You just can't find quality on this level anymore. Once you go Benchmade, you're ruined for all other knives. Expensive, but worth every.damn.penny. Keep up the outstanding work, gentlemen.
Ordered a custom Mini Griptilian. Laser engraving and all it took 6 days to get to my doorstep. Including a weekend, an order placed too late to be processed on day 1, and free shipping. Not only did my Mini Grip arrive really fast for a custom build, but everything was spot on. After past experiences with FRN, I decided to lay down the dough for the vertical G10 handles. It was well worth it. The knife feels amazing, and has passed my full-size Griptilian, 940, and Custom Barrage as my new favorite. You definitely pay a premium price for the custom knife builder, but it's worth it to get exactly what you want.
This is the first benchmade I have ever owned, it keeps an edge amazingly and is a very strong knife, no play in the blade lock at all.
I carry a pocket knife everywhere, everyday and the Griptilian is hands down the best knife I've ever owned! This was my first Bench Made & I bought it through GovX. After carrying it for a month, I ordered 4 more. The Bench Made steel blade is superior to all my Buck or kershaw knives. I am a huge fan of Bench Made now and will never carry anything else. Thank you for making awesome knives and for keeping it american made!
This is by far the greatest, most versatile knife I own. I've used it for absolutely everything from cutting boxes, wire or plastic to carving wood and prying. I've used to to separate battery terminals, pry shelves apart and stab tires (for fun of course). Only problem I've ever had is the clip breaking or bending, but a quick phone call to customer service and I received a 3 pack of replacement clips free of charge. I will never use another knife brand so long as I can help it.
I have purchased 2 of these, both are phenomenal. I have the mini griptillian and a full size. Both are razor sharp and they can take a beating. It goes with me on my Tank and gets abused regularly still has a sharp edge. The griptillian is a great EDC knife that will take the most extreme punishment that you can throw at it. Most everyone in my company has some form of benchmade, and this one seems to be able to take the greatest beating of all of them.
I needed an EDC that wasn't bulky, didn't flop around, was easy to open, and could be cleaned thoroughly with out "stuff" stuck in a bunch of joints/hinges/cracks. The mini-grip fit the criteria, to perfection. As an owner of several Benchmade products, the quality met my expectations. My local knife shop fixes, cleans, sharpens, and fine-tunes Benchmade products for free. Perfect product to meet my EDC needs plus superb customer service - such a rare find!
All my life I have loved and purchased knives, however I thought that spending anything over $50.00 for one was crazy. Then I began to research Benchmade, and boy was I wrong. The first Benchmade I bought was the 570 (a beast of a knife!) and I love it! But I wanted something a little lighter with a smaller price point, and the Griptilian fit the bill. Now first of all let's talk about the design and quality. The shape of the knife fits perfectly in the hand and looks great, the blade also looks great and is perfect for light to medium duty everyday tasks. The quality is straight up unbelievable, the materials are very high quality and durable, and so are the mechanisms inside, to enforce this I'll also add that I have been flipping this knife open and closed all day everyday since I got it wondering if it would result in any blade play, but none at all!!! But beyond this amazing knife is the also amazing company, I couldn't find something I was wanting on there website so I E-mailed them and they replied remarkably fast for a large company. They told me that they would be glad to help me with what I wanted and gave me there customer service phone number, and it kept getting better, the woman who answered the phone was super friendly, almost to the point that I thought she was an old friend! In the end they were able to get the item I wanted with no trouble at all! This is why I will always choose to spend a little more money for a better product that will last a lifetime, with the customer support to back it up!
OH the many. As in oh the many Griptilians knifes I own.
I do not remember when I purchased my first mini grip, but I know I still own it. I know my second one is in the hands of a thief. Since think I have purchased multiple mini grips. They have become my regular EDC. I have one in my wife's car, my car, my wife's purse, my day carry bag, and almost always in my pocket. About 3 years ago I purchased the full size Grip, and I also love that knife. I think either model are some of the best knife models every made, and if all is good in the world Benchmade will always make them. I plan on passing mine down to my children. Without question a purchase any human who wants, or needs a knife should own a Grip.


text:
Published by the History Watch Project
Howard Zinn (1922-2010)
"If those in charge of our society - politicians, corporate executives, and owners of press and television - can dominate our ideas, they will be secure in their power. They will not need soldiers patrolling the streets. We will control ourselves."
The Politics of Memory
Contributors?
Caribbean & Latin America
Inside The Ivory Tower
June 11, 2016 in Caribbean // Vodou is Education …
May 25, 2016 in Featured // Female Genital Mutilation: In Canada and the World
February 14, 2016 in Canada // Research, Repression, and Freedom: Podcast
January 23, 2016 in Africa // Responsibility to Protect? Libya and the Salvation of Europe
December 30, 2015 in Academia // The "Decivilized" Academic
Vodou is Education …
by adiptee in Caribbean
Listen to this short clip (in French / Kréyol) of a sermon given at a Vodou temple in Port-au-Prince in Haiti. The sermon was given by the Houngan (priest) Samba'el (aka [...]
History through Images
Place Jemaa el F'naa, Marrakech
Street Signs of Guadeloupe
Carnaval de Gwada (Guadeloupe) …
Bye Bye Ben Ali!
A Monument to Popular Revolution in Cairo
The Price of Politics on Kenya
Hope and Frustration in Tanzanian Schools
What's Beneath the Water in Lake Nasser?
Confronting Past & Present in Santo Domingo
Going to see the Black Christ
Evening in the Medina
Maasai in Mto Wa Mbu, Tanzania
Adventures in Ancient Nubia
Research, Repression, and Freedom: Podcast
Indigenous Peoples Of The Caribbean
Crime in the Caribbean
Responsibility to Protect? Libya and the Salvation of Europe
Contemporary Tuareg Music and the Pursuit of History
Human Rights, History and Land Appropriation in Africa
Bridging Modernity & Tradition in Roti Making
By Arpita Bajpeyi. Meet the Rotimatic. This sleek, clean, funky machine – just about the size of a bread-maker – churns out rotis at the rate of one per minute. Speaking [...]
The Lost Children of Argentina
December 21, 2014 // 1 Comment
By Christina Parsons. The second half of 2014 has been filled with multiple stories in international media coming out of Argentina about the 'Dirty War' and the legacy [...]
Female Genital Mutilation: In Canada and the World
By Theresa LeBane. In every society in which it is practiced, female genital mutilation is a manifestation of gender inequality that is deeply entrenched in social, economic [...]
French Feminism and Islam, 1920-2015
By Natalie Hunter. On 11 April 2011, it became illegal in France for Muslim women to wear face-covering veils, as part of a broader law instating a ban on face-covering [...]
LGBT Genocide in Contemporary Uganda
August 22, 2014 // 3 Comments
By Bonnie Bates. Promoted as an early Christmas gift to the nation, on December 20, 2013, the Ugandan Parliament approved the Anti-Homosexuality Act (AHA). The AHA entrenched [...]
Categories Select Category Academia (4) Africa (14) Canada (3) Caribbean (8) Children & Youth (1) Egypt (1) Featured (19) France (1) Gender & Sexuality (3) Heritage (4) Historical Legacies (9) Historical Representations (3) Human Rights (2) Humanitarianism (1) Indigenous Peoples (2) Inside The Ivory Tower (4) Kenya (1) Latin America (3) Memory (7) Nationalism (1) Panama (1) Photographs (13) Podcasts (3) Politics (5) Race & Racism (1) South Asia (1)
The "Decivilized" Academic
Canadian Politesse & The Angry Visible Minority
The Global South as Intellectual Playground
Canada and the U.S.
A Thank You Note to White Liberal Academics
Canada's Ties to Slavery in the Caribbean
February 14, 2016 // 1 Comment
In recognition of Black History month, this episode of the History Watch podcast series showcases David Austin of John Abbott College as he discusses the politics of race in [...]
Launched in 2009 by the United Nations, the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) is a recent addition to western humanitarian discourse. The responsibility and capacity to act on [...]
By Audra A. Diptee. I stumbled across the above quote a few years ago. It moved me when I first read it. It has moved me every time I have read it since then. In my [...]
November 18, 2015 // 1 Comment
By Audra A. Diptee. There have been quite a number of student protests in the United States in response to the issue of racism on university campuses. In Canada, it is easy [...]
By Bonnie Bates. We, the children of the Azawad What pleases us? The unity of the people We ask our people to let harmony reign We ask the children to work for freedom Our [...]
By Andriata Chironda. In November 2014, the government of Tanzania reportedly planned to sell large tracts of land to a private company which intends to convert the land [...]
April 2, 2015 // 0 Comments
Podcast: Indigenous Peoples Of The Caribbean: Memory, Identity, And The Politics Of History In this episode of the History Watch podcast series, Dr. Maximilian Forte of [...]
By Bonnie Bates. There is one main road that links northern Kenya with Ethiopia. With the arrival of the long rains season (March to May), this road becomes a deep muddy [...]
Podcast: Crime in the Caribbean: A Legacy of Colonialism, A Product of Globalization. In this episode of the History Watch podcast series Dr. Audra A. Diptee is in [...]
By Audra A. Diptee. In the early 1950s, the United States was in the midst of heated debate about the Jim Crow laws that legalized racial segregation in the South. No doubt [...]
By Bonnie Bates. These are just some of the many remaining Nubian pyramids found in Meroë, located north of present-day Khartoum. Meroë was the last (of three) Kushite [...]
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ST. JOSEPH, Mich (April 16, 2014) – A man that admitted to robbing a gas station in Coloma last September will spend at least six years in prison.
The Coloma Township Police Department named 23-year-old Martin Hinrichs as a suspect shortly after the Wesco gas station was robbed in Coloma on September 20.
Surveillance video showed Hinrichs, whose nickname is "Nightmare", wearing a zombie mask and using a pellet gun during the hold up.
The Herald Palladium reports Hinrichs plead guilty to armed robbery charges in Berrien County Trial Court this week.
Online records show Hinrichs served prison time for interfering with a police investigation in 2008. He was discharged from prison just months before the armed robbery at the gas station took place.


