_TEST), Mockito.anyMap());

		// case - all running slot full so nothing started
		Mockito.reset(tested.taskFactory, tested.taskPersister);
		tested.startTasks();
		Assert.assertEquals(2, tested.runningTasks.size());
		Mockito.verifyZeroInteractions(tested.taskPersister);
		Mockito.verifyZeroInteractions(tested.taskFactory);

		// case - exception during start is not thworn out of method
		Mockito.reset(tested.taskFactory, tested.taskPersister);
		Mockito.when(tested.taskPersister.getTaskToRun(TESTNODEID)).thenThrow(new RuntimeException("test exception"));
		tested.startTasks();
		Mockito.verifyZeroInteractions(tested.taskFactory);

	}

	int ctc = 1;

	private TaskStatusInfo createTaskStatusInfoStartTest() {
		TaskStatusInfo ti = new TaskStatusInfo();
		ti.id = "t" + ctc;
		ctc++;
		ti.taskType = TASK_TYPE_TEST;
		return ti;
	}

	private Task createTaskMock() {
		Task t = new Task() {
			@Override
			protected void performTask() throws Exception {
			}

		};
		t.setDaemon(true);
		return t;
	}

	@Test
	public void interruptRunningTasks() throws InterruptedException {
		TaskRunner tested = getTested();
		tested.runningTasks.put("t1", createTaskMock(true));
		tested.runningTasks.put("t2", createTaskMock(false));
		tested.runningTasks.put("t3", createTaskMock(true));
		tested.runningTasks.put("t4", createTaskMock(false));
		tested.runningTasks.put("t5", createTaskMock(true));
		tested.runningTasks.put("t6", createTaskMock(true));

		Thread.sleep(200);
		tested.interruptRunningTasks();
		for (Task task : tested.runningTasks.values()) {
			Assert.assertTrue(!task.isAlive() || task.isInterrupted());
		}
	}

	@SuppressWarnings({ "unchecked", "rawtypes" })
	@Test
	public void heartbeat() {
		TaskRunner tested = getTested();

		// case - no heartbeat performed
		{
			long lhb = System.currentTimeMillis() - tested.hbPeriod + 200;
			tested.lastHb = lhb;

			tested.heartbeat();
			Assert.assertEquals(lhb, tested.lastHb);
			Mockito.verifyZeroInteractions(tested.taskPersister);
		}

		// case - heartbeat performed, no any running tasks in runner
		{
			Mockito.reset(tested.taskPersister);
			long lhb = System.currentTimeMillis() - tested.hbPeriod - 200;
			tested.lastHb = lhb;
			Mockito.doAnswer(new Answer() {

				@Override
				public Object answer(InvocationOnMock invocation) throws Throwable {
					Set<String> s = (Set<String>) invocation.getArguments()[1];
					Assert.assertNotNull(s);
					Assert.assertTrue(s.isEmpty());
					return null;
				}
			}).when(tested.taskPersister).heartbeat(Mockito.eq(TESTNODEID), Mockito.anySet(), Mockito.anyLong());

			tested.heartbeat();

			TestUtils.assertCurrentDate(tested.lastHb);
			Mockito.verify(tested.taskPersister).heartbeat(Mockito.eq(TESTNODEID), Mockito.anySet(),
					Mockito.eq(tested.hbPeriod * 5));
			Mockito.verifyNoMoreInteractions(tested.taskPersister);
		}

		// case - heartbeat performed, some running tasks in runner
		{
			Mockito.reset(tested.taskPersister);
			tested.runningTasks.put("tid1", Mockito.mock(Task.class));
			tested.runningTasks.put("tid2", Mockito.mock(Task.class));
			long lhb = System.currentTimeMillis() - tested.hbPeriod - 200;
			tested.lastHb = lhb;
			Mockito.doAnswer(new Answer() {

				@Override
				public Object answer(InvocationOnMock invocation) throws Throwable {
					Set<String> s = (Set<String>) invocation.getArguments()[1];
					Assert.assertNotNull(s);
					Assert.assertEquals(2, s.size());
					Assert.assertTrue(s.contains("tid1"));
					Assert.assertTrue(s.contains("tid2"));
					return null;
				}
			}).when(tested.taskPersister).heartbeat(Mockito.eq(TESTNODEID), Mockito.anySet(), Mockito.anyLong());

			tested.heartbeat();

