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Category Archives: Australia
animals, Australia, nature, photograph, travel
Surfing Outback
May 4, 2016 Lone Grey Squirrel 10 Comments
This week LGS is stepping in the ol' time machine (otherwise known as my dusty photo album) to go back some 15 years. It was not the best of times for me. I was very stressed, terribly unhealthy and quite unwell. During this dip in my life, I took a trip to Australia to visit relatives. I was so worn out that I slept most of the time there. But I did go on a road trip with them towards the interior of Oz.
Our journey started from Perth and we made our way south for hundreds of kilometers to Albany before we struck out to the north and inland towards the heart of the continent.
As it was spring, the journey started lush and green and colourful (Stirling Range National Park)
Canola fields
After the Stirling Range, we endured seemingly endless boring kilometers of flat, dry , dusty featureless landscape (the wild flowers were pretty though)
Any distraction from the long drive was welcome. Even a dog cemetery.
But there were beautiful things to see if you took your time to look
And there were local inhabitants to meet
Finally, we made it to our destination of Hyden. This is where we spent the night.
Near by is the Hippo's Yawn Cave. Caves nearby have aboriginal hand paintings.
And finally, this was what we traveled all those long dusty kilometers to do! To go surfing! (Wave Rock, Hyden)
No chance of drowning or shark attack here!
animals, Australia, photograph
Dolphins of Mandurah
June 13, 2011 Lone Grey Squirrel 12 Comments
The city of Mandurah is the second largest city in Western Australia. Located about 70 km south of Perth and well-connected by highway and more recently by train, it has boomed and become a favored place for retirees as well as the playground for the rich. It also happens to be where my mother-in-law has lived for more than 15 years. My wife and I have made a few trips during that time to visit her and have seen the place grow from a small community to the city it is today.
If you take a boat ride through the wonderful waterways and canals, you will get to see many multi-million dollar homes along the waterfront.
Canal Homes of the Rich
But for me, of greater interest is that Mandurah sits astride the shores of the Peel-Harvey Estuary which makes it an important place for waterbirds and marine life. Therefore, on that same boat ride, you may also be fortunate to see dolphins.
First Tantalising Sign of Dolphins
On one such trip some years ago, the dolphins played alongside the boat for quite a long while. Dolphins like to swim just in front of the boat where they get the extra push of the bow wave created by the boat. Anyway, this all gave me the opportunity to take the following shots. These were originally taken as slides and was only recently scanned into digital format. The quality of the photo was unfortunately affected by the process. Still, I hope you enjoy these.
Riding the Bow Wave
Dancing on Sunlight
Flirting with the Tourists
AustraliaBoatDolphinMandurahPeel-Harvey EstuaryRecreationTravelWestern Australia
Australia, blogging, culture, humor, music, video
4 Chord Song
April 12, 2011 Lone Grey Squirrel 11 Comments
Sorry to have been neglecting you guys but the real world just has been rude and has kept butting in this last two weeks and the situation is likely to remain unchanged at least to the middle of next week. Believe me, I'd want nothing more than to be snug in my hammock, swaying with the breeze, listening to the gentle lapping of the waves beneath me and blogging on my laptop. Unfortunately, I do not currently have the luxury of doing that, which brings me to the purpose of this short post – "How to get rich enough to spend all my time on the hammock!"
Since I was young I have found inspiration from Broadway musicals. It was from the musical "Fiddler on the Roof", that I got my creed, my life's quest, which I share with all of you below.
"Lord who made the lion and the lamb,
You decreed I should be what I am.
Would it spoil some vast eternal plan?
If I were a wealthy man???????????"
This squirrel has tried to make it rich with all manner of get rich quick plans but none of them worked and I never got back any of my deposits. I really should not have invested my money in the slide-rule industry (do readers even still remember what that is?). I even considered marrying some rich millionairess but my wife objects. But I recently found a sure-fire way to make my fortune …………write a hit song. Yes, it's so simple. Taylor Swift says that she can turn out a hit song in a day. So how hard can it be, especially if you knew the SECRET.
Yes, there is a secret to writing a hit song ……and like most things of importance in life, it is such a simple thing. Not being the selfish type, I have decided to share my good fortune and the secret with all of you loyal readers. Just watch the video below and the secret to writing a hit song will be revealed. There is a follow up video to actually teach you how to do it step by step which I can send to you for the small postage fee of "everything you have in your savings". Don't say I didn't try to help my friends when you see my name on the Top Hits Billboard.
Africa, Australia, environment, Malaysia, nature, New Zealand, news, politics
The Year So Far (2011)
February 24, 2011 Lone Grey Squirrel 4 Comments
I had earlier joked about how a tough year this was going to be with the evil Rabbits in charge (Beware the Year of the Rabbit). But the humor seems very flat as the year has indeed turned out to be a tumultuous one thus far and it's not even the end of February yet. In an earlier post, "Feeling Flat", I wondered about the unprecedented floods in Queensland, the uber powerful cyclone Yasi, the drought in New South Wales, the flooding in Victoria and the forest fires around Perth. Australia was reeling under the combination punches. There was also the political turmoil, starting with the ouster of President Ben Ali in Tunisia and then the "who would have thought possible" ouster of President Mubarak of Egypt by popular uprisings. That chain of events is not over yet with the on-going protests in Libya, Yeman, Bahrain, Iran etc. There was also the issue of religious freedom and oppression which I covered in "Say no to Intolerance". Did I say that it isn't even the end of February yet?
In Malaysia too, the news has been less than encouraging and upbeat. In no particular order, here are a few. First, there has been a rash of very public suicides and murder-suicides (mother kills child and then commits suicide). This was followed by a recognition that Malaysian suicide rate per 1000 pax is at least as high as that of the USA and is most likely under-reported. Then, there is the continuing saga of the inquiry into the suspicious death of a political aide, Teoh Beng Hock, where justice still seems to be wanting. The latest is that the family and the state of Selangor has withdrawn from participating in a Commission of Inquiry after there objection to the fact that there is a conflict of interest had been rejected. The conflict arises as the officers of the commission were also officers of the Attorney General's office and the AG's office is currently making a court appeal to have Teoh's death declared a suicide. How can officers of an organisation which is pursuing a particular judgment be also the impartial officers of a supposedly "independent" commission of inquiry? It is just the latest of a series of things that Teoh's family has had to suffer. Meanwhile, there has been a rash of deaths of young people taking part in National Service Camps. In each case, the deaths were reported as sudden and mysterious onset of illnesses. I think it warrants an "independent inquiry" but I don't have much faith in that either. This morning, I read that an "anti-establishment" student political group had all 33 of their student council delegates (both those who won and those who lost in recent student council elections) disqualified immediately after the election. This was based on one un-investigated complaint. After, student protests, the decision was rescinded. But instead of taking the University officials to task for trying to tamper with an election and for breach of protocol and procedure, the authorities are trying to appear magnanimous by saying that they do not intend to "punish their naughty children", i.e. the students, for their protests. Well, now that I think about it, this sort of news in Malaysia isn't unique to 2011. No, it's same ol', same old. It's tiring and life sapping though.
But, the latest earth-shaking incident (literally), was the earthquake that struck Christchurch, New Zealand and the surrounding area at around 1 pm on Tuesday 22nd February. My condolences to the people of Christchurch and New Zealand. Every loss of life is a tragedy and there have been many lives lost in this incident. With the rest of the world, I await news of the rescue operations going on and celebrate with each news of someone pulled out alive. For many, their lives will have forever changed by injury or by loss of loved ones. I am glad to report that Marja of Dutchcorner is well as is her immediate family.
For now, the most important thing is still the on-going search for survivors but after that will come the task of cleaning and re-building. It will be a long and difficult task. I have heard that some survivors are experiencing severe mental stress especially as strong aftershocks are still occurring regularly but the trauma may extend deeper than that. Christchurch has always been a charming and small close-knit community. If I were to volunteer a couple of words of description, I would say "tranquil" and "safe". Now something big and ugly has appeared to shatter that cocoon of safety and tranquility and the scars of fallen and damaged buildings will be around for a long time to remind them of this threat and vulnerability.
Still, New Zealanders are definitely tough and resolute people and I am sure that they will rise from this despite the difficulties. I had wanted for a long time to post on New Zealand and Christchurch which I had visited twice before, but I had procrastinated. Here below is a picture of Christchurch which typically exemplifies the safety and tranquility of the city. Here is a salute to a wonderful city and an inspiration to rebuild and to regain what has been damaged.
Oh, and the year so far? It sucks.
Peace and Tranquility (photo by LGS)
ChristchurchEarthquakeMalaysiaNewZealandTeoh Beng Hock
Africa, Australia, environment, news, politics
Feeling Flat
February 6, 2011 Lone Grey Squirrel 25 Comments
Who Let THe Air Out?
Both 2011 and the Year of the Rabbit have barely begun but doesn't it seem like the world is somehow off-kilter. The public demonstrations in Tunisia, Egypt and Yemen in quick succession has already toppled the leader in one country and placed the remaining leaders in a precarious situation. Nature too seems to have gone extreme. The landslides in Brazil, the snowstorms in Europe and USA (extending all the way to Texas), the floods that led to the inland sea in Queensland, Australia has now been topped by the most powerful cyclone to have ever hit Australia (Cyclone Yasi). What phenomena has raised the blood pressure in the Middle-East and stirred up the weather systems around the world? Would that be the El Loco and the El Nino effects?
Like many, I have been following the drama in Egypt these last two weeks that has already claimed about 300 lives. I know little about the politics and the situation there in Egypt but happily, Malaysia has been able to evacuate some 10,000 Malaysian citizens and students out from that volatile situation. I am also glad that the Egyptian family of a friend are safe even though they are concerned about safety from mobs and are concerned about the food supply situation. I certainly hope that the Egyptians will be able to achieve a resolution to the situation without further violence and loss of life.
Meanwhile Australia has been hit by the combination right – left hook of massive state-wide flooding in Queensland and now by the monster storm Cyclone Yasi – the strongest and biggest storm ever to hit the country. The latest is that the remnants of Yasi is causing flooding in Victoria in the south. Yet New South Wales in the east is suffering from water shortage and there are forest fires near Perth in the west. The people and the businesses are reeling under the punches. Insurance companies are really having a bad time. Now will this become a regular and even possibly an annual occurrence due to climate change?
It's enough to take the wind out of our sails.
Still, dear reader, let's not get ourselves down yet. Let's be hopeful that the year can only improve from this point. Every one think "bunnies" now.
AustraliaEgyptMiddle-EastnewsQueenslandTunisiaYemen
Australia, history, Malaysia, self
Last Raid on RAAF Georgetown (Part 2)
January 2, 2009 Lone Grey Squirrel Leave a comment
Forty unsupervised thirteen year olds on a road trip to a tropical island may sound like a license to unlimited fun (or a passport to disaster,depending on your point of view) but even in those circumstances, there were chores.
To save money, we cooked some of our meals at the old mansion where we were staying. Now we actually handled that very well without much problem. However, we were unsure of the quality of the tap water at the old building for drinking. As a precaution, we followed the standard practice of boiling the water and allowing it to cool before drinking.
Here lies the problem; it was a lot of work to provide drinking water for forty, active,sports-playing kids. Our daily drinking water requirement was at least 80 liters. We had two large kettles that could boil about 4 liters each. That allowed us to boil 8 liters of water at a time. The problem was that it took about 20 minutes to boil the water each time. That meant that we had to had someone on duty boiling water continuously for almost four hours each day. Also the water would be too hot to drink immediately and we had to wait at least two hours for it to cool down to room temperature. We tried this for the first two days but found it difficult since none of us wanted to waste so much time on water duty when there were places to go to and games to play.
We had a crisis meeting on the morning of the third day. The meeting was short but boisterous. However, we all agreed that we could not go on with our current water boiling schedules. We also agreed that there was a simple solution to this water crisis. We were aware that there was an abundant of water coolers within the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Centre and there never seemed to be anyone around most of the time. We also knew there was a no trespassing sign at their entrance at the base of the hill. However, we concluded that the simple solution would be to obtain water from the base and that the "no trespassing" order did not apply to thirteen year olds.
And so, we collected all the available water containers we had (fortunately most of us had water bottles that could hold at least 1.5 liters) and a raiding party of twenty of us boldly set off down the hill along the front road. We entered the base unchallenged and soon found that there was a water cooler providing sweet, cold water almost every 100m within the complex of buildings. It took less than 10 minutes for us to fill our containers and we retreated up the hill without any incident. We celebrated with a drink of icy cold water back at the old mansion.
We did this twice a day for the next few days. Not every expedition was without incident. On some occasions, we had encounters with some of the Australian soldiers. Mostly, we pretended not to understand English and boldly walked away but at least one pair was collared by a couple of military police and warned not to come back.
On the second last day of our stay, we found a notice had been delivered to us at the old mansion. It was a letter from the RAAF authorities informing us that the base was out of bounds and that stern action would be taken against us if we were caught in it again. This really shook us up and that night we made no raid.
However, on the last day, after we spent a whole day out, we came back in the early evening and were too tired and lazy to go through the water boiling process and so we ignored the danger and plotted our last raid on RAAF Georgetown.
We decided on some changes in our raiding plan. We split ourselves into the HQ Team, the Recon Team and the Raiding Party.
At 1900 hours, Recon Team consisting of four of our guys would walk down the road towards the main RAAF base entrance. On the way down, they would look for sign of activity in the building complexes as they past them on the right. If they see no threatening activity like secuirty patrols, they were to flash their torchlight three times. If they subsequently saw any activity that may jeapordise the operation, they were to flash the torchlight continuously and run back up the hill.
The HQ team would sit at the top of the hill and watch for the signal from the Recon Team. Upon seeing the signal, they would signal the message to the Raiding Party who were waiting at the other end of the hill top to begin the mission. Should the Recon Team signal danger, the HQ team was to alert the Raiding Party by means of ringing a bell we found at the old mansion and by dispatching two runners.
The signal was given to start and we proceeded down the dark covered staircase which would bring us to the back of the RAAF base. There were twenty of us in the Raiding Party and we each had at least two water containers and we were also equipped with about 8 torchlights. The covered staircase was very dark but we decided not to use the torchlights because that would make us more visible. Instead we went down using the side of the stairs to guide us and keeping a hand on the sholder of the one in front of us.
We suffered a few falls, missteps and also a few wounds from the thorns of the weeds growing at the side of the stairs but we made it to the highest level of the RAAF complex buildings. On the way down, we could hear what sounded like about 50 Australian soldiers practicing Tae Kwan Do. Even though we could not tell where they were exactly, it was clear that there were personnel active within the base and we had to be careful.
The next stage was for us to move out in teams of two and seek out 10 water coolers which are located every 100 meters along these rows of buildings. While the buildings were in darkness, the corridors were brightly lit with no cover whatsoever.
We fanned out to our objectives like a well trained commando troop with the exception of one team that dropped their metal pot with a loud clang! We all immediately retreated to the darkness of the staircase and waited there with pounding hearts. But there was no response from the enemy and after another 5 minutes, the operation resumed.
Four of us went for a pair of water coolers located about 200 meters from the staircase and began to fill up our containers. We were about 10 minutes into the operation when suddenly, the lights came on in the room behind the water coolers. We were startled, a quick look showed shadowy movement throught the louvered windows. We quickly collected our water containers and we scuttled away and just in time. Almost immediately after we left, we could see the louvered windows open as if someone was trying to see if anything was going on.
We fell back to another group further down the corridor to warn them but before we reached them, the lights in the room near them also came on. When we looked down to the next row of buildings, we saw lights coming on all over the place. Our boys began to scuttle back to the staircase. As we rushed silently along, we suddenly heard the bell ring from the top of the hill. With that all attempt at stealth was abandoned. All twenty of us ran as fast as we could back to the staircase, our feets pounding on the cement corridors.
We heard some shouting but did not look back. When we reached the staircase, we did a quick head count and when we were satisfied all were present, we started up the lightless staircase. Initially, we kept our torchlights off as according to plan and proceeded up the same way as we came down. I was quite proud at how cool all of us were.
That did not last, however. Suddenly we hear movement in front of us and that was scary in the pitch darkness. Our leader shone his torchlight ahead and to our collective horror, we saw the pack of wild dogs snarling at us and blocking our way. What followed next was pure pandemonium. Our leader bravely yelled, "Run! Everyone for himself!" and that is exactly what we did. There was a lot of noise. Dogs barking. Dogs growling. Boys yelling. The sound of running. Sound of falling. Some tripping over the dogs. Dogs yelping. Torchlight beams were swaying violently all over. Possibly if you had really good hearing, you could hear a few curses and a few prayers.
It seemed like an eternity but we were clear of the gauntlet of dogs within a franctic minute. We made it to the top of the stairs and back into the light. The HQ party was there with sticks to keep the dogs at bay. We quickly retreated to the downstairs kitchen where we finally were able to laugh away the adrenaline in our systems. Mission accomplished. We had forty water containers of cool water. Casualties were few; some with thorn injuries, others with bruises and one who had a bad scrape on his knee.
As a precaution against a counterstrike, we had an all-lights blackout for an hour to try to fool the Aussies into thinking we were not in or that we asleep. When the Aussies did not appear, we returned to our merry making with a great deal of boasting and teasing of our individual roles in the great last raid on RAAF Georgetown.
PenangRAAFRoyal Australian Air Force
December 27, 2008 Lone Grey Squirrel Leave a comment
Like many international incidents, this story had a seemingly innocent beginning. It began with the meticulous 6 month planning of a class of forty independent minded 13 year olds. The objective was to have a week holiday in the island of Penang or the Pearl of the Orient as it was known with minimal supervision.
First, we had to find a suitable place to stay. We searched the classified adverts and found it. The place was an old Catholic clergy retreat facility. The advert said, plenty of beds in small dormitories, large kitchen facilities, space for outdoor games and a sea-view. On top of that all, it was exceedingly cheap. We booked it straight away.
Next we had to find suitable teacher advisors that would satisfy our parents and school regulations and yet allowed us to achieve our objective of minimal supervision. After some negotiations, we recruited Mr. X and Miss. Y. Both of them were from Penang and would rather spend time with family rather than babysit us and so an arrangement was made that Mr. X would meet us every other day in the morning and Ms. Y would keep in touch with us by telephone. That was our understanding, one which we kept secret from both our parents and the school.
We then booked the school bus and worked out our itinerary and all was set for the greatest minimally supervised adventure of our lives.
However, when we finally got to the old Catholic Retreat, we learnt a valuable lesson about the power of advertising and positive spin doctoring. The place was located on a hill and it did indeed have a sea-view from its lofty perch but the beach was in fact almost 30 minutes away by foot down an extremely steep hill. The place itself was a large old wooden mansion. Entry into the building was by the kitchen which occupied all of the ground floor and had tables and benches that could sit at least 60 people and functioning though ancient kitchen utensils. In fact the whole ground floor looked like it came out of a gothic horror movie.
Upstairs, we were pleasantly surprised by a large open hall which ran from the front to the back of the building. It was fantastic; cool and breezy and ideal for all the board games and card games that we wanted to play.
Next we realised that our accommodation was in rooms on either side of the main hall. Into these tiny rooms were packed so many double-decker bunk beds that the Black Hole of Calcutta came to mind. The bunk beds were so ancient that they creaked even if the wind blew. Worse, the springs on the beds were so badly mangled that it hardly gave any support and many of us believed they were custom built for the Hunchback of Notre Dame and apparently his 40 other siblings.
Although there was a small field at the front of the building, we had to be very careful when we played soccer. Just to the left of one of our goal posts was a shrine with a statue of the Virgin Mary. Clearly, we would be in deep trouble if the shrine or statue was damaged. This led to some strange soccer games where the goalkeeper was more concerned about stopping volleys from hitting the shrine than protecting his goal. Also, being on the top of the hill meant that every time the ball was kicked out of bounds, there was a high probability that it would roll all the way down the hill.
It was when we tried to retrieve the ball that we discovered that there was an additional hazard in the form of a pack of stray dogs. If the pack saw only one of us try to retrieve the ball, they would snarl and threaten to attack. So retrieving the ball had to involve at least 3 -4 of us waving sticks which would cause the pack to retreat.
Despite all of these peculiarities, we loved it cause it was an opportunity for adventure without our parents. Just to complete the picture, something must be said about the surroundings. On one side of the hill, was a hospital and though the nurses quarters which was nearby gave us some ideas, it was protected by a barb wire fence and a sharp cliff face. On the other side and near the foot of the hill was a very large and expansive complex of low buildings which formed part of the Royal Australian Air Force Centre in Georgetown, Penang. The facility served the needs of the RAAF personnel based in nearby RAAF Butterworth who flew Mirages and Sabres as part of a South East Asia Treaty Organisation agreement which was meant to counter fears of the Vietnam conflict from spreading and causing a domino effect throughout South East Asia.
To get to this facility, one could take a long way around following the road down the hill but that approach was very closely guarded as it was near the main entrance of that facility. We soon found that there was a short-cut which was in the form of a stairway down the side of the hill from behind our kitchen facility. This was a broad covered cement stairway which had no lights and had dense vegetation at its sides which look like they would recolonise the structure within a couple of years. However, this led straight down to a block of single storey buildings near the heart of the RAAF base.
The scenario was all set. It was only a matter of time before there would be an outburst of hostilities between the 40 young hormonally maladjusted Malaysian school kids and the 5,000 foreign servicemen of the RAAF base. All that was needed was an incident to light the smoldering fuse and it did not take long for that to happen. (continued in next post)
Disclaimer: The names of people and places have been changed to protect the innocent, hide the guilty and because the memory of the author is suspect in certain cases. Other changes have also been made in the name of artistic license. Some facts and truths may have also been distorted or exaggerated in the same tradition as television docu-dramas. That leaves about 50% which are mostly true but I won't swear by it!
Australia, celebration, culture, family, food, Malaysia, relationships
Ming Dynasty – Tea Ceremony
May 4, 2008 Lone Grey Squirrel Leave a comment
Regular readers will remember that I was in Australia at the end of last year. The reason I was there was to help with the preparations and to witness the wedding of my nephew, Ming. Despite the distance, I would like to think that we have always remained quite close even as the boy grew up to be a man. In our culture, we often refer to the couple on their wedding day as King and Queen for a day. So indeed, I feel that with his wedding to his lovely wife Jean, old foggies like myself begin to slide into the sunset to make way for a new exciting chapter in the family history ……the Dynasty of Ming!
The wedding is in three parts; the tea ceremony, the exchange of vows and the wedding dinner. The newly wed couple cannot immediately begin reigning their own household until they pay homage to their parents and elders which they do so by offering cups of tea to their elders as a symbol of servitude and respect. In turn, the parents and elders will give them a symbolic gift or "ang pow" (red packet filled with money) to signal acceptance into the family and also to wish them good fortune in their new life together.
This wedding was also exceptional as the groom was from a Malaysian Chinese culture and the bride was Korean. Hence, the day was full of colourful representation of both rich cultures.
Ming & Jean – the King and Queen for the day, making their entrance
The Tea Ceremony – for Ming's parents
The Korean side of the Dynasty in colourful traditional dress (hanbok)
Malaysian relatives
(Chinese Cheong-sam – ladies at both ends of the line)
(Peranakan Sarong Kebaya – the two ladies 2nd and 3rd from left)
(Batik Shirt – sole gentleman amongst the ladies)
Fruits and cakes from both cultures
Emperor Ming discovers Korean Tradition of carrying Mother-in-law!
All photos are by LGS.
Australia, plants, travel
Growing at the Time of the Dinosaurs
March 3, 2008 Lone Grey Squirrel Leave a comment
Way back in October 2007, I posted about my trip to Australia for my nephew's wedding. In that post, I mentioned that I "visited a beautiful garden and shared something with dinosaurs." The beautiful garden was the amazing Mount Tomah Botanical Gardens which I also described in a following post. However, I totally forgot to elaborate on what I shared with the dinosaurs, which brings us to today's post.
One of the key exhibits at the Mount Tomah Botanical Gardens is a tree whose closest relative is known only from fossils dating back some 2 million years ago, during the time of the dinosaurs.
It was discovered in 1994 by David Noble, a field officer of the Wollemi National Park in Wentworth Falls, Blue Mountains, New South Wales. It was found in a difficult to reach valley whose exact location remains a closely guarded secret to help protect the remaining 100 or so trees of this species.
It was given the name Wollemia nobilis and is commonly known as the Wollemia Pine. It is however, in fact, not a pine but a conifer of the Araucariaceae family which includes the Kauri tree of New Zealand. Amongst its more interesting features is its dark knobbly bark which has often been described as resembling the Cocoa Pops cereal. The tree can grow to approximately 40 m high.
As a result of its status as a living fossil, there is much demand for the tree and a propagation program intended to supply botanical gardens has now successfully become a commercial venture. It is certainly one of the Mega-stars of the botanic world.
That being said, it was a little odd looking but after all that hype and anticipation, the experience was a little bit of an anti-climax. (all photos by LGS).