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Embedded Video Drivers | Core Avionics & Industrial Inc.
Both EncodeCore and DecodeCore are tightly integrated to minimize video latency with the ArgusCore OpenGL drivers. The ArgusCore family of drivers support popular embedded OpenGL APIs such as OpenGL SC 1.0.1 and OpenGL SC 2.0. For more information, click here.


We've researched the best available deals for Keralyt. Save on Keralyt today! Browse the free discounts and coupons below to reduce the price of Keralyt at your local pharmacy. To claim your free Keralyt discount, view the available manufacturer coupons or patient assistance programs below or use the free buying group coupon to get a discount on Keralyt today. This coupon is reusable and can get you up to 75% off the price of your prescriptions in your local pharmacy.


For great Father's Day gift ideas, turn to Houston TX Galleria Florist in Houston, TX. Flowers aren't just for Mother's Day, surprise Dad with a Father's Day gift to brighten his whole week! We offer flower delivery to Houston or nationwide!


Trust the Japanese to come up with ever safer methods of driving, and the latest would be the IT-Assisted Road Information System from Nissan. This system is in its infancy at the moment being in a research state, but ultimately its goal is to use cell phones and GPS receivers to provide advance warning to drivers concerning potentially dangerous situations and conditions, and this includes driving on the wrong way on freeway ramps – definitely useful when one has had a wee bit too much to drink when partying. Not only that, this system will also warn drivers of reducing and increasing speed at uphill and downhill grades. It would be interesting to see whether such a system will be implemented worldwide or not, but hey – anything that helps saves lives? We're all for it.
Just a bigger excuse for all the horrible drivers out there. If everyone learned how to drive properly it wouldn't really be an issue. In Japan most people are pretty good from the start because they have to pay like $1600 to get their license after they go through a bunch of tests. People here in the US can get a license so easily they have no respect for its privileges so there are plenty of horrible drivers who did just enough to pass the 1 single test.


text:
Cornelia Lister (born 26 May 1994) is a former Swedish tennis player.

Lister won one singles title and 25 doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. On 7 May 2018, she reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 383. On 3 February 2020, she peaked at No. 72 in the doubles rankings.

Doubles performance timeline

WTA career finals

Doubles: 1 (title)

WTA 125 tournament finals

Doubles: 2 (2 runner-ups)

ITF finals

Singles: 4 (1 title, 3 runner–ups)

Doubles: 40 (25 titles, 15 runner–ups)

External links

1994 births
Living people
Swedish female tennis players
Sportspeople from Linköping
Sportspeople from Östergötland County
20th-century Swedish women
21st-century Swedish women

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Beautifully remodeled 4 bed 2 bath home with finished lower level. Open concept main floor with spacious eat in kitchen and large living room. Main floor also has 3 bedrooms, full bath, rear entry off attached 1 car garage, and tons of closet space. Awesome lower level offers rec room with gas fireplace, full bath, bedroom, and another bonus room. Covered front porch, rear patio area, and 20x12 shed w/ loft in private and spacious back yard. This move in ready home is an absolute must see!!


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Don't worry about undersea cable cuts
Mack Male	Uncategorized	 March 13, 2008 1 Minute
Remember all the undersea cables that were cut last month? I still haven't come across a definitive reason for the disruptions, though a February 19th article at The Inquirer claims it was sabotage. I'm not sure about that, but the one thing that is clear is that everyone has moved on. For instance, Google announced a few weeks ago that it was joining a consortium building a new $300 million undersea fiber optic cable linking the US and Japan:
The new cable system – named Unity – will address broadband demand by providing much needed capacity to sustain the unprecedented growth in data and Internet traffic between Asia and the United States. Unity is expected to initially increase Trans-Pacific lit cable capacity by about 20 percent, with the potential to add up to 7.68 Terabits per second (Tbps) of bandwidth across the Pacific.
Om Malik has a good roundup of reasons for why Google got involved.
Just a few days ago, AT&T announced big investments in data centers here in Canada as well as undersea cables in Asia and Australia:
"Recent cable cuts in Europe and Asia show we need to further improve resiliency and re-routing capability," he says.
AT&T has the largest private fleet of cable-laying ships in the world, and operates its global network on 71 undersea cables laid over 450,000 miles…
If you do a quick search you'll find a bunch of other announcements for cable systems, such as this new one in Africa, and this upgraded one that links Singapore and France.
Maybe new cables are being laid faster than they are being cut after all 🙂
Also – check out this post at the Royal Pingdom blog:
Over 260 ISPs, including major network providers like AT&T, Sprint and Verizon, all cross-connect in a single data center in an office building in downtown LA.
This has been going on for 20 years. So much for not having a single point of failure.
A few cut cables seems kind of irrelevant compared to that.
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text:
Q: Better algorithm for shortening English words I have some unique codes that are generated from strings (ex: website host names) in various independent components of my application.
These codes are meant to be used by machines only so i would like to keep them as short as possible.
The below algorithm would be applied to every word in the string. The output words would be concatenated with a dash to generate the unique code.
The current algorithm I have used:

 - Skip word if length is less than 6

 - Leave first character as is

 - Remove every wowel in the word from the second character onwards

*

*architectural digest eu => archtctrl-dgst-eu

*arizona foothills magazine => arzn-fthlls-mgzn

Is there a better way to shorten an English word leaving it as recognisable as possible to a human reader?
The output should be deterministic and produce the same shortened version whenever it is run on the same input.
A good algorithm should also minimise the number of clashes for similarly spelt words.

A:
I have some unique codes that are generated from strings

I am afraid that is not true. There are many English words that will reduce to the same 'code word' when stripped of their vowels. For example, 'leaving' -> 'living' Given, this is fairly rare, it could still cause issues.
How important is it that these 'code words' remain human-readable if as you say, they are meant to be used by machines only? If its not that important, I'd suggest looking into some simpler compression algorithms like Huffman Coding or LZW Compression. Then if the user needs to see the translation of the code word, just uncompress it.
If you must keep it human-readable, I'm not sure that there is much more you can do to shorten it. You could take a look at specific latin + greek roots, and determine if you can shorten those any more by hand, and then just substitute those out automatically.
Alternatively, you could turn to a phonetic approach. Automatically search the pronunciation of the word, and then see if that is any shorter (or itself can be compressed, taking 'cee' to 'C', or 'kay' to 'K'). This would be much more time and CPU intensive, but its still an option if you really, really need short but yet readable codes.

A: What you're generating sounds like what's called a "slug". There are many libraries to handle this for blogs or site generators that should suit your purposes. Here's a usage example from a Python library called slugify:
txt = "___This is a test ---"
r = slugify(txt)
self.assertEqual(r, "this-is-a-test")

Slug libraries generally work like this:

*

*replacing non-ascii linguistic characters via a mapping (ex: 影師嗎 -> ying-shi-ma)

*replace accented latin letters with ascii equivalents via a mapping (ex: C'est déjà l'été. -> c-est-deja-l-ete)

*remove beginning and trailing spaces/punctuation

*convert remaining spaces and punctuation to dashes, collapsing multiple dashes in a row to a single dash

If you want to make slugs shorter you could remove vowels or, more simply, use a maximum length.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Earlier this month, this Council could not muster the will to adopt the simplest of resolutions calling for a seven-day pause in the savage bombardment of innocent civilians, hospitals, and schools in Aleppo.
How many times since World War II has the cry, "Never Again", become just an empty phrase? The world stands by as thousands of men, women and children are slaughtered in Syria. The current Russian brokered ceasefire is, without a doubt, a much needed respite but how long will it hold, and if it does, what does it portend for the Middle East? Will Pax Russia really bring safety and stability to the Middle East? Will it prevent the next bloodbath?
Despite the historical animosity between Israel and Syria and the tension between Syria and its other neighbors, it is difficult to stand by and watch as your neighbors suffer. Recently, Prime Minister Netanyahu announced that Israel would care for victims of the civil war from Aleppo. Though for some time Israel has cared for wounded Syrians who came to the Israeli line in the Golan Heights, this is the first time the Prime Minister has openly declared Israel's willingness to transfer wounded Syrians from the heart of the conflict to Israeli hospitals. In a sense, this is a small act of human kindness, but one that I believe will resonate around the world.
The Arava Institute's mission is to advance cross-border environmental cooperation in the face of political conflict, but when our alumni leave the Institute, their desire to make the world a better place is not always limited to environmental issues. For some, the Syrian refugee crisis has become a major focus of their efforts.
REVI is an independent group of volunteers, who organize the activities for the volunteers and the families we help. REVI has two kindergartens at the momentwith more than 100 children attending. We hired 4 Syrian teachers to take care of the kids and teach them Arabic. The volunteers do a lot of activities with the kids.
KAPILAR (Doors in Turkish) is a community center in the middle of the Basmane Neighborhood. We renovated an old building and started the center. The space became a hub for initiatives in the city and displaced people living in the city (mostly Syrians). We run many different activities with both the kids and the adults.
These are some of our alumni making a difference in the face of this major humanitarian crisis. Their commitment and hard work gives us hope.


