Isles MP Alistair Carmichael has urged voters to engage in the independence debate and think carefully ahead of September's referendum.
Mr Carmichael insists it is crucial for voters to stay well-informed as the referendum – now just 200 days away – draws ever closer.
He has also posed questions for voters to consider, such as what independence would mean for welfare payments, income tax and whether a possible currency change might impact on businesses.
The Scottish Secretary has insisted the isles benefit from UK membership. He cited the roll out of superfast broadband and support offered to new businesses as examples of how communities have gained from being part of the UK.
His comments come after representatives of the Yes campaign held a public meeting in Burra. Last month's meeting in the Hamnavoe Public Hall allowed pro-independence campaigners the chance to outline the benefits they see in Scottish independence.
Mr Carmichael said: "The referendum is fast approaching and that means it's time for everyone in Orkney and Shetland to turn their attention to how they intend to vote.
"But this is not a decision to be taken lightly – we cannot afford to gamble with our nation's future – so that means making an informed choice and to do that we all need to get the facts. There is a wealth of information out there already and I know there is much more to come.
If you would indulge me for a moment with a comment from down South. The SNP claim that rUK steals oil from Scotland. Although the North Sea is the territorial waters of the United Kingdom, not Scotland. However, if you carry their argument to its extremes :- rUK have been stealing coal from Wales, the UK have been stealing tin and lead from Cornwall, Scotland with nearly 20% of its population living in the UK are stealing jobs from rUK …. You can see how stupid the argument becomes.
Where, Victor, has the SNP – or indeed any political party – said that the rest of the UK "steals oil from Scotland"? Where precisely?
It's a hallucination, Robert, after reading the Daily Mail.
Robert you really should read more papers or listen to the news, Salmond said it when both cabinets were meeting in Aberdeen, there are loads of links to this, here is just one.
Victor Walker: It sounds to me that you are quite content with the status quo?
If you really believe that the Independence vote is about Alex Salmond or point-scoring you are misguided or naïve – In reality, it is about Scotland and us, it's people, to decide if we truly believe we would have a better, just and fairer society for all of us.
May I remind you that in the event of a 'Yes' Vote independence would not come into effect for 18months, during which time there will be a General Election for the Scottish Parliament. So why do you think that Alex Salmond want the North Sea oil for himself?
In analysing your comments it is so easy for any open-minded and well informed person to better describe and even accept your premise, all they would have to substitute Alex Salmond's name with David Cameron – because then it would be a very credible description of exactly what has been happening to Scotland (and the rest of the UK) for far to many decades.
open up your mind, study the evidence. The truth is out there you know.
Britain is Broken – and beyond repair and in reality there is nothing 'United' about the 'United' Kingdom.
Perfect example of Oxymoron don't you think?
In case your are wondering, I was born in England so I have no 'axe' to grind, other than to try my best to help make my 'adopted' Scotland an even better place to live, knowing full well than can happen by shaping our own destiny, making our own decisions. UK governments have had their chances, too many to count. No More!
A new start, a clean sheet, pay our fair share per capita of UK debt, combined with our commensurate per capita share of all UK fixed assets including the Bank of England, overseas embassies and military establishments. That could, and SHOULD be the basis of a friendly divorce. Why not?
As the gentleman below testifies, negative comments are unhelpful to furthering debate. I do not understand your use of the words 'greed' and 'stealing' in this context.
Going on the slaggin off and roumers each side put out, on what might be or could be this or that, i as a floting voter dont actualy know what will ACTUALY will happen if we vote yes or no. its like no one knows what will actualy happen, and if the do know anything its so mixed up with each others slagging of of eachother i have no idea what is right or wrong. I watched 2 ladys act like two cats in an ally the other night on TV – i learned nothing to help me deside to vote yes or no. but i struggled desiding to vote or not to bother. i dont need a lecture on how importaint it is, i know that, but i need help with the true facts on what will happpen.
I am in agreement with the first premise id Carmichaels 'call to arms' All of us of voting age should, after studying the pros & cons make a decision Yes or N.
Mr Carmichael could very easily help me make up my mind – if he could tell me exactly how HIS government in Westminster plans to pay-off the £1.3 TRILLION National Debt (that by 2017 will grow to £1.8 TRILLION). Eye watering isn't it Alistair?