			TestUtils.assertCurrentDate(tested.lastHb);
			Mockito.verify(tested.taskPersister).heartbeat(Mockito.eq(TESTNODEID), Mockito.anySet(),
					Mockito.eq(tested.hbPeriod * 5));
			Mockito.verifyNoMoreInteractions(tested.taskPersister);
		}

	}

	@Test
	public void cancelTask() throws InterruptedException {
		TaskRunner tested = getTested();
		tested.cancelTask("unknown");

		Task t1 = createTaskMock(true);
		Task t2 = createTaskMock(false);
		tested.runningTasks.put("t1", t1);
		tested.runningTasks.put("t2", t2);
		Thread.sleep(700);

		tested.cancelTask("t1");
		tested.cancelTask("t2");
		Assert.assertTrue(t1.isCanceledOrInterrupted());
		Assert.assertFalse(t2.isCanceledOrInterrupted());
	}

	@Test
	public void removeFinished() throws InterruptedException {
		TaskRunner tested = getTested();

		tested.removeFinished();
		Assert.assertEquals(0, tested.runningTasks.size());

		Task t1 = createTaskMock(true);
		Task t3 = createTaskMock(true);

		tested.runningTasks.put("t1", t1);
		tested.runningTasks.put("t2", createTaskMock(false));
		tested.runningTasks.put("t3", t3);
		tested.runningTasks.put("t4", createTaskMock(false));
		Thread.sleep(1000);
		tested.removeFinished();
		Assert.assertEquals(2, tested.runningTasks.size());
		Assert.assertEquals(t1, tested.runningTasks.get("t1"));
		Assert.assertEquals(t3, tested.runningTasks.get("t3"));
	}

	@Test
	public void TaskExecutionContextImpl() {
		TaskRunner tested = new TaskRunner();
		tested.taskPersister = Mockito.mock(TaskPersister.class);

		tested.taskExecutionContextInstance.changeTaskStatus("aa", TaskStatus.CANCELED, "mymessage");
		Mockito.verify(tested.taskPersister).changeTaskStatus("aa", TaskStatus.CANCELED, "mymessage");

		tested.taskExecutionContextInstance.writeTaskLog("aaa", "msg");
		Mockito.verify(tested.taskPersister).writeTaskLog("aaa", "msg");

	}

	private TaskRunner getTested() {
		TaskRunner tested = new TaskRunner();
		tested.taskPersister = Mockito.mock(TaskPersister.class);
		tested.taskFactory = Mockito.mock(TaskFactory.class);
		tested.taskExecutionContextInstance = Mockito.mock(TaskExecutionContext.class);
		tested.maxRunningTasks = 2;
		tested.nodeId = TESTNODEID;
		return tested;
	}

	private Task createTaskMock(final boolean alive) {
		Task t = new Task() {
			@Override
			protected void performTask() throws Exception {
			}