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NEW YORK – Urban Meyer's decision to announce his retirement Tuesday left many people shocked that his time as Ohio State's head coach was coming to an end after just seven seasons.
Ohio State quarterback Dwayne Haskins, however, said he saw it coming.
Meyer told his players in a meeting at 6:45 a.m. on Tuesday – less than an hour before the news was made public – that he had made the decision to retire as head coach. In a press conference that afternoon, Meyer said "the decision was a result of cumulative events," but that the No. 1 reason was his health, for he has been battling headaches for years that had continually worsened.
Following a tumultuous summer in which Meyer fired assistant coach Zach Smith after a domestic violence protection order was filed against him, then was suspended three games after an investigation determined he failed to take sufficient management action regarding previous allegations against Smith, some people have speculated that was actually the driving force behind Meyer's retirement.
Haskins said Friday, however, that he believes Meyer would have retired even if there was no off-field drama this summer.
Even though Haskins supports his coach's decision and wasn't stunned by it, Tuesday was still an emotional day for he and his teammates.
Haskins, who reiterated Friday that he is committed to playing in next month's Rose Bowl, said Meyer's decision gives him and his teammates extra motivation to send Meyer – along with the Buckeyes' seniors – out with a win when they play Washington on Jan. 1 in Pasadena, California.
"Coach Meyer's touched us all in a special way, and for him to be able to recruit us, being in our house, talk to our family, it means the world for us to be able to go out there and go play for him for our last game of the season," Haskins said.
Haskins said he hasn't made a decision yet on whether he will return to Ohio State for the 2019 season or declare for the NFL draft, instead choosing to hold off on that decision until after the Rose Bowl, but he said the coaching change has no effect on his decision because he is confident that new head coach Ryan Day – his quarterbacks coach for the last two years – will be successful as Meyer's successor.
Much like Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley, who was also promoted from within to replace a coaching legend in Bob Stoops and still coaches the Sooners' quarterbacks himself, Haskins said he expects Day to continue to work closely with the quarterbacks despite taking on additional responsibility.
"He won't be able to be as hands-on as he was with me during the season, but with (current assistant quarterbacks coach) Corey (Dennis) and the rest of the offensive coaching staff, I'm sure that he'll still have his hands on the offense," Haskins said of Day.


text:
U.S. Postal Service bins are lined up to hold vote-by-mail ballots for scanning during the midterm election at the Miami-Dade County Elections Department, Nov.…
U.S. Postal Service bins are lined up to hold vote-by-mail ballots for scanning during the midterm election at the Miami-Dade County Elections Department, Nov. 8, 2022, in Miami. The U.S. Postal Service delivered more than 54 million ballots for the midterm election, with nearly 99% of ballots delivered to election officials within three days, officials said Monday, Jan. 9, 2023. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, file)
US Postal Service touts performance during 2022 election
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Postal Service delivered more than 54 million ballots for the midterm election, with nearly 99% of ballots delivered to election officials within three days, officials said Monday.
The Postal Service's post-election analysis showed that on average it took under two days to deliver completed ballots.
"These results speak for themselves," said Amber McReynolds, chair of the Postal Service Board of Governors Election Mail Committee.
By the end of the Dec. 6 Georgia Senate runoff, the Postal Service had delivered 54.4 million ballots to and from voters, officials said. They added that the number could be even higher because the report doesn't take into account ballots that were diverted from the normal flow to accelerate delivery and ballots that were not properly identified.
The Postal Service was dogged by backlogs and questions ahead of the 2020 presidential election in which a record-setting number of ballots were cast.
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy was criticized that year for restricting overtime, ending the longtime practice of late deliveries and dismantling some sorting machines ahead of the election, and a federal judge faulted him for failing to get an advisory opinion from the Postal Regulatory Commission before implementing some of those changes.
But there were no such complaints in 2022. And the Postal Service created a permanent election and government mail division to deal with election matters.
"We take great pride in the role our organization plays in the vote-by-mail process," DeJoy said Monday in a statement. "The American people can continue to feel confident in using the U.S. mail to fulfill their democratic duty."
For the midterm election, 98.96% of general election ballots were delivered from voters to election officials within three days — besting the 2020 performance by about 1 percentage point — and 99.93% were delivered within seven days, the report said.
The Postal Service also delivered more than 51 million ballots to and from voters for primary elections, ahead of the general election.
The Postal Service will review its 2022 performance to see where improvements can be made in the future, McReynolds and DeJoy said.


Choo choo! All aboard the Alphabet Train! Each carriage has a letter from A-Z (uppercase and lowercase) and a familiar object or animal to consolidate learning of the alphabet. A lovely first puzzle for young children.