It would take 103 YEARS to pay off this debt just using ALL of the Oil Revenue from the North Sea until the year 2117. But they have never used Oil Revenue wisely – there is no cash reserve (Norway has =£600bn stashed away) Go Compare!
Successive UK governments over the last 50 years have squandered our wealth for far too long.
Not to mention of course, the 67 Scottish MP's in Westminster (including Alistair Carmichael) who would definitely lose their cushy MP's jobs when Scotland becomes Independent. We must ask ourselves if all (but one SNP) of these 'Scottish' MP's are urging us to vote 'NO' just so that they will keep their cushy over-paid jobs?
I honestly believe that to be the case, partially because of the fact that this must be the first time in History (other than war) when UK MP.s from all parties have actually agreed on something. Trust me, this is a one-of – you will never see it happen again.
Alistair Carmichael for Scotland's First Minister? Sickening thought.
After a yes vote Salmond will negotiate all treaties before any general election Charlie, If you can't even grasp that basic fact…..
So, I ask you Ally…..Could you honestly come up with one or more other Scottish MP's (Westminster or Holyrood) that you would have confidence in to undertake that mammoth task and come out of it with Scotland not being short changed?
Like him or despise him? it matters not. I would trust him like no other on this matter.
Think about it… Conservatives working with Labour? What a joke!
Really, Ali? Been crystal ball gazing again?
Charlie makes a cherry picked reference to Norway, its wealth and how Scotland could duplicate this. He coyly forgot to mention that Norway's wealth was not built on oil cash alone. Oil cash, high taxation and massive borrowing have paid for what the Norwegians have; 95 billion Krone of national debt, that is 187,000 Krone for every person in Norway. Just to put that into perspective, although we have a bombshell of a national debt ours is £19,000 for every person in the UK.
He claims the referendum is not about Salmond; well Charlie I beg to differ as all the negotiations that set up all the key foundations for an independent Scotland will be led by Salmond and the SNP. They will also include the writing of a constitution that will bind future elected governments of whatever persuasion, therefore it is all about Salmond and the SNP. Maybe you would like to let us all have a look into your Chrystal ball if you know how much oil revenue there will be between now and 2117.
I appreciate you are representing each in their native currency but, alongside your general tone, that you've shown Norway's debt in krone and Britain's in GBP is somewhat misleading. 187,000 krone and £19,000 are not drastically different sums of money. A difference of perhaps 5-10%.
In fact, on my initial checking the converter had defaulted "krone" to the Danish version. 187,000 Norwegian krone is actually less than £19,000.
Gordon. you have totally destroyed completely, my opinion of the SNP and it's vision for an independent Scotland – or so you think?
Your rhetoric could have been (was it?) written by one of the 'Bitter (sic) Together' campaigners. Cut and paste is wonderful thing for those that cannot think for themselves, those that have tunnel vision like you appear to have.
Let us all stick to the very real issues that will affect our country, us all and the future generations to come. We have to get this right Agreed?
Your analysis of Norway, is very informative and enlightening and I have no basis for challenging it's accuracy, but let us not forget that Norway has a huge oil fund – a staggering amount of CASH in the bank and it's value is only slightly less than the country's national debt making it much easier to manage. Don't we in the UK wish our government had our country in the same position?
As far as you question as to how much oil will there be by the year 2117. Nobody really knows, but one thing is very, very clear: David Cameron, with all of his bluster and despite his recent history of claiming the North Sea Oil is drying up and cannot be relied upon, is still trying his hardest to keep the oil revenue flowing into the UK's coffers.
One thing is patently obvious – no matter how much, or how little oil there is, or will be in the future, the revenue from that to help /support 5 million people in Scotland, is much more viable than the same revenue used to support/help 63 million people in the UK. That, by any reasonable person, cannot be denied.
You also mention the writing of a Scottish Constitution – you do realise that this document, no matter who writes it, would have to be unanimously ratified by the Scottish Parliament – that is what a true democracy is all about. Binding Government to behave ethically, honour and fulfil their promises – things that have not been done in the UK for time immemorial That in my book is a great thing to look forward to. Surely you must agree?
Or, are you satisfied with the status quo?