			@Override
			public void run() {
				if (alive) {
					try {
						Thread.sleep(10000);
					} catch (InterruptedException e) {
					}
				}
			}
		};
		t.setDaemon(true);
		t.start();
		return t;
	}
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Five years of transformation
The 2004 'big-bang' enlargement did not vindicate the horror stories, but old divisions and small disputes have created a palpable sense of reluctance about further enlargement.
By Toby Vogel
April 29, 2009	10:15 pm
Five years on, the fuss that was made about European Union's big-bang enlargement of 1 May 2004 looks almost quaint. It is now taken for granted that Estonian or Hungarian leaders should sit at the table when the big decisions are taken, or that little Slovenia (or the not-so-little Czech Republic) should take its turn at the helm under the EU's system of rotating presidencies. That the EU now borders Ukraine and Belarus no longer merits mention. Tens of thousands of Polish plumbers or Lithuanian waitresses have joined earlier immigrant groups in the big cities of western Europe.
The European Commission's plans for no more than a political declaration, to complement a report on the economic benefits of enlargement that was presented in February.
One reason for this state of affairs is the passage of time, which has given the citizens of the EU's old member states ample opportunity to get used to the new members. Even for average Europeans, spending a weekend in Tallinn is no more exotic today than spending it in Lisbon. The same change has occurred in the Brussels bureaucracy, where the ten new member states are heavily represented (although less so at senior level).
Doomsday scenarios
Many of the doomsday scenarios peddled before enlargement have failed to materialise. Poland was a special focus of these horror stories. It was bigger and had more people – 38 million – than all the other new entrants taken together. One in five workers made a living in farming (often in subsistence farming), so its agricultural workforce was more than twice the size of Spain's.
Fears flourished that as uncompetitive parts of Poland's economy collapsed under an onslaught of cheap imports, millions of newly redundant Poles would flood westward, displacing local workers and depressing wages in more prosperous western Europe.
Anxiety ran riot that lower wages in the new member states would provoke massive shifts eastward of western manufacturing. And French and German taxpayers worried that their contributions would be diverted via EU structural funds into propping up flocks of lame ducks in formerly controlled economies.
These fears proved to be exaggerated. Structural funds and labour migration have had a major impact on the economies of Poland and other new members states – but their local impact has vastly exceeded their significance for the EU as a whole. According to the Commission, some 3.6 million citizens of the new member states are resident in old member states – but even in Ireland, which in proportion to its population received the largest influx, no more than 5% of the working-age population come from the new member states.
Period of reflection
Nevertheless, the celebrations five years ago had barely subsided before old member states started to fret about the step they had collectively taken and new member states started to demand what they had been led to believe was their right. As a consequence, 2004 marked a watershed in enlargement policy. The partying quickly gave way to a formal 'period of reflection', and to an informal – but just as influential – 'enlargement fatigue'. Eighteen months later, Romania and Bulgaria managed to slide in on the residual momentum of the process – but themselves created a new phenomenon of 'assistance fatigue', as well as impatience with the feeble pace of their reform.
The 2004 enlargement brought in countries whose assertive diplomacy has driven other – principally older – member states to despair. The new members were more Atlanticist than the EU average, at a time when the divisions over the Iraq war were still fresh. They also demonstrated more enthusiasm for the market economy, intensifying already hot disputes over legislation such as the services directive.
Slovenia has also used its newfound leverage to ratchet up a border conflict with Croatia (taking its cue from Greece's veto on Macedonia's EU membership bid over a similarly parochial bilateral issue).
The Cyprus question
But the most troublesome of the newcomers has undoubtedly been Cyprus, whose own territorial conflict has been imported wholesale into the union as a result of disastrous decision-making by the EU. The continuing stand-off between the Greek south and Turkish north of the island leaves not just an EU member state riven by a UN-patrolled internal border. The Cyprus government has consistently blocked EU attempts to bridge the divide, frequently poisoning the atmosphere in the Council of Ministers. Cyprus has also used its position as a lever in other areas of EU business – most notably, but not exclusively, relations with Turkey, driving a wedge between the EU and NATO in the process.
The persistence of the Cyprus question also calls into question one of the EU's proudest boasts about its enlargement policy. Proclaimed as the embodiment of EU 'soft power' in its transformative effects, enlargement policy has done its job only in part in the case of Cyprus. And if accession itself fails to function within countries that have already become member states, how powerful can the prospect of EU accession be considered as an incentive to reform among potential new members? An EU of 27 may have become, in some respects, a commonplace. But doubts are deepening over whether and when the countries of the western Balkans – still themselves smouldering with a legacy of conflicts – may qualify to join.
More from ... Toby Vogel
Commission lets Germany off the hook for vaccine solidarity breach
By Jillian Deutsch and	Merlin Sugue
Merkel's report card: Grading Germany's EU presidency
EU brings in new Belarus sanctions
EU top court gears up for rule-of-law battle (of its life)
Enlargement	EU reform	EU treaties	Neighborhood
Belarus	Bulgaria	Croatia	Cyprus	Czech Republic	Estonia	Greece	Iraq	Ireland	Lithuania	Poland	Romania	Slovenia	Spain	Turkey	Ukraine