text:
2021 Blog Posts
Lady Xian – Warrioress for Peace (12/19/2021)
Lady Xian (Traditional Chinese: 冼夫人; pinyin: Xiǎn Fūrén; Cantonese Yale: Sin Fujan; c. 512 to 516–602) was a warrioress who, though she fought in many battles, is known for bringing about peace, justice and harmony in Southern China during her life. Over two hundred temples have been dedicated to her in Southern China alone. More than two thousand temples have been built to venerate her in China, Malaysia, and Vietnam. She is still revered two millennia after her death. Read More
Liang Hongyu – Renowned Woman Warrior of the Song Dynasty (11/28/2021)
Liang Hongyu (Traditional Chinese: 梁紅玉; pinyin: Liáng Hóngyù; 1102–1135) was a female general of the Han Chinese Song Dynasty (Traditional Chinese: 宋朝; pinyin: Sòng cháo; 960–1279). She was famed for her defending China from attacks by the Jurchen-led peoples, who were the ancestors of the Manchus. The Jurchen produced the Jin (Traditional Chinese: 金朝; pinyin: Jīn cháo, Jurchen: Anchun Gurun; 1115–1234) and Qing (Traditional Chinese: 大清; pinyin: Dà qīng; Manchu: Daiqing Gurun; 1616/1636–1912) dynasties that both conquered China in their turn. Liang Hongyu led the most colorful and unconventional life of all China's honored women warriors during a turbulent time in the nation's history. Read More
Qin Liangyu – Celebrated Ming Dynasty Female General (10/24/2021)
Qin Liangyu (Traditional Chinese: 秦良玉; pinyin: Qín Liángyù; 1574–1648) is one of the most renowned female warriors in China. She was the only woman regional commander or jiāngjūn (將軍; "general") of the Han Chinese Ming Dynasty (Traditional Chinese: 明朝; pinyin: Míng Cháo; 1368–1644). She fought beside her troops against rebels and bandits in southwestern China and in the northeast against invading Manchu tribes, who eventually established the foreign Qing Dynasty (Manchu Script: ᡩᠠᡳᠴᡳᠩ ᡤᡠᡵᡠᠨ; Traditional Chinese: 大清; pinyin: Dà qīng; Manchu: Daiqing gurun; 1644–1912). Read More
Bak Mei – Controversial Shaolin Five Elder (9/26/2021)
Bak Mei (Traditional Chinese: 白眉; pinyin: Bái Méi; Wade–Giles: Pai Mei; Cantonese Yale: Baahk Mèih; lit. "White Eyebrow"; c. 1700) is known as one of the legendary Shaolin Five Elders who survived the razing of the Shaolin Temple by the Manchu Qing Dynasty (Traditional Chinese: 大清; pinyin: Dà qīng; Manchu: Daiqing gurun; 1644–1912). In some accounts, he is portrayed as having betrayed the Shaolin Temple to the Qing imperial government. His story is clouded in mystery and conflicting tales of honorable intentions, deceit, treachery, and power. The Southern Shaolin style of Bak Mei Pai (White Eyebrow School 白眉派) is named after him. Read More
Yuenü – Master Swordswoman (8/28/2021)
Yuenü (Traditional Chinese: 越女; pinyin: Yuènǚ; Wade–Giles: Yüeh-nü; lit. "the Lady of Yue") was renowned as the most famous and greatest swordfighter of her day. She came from the state of Yue (越), located in the northern area of modern Zhejiang province (浙江省) on the southeast coast of China. Read More
Li Xiu – Defender of Ningzhou (7/25/2021)
The 4th century AD was a turbulent time in China. Civil war between Chinese nobility who vied for power among themselves and uprisings by peasants and barbarians led to chaos throughout the country. One young woman, Li Xiu (李秀; 291 AD – ?; Traditional Chinese Kan-chih Calendar 2987 to 2988 – ?), fought for law and order during the tumult. Read More
Ji Sin – Venerable Shaolin Five Elder (6/22/2021)
China during the 17th century was wracked with oppression, civil unrest and rebellion. The Han Chinese Ming Dynasty (Traditional Chinese: 明朝; pinyin: Míng Cháo; 1368–1644) had come to an end and was overturned by the foreign Manchu Qing Dynasty (Traditional Chinese: 大清; pinyin: Dà qīng; Manchu: Daiqing gurun). The Qing Dynasty was founded in 1636 and ruled China proper from 1644 to 1912. The Qing Dynasty dealt with resistance and rebel activities by the Han Chinese throughout its reign. One renowned person who was part of the popular resistance was Ji Sin, a Shaolin monk and a member of the Shaolin Five Elders. Read More
Mother Lü – First Woman Chinese Rebel Leader (5/22/2021)
Mother Lü (Chinese: 呂母; pinyin: Lǚ Mǔ; died 18 AD; Traditional Chinese Kan-chih Calendar 2714 to 2715) was noteworthy for leading a peasant rebellion against the short-lived Xin dynasty (Traditional Chinese: 新朝; pinyin: Xīncháo; Wade–Giles: Hsin-ch'ao; lit. "New dynasty") that reigned from 9 to 23 AD (Traditional Chinese Kan-chih Calendar 2705 to 2706 – 2719 to 2720). She became the first female rebel in Chinese history. Though she died of a sickness, her followers played a major role in the fall of the Xin dynasty and the re-establishment of the Han dynasty (Traditional Chinese: 漢朝; pinyin: Hàncháo; 202 BC–220 AD; Traditional Chinese Kan-chih Calendar 2495 to 2496 – 2916 to 2917). Read More
Fu Hao – Earliest Known Woman Warrior in the World (4/25/2021)
About five hundred years before young female warriors of the Eurasian Scythian nomadic horse tribes rode to battle against the Persians and Greeks and 1600 years before the story of Hua Mulan was written and the monks and nuns of the Shaolin Temple came to be, there lived Fu Hao (Traditional Chinese: 婦好; Simplified Chinese: 妇好; pinyin: Fù Hǎo; died c. 1200 BC) or Lady Hao, posthumous temple name Mu Xin (母辛). Fu Hao flourished as a general in Bronze Age China (c. 21st century BC to 5th century BC). She fought for and defended the Shang dynasty (Traditional Chinese: 商朝; pinyin: Shāngcháo), also called the Yin dynasty (Traditional Chinese: 殷代; pinyin: Yīndài), that reigned in the lower Yellow River or Huang He (黄河) valley from c. 1600 BC–c. 1046 BC. Fu Hao is the earliest woman warrior in the world for whom a history exists. Read More
Legendary Shaolin Five Elders (3/20/2021)
In the folk tradition of South China, the Five Elders of Shaolin (Traditional Chinese: 少林五祖; pinyin: Shàolín wǔ zǔ; Cantonese Yale: Siulam ng zou), also called the Five Generals, are the survivors of the one of the razings of the Shaolin Temple by the Manchu Qing Dynasty (Traditional Chinese: 大清; pinyin: Dà qīng; Manchu: Daiqing gurun). The Shaolin Temple was variously said to have been destroyed in 1647 by the Shunzhi Emperor (順治帝; r. 1643–1661), in 1674, 1677, or 1714 by the Kangxi Emperor (康熙帝; r. 1661–1722) or in 1728 or 1732 by the Yongzheng Emperor (雍正帝; r. 1722–1735). Read More
Yim Wing Chun – Legendary Female Martial Arts Master (2/21/2021)
Yim Wing Chun (Traditional Chinese: 嚴詠春; Simplified Chinese: 严咏春; Cantonese Yale: Yim Wing Cheun; pinyin: Yán Yǒngchūn; c. 1775–c. 1840) is renowned as the first master of Wing Chun Kuen (Traditional Chinese: 詠春拳; pinyin: Yǒng Chūn Quán; Cantonese Yale: Wing Cheun Kyuhn; lit. "Wing Chung Fist"). The style of Wing Chun Fist bears her name, which can be translated variously as "spring chant", "eternal spring", "singing spring" or "eternal spring." Read More
Hua Mulan – Legendary Chinese Heroine (1/23/2021)
Hua Mulan (Traditional Chinese: 花木蘭; Simplified Chinese: 花木兰; Pinyin: Huā Mùlán) is a legendary, possibly real, folk heroine. Mulan dates back to the Northern and Southern dynasties period (Traditional Chinese: 南北朝; pinyin: Nán-Běi Cháo; 420–589 AD) of China's history. Mulan is the most admired of historical Chinese heroines. Read More
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text:
March 5, 2013 5:24PM EST
Venezuela: Chávez's Authoritarian Legacy
Dramatic Concentration of Power and Open Disregard for Basic Human Rights
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez speaks next to Vice President Nicolas Maduro (right) and National assembly president Diosdado Cabello (left) during a national broadcast at Miraflores Palace in Caracas on December 8, 2012. © 2012 Reuters
(New York) – Hugo Chávez's presidency (1999-2013) was characterized by a dramatic concentration of power and open disregard for basic human rights guarantees.
After enacting a new constitution with ample human rights protections in 1999 – and surviving a short-lived coup d'état in 2002 – Chávez and his followers moved to concentrate power. They seized control of the Supreme Court and undercut the ability of journalists, human rights defenders, and other Venezuelans to exercise fundamental rights.
By his second full term in office, the concentration of power and erosion of human rights protections had given the government free rein to intimidate, censor, and prosecute Venezuelans who criticized the president or thwarted his political agenda. In recent years, the president and his followers used these powers in a wide range of prominent cases, whose damaging impact was felt by entire sectors of Venezuelan society.
Many Venezuelans continued to criticize the government. But the prospect of reprisals – in the form of arbitrary or abusive state action – forced journalists and human rights defenders to weigh the consequences of disseminating information and opinions critical of the government, and undercut the ability of judges to adjudicate politically sensitive cases.
Assault on Judicial Independence
In 2004, Chávez and his followers in the National Assembly carried out a political takeover of Venezuela's Supreme Court, adding 12 seats to what had been a 20-seat tribunal, and filling them with government supporters. The packed Supreme Court ceased to function as a check on presidential power. Its justices have openly rejected the principle of separation of powers and pledged their commitment to advancing Chávez's political agenda. This commitment has been reflected in the court's rulings, which repeatedly validated the government's disregard for human rights.
Lower-court judges have faced intense pressure not to issue rulings that could upset the government. In 2009, Chávez publicly called for the imprisonment of a judge for 30 years after she granted conditional liberty to a prominent government critic who had spent almost three years in prison awaiting trial. The judge, María Lourdes Afiuni, was arrested and spent more than a year in prison in pretrial detention, in deplorable conditions. She remains under house arrest.
Assault on Press Freedoms
Under Chávez, the government dramatically expanded its ability to control the content of the country's broadcast and news media. It passed laws extending and toughening penalties for speech that "offends" government officials, prohibiting the broadcast of messages that "foment anxiety in the public," and allowing for the arbitrary suspension of TV channels, radio stations, and websites.
The Chávez government sought to justify its media policies as necessary to "democratize" the country's airwaves. Yet instead of promoting pluralism, the government abused its regulatory authority to intimidate and censor its critics. It expanded the number of government-run TV channels from one to six, while taking aggressive steps to reduce the availability of media outlets that engage in critical programming.
In response to negative coverage, Chávez repeatedly threatened to remove private stations from the airwaves by blocking renewal of their broadcast licenses. In 2007, in an act of blatant political discrimination, his government prevented the country's oldest private television channel, RCTV, from renewing its license and seized its broadcasting antennas. Three years later, it drove RCTV off cable TV as well by forcing the country's cable providers to stop transmitting its programs.
The removal of RCTV left only one major channel, Globovisión, that continued to be critical of the president. The Chávez government repeatedly pursued administrative sanctions against Globovisión, which have kept the station in perpetual risk of suspension or closure. It also pressed criminal charges against the station's president, a principal owner, and a guest commentator after they made public statements criticizing the government.
The sanctioning and censorship of the private media under Chávez have had a powerful impact on broadcasters and journalists. While sharp criticism of the government is still common in the print media, on Globovisión, and in some other outlets, the fear of government reprisals has made self-censorship a serious problem.
Rejection of Human Rights Scrutiny
In addition to neutralizing the judiciary as a guarantor of rights, the Chávez government repudiated the Inter-American human rights system, failing to carry out binding rulings of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and preventing the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights from conducting in-country monitoring of human rights problems. In September 2012, Venezuela announced its withdrawal from the American Convention on Human Rights, a move that leaves Venezuelans without recourse to what has been for years – in countries throughout the region – themost important external mechanism for seeking redress for abuses when national courts fail to provide it.
The Chávez government also sought to block international organizations from monitoring the country's human rights practices. In 2008, the president had representatives of Human Rights Watch forcibly detained and summarily expelled from the country after they released a report documenting his government's violation of human rights norms. Following the expulsion, his then-foreign minister and now chosen successor, Nicolás Maduro, announced that, "Any foreigner who comes to criticize our country will be immediately expelled."
Under Chávez, the government also sought to discredit human rights defenders by accusing them of receiving support from the US government to undermine Venezuelan democracy. While local nongovernmental organizations have received funding from US and European sources – a common practice in Latin America where private funding is scarce – there is no credible evidence that the independence and integrity of the defenders' work has been compromised by international support. Nonetheless, in 2010, the Supreme Court ruled that individuals or organizations receiving foreign funding could be prosecuted for "treason." The National Assembly passed legislation prohibiting organizations that "defend political rights" or "monitor the performance of public bodies" from receiving international funding. It also imposed stiff fines on organizations that "invite" to Venezuela foreigners who express opinions that "offend" government institutions.
Embracing Abusive Governments
Chávez also rejected international efforts to promote human rights in other countries. In recent years, Venezuela consistently voted against UN General Assembly resolutions condemning abusive practices in North Korea, Burma, Iran, and Syria. Moreover, Chávez was a vocal supporter of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, Libya's Muammar Gaddafi, and Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, bestowing upon each of these leaders the "Order of the Liberator," Venezuela's highest official honor.
Under Chávez, Venezuela's closest ally was Cuba, the only country in Latin America that systematically represses virtually all forms of political dissent. Chávez identified Fidel Castro – who headed Cuba's repressive government until his health deteriorated in 2006 – as his model and mentor.
Selected cases documented in the report "Tightening the Grip: Concentration and Abuse of Power in Chávez's Venezuela":
After Judge María Lourdes Afiuni granted conditional freedom in December 2009 to a government critic who had spent nearly three years in prison awaiting trial on corruption charges, Chávez denounced her as a "bandit" and called for her to be given a 30-year prison sentence. Although Afiuni's ruling complied with a recommendation by United Nations human rights monitors – and was consistent with Venezuelan law, she was promptly arrested and ordered to stand trial by a provisional judge who had publicly pledged his loyalty to Chávez. ("I give my life for the Revolution," he wrote on the website of the president's political party. "I would never betray this process, and much less my Commander.") Afiuni spent more than a year in pretrial detention, in deplorable conditions, together with convicted prisoners – including many she herself had sentenced – who repeatedly threatened her with death. In the face of growing criticism from international human rights bodies, Afiuni was moved to house arrest in February 2011. After long delays, her trial opened in November 2012. Afiuni has refused to appear, arguing that she would not receive a fair trial, but the proceedings have continued in her absence.
After the weekly newspaper 6to Poder published a satirical article in August 2011 depicting six high-level female officials – including the attorney general and Supreme Court president – as dancers in a cabaret entitled "The Revolution," directed by "Mr. Chávez," the six officials called for a criminal investigation and for the paper to be closed down. Within hours, arrest warrants were issued for the paper's director, Dinora Girón, and its president, Leocenis García, on charges of "instigation of public hatred." Girón was arrested the following day, held for two days, then granted conditional liberty. García went into hiding, but turned himself in to authorities the following week, and was imprisoned for two months, then granted conditional freedom. Both remain under criminal investigation pending trial. The newspaper is under a court order to refrain from publishing any text or images that could constitute "an offense and/or insult to the reputation, or to the decorum, of any representative of public authorities, and whose objective is to expose them to public disdain or hatred."
After the human rights defender Rocío San Miguel appeared on a television show in May 2010 and denounced the fact that senior military officers were members of Chávez's political party (a practice prohibited by the Venezuelan Constitution), she was accused on state television of being a "CIA agent" and of "inciting insurrection." The official magazine of the Armed Forces accused her of seeking to foment a coup d'état. The nongovernmental organization that she directs, Citizen Watch, was also named – along with other leading groups – in a criminal complaint filed by several youth groups affiliated with Chávez's political party for alleged "treason" for receiving funding from the US government. San Miguel has since received repeated death threats from unidentified people. While she does not know the source of those threats, she believes the denunciations in the official media have made her more vulnerable to such acts of intimidation.
After the human rights defender Humberto Prado criticized the government in June 2011 for its handling of a prison riot, Chávez's justice minister accused him of seeking to "destabilize the prison system" and the vice president claimed the criticism was part of a strategy to "politically destabilize the country." Within days, Prado began receiving anonymous threats, including phone calls telling him to keep quiet if he cared about his children, prompting him to leave the country with his family for two months. As he prepared to return, he received an anonymous email with the image of what appeared to be an official document from the Attorney General's Office stating that he was under criminal investigation for "treason." The prosecutor whose name appears on the letter later told him he had not written or signed it. Prado continued to receive threats from unidentified sources. Like San Miguel, he believes the verbal attacks by Chávez officials have made him more vulnerable to such acts of intimidation.
After Venezuela's oldest television channel, RCTV, broadcast a video in November 2006 showing Chávez's energy minister telling his employees at the state oil company to quit their jobs if they did not support the president, Chávez publicly warned RCTV and other channels that they could lose their broadcasting license – a threat he had made repeatedly in response to critical broadcasting. A month later, the president announced his unilateral decision that RCTV would no longer be "tolerated" on the public airwaves after its license expired the following year. RCTV stopped transmitting on open frequencies in May 2007, but continued as a cable channel. Since then, the government has used its regulatory power to drive RCTV off cable television as well. In January 2010, the National Telecommunications Commission (CONATEL) determined that RCTV was a "national audiovisual producer" and subject to newly established broadcasting norms. Days later, Chávez's communications minister threatened to open administrative investigations against cable providers whose broadcast channels did not comply with the norms. In response, the country's cable providers stopped broadcasting RCTV International. CONATEL has since denied RCTV's repeated efforts to re-register as a cable channel. Today, RCTV can only be viewed on the Internet, and it no longer covers news due to lack of funding.
After Globovisión, the only remaining television station with national coverage consistently critical of Chávez's policies, provided extensive coverage of a prison riot in June 2011 – including numerous interviews with distressed family members who claimed security forces were killing prisoners, Chávez responded by accusing the station of "set[ting] the country on fire…with the sole purpose of overthrowing this government." The government promptly opened an administrative investigation of Globovisión's coverage of the violence and, in October, ruled that the station had "promoted hatred for political reasons that generated anxiety in the population," and imposed a US$ 2.1 million fine, equivalent to 7.5 percent of the company's 2010 income. Globovisión is facing seven additional administrative investigations – including one opened in response to its reporting that the government failed to provide the public with basic information in the aftermath of an earthquake and, most recently, one for transmitting spots that questioned the government's interpretation of the constitutional requirements for Chávez's 2013 inauguration. Under the broadcasting law enacted by Chávez and his supporters in the National Assembly in 2004, a second ruling against Globovisión could result in another heavy fine, suspension of the station's transmission, or revocation of its license.
After Oswaldo Álvarez Paz, an opposition politician, appeared on Globovisión's main political talk show in March 2010 and commented on allegations of increased drug trafficking in Venezuela and a Spanish court ruling that referred to possible collaboration between the Venezuelan government and Colombian guerrillas, Basque separatists, and other "terrorist" groups, Chávez responded in a national broadcast that these comments "could not be permitted" and called on other branches of government "to take action." Two weeks later, Álvarez Paz was arrested on grounds that his "evidently false statements" had caused "an unfounded fear" in the Venezuelan people. Álvarez Paz remained in pretrial detention for almost two months and was then granted conditional liberty during his trial, which culminated in July 2011 with a guilty verdict and a two-year prison sentence. The judge allowed Álvarez Paz to serve his sentence on conditional liberty, but prohibited him from leaving the country without judicial authorization.
After Globovisión's president, Guillermo Zuloaga, at an international conference in March 2010, criticized Chávez's attacks on media freedoms and accused the president of ordering the shooting of demonstrators prior to the 2002 coup, the pro-Chávez Congress called for a criminal investigation. Zuloaga was arrested on charges of disseminating false information and offending the president. A judge soon granted him conditional liberty, but in June Chávez publicly insisted that he be re-arrested. Two days later, members of the National Guard raided Zuloaga's home and the following week a judge issued a new arrest warrant for him on an unrelated case, though he fled the country before it could be executed and has not returned.
After Nelson Mezerhane, a banker and principal shareholder of Globovisión, claimed in a December 2009 interview that people "linked to the government" had spread rumors that provoked withdrawal of savings from Venezuelan banks, Chávez denounced him, called on the attorney general "to open a formal investigation," and threatened to nationalize Mezerhane's bank. Chávez warned that, "[i]f a television station crosses the line again, violating the laws, lacking respect for society, the State, or institutions, it cannot, it should not remain open." Six months later, the Attorney General's Office seized Mezerhane's home and shares in Globovisión, while the state banking authority nationalized his bank. The Attorney General's Office also forbade Mezerhane from leaving the country, but he was abroad when the order was issued and has not returned.
After Tu Imagen TV, a local cable channel in Miranda state, was denounced by a pro-Chávez mayor in November 2010 for being "biased in favor of the political opposition," CONATEL ordered the local cable provider to stop broadcasting the channel on the grounds that the channel and the provider had failed to comply with regulations requiring a written contract between the parties. Provided with a signed contract a month later, the agency waited eight months before authorizing the cable provider to renew broadcasting the channel. When it did, the channel's director said, the agency threatened to take the channel off the air again if it continued to produce critical programming.
After the soap opera "Chepe Fortuna" ran a scene in January 2011 in which a character named Venezuela who had lost her dog – named Huguito (Little Hugo) – asks her boyfriend, "What will become of Venezuela without Huguito?" and he responds, "You will be free, Venezuela," CONATEL called on the television channel, Televen, to "immediately suspend" the show on the grounds that it promoted "political and racial intolerance, xenophobia, and incitement to commit crimes." The charge could lead to civil, criminal, and administrative sanctions, including the suspension or revocation of its license. Televen cancelled the program the same day.
September 18, 2008 News Release
Venezuela: Rights Suffer Under Chávez
January 31, 2013 World Report Chapter
World Report 2013: Venezuela
Venezuela: Concentration and Abuse of Power Under Chávez
August 23, 2019 Dispatches
Indonesian Officers' Racist Slurs Trigger Riots in Papua
Sri Lanka: Covid-19 Forced Cremation of Muslims Discriminatory