you didn't omit it Charlie you said that would be a general election before independence.
"Scottish oil" has been at the forefront of the debate since it was discovered Robert, I think you would be hard pressed to find any conversation on the subject of independence where the "It's Scotlands oil" hasn't been the rallying cry of the yeSNP. When in fact we here know it's Shetlands oil.
This type of court case would, of course go on for perhaps decades and be very, very expensive.
a) Do Shetlanders have the appetite for such a challenge?
b) how would we pay for it?
c) who would 'run' Shetland?
d) How would we spend all of that Oil revenue?
Many other questions too, but meanwhile, just saying that it is Shetland's Oil is not enough.
There is no 'historical evidence to challenge the UK/Scottish claim to these islands'. Saying it doesn't make it happen.
I can remember my dad telling a story about Winny Ewing standing in lerwick in the 70s (i think) banging on about shetland's oil, then weeks later standing in grantown on spey banging on about scotlands oil. The owner of the oil seems to move depending on who is talking and where they are standing at the time.
I'm now starting to take note on what i should start thinking about the big vote. one point that has hit me very hard from charlie above. its not a SNP against the rest of the parties, its free scotland or the status quo. All the SMPs will then have to stand to be in the next scottish parlement and we then get the oppertunity to vote the lot of them out and get a new start forward. ie vote alex samond and his palls out!
Charlie, you can bring as many personal insults into the debate as you want, it is the biggest indicator going that you have lost the argument when you attack the person. What I was pointing out with Norway's debt and high taxation is if we want to emulate Norway and have an oil fund in an independent Scotland (This being one of Salmond's empty promises) we cannot do it with out borrowing and I mean borrowing big, as well as high taxation for the working man. You quite rightly pointed out that the Norwegians earn higher wages than we do so high taxation on our low wages will cripple the finances of everyone in the Scottish working classes.
For your information the Norwegian debt will not be easy to manage because of the oil fund as the oil fund records short-term profits from its holdings of bond and stocks, its strategy is one of "speculate and diversify." It is based on the hope that spreading the risk widely enough can hedge against a catastrophic collapse in a particular region or sector. Yet in today's turbulent economic environment, this seems to be a strategy for multiplying exposure to speculative risks rather than protecting against them. Thus, not only does Norway's massive debt render the fund's true value largely illusory, the future of the fund itself is highly precarious.
Off course I know that the constitution will have to be ratified by the Scottish parliament which has an SNP majority, therefore it will not be democratic as this government got in with around 25% of the vote and that means there are 75% of the electorate who did not vote for this government. To be democratic the writing of a constitution and the independence negotiations should be drawn up by an all party committee, but that's not going to happen under this assertive autocrat of a First Minister.
By the way one of the reasons Britain is broken as you claim, is because there are those who rather than work hard to make it better will selfishly jump ship and go where the oil looks blacker. What those people don't realise is that, that oil is not only blacker but thicker and deeper making it more expensive to bring ashore. Governments have to give massive tax breaks to the oil companies thereby reducing the revenue collected, making one more reason why taxes will rise and the now crippled Scottish working man will be wishing he had voted NO.
One more thing, you will be aware of the conflict over the past few days in the Ukraine, something that has nothing to do with us, yet will and is starting affect the price of oil. My point being, incidents anywhere in the world can have a devastating affect on the price of oil. Yet there are those who are witless enough to want to build and independent country on the assumption that such a volatile commodity could finance such a foolhardy venture.
It is not a case of being satisfied with the Status Quo it is a case of being safer with the Status Quo because if you vote yes you will not get "Whatever you want" because with "What your proposing" you will only go "Down down" so lets not start "Burning bridges" as independence will be like "Ice in the sun" so if we want "Marguerita time" and don't want to "Break the rules" and want to carry on living on the "Wild side of life" while "Rocking all over the world" vote NO.
Gordon, with all due respect your assertion that an Oil Fund set up in an independent Scotland would have to be funded by higher taxes or higher borrowing is deeply flawed. You seem to think that Scotland would have to follow the reckless spending patterns of the UK government's – namely, borrow, borrow more and keep on borrowing without EVER thinking of getting OUT of debt, or at least putting the brakes on reckless spending. So, why would we?