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Adult Stem Cells Imitate Human Brain, Are Hope for Neurological Disorders
Adult Stem Cells Imitate Human…
A study published last week has shown that adult stem cells derived from ethical sources can be used to create living tissues that imitate the developing human brain. In their findings, published in the science journal Nature, researchers asserted that, by using human stem cells derived from skin cells, they were able to assemble brain-like pieces of living tissue. These stem cells could prove to be an invaluable resource for the study and treatment of various neuro-developmental disorders.
by Nora Sullivan | Washington, DC | LifeNews.com
Researchers developed complex neural-tissue clumps by first growing the stem cells on a synthetic gel that resembled connective tissues found in the brain and elsewhere in the body. Then they infused the tissue clumps with nutrients and oxygen. Scientists had previously used human stem cells to grow structures resembling the eye and even tissue layers similar to the brain's cortex.
"The big surprise was that it worked," says Juergen Knoblich, a developmental biologist at the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology in Vienna and one of the researchers behind the study. The clumps of tissue ultimately grew to resemble the brains of unborn human babies at about nine weeks gestation.
Dr. Knoblich also pointed out that the tissue structure is not the same as that of an intact brain – adding that normal brain maturation in an embryo is most likely guided by growth signals from other parts of the body. The tissue also lacks blood vessels, which could be one reason that the tissue only grew to be 3-4 millimeters in diameter.
The researchers behind the study used the system to model key aspects of microcephaly, a neurological condition that causes stunted brain growth and cognitive impairment. Microcephaly can be caused by a variety of genetic and environmental factors but there are currently no treatments. According to the research team, tissue masses cultured from stem cells derived from the skin of a person with microcephaly did not grow to be as large as those stem cells derived from a healthy person. The research team hypothesizes that this is due to the premature differentiation of neural stem cells inside the microcephalic tissue chunks which diminishes the population of progenitor cells that fuels normal brain growth.
The more scientists are able to learn about such disorders, the more hope there is for those afflicted by them and for their families.
The news of this advance in stem cell science comes just as the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) has issued another round of research grants totaling more than $40 million dollars to be spent on stem cells research. Once again, CIRM grants have strongly favored ethical, non-embryonic stem cell research. The motivation behind this does not seem to be deep-rooted belief in the inherent dignity of every human life, including in the most vulnerable embryonic stage. Rather, it is due to the plain and simple fact that embryonic stem cell research has not produced viable treatments and adult stem cell research has proven to be better medicine and a better investment.
The Nature study is just another example, on a long list, demonstrating that science and ethics can be in sweet accord.
LifeNews Note: Nora Sullivan writes for the Lozier Institute.
Category: News September 3, 2013
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getting counseling clients and social media | Couples-Counseling Connection — Marriage & Family (McLean, Virginia).
Couples Counseling and Recent Changes, Very Interesting.
Three new articles recently appeared dealing with technology and child custody, responding to an affair, and branding for therapists.
The first discussed how mobile technology (cell phones) can ease the tension between parents in arranging child-related events. The next talked about how preconceived notions of dealing with an affair change over time. The last discussed the professional branding of a therapist as being essential in today's marketplace.
"After the Affair" New York Times (Nov. 25, 2012).
"Branding and Therapist." New York Times (Nov. 25, 2012).
"Kramer.com v. Kramer.com (Technology and Custody)" New York Times (Nov. 25, 2012).
These articles make for interesting reading. They demonstrate how times are changing in the way couples-counseling takes place and the way issues are dealt with by all concerned.