(CNN) Back before he controlled the GOP, before his endorsement seemed capable of swinging a primary, before he was President of the United States and before he'd won most Republican primaries in 2016, Donald Trump had very few friends in Congress.
Just a handful of Republican lawmakers endorsed his campaign early on.
Interestingly, while Trump's power in the party has only grown, those lawmakers who first stuck their necks out for him have not fared well in the Trump era.
The Washington Post was tracking this back in March of 2016, when Trump had the GOP primary well in hand but only token support on Capitol Hill. They called the first five lawmakers to endorse him Congress' Trump caucus.
You'd be hard-pressed to find many Republicans who wouldn't endorse him now. Those who opposed him in 2016 have paid a price. (Ahem, Jeff Flake).
But so, it turns out, have the members of the Trump caucus, two of whom have been charged by authorities with breaking the law this summer, one of whom had to withdraw from a nomination to be the nation's drug czar early in Trump's presidency and one of whom is the President's biggest punching bag in his own Cabinet.
1. Rep. Chris Collins of New York -- The first person to endorse Trump in Congress was indicted this month on insider trading charges, which he denies.
2. Rep. Duncan Hunter of California -- The San Diego congressman was Trump's second backer in Congress in 2016. He was charged Tuesday along with his wife with misusing campaign funds for personal expenses.
3. Rep. Scott DesJarlais of Tennessee -- He's still a congressman and has not recently been plagued by scandal or charged with a crime -- but DesJarlais has weathered plenty of criticism. He's been re-elected several times since, but in 2014 it came out that the anti-abortion Republican had urged a woman he impregnated to get an abortion.
4. Rep. Tom Marino of Pennsylvania -- He's also still in Congress, but Marino was intended to be the country's drug czar after Trump nominated him. Marino had to pull out of consideration, however, after an investigation by The Post and "60 Minutes." According to CNN's report at the time: "The newspaper and the CBS newsmagazine documented how Marino helped drug distributors pass an industry-friendly law" that hobbled the Drug Enforcement Administration's efforts to halt the spread of the opioid crisis. "Marino took nearly $100,000 from the pharmaceutical lobby while advocating for the law," the CNN report said.
5. Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama -- He could have been the success story of the Trump caucus as attorney general. But while Sessions has faithfully executed Trump's policies, he fell out of favor with the President for recusing himself from the Russia investigation. That makes Sessions directly responsible for special counsel Robert Mueller, a move from which it'll be hard to recover. Trump has frequently criticized Sessions, who as a result lives under a sort of Trumpian sword of Damocles, knowing he could be fired at any moment.