The UK government does not have the sense, or the decency to spend much less than that on fixing what they already have – train service, particularly in England is a shambles >late trains, overcrowding, vastly inflated fares, and standing-room only both legs of the journey for many long distance commuters And that is only one example of the shambles in Westminster. Another is the 'mistake' made when it was recently discovered that there had been a staggering £10bn error in calculating the cost of decommissioning ageing Nuclear Power Stations. The list goes on. And on.
If you think that Alex Salmond should not 'write' the Scottish Constitution, I agree with you, but in saying that, it should not be written by politicians of any persuasion.
I honestly believe that such an important document should be written by a legal team all of whom would be qualified in such matters. Perhaps referencing the constitutions of similar democratic countries to ours, and where necessary deleting or adding clauses that would suit Scotland and it's people.
Costly? Yes but an iron-clad document, literally 'carved in stone' that has clauses to hold current and governments to account along with all of the other safeguards could be nothing but a good thing. And would be worth every penny .Do you agree?
An independent Scotland's' Oil Fund should be, and I am sure WILL be funded directly from the tax revenue from oil and gas – and that revenue invested prudently, but before that is invested wisely set aside in two pots (as described in the White Paper) one pot for future state pensions to suit our aging population and the other pot for a cash reserve to be built up over the decades. – perhaps for green energy projects when the oils eventually dries up?
Your reference to Norway's Oil Fund seems rather dismissive if I might say – but tell me Gordon: Would you rather have a huge oil fund invested (potentially risky as you assert) or have NO oil fund at all and your country currently in debt owing more than £1.3BN (set to rise to £1.8 TRILLION by 2017 and no way of paying off that debt?
Do the math Gordon – use Math 101 as your template it works!
Back to the SNP's majority in the Scottish Parliament – the numbers you equate actually reinforce my stance on these matters – Scots do not have the government that they voted for in Westminster either – that is just one of the reasons why we are having an independence referendum.
So at this point your 'numbers' or my 'numbers' don't matter a jot.
Charlie, my assertions are based on facts not wishes, read this report which came out yesterday and then tell me an Independent Scotland will not need to borrow.
The Institute of Fiscal Studies has warned that Alex Salmond's government has exaggerated the size of Scotland's latest North Sea oil revenues, leaving a deeper shortfall in tax income.
The IFS said the Scottish government's forecasts of oil revenues were "too optimistic" for the last two financial years, and were also double the size of the oil taxes predicted for the first year of independence by the Office for Budget Responsibility.
In a new analysis on the current state of the UK economy, the IFS said that the OBR had downgraded Scotland's oil revenues in 2016/17 to £3.3bn, leaving an independent Scotland having to borrow the equivalent of 3.6% of its GDP that year.
That prediction was half the size of the oil revenues of £6.8bn-£7.9bn forecast for 2016/17 by the Scottish government's white paper on independence in November – a disparity that highlighted Scotland's vulnerability to fluctuating oil revenues, the IFS said.
The IFS added that other forecasters were more optimistic, and cautioned that neither the Scottish government nor the OBR could be sure how much North Sea oil would raise in 2016.
"What is clear is that fiscal decisions in an independent Scotland would need to be taken in the context of considerable uncertainty over this very important part of the budget – and in the context of long-term pressures both on these revenues and arising from an ageing population," the IFS warned.
Charlie you like Salmond seem to have Delusions of oil grandeur. The SNP's main economic platform is that Scotland should own the revenue from North Sea oil and gas, making it a petro-dollar paradise equivalent to Norway. Although they have similar populations (5.05 million for Norway, 5.3 million for Scotland), the hydrocarbon revenues are massively different. Norway's government gathered $40 billion in 2013 (according to the BBC) while the UK made $10.8 billion (according to the Financial Times), a fall of 40 per cent from 2012. Current predictions; further falls, to £3.3 billion ($5.5 billion) in 2016/17, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies. There's no amount of careful stewardship that is going to magic $5.5 billion into $40 billion, when many of the North Sea rigs are at the end of their life and production levels are falling. Once the oil runs out, what does Scotland have that will sustain its fabulously wealthy future? It has whisky, but even with this contribution of £3 billion ($4.8 billion) across the economy, as estimated by the Scotch Whisky Association, it's small beer. The ability to attract major industries, manufacturing, IT or finance to the country would be diminished by independence.