text:
Reggie Perry Robert Woodard Troy Green Bryson Robinson Iverson Molinar Sports Men's basketball Men's sports Basketball Men's college basketball College basketball College sports
Mississippi State SEC New Orleans Southland
Woodard sends Mississippi State past New Orleans 82-59
STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) — Robert Woodard had career highs of 21 points and 16 rebounds to lead Mississippi State past New Orleans 82-59 on Sunday at Humphrey Coliseum.
Woodard was one of four Bulldogs in double figures as Mississippi State (4-0) remained undefeated. Reggie Perry scored 14, while D.J Stewart and Iverson Molinar added 13 and 11 points, respectively.
"I thought we played even better than the last game," said Mississippi State head coach Ben Howland. "I'm so happy with the defense and we did a great job on the glass. Robert Woodard was obviously incredible today on the boards and we did a good job in terms of 20 assists on 31 made baskets.
"Reggie Perry did a great job on some backdoor passes, too. We shoot the ball over 50% and held them to 37% and got a good win over a hard-nosed team."
New Orleans (1-3) was led by Bryson Robinson and Troy Green with 14 points apiece.
Woodard was 8 of 14 from the field and made a pair of 3-pointers. He also added four assists, two blocked shots and three steals.
"It feels great going out playing as hard as I can and achieving what I did tonight," said Woodard. "I didn't expect that all at one time, but it's just a matter of playing hard and you can't put a limit on playing hard. Anything can happen when you play like that. The energy was high for the whole game, even before the game and at breakfast this morning. It was just a high-energy game."
Mississippi State led by as many as 30 points in the second half and held at least a 20-point advantage for the entire second half. The Bulldogs held a commanding 45-27 rebounding advantage and had 20 assists with 14 turnovers. New Orleans finished with 10 assists and 12 turnovers while collecting nine steals.
For the game, Mississippi State shot 51% and held New Orleans to just 38%. The Bulldogs made 5 of 20 beyond the arc and made 15 of 24 free throws. New Orleans was 2 of 11 from 3-point territory and made 13 of 15 free throws.
"I thought it was a game where I knew we had to rebound at a very high rate," said New Orleans head coach Mark Slessinger. "Coach Howland has done a good job of putting together a roster that plays to its strengths, not just offensively. He's a good defensive coach and the key to the game being won or lost was them having 18 offensive rebounds and 25 second-chance points. It is something we will continue to work on and grow as we are in the midst of a difficult road stretch."
Both teams traded leads in the early going of the first half. The first eight minutes featured six lead changes and eight ties before Mississippi State started to grab control. Woodard's offensive putback capped off a 10-4 run by the Bulldogs and gave Mississippi State a 36-25 lead with 2:33 left in the half.
Woodard ended the first half with 15 points and nine board as Mississippi State led 38-28. The Bulldogs shot 52% in the half and held a 21-11 advantage on the boards. UO shot 44% in the opening half and the Privateers had five first-half turnovers.
Mississippi State had eight turnovers in the first half and made just 2 of 10 shots beyond the arc.
BIG PICTURE:
New Orleans: As the preseason favorite to win the Southland Conference, New Orleans has a difficult nonconference slate before reaching conference activity. The Privateers have already played at Butler and SMU and still have road trips to nationally-ranked LSU and Memphis left on the December slate.
Mississippi State: The Bulldogs continued to thrive on the defensive end. After allowing 69 points to Florida International in the opener, Mississippi State has held three straight opponents under 60 points.
New Orleans: The Privateers conclude their four-game road swing next Sunday with a trip to Hawaii.
Mississippi State: The Bulldogs take to the road for the first time this season and open the Myrtle Beach Invitational in Conway, S.C. The Bulldogs face Tulane in the first round on Thursday.