General Data Protection Act and GDPR updated regulation and what it means for Wansford Smile Studio Policy.
he General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will apply from 25 May 2018, when it supersedes the UK Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA). Significant and wide-reaching in scope, the new law brings a 21st century approach to data protection. It expands the rights of individuals to control how their personal data is collected and processed, and places a range of new obligations on organizations to be more accountable for data protection. It carries provisions that require businesses to protect the personal data and privacy of EU citizens for transactions that occur within EU member states.
The GDPR regulates the exportation of personal data outside the EU. It also includes some very important consumer rights. The most important are the right to be informed, the right of access, the right to correct errors, the right to erase data, the right to restrict processing, and the right take it elsewhere (data portability).
The Data Protection Act (DPA) is a law designed to protect personal data stored on computers or in an organized paper filing system it sets out eight principles governing the use of personal information which we must comply with, unless an exemption applies.
The following principles are in essence a code of good practice for processing personal data.
First principle – Personal data shall be processed fairly and lawfully and, in particular, shall not be processed unless certain conditions particularly in sensitive personal data are met.
Second principle – Personal data shall be obtained only for one or more specified and lawful purposes, and shall not be further processed in any manner incompatible with that purpose or those purposes.
Third principle – Personal data shall be adequate, relevant and not excessive in relation to the purpose or purposes for which they are processed.
Fourth principle – Personal data shall be accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date.
Fifth principle – Personal data processed for any purpose or purposes shall not be kept for longer than is necessary for that purpose or those purposes.
Sixth principle – Personal data shall be processed in accordance with the rights of data subjects under this Act.
Seventh principle – Appropriate technical and organizational measures shall be taken against unauthorized or unlawful processing of personal data and against accidental loss or destruction of, or damage to, personal data.
Eighth principle – Personal data shall not be transferred to a country or territory outside the European Economic Area, unless that country or territory ensures an adequate level of protection for the rights and freedoms of data subjects in relation to the processing of personal data.
Here at Wansford Smile Studio we take your privacy seriously and will only use your personal information to administer your account and to provide the products and services you have requested from us. We would also like to contact you with details of further dental appointments and changes to our services we provide.
To ensure that Wansford Smile Studio is in compliance with the GDPA General Data Protection Act 2018 and (GDPR), we kindly ask our patients to provide us with their consent to receive electronic/email/telephonic messages and contacts from us such as appointment reminders and similar communications.
Your care: providing dental services and care to you and, as appropriate sharing information with your GP and others in the wider dental network.
Management: sharing only limited information to those listed above, as well as those external to the NHS/Privately who ensure we maintain appropriate professional and service standards and that your declarations and ours are accurate.
We hold your information for as long as it is appropriately advised. You have a right to a copy of the information we hold about you, generally without charge. You may want to seek to correct any inaccurate information we hold.
We process your personal data in the strictest confidence in the public interest, for the provision of healthcare and treatment and the management of healthcare systems. All staff members here at Wansford Smile Studio are responsible for the confidentiality of your information. You may object to us holding your information. You may also lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF. Please ask at reception if you would like some more information. You may choose to opt out of us using your data for research purposes – please ask for further details.
ake the A47 west from Peterborough.
At second traffic circle at the junction of the A1 and the A47, turn left onto Old North Road (for Wansford village).
At the junction of Old North Road and Peterborough Road turn right onto Peterborough road and take the first left hand turning into Yarwell Road (the church will be on your left).
Drive 250m along and turn left into the Wansford Surgery carpark. We are located in the converted barn to the rear of the Wansford Pharmacy.


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text:
import os
import re
try:
    from cStringIO import StringIO
except ImportError:
    from StringIO import StringIO
try:
    import Image
except ImportError:
    from PIL import Image

from django.conf import settings
from django.contrib.sites.models import Site
from django.core.files.base import ContentFile
from django.core.files.storage import default_storage

import oembed
from oembed.providers import BaseProvider
from oembed.resources import OEmbedResource
from oembed.utils import size_to_nearest, scale

class GoogleMapsProvider(BaseProvider):
    regex = r'^http://maps.google.com/maps\?([^\s]+)'
    provides = False
    resource_type = 'rich'

    MAP_SIZES = [(x, x) for x in xrange(100, 900, 100)]
    VALID_PARAMS = ['q', 'z']

    def request_resource(self, url, **kwargs):
        maxwidth = kwargs.get('maxwidth', None)
        maxheight = kwargs.get('maxheight', None)

        # calculate the appropriate width and height
        w, h = size_to_nearest(maxwidth, maxheight, self.MAP_SIZES, True)

        # prepare the dictionary of data to be returned as an oembed resource
        data = {
            'type': 'rich', 'provider_name': 'Google', 'version': '1.0',
            'width': w, 'height': h, 'title': '', 'author_name': '',
            'author_url': ''
        }

        url_params = re.match(self.regex, url).groups()[0]
        url_params = url_params.replace('&', '&').split('&')

        map_params = ['output=embed']

        for param in url_params:
            k, v = param.split('=', 1)
            if k in self.VALID_PARAMS:
                map_params.append(param)

        data['html'] = '<iframe width="%d" height="%d" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://maps.google.com/maps?%s"></iframe>' % \
            (w, h, '&'.join(map_params))

        return OEmbedResource.create(data)

class StaticMediaProvider(BaseProvider):
    media_url = settings.MEDIA_URL.strip('/')
    if not media_url.startswith('http'):
        all_domains = Site.objects.values_list('domain', flat=True)
        media_url = 'http://[^\s]*?(?:%s)/%s' % ('|'.join(all_domains), media_url)

    regex = re.compile(r'^%s/([^\s]+\.(jpg|gif|png))' % media_url, re.I)
    provides = False
    resource_type = 'photo'