Any one of you who listens to Alistair Carmichael, will see Shetland in ruins, the one and only bit of nonsense he has to offered is to vote NO in September, when the answer is a YES vote, Westminster has robbed Scotland of its share of the income from North sea oil for the last forty years, yet Scotland can still stand high and proud of what it has achieved, Scotland must get away from the Westminster.
What does Scotland get from Westminster? (Answer Nothing) from lets say the North Sea, Atlantic All of the North Sea Taxes end up in the Treasurery and allows Westminster to hand out to these Countries who are blowing one another heads off they call it charity.
Charlie, could you qualify this statement for me please? Why would this ability be diminished?
Because of the unequivocal uncertainty that comes with independence; the same reason big name companies are jumping ship now or making plans to jump ship if we have a yes vote.
Reading the assertions and counter-assertions in this thread concerning the yet-to-be independent Scottish economy, I can't help feeling that the point is being missed. Whether the economy is strong, weak or somewhere in the middle after independence is not the point. The point is that the Scottish people will have full control over their own economy following a yes vote. In other words, you either believe that Scotland should be independent or you don't. Arguments about the economy are rarely objective and simply back up the proponent's already-decided position.
We should learn a lesson from it – common sense rhetoric, balanced views and cold hard facts should be the order of the day! Not which politician (heaven forgive!) should get our vote .
For all those eligible to vote, please use that vote after searching your heart and using your head!
Gordon Harmer…re your reply to my post. You seem to paint a very bleak future for the North Sea Oil Industry?
Strange that you would feel that way, after your 'hero' Cameron's visit to Aberdeen 2 weeks ago announcing plans to BOOST oil production so that it would produce an EXTRA £200bn in tax revenue over the next 20 years.
Oh yes he also said that only the UK with it's 'Very Deep Pockets' could afford to support this expansion. More important though is what he did NOT say – that those same 'DEEP POCKETS' are EMPTY – all he would do is once again borrow, borrow and borrow again to finance this project, while at the same time, effectively wiping out the benefit of that EXTRA £200bn revenue stream because the borrowed money would be added to the eye-watering and rapidly growing National Debt which is currently £1.3 TRILLION.
Start-up costs for any newly independent Nation – we all realise that – it will not be easy, there will be hurdles, there will be problems. But they will be OUR problems – and yes there will be OUR solutions hopefully, our Independent Scotland Governments will learn the harsh lessons of how NOT to squander and waste, OUR money as has been done in the UK for far too many years.
Regardless Scotland will borrow (and INVEST) money prudently – and that revenue from North Sea Oil, no matter how small or large it is, will go a lot further in a country of 5.3 million people as it would in the present UK's 63 million people. Pure Logic!
Tell me Gordon, if there is such a bleak future ahead for Scotland, and oil revenue will dry up, why are the better-together people trying to keep the oil, the 'poor scrounging' Scots?
I see that you 'cherry-picked' the easy but complicated and very important monetary issues for an independent Scotland to dwell on in your reply to my post, I like many others take a very pragmatic view on these matters. What will be, will be.
Notable by their absence in replying to my post, were your views on my comments regarding the UK national debt – what views do you have on that Gordon? Do you honestly believe that debt will not get larger and larger – or EVER be paid off?
Charlie what a parochial and somewhat bigoted view to presume that Cameron is my hero and I paint a bleak future for the North Sea oil industry. Once again you are the bearer of insults and illogical arguments that use presumption instead of facts because you have no valid facts. You have to ask yourself how Cameron would boost oil production. He most certainly would not go and turn on a big tap that has been turned off; what he could and more than likely would do is to give the oil companies bigger tax breaks. This as I have tried to explain to you if emulated in an independent Scotland would mean lower oil revenue, higher taxes and greater borrowing for a new country; not a great start or something to look forward to.