text:
Q: Add visit site to your toolbar instead of being in the dropdown I'm looking for a way to move the "Visit Site" link from drop-down and add it to the main toolbar, just like in the image shown below:

A: Add this to your theme's functions.php:
add_action( 'admin_bar_menu', 'make_parent_node', 999 );
function make_parent_node( $wp_admin_bar ) {
    if ( ! is_admin() ) { return; }  // end function if not in admin back-end, credit @Rarst
    $args = array(
        'id'     => 'view-site',  // id of the existing child node (View Site)
        'title'  => 'Visit Site', // alter the title of existing node (optional)
        'parent' => false         // set parent to false to make it a top level (parent) node
    );
    $wp_admin_bar->add_node( $args );
}

This will move the "View Site" to just right of the Dashboard drop-down. For more information, see the Codex; the code above is from the "Make an Existing Child Node a Parent Node" section.

A: Not complicated, but a little tricky to get timing right.
Something like this should work, but you might need to experiment with priority to get the link to specific position on the bar:
add_action( 'admin_bar_menu', function ( $wp_admin_bar ) {

    if ( ! is_admin() ) {
        return;
    }

    /** @var WP_Admin_Bar $wp_admin_bar */
    $wp_admin_bar->remove_node( 'view-site' );

    $wp_admin_bar->add_menu( array(
        'id'    => 'view-site',
        'title' => __( 'Visit Site' ),
        'href'  => home_url( '/' ),
    ) );
}, 31 ); // After `wp_admin_bar_site_menu()` at 30.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


← Fix the Problem or Design it Out?
I was fortunate enough to join Tamara Kleinberg of GoToLaunchStreet, a TED speaker and entrepreneur recently for an interview for her Launchstreet podcast. From building and running multi-million dollar businesses, advising Fortune 500 companies like Disney, Procter and Gamble and RICOH on fostering innovative ideas and people, Tamara's life is about breaking through the status quo for game-changing results, and that's what her keynotes, online programs and assessments can do for you. Obviously we're kindred spirits so check out the lively conversation we had on her podcast!
This entry was posted in Change, Innovation and tagged Change Planning Toolkit, Charting Change, Experiment Canvas, Interviews, podcasts, Radio Interviews, Stoking Your Innovation Bonfire. Bookmark the permalink.


The second full length album of P.O.BOX from Nancy, France. The second full length album of P.O.BOX from Nancy, France. INBETWEENTHELINES brings 15 melodic songs that invite you to dance, party and go crazy – never disregarding the message P.O.BOX has to spread. For example, Track 14 is a reference to 78 states in the world that still exercise death penalty. Thus it is a track of 78 seconds silence.
P.O.BOX gained broad attention with their debut record "…AND THE LIPSTICK TRACES". The band's concept of blending musically explosive punk-riffs and fast-forward ska-crossover moments with political and social critical lyrics together with their massive tour-schedules throughout Europe made P.O.BOX to a household name band when it comes to European ska-punk bands.
INBETWEENTHELINES is a fireworks of catchy ska-parts, as well as hard-hitting punk-rock arrangements mixed with rock-reggae moments. Guests like Vic Ruggiero (THE SLACKERS, keys and guitarson the track 'Skinocracy') and Chris Cresswell (THE FLATLINERS, vocals on 'Going To The Court') top the record off.


boohooMAN has announced a collaboration for autumn 2017 with rap duo Rae Sremmurd. The brothers also model clothing in the campaign images for the collection.
The 25-piece collection includes ready-to-wear, footwear, and accessories inspired by street style and hip hop culture. Key pieces include an embroidered velour bomber jacket, fan print shirt, wool coat with faux fir collar, skinny jeans, and hoodies and t-shirt with the "MAN" logo.
Items are priced between £4 and £60 and are available now from boohooman.com.


text:
Pipeline and Tanker Trouble: The Impact to British Columbia's Communities, Rivers, and Pacific Coastline from Tar Sands Oil Transport
by Anthony Swift & Susan Casey-Lefkowitz & Danielle Droitsch
The Canadian government is considering a proposal to build a pipeline under mountains and across rivers that could carry more than half a million barrels of raw tar sands crude oil (known as bitumen) daily across important salmon rivers, coastal rainforests, and sensitive marine waters. The Northern Gateway pipeline, proposed by energy company Enbridge, would stretch over 1,000 kilometers to connect the tar sands of Alberta with the Pacific coast of British Columbia.
From that point, the extracted bitumen would be transported by tanker to refineries in Asia, California, or elsewhere. Both the extraction and transportation of tar sands oil are a destructive business. The substance is extracted by either strip-mining or by a process that would heat the ground beneath Alberta's Boreal forests and wetlands. Tar sands oil is then refined in Alberta or piped over thousands of kilometers to refineries elsewhere.
The social, economic, and environmental costs of a tar sands pipeline and associated oil supertanker traffic would be enormous, including:
Compromising the lifestyles of First Nations who depend on the region's lands and waters for their livelihoods, culture, and health.
Threatening the economic well-being of the communities of British Columbia that depend on fisheries and forests.
Potential devastation from a major oil spill from the pipeline or an oil supertanker, which could destroy economically important salmon habitat, as well as the habitat of Spirit Bears and grizzlies, and whales, orcas, and other marine life that depend on these rich coastal waters.
Harm from an oil spill to the Great Bear Rainforest that the province and First Nations have worked hard to protect from unsustainable forestry practices and to shift to a conservation-based economy.
While the potentially devastating impacts of tar sands production are well documented, the increased risk and potential harm from transporting bitumen is less known. This report outlines the potential dangers of bitumen transportation and the risks of spills to the environment and the economy in a region that depends on healthy fisheries, lands, and waters.
Pipeline and Tanker Trouble: The Impact to British Columbia's Communities, Rivers, and Pacific Coastline from Tar Sands Oil Transport - Report (PDF)
Pipeline and Tanker Trouble: The Impact to British Columbia's Communities, Rivers, and Pacific Coastline from Tar Sands Oil Transport - Fact Sheet (PDF)
Proposed Northern Gateway Pipeline - Map (PDF)
Anthony Swift
Director, Canada Project, International Program
Susan Casey-Lefkowitz
Senior Strategic Advisor
Danielle Droitsch


This language diversity has been wreaking havoc for many years in Belgium's political arena. Tensions between the Walloons and the Flemish are high. The relationship between the two groups has deteriorated within the Belgium Parliament itself. The political system in Belgium is quite complicated partly due to the fact that there are two major linguistic communities that exist in one country. The Dutch-speakers are the majority while the French-speakers are the minority. Even though an equal status has been guaranteed by the State to both groups, these factions are still continually at odds with each other.
In Belgium's voting system, citizens living in the Flemish Region can only vote for candidates belonging to the Flemish political party. On the other hand, citizens in the Walloon Region can only vote for candidates that are members of the Walloon political party. It is only in the Brussels-Capital Region that citizens can vote for candidates from either of the two political parties.
In 2005, two municipalities in the Brussels-Capital Region, Hal and Vilvoorde were thrust in the center of the tension when the Flemish political parties claimed that these two border municipalities should be part of the Flemish Region. Of course the French politicians opposed the measure, as this would not be to their benefit. The French side would lose part of its electoral power if Hal and Vilvoorde were annexed to the Flemish Region.
There are more instances of linguistic disputes and tensions in Belgium beyond the electoral system. These are all documented in papers and newspaper articles. Negotiations have often broken down because each side sees the demands of their linguistic opponents as over the top. This clear language divide is affecting the country politically, economically, socially and culturally. Will there be a resolution to this ever growing problem in Belgium? Or will the world one day see a Belgium divided into two countries? Stay tuned.
Languages differ in many ways. But should it create some restrictions and tensions? A language is meant to unify, to communicate between and among groups and individuals. We know that a language helps in building associations and partnerships and bridges differences. A language may be different, but it should be meant to unite. That is why language interpreters and translators are needed when there assemblies where people from different countries interact.