    IMAGE_SIZES = [(x, x) for x in xrange(100, 900, 100)]

    def request_resource(self, url, **kwargs):
        maxwidth = kwargs.get('maxwidth', None)
        maxheight = kwargs.get('maxheight', None)

        # calculate the appropriate bounds for width and height
        w, h = size_to_nearest(maxwidth, maxheight, self.IMAGE_SIZES, True)

        # get the path, i.e. /media/img/kitties.jpg
        image_path = re.match(self.regex, url).groups()[0]

        # create the entire url as it would be on site, minus the filename
        base_url, ext = url.rsplit('.', 1)

        # create the file path minus the extension
        base_path, ext = image_path.rsplit('.', 1)

        append = '_%sx%s.%s' % (w, h, ext)

        new_path = '%s%s' % (base_path, append)

        if not default_storage.exists(new_path):
            # open the original to calculate its width and height
            source_file = default_storage.open(image_path)
            img = Image.open(source_file)

            # retrieve image format and dimensions
            format = img.format
            img_width, img_height = img.size

            # do the math-y parts
            new_width, new_height = scale(img_width, img_height, w, h)

            img = img.resize((new_width, new_height), Image.ANTIALIAS)

            img_buffer = StringIO()
            img.MAXBLOCK = 1024*1024
            img.save(img_buffer, format=format)

            source_file.close()
            default_storage.save(new_path, ContentFile(img_buffer.getvalue()))

        new_url = '%s%s' % (base_url, append)

        # get just the filename, i.e. test.jpg - used for generated the title
        # of the returned oembed resource
        image_filename = image_path.rsplit('/', 1)[-1]

        data = {'type': 'photo', 'provider_name': '', 'version': '1.0',
                'width': w, 'height': h, 'title': image_filename,
                'url': new_url, 'author_name': '', 'author_url': ''}

        return OEmbedResource.create(data)

oembed.site.register(GoogleMapsProvider)
oembed.site.register(StaticMediaProvider)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


A man who stabbed a mother to death while her daughter was in the house has been sentenced to life in prison.
Zakarya Rezaie was told he would serve a minimum of 15 years for the murder of Rabina Bibi, who was found with multiple stab wounds at her home in Foleshill, Coventry, in September last year.
Rezaie, 29, killed Ms Bibi at the address on Leicester Causeway after she and her eight-year-old daughter called 999.
The trial at Warwick Crown Court had heard that Rezaie, from Splott Road, in Splott, Cardiff, handed himself in to police minutes after Ms Bibi was stabbed, saying she had attacked him.
He denied murder, claiming he was provoked by Ms Bibi, whom he knew personally, but jurors today returned a guilty verdict and he was imprisoned for public protection.
Ms Bibi's family said they were pleased with the verdict.
They said in a statement: "Rabina was a daughter, a sister and a mother to an eight-year-old little girl.
"Her untimely death has affected her family in so many ways it is difficult to know where to start. This horrific and violent incident has greatly affected Rabina's little girl and she will never be the same child she once was.
"We are naturally pleased with the verdict but regardless of this or any sentence this will not bring Rabina back. We as a family have to live with a life sentence and Rezaie's sentence, regardless of length, will never seem enough as what he did was unforgivable."
Speaking after the sentence, Detective Inspector Martin Lawrence, of West Midlands Police, said: "We, the investigation and prosecuting team, welcome the findings of the court. Our thoughts at this difficult time are with the family of Rabina Bibi."


text:
About The Prairie News
The Prairie News Staff
Local authors impact the high plains
Connor Woods|October 16, 2012
The Prairie.
For years, local writers have graced the high plains with their work, which gives insight to the Texas Panhandle and what it's like to live in the area.
"Its unbelievable how many people come through doing research on the area," Sharon Stevens, co-owner of the Buffalo Bookstore, said. "When somebody comes to Canyon and they want to know more about the area, they will come in to look for a book on whatever it is they are interested in."
Stevens said that by purchasing books written by local authors, customers can find what they are looking for and spread the culture of the Texas Panhandle.
"Local authors in our area provide information through their stories on the area," Stevens said. "It's about spreading our culture as far as we can get it."
One of those authors is Jodi Thomas, who has written countless novels that take place in small towns similar to those in Texas.
"I write a contemporary series called 'Harmony' that's about a small town in Texas and you will see the flavor of Canyon in every book," Thomas said. "I think writers incorporate what they know and the feeling in Canyon is so unique and I like to pass that along."
Author and speaker Timothy Lewis believes that local authors in the community are important because they give people the stories of Texas that they want.
"Texas local authors are important because people are interested in Texas," Lewis said. "Authors ultimately are important because they expose people to the Texas people are interested in. Texas is a big seller in the market. Texas in the title means money in the bank."
Thomas has seen the benefit of writing novels about small Texas towns as she has hit the New York Times and USA Today's best-seller list multiple times.
"I've had several books that have hit the New York Times Best Seller list," Thomas said. "The last book I wrote hit the Print list top 15, and when you hit the top 15, your books get delivered not only to bookstores but small venues such as grocery stores and truck stops."
By being on the best sellers list, Thomas was able to not only grab the attention of readers across America, but spread interest in small towns in Texas as well.
"I think a lot of people try your books when you are on the New York Times," Thomas said. "So I get a lot of new readers who then become interested in small towns in Texas through reading."
With many local authors, comes an organization that brings them all together.
"We have such a treasure since we are home to the to the Panhandle Professional Writers," Stevens said. "It is the second oldest writers group in the United States. Every other month we have a meeting and it is to promote and support the local authors."
Whether it's fiction or nonfiction, local authors allow visitors a look into the culture of Texas.
"I think a lot of people stop in the Buffalo Bookstore or other stores and find the books of local writers, because when people visit a place, they like to see the flavor of it," Thomas said. "I've made a lot of fans who pick up a book from a book store that features me as local author and they take that book to Maine or Washington or wherever they are from."
Monsters, myths, and legends of the Lone Star State
Multicultural Center brings diversity closer to the students
The process of the Nationally Competitive Scholarships
Buffs give back for the holidays
Study abroad world with WTAMU
Nine faculty and staff honored at 2019 Gallery of Excellence
Explore the colleges of WTAMU
Math center has the ultimate resources
How do Buffs keep warm?
Alumni share sacred moment at Joseph A. Hill Memorial Chapel
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text:
European Soccer Weekend: Clasico in Madrid and English final
Feb. 27, 2020 at 7:37 am Updated Feb. 27, 2020 at 3:39 pm
What to watch in the leading leagues in European soccer this weekend:
The second clásico of the league season arrives with Barcelona hitting its stride and Real Madrid stumbling.
The teams meet at Santiago Bernabéu Stadium on Sunday, four days after Madrid lost there to Manchester City in the last 16 of the Champions League. Before that, Zinedine Zidane's team lost at Levante and drew against Celta Vigo at home in la Liga.
Barcelona, meanwhile, drew at Napoli in the Champions League and has won four straight in the Spanish league. It has a two-point lead over Madrid, which is the smallest points difference between them when playing the second clásico since 2015.
Barcelona has a four-game winning streak against Madrid in league games at the Bernabéu. It is unbeaten in seven straight matches against the rival, with its last loss in the 2017 Spanish Super Cup in Madrid. In the league, Madrid's last home win dates to 2014, although it won at the Camp Nou in 2016.
Third-placed Atlético Madrid visits last-placed Espanyol on Sunday, while fourth-placed Sevilla hosts Osasuna.
— By Tales Azzoni in Madrid.
Five matches in Italy will be played in empty stadiums, including a top-of-the-table clash between Juventus and Inter Milan.
The measures have been taken because of the virus outbreak in northern Italy. Last weekend, four Serie A matches were postponed.
The other matches that will take place without fans are: Udinese vs. Fiorentina (Saturday), AC Milan vs. Genoa, Parma vs. Spal, and Sassuolo vs. Brescia (all Sunday.)
Inter trails Serie A leader Juventus by six points going into the Derby d'Italia, although it has played a match less.
Sunday's match will also see Inter coach Antonio Conte return to Juventus for the first time since he left the club in 2014. Conte led Juventus to the first three of its eight straight league titles and also spent most of his playing career with the Bianconeri.
By the time the match takes place, Lazio could be two points clear of Juventus at the top of the table if it beats Bologna on Saturday.
— By Daniella Matar in Milan.
The first major trophy of the season is up for grabs on Sunday and, once again, Manchester City is the big favorite to capture it.
City is looking to win the League Cup for the third straight year under Pep Guardiola, and for the fifth time in the past seven seasons, when it takes on Aston Villa in the final at Wembley Stadium.
With Villa in relegation danger in the Premier League, and City back in form and having just beaten Real Madrid away in the Champions League, it could be a lopsided encounter. City has beaten Villa 3-0 and 6-1 in the Premier League this season.
City is about to lose its Premier League crown, however, with Liverpool still unbeaten in the top flight and needing just four wins from its 11 remaining games to clinch a first English championship title since 1990.
Liverpool is at Watford on Saturday, and a win would move Jurgen Klopp's team 25 points clear of City.
In the tight race for the final Champions League qualification places, fourth-placed Chelsea visits Bournemouth, fifth-placed Manchester United is away to Everton, and sixth-placed Tottenham is at home to eighth-placed Wolverhampton.
— By Steve Douglas.
Bayern Munich will have to learn how to cope without injured top scorer Robert Lewandowski if it is to claim a record-extending eighth Bundesliga title.
The Polish striker will miss around four weeks after breaking his left shinbone on Tuesday in the win over Chelsea in the Champions League.
Lewandowski scored the late winner against Paderborn last Friday to raise his league tally to 25, and Bayern will need other players to step up to keep title rivals at bay in his absence.
Former Kennedy Catholic WR standout Lonyatta 'Junior' Alexander announces transfer from ASU to Washington
Analysis: Here are 12 items that should be on the Seahawks' offseason to-do list
Even the Sounders can't believe they landed Albert Rusnak. Here's why the star midfielder chose Seattle.
'We are more than just athletes': Bobby Wagner showed deeper side in thought-provoking media sessions
Leipzig is just one point behind ahead of the 24th round, with Borussia Dortmund three points back.
Bayern visits Hoffenheim on Saturday, Leipzig plays Bayer Leverkusen at home on Sunday, and Dortmund welcomes Freiburg on Saturday.
The round begins on Friday, when Fortuna Düsseldorf hosts Hertha Berlin in a relegation battle.
— By Ciarán Fahey in Berlin.
After a surprise victory against Juventus in the Champions League, Lyon can win back its disgruntled fans even more by beating Saint-Étienne at home on Sunday.
Two of France's most storied sides share 17 league titles, but are also bitter rivals who are less than one hour's drive apart. Regardless of where they are in the league table, the teams' fans forgive almost anything if their side wins the local bragging rights.
Saint-Étienne still holds the record for league titles with 10, but the last was way back in 1981.
Lyon's previous one was its seventh straight in 2008. Neither are good enough to challenge dominant Paris Saint-Germain these days, but both have much to play for.
Lyon needs a run of wins to maintain its slim chances of qualifying in third place for next season's Champions League qualifying rounds.
Saint-Étienne, a proud club with working-class roots, is only two points above of the relegation zone.
PSG will be without Neymar for Saturday's home game against lowly Dijon. The volatile Brazil star is suspended after being sent off last weekend.
Defending champion PSG is 13 points ahead of second-placed Marseille, which is at Nimes on Friday.
— By Jerome Pugmire in Paris.
More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/Soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports


Question 1: How would you describe HPL and its position within the private label personal care industry?
HPL is a major player in private label personal care industry. Private labels hold around 19% (around $4 billion) of personal care industry (around $21.6 billion). HPL holds approximately 28% share of this private label personal care market. Even though HPL is a small player in overall private label market with the revenues of approximately $700 million compared to overall private label market of $70 billion HPL is a major player in private label personal care industry.


We are proud to be associated with AFC Telford United, Telford's own football club. Aside from supplying high quality ground signage to the club and many of their sponsors, we also work closely with their sales team to develop professional design work for their promotional use. This can include flyers and posters along with their online campaigns.
Avid football fan? Why not pop down on match day and check out our work, or pop into Lillywhite's bar for a look at the stunning wall mural we've designed for the club. Don't forget, we offer a range of high-impact signage in Telford. Our friendly, professional Telford print team even offer free expert guidance to help you decide on your design.


The creation of a new life (the created) is the highest creative achievement because God authors it: Not only is it the genesis of a new human being, it is the genesis of humanity. Thus, we, too, desire to be creative because it is in our spiritual DNA.
The arts have been crucial in my life journey -- both before and after disability. This is ironic. Multiple sclerosis stripped away my abilities as an artist and musician, but it only made me desire the beauty of the arts more.
The emotive nature of artistic expression often involves communication at primal levels; this expression involves a yearning of one soul to touch another soul with a unity of that which is inexpressible. True artistic expression gives voice to loss and pain, or love and joy -- the various aspects of the human condition.
tragedy, pain, or even in mundane affairs of ordinary life. The arts can chronicle them all when exercised with open intelligence, sensibility and the discipline of astutely listening to the essence of being.
I want to feature expressive dance of six people with disabilities of the English Foundation for Community Dance.
I married the girl next door. LaRee lived with her grandparents during her childhood. I think we loved each other even as children. Her grandfather Arnold was born in 1906. He was was a short, bald, happy man of quiet old-world values and cultivation. To me he was always a lovable old man quick to smile and laugh.
Although he was Canadian to the core, Grandpa Arnold seemed vaguely European. He owned a jewelry and clock shop in our small town. Clocks lined the walls of Grandpa's shop -- tick-tock, tick-tock, keeping time month after month and year after year. Everything seemed to sparkle. Life was stable: man was man and God in His heaven.
From Grandpa Arnold I developed a love of clocks. His mantle clock now sits in our house. It been in the family for over 85 years ticking away the days, months, years and decades for generations of our family.
The HumanLifeMatters blog has reached a major numerical milestone: 300,000 hits! The single largest representation comes from the United States. More than a third of readers are American with Canada coming second place.
George Frideric Handel likely wrote Eternal Source of Light Divine, HMV 74, in 1713 to celebrate the birthday of Queen Anne of Britain (1665-1714). This short (3:41) majestic, secular piece has beautiful interplay between the tenor voice, trumpet, and orchestra. Excellent.
I received an email from Richard Doerflinger, Associate Director for Pro-Life Activities of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB). The email had a link (above) to an article that appeared in the New York Post. Apparently the American Society for Clinical Oncology is developing an app to ration new drugs for Cancer treatment. The app would judge the coarse of treatment by cost effectiveness more than benefit to the patient.
We knew this sort of thing was coming, dating back to the 1980s when Oregon had a scale for treating various diseases and conditions. It was not too long before they legalized assisted suicide. The diseased and disabled (like me) noticed that societal discussions of euthanasia and assisted suicide started in earnest about the same time state, provincial and national concerns began about health care costs.
According to the New York Post article, some insurers are ready to play the game of cost-benefit in deciding patient care. One insurer apparently "gives oncologists $350-per-month payments for each patient they limit to drugs the company has specified." The article further states that another insurer "has also endorsed bonuses for prescribing "cost-effective" treatments — which would discourage the use of innovations ... ." What if the innovations they discourage could save, prolong and improve quality of life for patients?
Have we forfeited the sanctity of human life for the sanctity of the almighty dollar? It is an inevitable step from denial of expensive treatments to assisted death. Euthanasia and assisted suicide are cheap compassion.
We must hold up the simple and the child as indispensible members of church life.
[Click on image below or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwDRZMoJtkk for Libera, "You Were There"].
I want to feature a documentary about Sergei Rachmaninoff called Harvest of Sorrow. Rachmaninoff was our Christian brother of the ancient eastern Orthodox Church, and extraordinary composer, conductor and performer. At just over 1 hour and 40 minutes in length, I suggest you earmark it for viewing on a stormy night.
I saw on my wife's Facebook page a commercial produced by the Always Corporation. A maxim I followed raising our daughter was to teach her she could do anything she wanted in life. As a little girl she believed that but during her teen years that confidence was eroded by others, her public school experience, and the culture in general.
One day, when she was about 19 years old, she resentfully said to me: "You always said I could do anything I want. Well it's not true!" I looked at her with sadness and thought, "Why did you listen to the naysayers?" Do you know who hurt her the worst? Other girls. Who knocked the confidence out of them?!
The inspirational Always commercial below is excellent and I applaud them for it. The one missing element is the most important element: faith. It is important to believe in oneself but that confidence must be cultivated within faith and nurture of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Every human being is put here by God for a purpose.
Be a positive source of encouragement for your daughters and granddaughters and always point them to Jesus Christ. Through faith in Him they will develop a real faith in what they can do and why they are here. God bless all our children and grandchildren. -- Mark.
These emphatic words of our Lord are offensive to a generation that says truth is relative. Relative to what? Objective truth does not cease to exist simply because people reject it or deny it.
"See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him. Beloved, we are God's children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure."
This is what is so offensive to our anti-Christian age. They think if the truth of Jesus Christ is denied, then sin can be denied. Christians who remind the culture that there is such a thing as Objective truth and that Truth is found in Jesus Christ will be hated.
Jesus himself told us to expect the world to hate us: "If the world hates you, be aware that it hated me before it hated you." (John 15.18.).
Dear brother and sister in Christ: Do not despair or give in to the world. Christ's love for you is stronger that the world's hatred for you. Remember that our glorious home is elsewhere with Christ.