Scotland could continue to use the pound unilaterally and unofficially, but this would not be a currency union. For a country as developed as Scotland, with a large banking sector, this is hardly a serious option. A Scottish government under these circumstances would have no control whatsoever over monetary policy. To become independent only to have the status of Kosovo, Montenegro or Panama is hardly a pleasing prospect. Once again to prop up the unofficial use of the pound we would suffer higher taxation and interest rates. So something of a vacuous statement to say the least.
Charlie you have twice said the UK will never pay of its debt you also said "It would take 103 YEARS to pay off this debt just using ALL of the Oil Revenue from the North Sea until the year 2117". What has happened here has your chrystal ball fogged over? You also said "Do the math Gordon – use Math 101 as your template it works!" so which is it chrystal ball or math 101?
Charlie here is the view of the North Sea oil industries future from an expert.
Investment in North Sea oil and gas will fall away sharply unless urgent action is taken to address serious underlying problems in the sector, a Government-commissioned review has found.
Former oil industry boss Sir Ian Wood warned there could be a 50% cut in investment over the second half of the decade unless further new commercial fields are discovered.
While he estimated that a further 12 to 24 billion barrels of oil could still be extracted from the North Sea over the coming decades, he said the existing regulatory framework needed to be overhauled in order to maximise the economic benefit.
He reaffirmed his recommendation in his interim report last November for the creation of a new arm's length body with a remit to maximise collaboration in exploration, development and production across the industry.
Sir Ian said that it should be possible to deliver at least three to four billion more barrels over the next 20 years – worth around £200 billion to the UK economy.
However the the existing light-touch regulatory framework was no longer suitable for an environment where there were now more than 300 fields – many of them marginal – competing for the use of an ageing infrastructure.
"There is a huge prize at stake, and I believe government must implement the key recommendations, including the creation of a new regulator, as quickly as possible," Sir Ian concluded.
"The case for swift implementation is made all the more pressing by the industry's expectation of at least a 50% reduction in new field investment in the latter half of this decade, unless further new commercial fields are identified.
The review said that 42 billion barrels have so far been extracted from the North Sea while investment in the sector reached a record high last year of more than £14 billion.
However it found there were "serious underlying problems" with a 38% fall in production between 2010 and 2013 – the equivalent of around 500 million barrels.
Of that, 360 million was due to a rapid fall in production efficiency – which cost the Treasury £6 billion in lower tax receipts – while a sharp decline in exploration had led to the equivalent of less than 150 million barrels being discovered over the past two years.
Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey, who commissioned the review, said he fully accepted the findings and would begin implementing its recommendations immediately.
"The UK Government already supports Scottish energy projects worth hundreds of millions of pounds each year, and our large tax and consumer base will ensure that the potential £200 billion benefit Sir Ian Wood has identified can be realised," he said.
Scottish Finance Secretary John Swinney backed the call for a new industry regulator, and said Aberdeen was "the only conceivable location" for such a body to be based.
"Stability and predictability are essential if we are to realise the North Sea's full potential" not something independence can offer let alone guarantee.
and the oil money will go a lot further among 23000 people than 5.3 million people, if we are basing independence on that then I guess thats trumps.
Robert, generally your comments are of a high standard even if I don't agree with them, but this one hits an all time low. Of course the economy is important it is the one factor which will determine how much pension we will receive. how much interest we will pay on mortgages and loans, how much interest we will earn on savings. Weather businesses will survive and invest in the future, weather new businesses will come to Scotland and weather established businesses will stay.
The Scottish people will not have control over their own economy, what ever government is in power will. The only difference is that government will be in Edinburgh and not London and centralisation will move a few hundred miles north. You and I will have no more say in the governance of Scotland than we do now; just imagine if Salmond in his haste to negotiate a deal in the very short 18 months he has given him self is landed with a bum deal. Who will be in power at the next election? More than likely a Labour government and we will go right back to 1997 for 13 more years of boom and bust and then Scotland and the rest of the UK will have £1.3 trillion of debt each.