Favourite Things About Autumn... - Tap and Co.
Autumn is a time of year where some get depressed with the falling leaves and the temperatures dropping. I, however, love it! And here are some of the reasons why!!
As a photographer, autumn is one of the most inspiring times of year to take pictures…the changing colours, the coats, the scarves, the hats! So many possibilities without being too hot or too cold!
The smells!!!! Apple orchards are in full swing and the smell of a fresh apple is unbeatable in my opinion! All the variety of pies that are being made, the smell of rain, the smell of crisp fresh air! Autumn really does have the best smells!! This time of year also brings around my favourite drink of the year! Hot apple cider!! The smell of apple, cinnamon and star anise really warms me from the inside out!!! It is also a time of year where teas come out more and more from our cupboard. I start drinking tea on a daily basis, not English breakfast though! More fruit and herbal teas! The perfect way to warm up after a day outside in the cold crisp air!
Of course, there is also Thanksgiving, a day where we can reflect on what we have been most thankful for that year! Now I am living in England where it isn't normal to celebrate Thanksgiving, but I love the thought of acknowledging what you are thankful for that year and what you are looking forward to (plus the good food!!!!!).
The layers…So I'm a girl that whatever the time of year, I will be wearing multiple layers, 2 strap tops plus a t-shirt. But at this time of year, it starts becoming socially acceptable to wear these multiple layers and I suddenly become fashionable!
Autumn also means that it'll soon be winter and that means Christmas! A time of year we can reflect on the birth of Jesus and what that means in your personal lives!
So what is your favourite thing(s) about autumn? Let me know in the comments!


text:
The Character Everyone Forgets Thomas Jane Played In Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World
Tinseltown/Shutterstock
By Patrick Phillips/Aug. 19, 2021 9:54 am EST
It's been just over a decade since Edgar Wright unleashed "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" on the movie-loving masses only to have the crackling comic book adaptation largely ignored. Thankfully, the film has continued to find fans in the years since its release, developing a devoted cult following who remain as taken with its satirical slacker charm and indie rock flavor as they are with Wright's singular cinematic sensibilities.
It helps that "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" also boasts a seriously stacked cast of then-up-and-comers, most of whom have since become major stars, including Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Brie Larson, Aubrey Plaza, Kieran Culkin, Chris Evans, Jason Schwartzman, and Anna Kendrick. As impressive as that list is, Wright also snuck a handful of already established players into the mix, too, most notably enlisting one-time Superman Brandon Routh to play a super-powered vegan bass player who Scott (Cera) eventually ends up facing off against.
You might've forgotten, or maybe didn't even notice, but Wright snuck another ex-superhero into that same scene, with "The Punisher" star Thomas Jane making a hilarious cameo.
Thomas Jane was a very special cop in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
Before we get to who Thomas Jane played in the famous bass battle scene from "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World," a bit of context is in order as there's a lot going on at that moment. The short version of things is that Scott is forced by his bandmates to open a rock show featuring an indie rock outfit fronted by his ex Envy Adams (Larson) and Todd Ingram (Routh), the buff bass player she dumped him for. Turns out, Todd is also an evil ex of Ramona (Winstead), meaning Scott has to fight him if he hopes to continue wooing the literal girl of his dreams.
Much is made of Todd's vegan-fueled powers throughout, and he almost puts an end to Scott's noble-ish quest to win Ramona's heart for his own. But Scott eventually outwits his foe, tricking him into drinking coffee with half-and-half. That infraction promptly brings the Vegan Police to the scene to strip Todd of his powers. Yes, that was Thomas Jane portraying one of the vegan cops. And yes, one simply has to admire the ferocity with which he enters the fracas, because he does so hilariously pointing his finger like a gun and spouting ridiculous lines like, "You're under arrest for Veganity violation Code #827."
Jane has, of course, become renowned for bringing such intensity to many a role throughout his career. But one might argue Wright utilized his talents best in the most giddily over-the-top moment in "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World."