I keep seeing comments all around that the annual fall pumpkin craze has gone too far. I, for one, am not complaining. What this craze means for me, in practical terms, is that this year there has been a much better variety of pumpkin beers available in my small town. Last year, I remember really wanting to try a bunch of interesting pumpkin beers, but all we had were versions by Sam Adams, Blue Moon, and Shock Top. Those are all fine, I suppose, but nothing worth getting excited about, and (after trying a few much, much better versions this year) they're nothing I will buy again.
So, for those of you who aren't card-carrying members of the anti-pumpkin beer league, here are the ones I tried this fall and how I rank them according to my personal preferences.
For the record (if you're wondering if your beer preferences align with mine), I generally like all sorts of fruity beers (peach, cherry, watermelon, citrus…) and I hardly ever will drink an IPA, no matter how trendy they may be. They're simply too bitter for me. My other fall favorites are brown ales. And I will drink a German hefeweizen any time of the year. For pumpkin beers, I like them with a lot of pumpkin-pie aroma, spices, and a bit of sweetness.
This has been my absolute favorite of all the pumpkin beers I've had this fall. It's been available on draft at a couple of places here in town, though I think it's gone now. When I first had it, it was $9 for a 12 oz glass. Needless to say, I did not realize the price until after I'd had some, because damn, I don't think I would have ordered a $9 beer. Luckily, we found it around the corner for a much less insane $4.50 per pint. If only I'd been able to find this beer for sale bottled, I feel as if my life this fall would've been complete. As it was, I think I got to drink 3-4 servings of it all together. It has amazing pumpkin-pie spice aroma, with a little hint of vanilla as well, and the flavor to match. It is most definitely reminiscent of pumpkin pie, while still tasting like beer. I have honestly never tasted a pumpkin beer I liked better. Love it. Oh, also. It's 8.6% ABV, so be warned!
I looked everywhere in Auburn (I thought) for the Pumpkick and could not find it! Sad.


Exclusive: Twitter Testing a New Feature to Send Direct Messages from its Feed?
I have closely observed the changes made by Twitter in 2018 and I am quite sure they are changing the way we all use Twitter. With the changes made in the past years, the Twitter user base is only growing strong and why not! It has evolved as a best social media platform for everyone to express their views in a limited number of characters with some extraordinary features.
Send Direct Messages from Twitter's Feed?
Well, I have observed one strange feature which I think most of you haven't seen till date. Maybe, I was lucky enough to spot it yesterday. Here's what I observed!
In the above image, it can be clearly seen that "Send a private message" button is in between the Twitter's thread of @AirVistara (I follow AirVistara on Twitter). To be frank, I haven't seen this feature before any day and this was the only time I noticed this new feature. Once I saw this, I started searching for a similar feature in other threads.
Now, this gets me in a dilemma that whether Twitter is testing a new feature or is this something done by AirVistara Twitter team? Well, I have tried to contact Social Media Examiner on Twitter through my Tweet below & they replied, "We haven't seen this before! Thanks for sharing with us, we're going to look into it!" Here's my tweet!
Can someone send a direct message from the live conversation on Twitter just like I see on @airvistara account?
My Observation on this Feature!
When I checked a few tweets of AirVistara & Indigo on Twitter, I observed that whenever a word "DM" is used in the Tweet, this feature "Send a private message" appears right below the Tweet!
I see this option when I follow AirVistara on Twitter. Same goes for Indigo account which I follow on Twitter. Here's the screenshot which used a word DM & displays Send a private message button.
But there's a twist to this feature! When I don't follow any account on Twitter, say, for example, SpiceJet, I don't follow them Twitter. In this case, they used the word "DM" but I don't see any such feature "Send a private message" as I saw in AirVistara & Indigo Tweet conversations.
So this was my observation in detail. I hope this feature will make it easy for the users to contact the people (especially contacting businesses) they follow & have queries to which they can send a direct message from Twitter's feed itself!
Isn't it strange? Well, there are no words from Twitter and none of the other social media experts as this feature is hardly being noticed by anyone in the social media world! I'll keep you updated if there's any confirmation on this feature.
Unable to Verify TutuApp? Here's How to Verify Tutu App!Movietime App Download for Android & iOS! Watch HD Movies Free!


text:
> Authors
> Outlander – Meet Diana Gabaldon At Hopetoun House
Outlander – Meet Diana Gabaldon At Hopetoun House
By Will Battle - February 25, 2019
2014 SONY PICTURES TELEVISION INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ©
Meet Diana Gabaldon on location and ask her all your Outlander questions in this amazing new event.
Outlander fans have the chance to chat with author Diana Gabaldon at a stately home from the hit TV show. The US writer will take part in a conversation event at Hopetoun House near South Queensferry on March 15.
James Crawford, author and chair of Publishing Scotland will chair the evening. He is also the presenter of the recent BBC TV series, Scotland From The Sky.
Fans will get experience the evening in the elegant Red Drawing Room. This room appeared as the Duke of Sandringham's home in season one.
VisitScotland and Publishing Scotland organised The Hopetoun House event, with support from United Airlines.
Jenni Steele from VisitScotland said:
"The Outlander books and subsequent TV series have had a huge impact on tourism in Scotland. They are inspiring thousands of travellers to visit our shores.
"It is only fitting that fans will get the chance to hear from the award-winning author in the sumptuous Hopetoun House, which will be familiar to viewers."
Marion Sinclair from Publishing Scotland added:
"Books and storytelling have long been the source of cinematic and TV adaptations and Outlander is one of the major page-to-screen stories of the past decade in Scotland.
"We are thrilled to have the opportunity to hear from Diana Gabaldon about how her writing served as the inspiration for the series."
Authors	June 19, 2019
Cymera Book Festival – A Beast Of A Festival
Authors	February 28, 2019
Granite Noir – Aberdeen's Darkest Book Festival
Authors	October 29, 2018
It's Time For A Hoolie!


A large entity near the Atlantic entrance to the Panama Canal, located in Panamadedicated to re-exporting a wide variety of merchandise to Latin America and the Caribbean, the largest free port in the Americas, and second largest in the world.
Manzanillo (MIT) is located east of the Atlantic opening of the Panama Canal on Manzanillo Bay, Colón Province, Panama. It is one of the largest container transshipment terminals in the region and has direct access into the Colón Free Trade Zone (CFZ).MIT is a distribution center for cargo destined for cities within Panama and nearby countries in Central America and the Caribbean.
The port of Cristobal is one of the oldest seaports still operating in Panama.
Shipping from China main ports to Colon Free Zone, Manzanillo, Balboa, Cristobal and Panama City.


text:
"How Abuja-Kaduna Train Attackers Scammed Buhari Government" – Bulama Bukarti
As shared by UK-based lawyer, Bulama Bukarti.
If you're in doubt that the Buhari govt is clueless, listen up. Garba Shehu told BBC Hausa today that they gave the Abuja-Kaduna train attackers all their demands, but they refused to free their victims. That's because the terrorists outsmarted them. Here's what Garba Shehu said.
First, the gang leader demanded the release of his pregnant wife who's in jail. The govt took her to a hospital, where she birthed twins at taxpayers' expense and all 3 were freed. He refused to free his victims, but demanded the release of 6 or 7 members' children from prison.
Not only did the govt release them from jail, it sent a plane to fly them from Adamawa, where they're detained, and delivered them to the terrorists. Again, they refused to release the victims. Instead, they asked for money! This is the worse negotiation I've heard of in my life.
You had their wife and 10 children and you gave up all without taking yours? You're not dealing with a trustworthy partner, so cash-and-carry should be no brainer. But the Buhari admin thought they could trust terrorists, so they kept giving them before taking anything. Clueless!
In the end, the terrorists received 11 members through "negotiation", freed 69 from Kuje by force & made over N1bn in ransom. Yet, 31 passengers are still in captivity. Who knows how much more they'll make? And with all these resources, imagine how big their next attack could be.


text:
Q: join 4 tables in Postgres I have four main tables:
CREATE TABLE t_users (
user_id varchar PRIMARY KEY,
user_email varchar
);

CREATE TABLE t_items (
item_id varchar PRIMARY KEY,
owner_id varchar not null references t_users(user_id),
title varchar
);
CREATE TABLE t_access_items_users (
access_iu_id varchar PRIMARY KEY,
item_id varchar not null references t_items(item_id),
user_id varchar not null references t_users(user_id)
);

CREATE TABLE t_friends (
friend_id varchar PRIMARY KEY,
from_user_id varchar not null references t_users(user_id),
to_user_id varchar not null references t_users(user_id)
);

With data:
INSERT INTO t_users VALUES ('us123', 'us123@email.com');
INSERT INTO t_users VALUES ('us456', 'us456@email.com');
INSERT INTO t_users VALUES ('us789', 'us789@email.com');
INSERT INTO t_users VALUES ('public', 'public@email.com');

INSERT INTO t_items VALUES ('it123', 'us123', 'title1');
INSERT INTO t_items VALUES ('it456', 'us456', 'title2');
INSERT INTO t_items VALUES ('it678', 'us789', 'title3');
INSERT INTO t_items VALUES ('it323', 'us123', 'title4');
INSERT INTO t_items VALUES ('it764', 'us456', 'title5');
INSERT INTO t_items VALUES ('it826', 'us789', 'title6');
INSERT INTO t_items VALUES ('it568', 'us123', 'title7');
INSERT INTO t_items VALUES ('it038', 'us456', 'title8');
INSERT INTO t_items VALUES ('it728', 'us789', 'title9');

INSERT INTO t_access_items_users VALUES ('aiu123', 'it123', 'us123');
INSERT INTO t_access_items_users VALUES ('aiu456', 'it456', 'us456');
INSERT INTO t_access_items_users VALUES ('aiu678', 'it678', 'us789');
INSERT INTO t_access_items_users VALUES ('aiu323', 'it323', 'us123');
INSERT INTO t_access_items_users VALUES ('aiu764', 'it764', 'us456');
INSERT INTO t_access_items_users VALUES ('aiu826', 'it826', 'us789');
INSERT INTO t_access_items_users VALUES ('aiu568', 'it568', 'us123');
INSERT INTO t_access_items_users VALUES ('aiu038', 'it038', 'us456');
INSERT INTO t_access_items_users VALUES ('aiu728', 'it728', 'us789');
INSERT INTO t_access_items_users VALUES ('aiu728', 'it728', 'us789');
INSERT INTO t_access_items_users VALUES ('apu123', 'it678', 'public');
INSERT INTO t_access_items_users VALUES ('apu222', 'it123', 'public');
INSERT INTO t_access_items_users VALUES ('apu111', 'it456', 'public');
INSERT INTO t_access_items_users VALUES ('aiu333', 'it728', 'public');
INSERT INTO t_access_items_users VALUES ('aiu444', 'it826', 'public');