text:
Semaschko ist der Familienname folgender Personen:

 Walentin Wladisawowitsch Semaschko (1893–1982), sowjetischer Generalmajor

Semaschko steht für:
 Semaschko (Wyborg), Dorf im Rajon Wyborg, Oblast Leningrad, Russland
 Nunatak Semaschko im Königin-Maud-Land. Antarktika, siehe Semashkoknausen

Siehe auch:
 Siemaszko

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Q: How can I summarize this Python code in one line? I have Python code in multiple lines. I want to summarize in one line without ';' and 'exec function'
input_string = str(input())
array = []
for i in range(len(input_string)):
    if (ord(input_string[i]) - 97) % 2 == 0:
        array.append(input_string[i])
    else:
        array.append(input_string[i].upper())
array.sort(reverse=True)
answer = ' '.join(array)
print(answer)

A: Well, here is the two lines solution:
array = [i if (ord(i) - 97) % 2 == 0 else i.upper()
            for i in str(input())]
print(" ".join(sorted(array, reverse=True)))

Or as you said:
print(" ".join(sorted([i if (ord(i) - 97) % 2 == 0 else i.upper() for i in str(input())], reverse=True)))

A: You don't have to subtract 97 before applying mod 2 in the condition since it will merely invert the result and applying upper on characters below 97 will not change them.
so this should do the trick:
' '.join(sorted(c if ord(c)%2 else c.upper() for c in input_string))[::-1]

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
The 1929 Tamworth by-election was held on 2 December 1929.  The by-election was held due to the resignation of the incumbent Conservative MP, Sir Edward Iliffe.  It was won by the Conservative candidate Arthur Steel-Maitland.

Background

Sir Edward Iliffe had been MP for Tamworth since 1923. In the general elections of both 1923 and 1924 Iliffe had been returned unopposed. In the general election a few months earlier he had been challenged by Labour candidate George Horwill, but had been easily re-elected, with Horwill polling only 14,402 votes against Iliffe's total of 29,807.

Horwill, an ex-railway clerk who held a BSc degree from the University of London, was again the Labour candidate in the by-election. The new Conservative candidate was Arthur Steel-Maitland, a former cabinet minister who had been a member of parliament from 1910, but who had lost narrowly lost his Birmingham Erdington seat at the recent general election.

Result

Aftermath

At the next election Steel-Maitland substantially increased his majority to over 34,000 votes.

References

Tamworth by-election
Tamworth by-election
Tamworth by-election
By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in Staffordshire constituencies
20th century in Staffordshire
Politics of Tamworth, Staffordshire