text:
World to hit temperature tipping point 10 years faster than forecast
Jacob GreberSenior correspondent
Aug 6, 2021 – 5.00am
There is a greater than 50 per cent chance temperatures will rise above 1.5 degrees in the next 10 years.
The 1.5 degree threshold is predicted to be a climactic tipping point.
A long-overdue report by the world's climate scientists will on Monday reveal that global warming is accelerating faster than thought, with temperatures set to punch through the critical 1.5 degrees Celsius threshold by the early 2030s, a decade earlier than anticipated just three years ago.
The faster trajectory in the planet's average temperature gains means the timeline for governments and businesses to plan for an uncontrolled surge in catastrophic fires, floods and droughts is narrowing to less than a decade.
Smoke casts an orange pall across Sydney last December. Wolter Peeters
The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) much-anticipated report on the latest physical science on climate change follows a year-long delay caused by COVID-19 and is now set to paint a stark backdrop ahead of global talks in November.
IPCC authors are expected to warn there is a greater than 50 per cent chance the world's temperatures will rise above 1.5 degrees Celsius within the next 10 years, according to sources briefed on the report's contents.
In 2018, the IPCC said the threshold was likely to be breached between 2030 and 2052, which put the mid-point a decade later than it now expects in its core scenario.
The modelling is set to generate a fresh wave of alarming global headlines and will intensify calls on the world's biggest emitters to ramp up efforts at decarbonising the global economy at the UN's Glasgow climate summit in November.
Under the 2015 Paris Agreement, countries agreed to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius and push for efforts to hold it to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Amid mounting pressure from allies across Europe and the US to commit to net zero by 2050, the Morrison government is expected to seize on the IPCC's findings as a call for more immediate action using technologies such as carbon capture, "blue" hydrogen and energy storage.
It will insist that rather than making distant promises for what will happen mid-century, the IPCC's revised 1.5 degrees Celsius timetable makes it imperative countries take action now to reduce emissions in the current decade.
The IPCC modelling is also expected to underscore that the more the world emits in the 2020s, the more likely the planet will need to reach for cutting-edge and potentially costly strategies such as so-called "direct air capture", in order to suck carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.
Energy and Emissions Minister Angus Taylor told a meeting in Italy of Group of 20 environment ministers last month that the collective focus needs to be on driving down the cost of new and emerging technologies.
"We need to ensure that new, low-emissions energy sources achieve technical and commercial parity – or better – with incumbent technologies as soon as possible," he said.
"This is the key to widespread global adoption, to maintaining energy affordability and reliability, and to delivering strong economic growth at the same time as we reduce global emissions.
"This is the key to making net zero practically achievable for all countries."
The IPCC report will come after an attempt failed late on Wednesday by Labor to block the government from expanding the remit of the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) to enable it to invest in carbon capture and storage.
The result was welcomed by gas and coal companies, but the government believes the technology has a far wider relevance to the climate policy debate.
The Morrison government points to the fact that the use of such technologies – which are opposed by green groups – are already embedded in major climate models issued by the International Energy Agency as well as the IPCC.
Monday's IPCC report is expected to detail a rapid surge in emissions across developing economies, which means that even if the rest of the world gets to net zero by 2050, there will still need to be some level of "negative emissions" to bring the total level of carbon down and stabilise warming effects.
Climate change behind disasters
Nearly 4000 pages long, the IPCC's report comes hot on the heels of a surge in devastating natural disasters in recent years.
For the first time the report's more than 230 authors – who have reviewed more than 14,000 scientific papers since the 2018 edition – are expected to attribute human-induced climate change as a major driver of the 2019-20 Australian bushfires, as well as wildfires in California, rising sea temperatures and loss of permafrost in the Northern Hemisphere.
Scientists widely predict that once annual average global temperatures rise 1.5 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial level, the world will see a surge in climactic tipping points, resulting in larger and more volatile heatwaves, rising sea levels, melting ice, and droughts that will threaten food supplies and economies around the world.
The world is now estimated to be around two-thirds of the way towards reaching the 1.5 degrees Celsius threshold.
According to the World Meteorological Organisation, the average temperature will be at least 1 degree Celsius warmer than pre-industrial levels over each of the next five years, with a range of between 0.9 degrees Celsius and 1.8 degrees Celsius.
Despite the efforts of many developed countries, global greenhouse emissions have risen more than 45 per cent between 2000 and 2019, with the Paris Agreement allowing most developing countries to continue increasing emissions until 2030.
Experts and Western leaders warn that keeping the 1.5 degrees Celsius threshold alive means pushing countries such as China, India, Indonesia and Brazil to reduce emissions before the end of this decade, a massive challenge that could ultimately derail the Glasgow talks.
Jacob Greber writes about politics, economics and business from Canberra. He has been a Washington correspondent and economics correspondent. Connect with Jacob on Twitter. Email Jacob at jgreber@afr.com
Latest In Energy & climate


text:
Mohammadabad (, also Romanized as Moḩammadābād and Muhammadābād) is a village in Meyami Rural District, Meyami District, Shahrud County, Semnan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 976, in 274 families.