INSERT INTO t_friends VALUES ('f123', 'us123', 'us456');

Request for a type:
select *
from t_access_items_users
inner join t_items on t_access_items_users.item_id = t_items.item_id
inner join t_users on t_access_items_users.user_id = t_users.user_id
where t_access_items_users.user_id = 'public';

returns 5 rows.
Why the query type:
select
t_items.item_id,
t_items.owner_id,
t_items.title
from t_access_items_users
inner join t_items on t_access_items_users.item_id = t_items.item_id
inner join t_friends on t_items.owner_id = t_friends.from_user_id
where t_friends.to_user_id = 'us456'
or t_access_items_users.user_id = 'public';

returns 4 rows?
How to make the right request to get all need rows?
Ultimately I want to get data where the items have access to the public and with the user's friends' friendships.
How to make a query returning all the elements that:
t_friends.to_user_id = 'us456'
or t_access_items_users.user_id = 'public'

Thank you.


text:
RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif. -- Monday was laundry day for your correspondent, who'll make the drive back over the mountains to Las Vegas Tuesday to move into position for the season's third Sprint Cup/Nationwide weekend at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
That means I won't be back in Charlotte for the press conference and noon Tuesday formally announcing the plans for an United States-based Formula One team. That press conference will be held at the Speed cable television network's studios and carried live on that channel.
I've talked to Ken Anderson, who along with Peter Windsor are to be the "principals" of that team in F1 terminology, one time on the telephone when he confirmed the rumors that this announcement was coming up. That was two weeks ago while I was in Daytona and since then I've had probably 10 e-mails from people who want me to get them in touch with Anderson so they can go to work for the F1 team. I also had a couple of people who sell real estate looking for contacts so they could offer buildings that now stand idle.
I don't think they believed me when I tell them that I've only had that one conversation and everything I know I've put in the paper. Today's announcement should provide at least a few more details.
What it will more likely do is set off more speculation about who might be chosen to drive for an American F1 team. The focus of this new team, Anderson told me, was going to be American and that would mean American drivers. Danica Patrick's name, predictably, already came up and she shot that down. I asked AJ Allmendinger about it Friday at California and he seemed amused by the question, but he also said that he'd be a fool to say absolutely not when as of right now he doesn't have a full-time ride for 2009.
By 5 p.m. Tuesday, I suspect somebody will have spun up a rumor about a prominent Cup driver or two. Kyle Busch was supposed to go to Japan late last year to take one of Toyota's F1 cars for a spin. That fell through, but the fact that Busch would be interested in touching the wheel might be enough to set some people off.
Inside the NASCAR circles this week, I heard a lot of skepticism about the USF1 idea. These guys know how tough it is to find sponsorship for NASCAR teams right now and scoff at the notion that Anderson and Windsor can find the money -- upwards of $100 million -- and the sheer number of smart racers it would take to get a team from idea to reality in time to go racing in 2010.
I guess we'll have to see about all of that, won't we?
On another quick matter, people listening to The Morning Drive on Sirius NASCAR Radio Monday morning got a little "bonus" coverage when one of our commercials didn't fire as it should and co-host Mike Bagley and I were still on the air when we didn't know we were.
We were continuing a conversation we'd had with a caller about the idea of pulling races away from Auto Club Speedway in Fontana. Mike was saying how fans out here don't have as many places they can choose to go as fans back east, and I was telling him that I have no problem with the fans out here. I think they're good fans, but they just know better than to expect good racing at a track which hasn't given them that.
At one point when I thought we were off-air, I said, "This track sucks. It stinks. It blows chunks." When the show was over, I got calls warning me that went out over the air. My reaction was "So?" It's not like I didn't write that two or three times over the weekend.
During Sunday night's Cup race, Darrell Waltrip was talking about how an engineer once told him he dealt with drivers who had multiple complaints about their race cars. "Fix the first problem first," was what DW said. The idea is that the first thing the driver complains about is the problem that needs to be addressed first. Fix that, and some of the other problems might go away, too.
In terms of racing in Southern California, NASCAR faces several challenges. The crowds have not been good. There has been difficulty finding the right marketing message. But the "first" problem here is this track is wrong. It's a 2-mile track and it seems like it's almost a mile wide. A driver can spin here and not find anything to hit. The leader becomes Superman in clean air.
Fix the race track. No, don't bank what you've got and put restrictor plates on the cars. That's dumb. Make the track 1 or 1-1/4 miles and put progressive banking in it. Put on a decent race or two and then see if that doesn't help you fill up the seats and get more attention from the SoCal media.
Fix the first problem first.
Why are you having your "driver back over the mountains to Las Vegas Tuesday?" Wouldn't driving the regular way be quicker?
You are 100% right. I keep going to the track thinking with age the racing will get better.... not so much. It looks like the backstretch is in another zip code and forget about it when the air is not clear. A Phoenix style track would have absolutely nailed it... but then I guess the guys in suits who own the track would not be able to sell hundreds of infield camping spots for a grand a clip.
Another question, why are you the ONLY reporter I read saying ANYTHING negative about the racing in California? All I hear (gag) is what a beautiful facility it is and how much the drivers really like racing here.
Isn't it fair to say the Fontana track has become out of date? When Roger Penske built the track wasn't it built with the idea of also being useable for indy cars, and, thus, had only slight banking? Wasn't it built basically copy Michigan?
Anonymous: Thanks, as typos go that one was pretty funny. Fixed now.
Doug: I can only account for myself.
Richard: It was built as a multiuse facility but it's too fast for IndyCars now and doesn't work for stock cars, either. That's why I say it's time to try something else.
David, this was part of the story about yesterday's race from the LA Times...
"Despite fears that the economic recession, the Academy Awards telecast and other factors might limit attendance to 60,000 or fewer, NASCAR estimated that the race drew about 78,000 people -- 8,000 more than it said attended the Fontana race last Labor Day weekend."
Apparently, NASCAR's new drug testing policy doesn't include the NASCAR/ISC spin doctors.
You were there. How bad was truth stretched in this case?
SHORT TRACK!!!
Do the thing the talked about in Bristol Cover it!!
Truthfully who's got the bucks to risk on any thing big right now? We are stuck with whut we got!
That's a very gracious estimate, in my mind.
Tony Solorzano said...
Hey Dave, sorry I didn't see you this weekend, but that happens from time to time. I'll see you in OCtober for sure and at Sonoma later this year.
Your post today is the second one regarding Fontana's problems in getting the place sold out. I'd point out one important thing that no one seems to want to address.
Who's stupid idea was it to schedule the race against the Academy Awards the same night. Correct me if I'm wrong but this has been the problem ever since they added the second race.
You know from talking with Louis and Damian and Keith and the rest of us in the "SoCal Battalion" that this place is an entertainment town first and foremost. So if you're going to counter-program against a "900-pound Gorilla" that's watched the world over, you're gonna get burned.
Remind me again how many sporting events take place the same day as the Super Bowl? Exactly my point. So maybe it's not the track's fault per se, but in the lack of thinking by the schedulers who set out the next season's schedule while we're still midway through the current one.
David, progressive banking doesn't work. They did that at Miami and that place doesn't have the level of good racing some people hype it to have; all they did was make it a joke. Shortening the track is STUPIDITY SQUARED, because racing at this level is about superspeedways. "Don't b ank what you got and put restrictor plates on the cars. That's dumb." Is it? The plates works, David, they always have. "The leader is Superman in clean air." So attack what dirty air is actually doing - get rid of the ducktailing effect dirty air has and make it a true drafting vacuum again.
Wanna make It exciting & tighten up points? Make the top ten in points run a figure 8 while the others do the oval. Long as fantasize that there's money to rebuild tracks...
You want racing back it is simple Make the front nose and the front cross member the same height. Go back to old school and put 2 inch spoilers on the cars. Yes there will be tears but it will be from the panty waist millionaire's club. Those of us in the real world have to WORK,Time for them to do the same while remembering the objective is to entertain us the paying fans
Spanky Got it!! For the cost of a few hacksaw blades...
Does anyone know how many teams didn't send racecars back to east coast after Sundays race?
eda said...
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Hi! Very glad to be able to see your post, you said well, I agree, thank you, hope to see more of your articles, continue!


Delivering the right amount of fuel to your Land Rover's engine is crucial for maximum performance as well as for optimum fuel consumption. Combining a fuel programmer with an economizer Chip you can help unlock your Land Rover's performance, or fuel efficiency potential. The Doople-X fuel tune helps the ECU deliver the precise amount of fuel your ride needs to perform at peak power or at maximum fuel efficiency.
One of the great things about having this standalone Dual Fuel Tuner is the amount of control it puts in the palm of your hand. You can easily adjust fuel delivery with just the push of two buttons. Being able to adjust the Air Fuel Ratio throughout the entire power curve on the fly gives you an awesome performance advantage under a variety of conditions. In addition, if you want to, you can also take advantage of the preset eco-tune that will prevent your Power Control Module from delivering more fuel than minimally required in those circumstances where sudden acceleration is not required.
With Economy preset tune (ECO-mode), the tuner ramps up the Air Fuel Ratio by telling your Land Rover's PCM a fuel rich status in those driving circumstances when engine power is not fully exploited, like at idle or low speed when driving at moderate speed. The exhaust gas oxygen sensor is mounted on the exhaust system to monitor the exhaust gas oxygen consistence, allows the Engine computer to control the combustion efficiency in the chambers. The air fuel sensor is part of the emissions control system that feeds data to the electronic engine management.
The goal of the exhaust o2 sensor is to help the engine run as efficiently as possible while producing as few emissions as possible. When Doople-X is sensing through the exhaust air fuel sensor idle speed, low/medium engine load or while the engine cycle is nearly constant without extreme accelerations, the tuner overrides the stock fuel programming by restricting fuel delivery. When mashing the throttle suddenly and full performance potential is required, the module turns into surge mode promptly, nullifying the fuel injection settings override, to cause the engine run normally. Tests on fuel economy have given an average increase of 12 up to 15%.
If your Land Rover's fuel consumption doesn't meet your needs or if you simply want to improve its overall output then the Doople-X remapping is ideal for you. Our dual purpose fuel optimizer guarantees a better running engine in no time. If you want the best results for your Land Rover both power and fuel economy wise then install the Doople-X tuner. Magnum backs all ECU tuners with a 10-year warranty. This fuel optimizer is quite easy to install, and you don't necessarily have to pay for the installation, just follow the instructions and you can do everything by yourself as long as you are technical minded.
A new Car Truck Doople-X Fuel Tune is going to be easy to install and will make your Car Truck better than ever. ECU fuel trim optimizers have long been the best way to make the engine more efficient, and this new Land Rover Dual Function Fuel controller is no different. All Magnum upgrades are inspected prior to shipping and covered by extended defects warranty. These are genuine Magnum Land Rover Dual Function Fuel controllers that have proven results for producing more horsepower for your custom Car Truck. Enjoy the improved acceleration and fuel mileage. We take the claims seriously and never say more than tested. Magnum Doople-X Fuel Tune can be installed by simply plugging into the IAT /MAF/ MAP and O2 Sensor of your Car Truck. It modifies the stock parameters of your Land Rover Car Truck through the Intake Air Temperature and Oxygen Sensor signal.


No. software can be downloaded from the web, from different varieties of storage gadgets corresponding to external onerous drives, and any variety of different methods.
Software piracy is the crime of acquiring and/or using software that you haven't paid for or do not need a license to make use of.
MP3 VOLUME BOOSTER as of late are items of software program take on a normal function pc. before private laptops were widespread, devoted machines by software program for word processing had been referred to collectively as phrase processors; there was no point in distinguishing them. these days, these could be called " digital typewriters ."
In:picture and graphics modifying softwareDo you want a scanner to hobble an image participating in GIMP?
App is brief for application software but is ceaselessly familiarized mean cellular app (extra specific) or pc coach (extra normal).
From blot.. it takes a very very long time till you acquire laudable at it. anticipate it to take a complete week should you've never drawn or used picture software program earlier than. then you definately scan contained by all the images (if hand ) and trade the recordsdata concerning an creator (i exploit energy store from Jasc), there's a bit of wizard software that helps by that. Then take a look at frame charges and compile at home a picture. From http://mp3gain.sourceforge.net/ , GIMP has an add-on which you can video clips here GIF chirpinesss. i can not remember the place, however i'm sure you would find it. "the way to form video clips taking part in gifs" or something like that. one other remedy if you're on the windows podium, obtain Irfanview, obtain all the plugcontained bys, and use that. Irfanview can convert and any current picture in GIF format.
What is one other identify for software as a repair?


Sometimes the language was more secretive to conceal details about the Underground Railroad. After all, helping runaway slaves was illegal and dangerous, so everything had to be done in secret. For example, the conductor William Still received this telegram in Philadelphia: "I have sent via at two o'clock four large and two small hams." This coded message alerted him of the arrival of four fugitives – two adults and two children. The word "via" signaled they would not arrive on the regular train, as authorities expected, but on the train from Reading. Still was able to meet them at the correct depot and help them escape.
You are an agent on the Underground Railroad writing to a stationmaster in Philadelphia.
Runaway slaves are in the area.
A password used by a conductor arriving with fugitives.
A runaway slave has been caught.


text:
Tháp Chàm station is a railway station on the North–South railway (Reunification Express) line in Vietnam. It serves the city of Phan Rang–Tháp Chàm in Ninh Thuận Province. A branch line to Da Lat once started here.

References

Buildings and structures in Ninh Thuận province
Railway stations in Vietnam

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


This Saturday was the annual SAN Banquet. SAN (the Society of All Nations) is a student group that I've been involved with ever since I came to Mount A. Last year I was the secretary of SAN and so, as part of the executive, I helped organise events through the year and the SAN Banquet in particular. This year there was no one else on campus who was particularly interested in taking on SAN again, and since I was on the exec last year, I agreed to do it.
Mount A students have developed the unfortunate reputation of being apathetic but what is often overlooked is the fact that there is an almost obscene wealth of things for students to do here. So while it's occasionally difficult to find volunteers for some events, it seems that the only reason for it is because they're involved in eight other things already. I think that's the problem that SAN ran into this year. SAN has tagged itself as an organisation that aims to facilitate cross-cultural understanding and interaction … whatever that means. Ten years ago when SAN started, that might have been something that was needed at Mount A – today, SAN is almost obsolete. And that's not a bad thing. There are so, so many groups on campus that in one way or another meet the needs of students who might otherwise be involved in SAN, and there just isn't any interest.
But, people have grown accustomed to the annual Banquet and come second term, people start asking, "But who's going to do the SAN Banquet this year?" Well … me, of course. So I rooted out two old SAN members to be on my exec and we started to plan the Banquet. The Banquet is dinner for about 300 people with food from around the world cooked by students and performances by students. It relies entirely on finding enough people who are willing and able to help. By Wednesday last week I was having kittens about how little interest we'd had from people wanting to volunteer, how few tickets we'd sold, and how late our posters had gone up. On Thursday I had a meeting for all the people who'd volunteered and an astounding 20 or 25 people showed up. These people turned out to be my angels.
On Friday I went to Jennings Hall, the university meal hall where we were going to cook all the food and hold the Banquet. I arrived just before my volunteers did at 7:00, and we started on what was to be a very, very long 28-odd hours of work verging occasionally on frenzy. From 7:00 to around 11:15 we chopped, peeled, diced, stirred, mixed, julienned… and when we left, most of the cooking for a 300 person dinner was done.
On Saturday afternoon I was back at Jennings at 2:00 and I didn't leave till about 10:30 that night. My cooking volunteers showed up on time and while there was a short period when I was really worried things weren't going to come together, it all worked out excellently. I haven't ever seen such efficiency before. I guess I just lucked out and got a great group of people willing to help. They didn't need prodding or anything further than preliminary instructions. They were totally together and organised and if it wasn't for them, this event would have been a spectacular disaster.
Nathan and Noah, my roommates, graciously agreed to be the MCs for the night and they were great. They went with an awkward-is-funny approach to the whole thing that worked really well.
Most people had left by about 9:00, we were done cleaning at about 10:15, and I was out the door at 10:30 ish. I have never been so tired. I got home, waited for my roommates to take their excited, drunken selves out, and I went to sleep … for 12 solid hours.
It was definitely a good experience, though. I now know that I never want to go into logistics as a profession. I got nothing but compliments about how good the food was and how smoothly the event went. Even though we didn't manage to publicise it as well as we usually do, we had lots of people come out. It was actually really, really good.


text:
import Check from './Check'

export default Check

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
"""Phase Oracle object."""

# Needed to avoid type hints from erroring when `classicalfunction` might not be available.
from __future__ import annotations

from typing import Union, Callable, Optional, TYPE_CHECKING

from qiskit.circuit import QuantumCircuit
from qiskit.utils import optionals as _optionals

if TYPE_CHECKING:
    from qiskit.circuit.classicalfunction.boolean_expression import BooleanExpression
    from qiskit.circuit.classicalfunction.classical_element import ClassicalElement

@_optionals.HAS_TWEEDLEDUM.require_in_instance
class PhaseOracle(QuantumCircuit):
    r"""Phase Oracle.

    The Phase Oracle object constructs circuits for any arbitrary
    input logical expressions. A logical expression is composed of logical operators
    `&` (`AND`), `|` (`OR`), `~` (`NOT`), and `^` (`XOR`).
    as well as symbols for literals (variables).
    For example, `'a & b'`, and `(v0 | ~v1) & (~v2 & v3)`
    are both valid string representation of boolean logical expressions.

    For convenience, this oracle, in addition to parsing arbitrary logical expressions,
    also supports input strings in the `DIMACS CNF format
    <http://www.satcompetition.org/2009/format-benchmarks2009.html>`__,
    which is the standard format for specifying SATisfiability (SAT) problem instances in
    `Conjunctive Normal Form (CNF) <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conjunctive_normal_form>`__,
    which is a conjunction of one or more clauses, where a clause is a disjunction of one
    or more literals. See :meth:`qiskit.circuit.library.phase_oracle.PhaseOracle.from_dimacs_file`.

    From 16 variables on, possible performance issues should be expected when using the
    default synthesizer.
    """

    def __init__(
        self,
        expression: Union[str, ClassicalElement],
        synthesizer: Optional[Callable[[BooleanExpression], QuantumCircuit]] = None,
    ) -> None:
        """Creates a PhaseOracle object

        Args:
            expression: A Python-like boolean expression.
            synthesizer: Optional. A function to convert a BooleanExpression into a QuantumCircuit
               If None is provided, Tweedledum's `pkrm_synth` with `phase_esop` will be used.
        """
        from qiskit.circuit.classicalfunction.boolean_expression import BooleanExpression
        from qiskit.circuit.classicalfunction.classical_element import ClassicalElement

        if not isinstance(expression, ClassicalElement):
            expression = BooleanExpression(expression)

        self.boolean_expression = expression

        if synthesizer is None:

            def synthesizer(boolean_expression):
                from tweedledum.synthesis import pkrm_synth
                from qiskit.circuit.classicalfunction.utils import tweedledum2qiskit

                truth_table = boolean_expression._tweedledum_bool_expression.truth_table(
                    output_bit=0
                )
                tweedledum_circuit = pkrm_synth(truth_table, {"pkrm_synth": {"phase_esop": True}})
                return tweedledum2qiskit(tweedledum_circuit)

        oracle = expression.synth(synthesizer=synthesizer)

        super().__init__(oracle.num_qubits, name="Phase Oracle")

        self.compose(oracle, inplace=True)

    def evaluate_bitstring(self, bitstring: str) -> bool:
        """Evaluate the oracle on a bitstring.
        This evaluation is done classically without any quantum circuit.

        Args:
            bitstring: The bitstring for which to evaluate. The input bitstring is expected to be
                in little-endian order.