References

Populated places in Shahrud County

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
The biggest "guru" in ISKCON: Case study of HH Jayapataka Swami
10:59 AM administrator
Of all the gurus who currently hold sway in ISKCON, none can match His Holiness Jayapataka Swami (henceforward "JPS"), in terms of the number of disciples he has amassed (approximately 5000 and counting). He has therefore stolen more disciples from Srila Prabhupada than anyone else, via masquerading as Srila Prabhupada's "appointed successor". Here we trace the history of his false guru programme.
1978: JPS leads Guru Hoax delegation
JPS was one of the 11 ritviks, or officiating priests, appointed by Srila Prabhupada in his signed institutional directive of July 9th 1977 to initiate new disciples into ISKCON on his behalf. Immediately on Srila Prabhupada's physical departure from this world in November that year, the 11 appointed ritviks unauthorisedly discarded their spiritual master's directive, abandoned their appointed roles as priestly representatives, and claimed instead that they had been appointed as Srila Prabhupada's "good-as-God" guru successors. Thus the Great Guru Hoax, part 1 was created. The new "gurus" knew, however, that simply inventing a radically new guru system would be an extremely difficult hoax to foist on the movement without any sort of authorisation. Since this authorisation clearly did not come from Srila Prabhupada, the 11 decided rather cleverly to approach one of Srila Prabhupada's senior Godbrothers, HH Sridhara Swami, and get him to lend some semblance of spiritual authority to their deviant plans. The meeting was recorded, and the following conversation transcripts illustrate how JPS seriously misled Sridhara Maharaja with the lie that Srila Prabhupada had appointed 11 guru successors:
JPS: "Maharaja, when our Srila Prabhupada left, then he has given instruction that for initiating and for carrying on the sampradaya there would be eleven – in the beginning, he appointed eleven devotees, his disciples, to be initiating spiritual masters or to accept disciples and in the future that number would also be able to be increased. So we wanted to take your advice on some points as to various details of how these initiating spiritual masters should deal with certain questions. If we could ask questions to you then?"
Sridhara Maharaja: "Yes, you may ask."
JPS: "He has given explicit desires, but he told us that, on other technical points and other matters of philosophy, if there was question we should approach you."
(GBC conversation with HH Sridhara Maharaja, Mayapur, March 1978)
sridhar maharaj & prabhupada. govinda maharaj (behind)
Above we see that in addition to lying about the appointment of 11 gurus, JPS also misled Sridhara Maharaja that Srila Prabhupada had given "explicit desires" for his disciples to approach him for advice on "matters of philosophy". This piece of fiction is directly contradicted by Srila Prabhupada himself:
"Actually amongst my Godbrothers no one is qualified to become acarya. So it is better not to mix with my Godbrothers very intimately because instead of inspiring our students and disciples they may sometimes pollute them."
(Srila Prabhupada Letter, 28th April, 1974)
1998: JPS invents "instruction" from Srila Prabhupada
JPS once claimed in a Vyasa Puja offering to Srila Prabhupada
JPS once claimed in a Vyasa Puja offering to Srila Prabhupada:
"In your transcendental literatures you repeatedly mention how you hope for the day when all your followers will be initiating spiritual masters, initiating even 10,000 or more disciples into the guru parampara."
(Jayapataka Swami, Vyasa Puja offering to Srila Prabhupada, 1998) JPS has not allowed the fact that the above instruction is not mentioned even once, not to speak of "repeatedly", in any of Srila Prabhupada's "literatures" to deter him from amassing over 5,000 disciples, far in excess of any other ISKCON guru hoaxer. Indeed, in the same year as this statement above, the GBC body (ISKCON's Governing Body Commission) had issued a warning about JPS' ambitions in acquiring disciples:
"We note that (Jayapataka) Maharaja has already made adjustments in his approach to the question of siksa relationships in ISKCON and accept his assurance that he is not initiating discussion on the establishment of siksa relationships with those devotees who are not his disciples unless they themselves broach it."