        Returns:
            True if the bitstring is a good state, False otherwise.
        """
        return self.boolean_expression.simulate(bitstring[::-1])

    @classmethod
    def from_dimacs_file(cls, filename: str):
        r"""Create a PhaseOracle from the string in the DIMACS format.

        It is possible to build a PhaseOracle from a file in `DIMACS CNF format
        <http://www.satcompetition.org/2009/format-benchmarks2009.html>`__,
        which is the standard format for specifying SATisfiability (SAT) problem instances in
        `Conjunctive Normal Form (CNF) <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conjunctive_normal_form>`__,
        which is a conjunction of one or more clauses, where a clause is a disjunction of one
        or more literals.

        The following is an example of a CNF expressed in the DIMACS format:

        .. code:: text

          c DIMACS CNF file with 3 satisfying assignments: 1 -2 3, -1 -2 -3, 1 2 -3.
          p cnf 3 5
          -1 -2 -3 0
          1 -2 3 0
          1 2 -3 0
          1 -2 -3 0
          -1 2 3 0

        The first line, following the `c` character, is a comment. The second line specifies that
        the CNF is over three boolean variables --- let us call them  :math:`x_1, x_2, x_3`, and
        contains five clauses.  The five clauses, listed afterwards, are implicitly joined by the
        logical `AND` operator, :math:`\land`, while the variables in each clause, represented by
        their indices, are implicitly disjoined by the logical `OR` operator, :math:`lor`. The
        :math:`-` symbol preceding a boolean variable index corresponds to the logical `NOT`
        operator, :math:`lnot`. Character `0` (zero) marks the end of each clause.  Essentially,
        the code above corresponds to the following CNF:

        :math:`(\lnot x_1 \lor \lnot x_2 \lor \lnot x_3)
        \land (x_1 \lor \lnot x_2 \lor x_3)
        \land (x_1 \lor x_2 \lor \lnot x_3)
        \land (x_1 \lor \lnot x_2 \lor \lnot x_3)
        \land (\lnot x_1 \lor x_2 \lor x_3)`.

        Args:
            filename: A file in DIMACS format.

        Returns:
            PhaseOracle: A quantum circuit with a phase oracle.
        """
        from qiskit.circuit.classicalfunction.boolean_expression import BooleanExpression

        expr = BooleanExpression.from_dimacs_file(filename)
        return cls(expr)


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What Do You Suppose Is Inside that Window?
I've been imagining cool possibilities since I first saw the photo.
What do you see inside that open window?
A friend, who is known for having great ideas, had another one. He started a blog on which he was selling his services. He put together a great deal. He would meet a need — a real one. He was going to teach folks who needed self-confidence how to present their services and close deals.
His offers are well written. His prices suit the market. He's got the right content to draw the the right people. His design is in tune with the group he wants to serve.
But his traffic is lousy.
He comes to you for advice. You say that gaining traffic is the part that takes the longest time and the most work. You explain some ways that he might develop traffic over time through leaving comments, offering guest posts, and developing relationships.
He keeps pitching ideas on how to take his blog viral.


text:
Home News Baylor Sigma Chi Derby Days benefits cancer research through competition, games
Sigma Chi Derby Days benefits cancer research through competition, games
Emily Lohec
In 2018, Sigma Chi kicked off Derby Days with their Derby Doggies event. This year, Derby Doggies is rescheduled to Nov. 1st. Lariat File Photo
By Emily Lohec | Staff Writer
This week, Sigma Chi is hosting their annual Derby Days event, which began Tuesday and ends Thursday. In December 2012, Sigma Chi designated the Huntsman Cancer Foundation as their main philanthropic organization, and members have since worked to raise money and donations for the cause.
Through a week of donations made from members of the organization, as well as other Panhellenic members involved in campus Greek life, the money raised is donated towards the HCF Institute for Cancer Research.
Kansas City, Kan., junior Daniel Foulon, a member of Sigma Chi, said he believes that Derby Days brings a positive outlook on a disease that affects many.
"Derby Days is a great way to get people's attention," Foulon said. "My family personally has not been affected by cancer, but this week gives me a time to think about what I could really give back to people who don't have the privileges we do."
Portland, Ore., junior Drew Martinez has had a family member pass away from cancer and said he loves the support that Derby Days attracts.
"My grandpa died of cancer before I was born, and there have been a numerous amount of close family friends in my life who have battled cancer," Martinez said. "It was really special last summer because I got to stop by the Huntsman Cancer Institute in Salt Lake City, Utah and was able see where our money goes and the difference we are making, which has truly been inspiring."
There are various ways donations can be made throughout the week. Along with fundraising, sororities participating in Derby Days can earn points to win a Derby Days championship title and prizes of their own.
"All sororities get together and form teams to compete in games throughout the week," Foulon said.
Points are given out to the winning teams. The first place team receives ten points, and the fifth place team earns two. At any point during the week, those involved can earn other points by donating to the cause, liking Sigma Chi Derby Days posts on Instagram, purchasing T-shirts and buying concert tickets.
Another competition is the banner event— each sorority submits a banner that they designed and painted relating to Derby Days. The point system matches that for the sports games, with the amount of points for first place being 10.
Winners of the week are recognized in several ways: the winning teams for flag football, sand volleyball and dodgeball receive a T-shirt, a trophy and can choose between prizes like a one-month membership to Rush Cycle or a 30-minute massage at Hand and Stone Waco.
The champion team of Derby Days receives a $2,000 donation toward their own philanthropy, as well as a paid mixer with Sigma Chi and two chapter meetings with catered Andy's Frozen Custard and Tiff's Treats.
Along with all the fun and prizes, Martinez said that Derby Days is an event meant to bring awareness to the public.
"I think it's really easy to say that we as a chapter hope to raise as much money as possible, but at the end of the day, I think the goal is that every one of us has to raise awareness for this amazing foundation," Martinez said. "It's important to support and remind families struggling with someone having cancer that we are there for them and that they are not alone in all of this."
Senate passes USMCA to replace NAFTA, promising benefits for Texas' main economic sectors
Baylor Democrats host voter registration drive amid tense national election season


text:
Q: Is there a way to read/print the activations of the hidden layers of a Neural Network in Stable Baselines? A central requirement for the project I am working on is being able to read the activations of the neurons in the hidden layers of the PPO2 models that I trained using the Stable Baselines library.
Here is a very related question. I would like to print them as demonstrated here.
The closest I came to this is by doing this:
print(model.get_parameters())

This only prints the weights and biases but not the activations at prediction. I tried to edit the files of the Stable Baselines library but to no avail.
I have also tried
print(model.policy)

and this returns <class 'stable_baselines.common.policies.MlpPolicy'> as this only refers to the type of policy I am using. If there is no way to do this effectively, would it be easy to migrate my simple environment and train with another library? Would appreciate any help/suggestions I can get.

A: I think the easiest way, which does not require from you to override pytorch's methods, is to attach a forward hook. I think I found here the code exactly for your problem. However you still need to define a custom policy, where you paste all that hook attachment, but that should be not so hard in your case.


text:
Armenian Community in Palestine Celebrates Christmas
Armenian Christians in Palestine celebrated Christmas and the Feast of the Epiphany on Sunday with parades in the streets of Bethlehem. The Armenian patriarch of Jerusalem, Mourhan Manouagian, arrived in Bethlehem around noon.
Manouagian was welcomed by Palestinian Authority Minister of Tourism Rula Maaya, Bethlehem governor Jibrin al-Bakri, Bethlehem mayor Vera Baboun, director of Bethlehem police Alaa Shalabi, and President Mahmoud Abbas' advisor for Christian affairs Ziad al-Bandak.
Bethlehem police said in a statement earlier Sunday that it planned to "secure the appropriate atmosphere … for this national holiday which is highly appreciated by both Muslims and Christians."
Later, President Mahmoud Abbas arrived in Bethlehem for the Christmas celebrations.
Abbas was welcomed by al-Bakri, a number of ministers and Palestinian Legislative Council members, security officials, religious figures, and the mayors of Bethlehem, Beit Sahour, Beit Jala, and al-Doha.
Armenian Christians in Palestine who follow the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem mark Christmas nearly two weeks after the majority of Armenian and Eastern Orthodox denominations, who mark the holiday on Jan. 6 or 7, and more than three weeks after Western Christians mark Christmas, who celebrate on Dec. 25.
The differences in dates of celebration are due to the use of different calendars, as Western Christians mark the holiday using the Gregorian calendar, Orthodox Christians and most Armenian denominations mark the holiday using the Julian calendar, and the Armenian patriarch of Jerusalem marks Christmas using the Julian calendar but with a different date.
Groups of Armenians began moving to Palestine beginning in the fourth century and mainly settled in Jerusalem, where, in the seventh century, they established a Patriarchate Complex which has since attracted Armenian pilgrims.
Thousands of Armenians also arrived fleeing the massacres in the Ottoman Empire in the early 20th century, after which many settled in Palestine.
According to Armenian sources, some 7,500 Armenians today live across the Holy Land. About 300 live in Bethlehem, 2,100 in Jerusalem and the rest live in Acre, Ramle, Nazareth, and Beersheba. There are a small number of Armenians in the Gaza Strip as well.
There are around 200,000 Palestinian Christians in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and inside Israel in total, while hundreds of thousands more live abroad.
Source: Maan News
Fadi Hanna	2016-10-24T07:19:22+00:00	January 20th, 2015|Categories: News|


Features| Adjustable straps and a drawstring waist you can make this fit like a glove. The double layer top section balances out the hips and enhances the waist. This is a midi/ maxi length dress with the curved slits at the sides coming to an above the knee length. Lined through top and down to mini length at the skirt.
Fit| Generous. Mannequin is a size 6 - Wearing a size 8. Model size 8-10 wearing size 8.
Styling| The easiest dress to wear, just throw on with any sandals or wedges and away you go.


Sade Adu continues to leave listeners in awe of her music. From the release of her debut single in 1985, a jazzy song about a player aptly titled, "Smooth Operator" to "The Moon and the Sky" 2011 remix featuring Jay-Z, who insinuates that he is the father, Sade's interesting songs with poignant lyrics puts this artist at the top of many all-time favorite lists. In this article, we focus on fan favorite-"The Sweetest Taboo" and covers of this song in various genres.