(Final GBC Appraisals, 1998)
1998: GBC encourages JPS to chant on his beads
"We also note he (JPS) has made positive efforts to improve the visible chanting of his japa and attendance at the morning program and encourage him to continue with this."
1998: JPS talks himself out of a job
"As such he (Srila Prabhupada) is the Foundational siksa guru for all ISKCON devotees. […] Whether as disciple, grand-disciple, and siksa disciple everyone has a direct access to Srila Prabhupada and His Divine Grace's full mercy."
(Ritvik Theory – Out of The Question, JPS, 1998)
If a "siksa disciple" of Srila Prabhupada has direct access to and the full mercy of Srila Prabhupada, pray tell for what reason does anyone need to take initiation from JPS? It cannot be to "connect" to Srila Prabhupada, since we already have direct access, just by taking siksa from Srila Prabhupada, according to JPS. And since such a disciple is also getting the full mercy of Srila Prabhupada, they are totally set in their spiritual life, and there would be no need to additionally surrender their life to JPS. They could just stick with Srila Prabhupada, which is what we recommend!
1999: JPS's finances average "70,000 per month"
"To give you a brief of myself before going further, I am the secretary of GM ('GM' = 'Guru Maharaja', in this case referring to JPS – ed.) by mainly taking care of all the finances […]
This year the expenses in travel alone have gone to the tune of over 60,000 dollars plus […]
The average bills for GM's travels, secretary and other expenses come to about 70,000 per month."
(Date: Sun, 12 Dec 99 04:44 +0000, From: "COM: Mahaguna (dd) JPS (Atlanta, GA – USA)", Text 2850317)
1999: JPS upset at anti-sastric (scriptural) GBC
"Actually the scriptures mention that the guru can be called by such names as Visnupada, Prabhupada, Acharyadeva. Nonetheless the GBC felt that being attached to this particular scriptural instruction has been counter-productive as many devotees felt that it was artificial to accept such names. [...]
At first I was quite upset because this was not according to Srila Prabhupada's instructions given in his books. [ …]
Considering the time, place and circumstances we are in there is some merit in this decision although it apparently contravenes a direct instruction of Srila Prabhupada given in his books. "
(JPS Letter to Disciples, March 24th 1999) 2000: JPS declares Srila Prabhupada "dead"
"The following article was published on the Front Page of Today's Asian Age [...]
Shankarshan das
Shankarshan das and Nitai Prasad das delivered the press release and cultivated the press. I drafted the press release and it was edited by our lawyers. The newspaper edited it themselves as they always do. Still the main gist is there: 'In a signed statement issued to all Krishna bhaktas around the world, Mayapur general manager Dham Nitai Prasad Dasa has accused […]
all devotees wanting to receive diksha within Iskcon should still receive it from founder-acharya of Iskcon, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Srila Prabhupada, and become his direct disciples, in spite of him being dead for the last 23 years," the letter says.'"
(Asian Age, front page, 24/7/2000), Emphasis added
(Jayapataka.Swami, Monday, July 24, 2000 10:12 PM)
Note: The newspaper quotes directly from the press release drafted by JPS ("the letter says"), delivered by Nitai Prasad, and which JPS also agrees contains the "main gist".
2000: JPS implicated in false rape and suicide case
The following newspaper reports refer to the suicide of an ISKCON devotee who was falsely implicated in a false rape case:
The acting chief metropolitan magistrate K.P. Dutta on Monday ordered the police to take nesccessary steps against eight persons attached to ISKCON, so that they cannot leave India. The eight are
1. Jayapataka Swami
2. Satadhanya Das,
3. Dayaram Das,
4. Bhadracharan Das, [...]
Calcutta,
WARRANTS OUT FOR 8 ISKCON MONKS
Iskcon's Mayapur centre
The case of the Iskcon monk's suicide took a dramatic turn on Wednesday with the court ordering the police to arrest 8 monks of the order. One of them, the chief of Iskcon's Mayapur centre, is said to be absconding. 2004: GBC attempt to rein in JPS fails
JPS ran into trouble with the GBC, the body that illegally maintains he is a bona fide guru successor to Srila Prabhupada, when he started approaching and writing to the disciples of other ISKCON gurus, sending them his blessings and offering to act as their spiritual guide:
"Happy Birthday to you! You are in my regular prayers whenever I pray to the Deities. (…) Please find attached a picture of myself sending you blessings. I hope this finds you blissful in Krishna consciousness and healthy.
Your well wisher always, Jayapataka Swami"
He was cautioned by the Executive Committee (EC) of the GBC in an extraordinary meeting to deal with the crisis, but to little avail. Here is one angry complaint from Indradyumna Swami, whose disciples were so propositioned:
Indradyumna Swami
"I would like to request you not to send such letters to any of my disciples in the future. I feel these letters are in the mood of canvassing for followers and are contrary to the restrictions imposed on you recently by the EC."
(HH Indradyumna Swami to JPS) 2004: JPS declares himself a divine associate
JPS' website biography states the following:
"HH Jayapataka Swami Maharaja was glad to see that his name – Gordan John (Gour Dhan Jan) – already suggested what Srila Prabhuapda confirmed, that he and two other devotees were formerly associates of Lord Caitanya and that they had taken their birth in the west to facilitate spreading Krishna consciousness around the world."
(www.jpsoffice.com/biography.html, archived August 2006)
2004: ISKCON guru calls JPS a "sick, obsessed, duplicitous liar"
Sivarama Swami
JPS is "a sick person" and "obsessed" who "makes lying or duplicitous behaviour fully reconcilable with service to Prabhupada."
(HH Sivarama Swami on JPS) 2006: "Miracle cure" wears off
JPS's biography also states:
"When Jayapataka Maharaja was eleven years old, at the suggestion of his grandfather he cured himself of a skin disease by calling on the name of God."
Given the above miraculous cure, it is surprising that according to his guru Godbrother, HH Bhanu Swami, JPS is suffering skin diseases today, along with a host of other ailments:
"overweight, BP, urinary problems, skin rashes and allergy, and you will have a shortened life span […] I have noticed that all the diets he has followed for the last ten years have not reduced his body weight by 1 kg. A real program will get the weight down 20 kg. in 5 months."
Perhaps JPS needs to follow the GBC's recommendations from its 1998 "guru appraisals" and "call on the name of God" more often.
2006: JPS "diksa guru forever"
The following is taken from the official initiation oath form for those who wish to take initiation from JPS:
"1. […]I HEREBY SOLEMNLY MAKE THE FOLLOWING VOWS:
I accept Srila Jayapataka Swami to be my initiating (diksa) and instructing (siksa) spiritual master (Guru) forever, even life after life."
("Initiation Acceptance Oath", archived August 2006)
Please note that nowhere in Srila Prabhupada's instructions is it stated that "His Divine Grace Srila Jayapataka Swami" is authorised to be an initiating spiritual master even in this life, not to speak of "forever".
The GBC cannot even accept Srila Prabhupada as the diksa Guru in ISKCON for anyone for even ONE DAY - "Unfortunately for all of us, he (Srila Prabhupada) is not physically present and so is no longer giving diksa to anyone"
(GBC's Sastric Advisory Council, March 18th, 2003)
- yet they are more than happy to grant diksa guru status to Jayapataka Swami for ETERNITY!
Jai Srila Prabhupada


text:
Objects and Possessions in Life on Mars/Ashes to Ashes, Incomplete Articles, Electronics
Sam Tyler and his "magic radio". (LoM Series 2: Episode 6)
The "magic radio" was the name given to an old, battered police radio owned by DI Sam Tyler in 1973 that allowed him to receive communications from the year 2006 as an alternative to his television.
Use in Life on Mars Edit
Ashes to Ashes Edit
When Alex Drake, who had studied Sam Tyler, first arrived in Fenchurch East in 1981, she requested to find "the most advanced radio in the station" which would act similar to Tyler's magic radio. However, at this point in time, she did not receive any snippets of 2008. (A2A Series 1: Episode 1)
Retrieved from "https://life-on-mars.fandom.com/wiki/Magic_radio?oldid=7197"


Creative Closet Ideas Diy Picture bottom is part of the best post in Closet Design category, published on Sunday, May 6th, 2018 .
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