text:
Darkness, Imprisoning Me: Netflix's Daredevil Is The Best Superhero Show You've Ever Seen
By TK Burton | TV | April 13, 2015 |
Note: This covers only the first six episodes. Please, no spoilers in the comments.
There was a moment when I was watching The Dark Knight for the first time when I thought, "This is it. This is the Batman and Joker I've waited for. It's not perfect, but it's so close that it may as well be." That's the feeling I got by the end of the first episode of Netflix's new Daredevil, a television series based on the Marvel comic book character of the same name.
Forget the 2003 film adaptation. Scrub it from your mind. Pretend that Affleck never donned the red tights. This is the Daredevil you've been waiting for. Matt Murdock, the rambunctious son of Battlin' Jack Murdock, a tomato can of a boxer who takes a beating far better than he gives one, is blinded in a chemical accident. That curse came with a gift — all of his other senses are heightened, to the point where he can hear and smell and feel things well beyond normal human capabilities. He grows up to become a down-on-his luck attorney who by night becomes a vigilante, seeking to strike back at the criminal element that is taking over Hell's Kitchen, the part of New York City that he calls home.
That's the origin, in very broad strokes, and the show does a terrific job of starting us at the beginning of this tale without being too heavy-handed with the exposition. The chemical accident is a simple, short, but well-executed flashback to open the series, and then we're in the present, with Murdock (Charlie Cox) starting his own law firm with his friend and partner Foggy Nelson (Eldin Henson). Their first case involves a terrified young woman who would go on to become a larger part of their lives, Karen Paige (Deborah Ann Woll), and eventually bring Murdock to clashing with a mysterious, terrifying crime lord (Vincent D'Onofrio).
I'm not going to talk too much about the show itself, because its worth wading into with as little information as possible. Instead, let's just talk about how many things it does right. Because the show, created by Drew Goddard, does so many things right. It nails the tone of the comic, making Murdock a charismatic, dedicated, but also clever and witty character. At the same time, there's a darkness in him, a dedication to eradicating the criminal element that borders on obsessive. He's no Batman. There's no tech, no Batcave. Murdock operates out of a crummy apartment, works at a battered-looking office, and uses no weapons (at the beginning, at least) except his own body. He doesn't have any body armor. He just has a black suit, a mask, some rather unusual sensory abilities, and his own willpower.
There are numerous facets of the show that make it so intriguing. The stories are all intertwined, with various criminal factions vying for power, and that struggle is tangled and brutal. The cases that Nelson and Murdock take are labyrinthine in their complexity and the stories behind them are deep and nuanced. The villains are rarely stock characters, but instead as interesting as they are often unnerving (as of yet - six episodes in - there are no superpowered villains). All of this is because the show's writing is fantastic — colorful, mature, with uncommon depth not just for a superhero show, but for any show.
It's helped by the cast, which is uniformly excellent. Cox crushes as Murdock, driven and determined, even as he's getting his ass handed to him on a nightly basis. And he does — Murdock (taking a page from Arrow, so far he has no moniker, known thus far only as "the man in black") fights hard and fights well, but lives his life battered and bruised, often fighting with little to no gas left in the tank. This translates itself into not just a world-weariness, but also a soulful kind of loneliness, even in the presence of his friends. He's in constant pain, and must always hide that pain as much as he hides his nighttime activities.
The supporting cast is great, and the chemistry and camaraderie between Murdock, Nelson, and Paige is utterly delightful. Their moments of seriousness are solemn and filled with concern for each other, and the moments of levity are warm and genuine. The rest of the support — Rosario Dawson as Claire, a nurse that Murdock encounters who helps patch him up when needed, Vondie Curtis Hall as the dogged reporter Ben Urich, Toby Leonard Moore as Wesley, the right hand of D'Onofrio's character, and of course, D'Onofrio himself — are all wonderful in their own right, but more importantly, each one has surprising depth to their character, with human, relatable histories and backstories. The characters are fleshed out to a surprising degree given how little time we've spent with them, and it bodes well for the future.
One of the highlights is, of course, the fight choreography. Daredevil does fascinating things with light and darkness, playing with them throughout each scene as if they are characters all of their own. This plays into the combat, as well, often rendering it murky and shadowy, but never so much that it obscures what is happening. That results in an atmosphere that is dark and unpredictable, and the fights are so fast and savage that it all ties together beautifully. The choreography itself is breathless, brutal, and gripping. It's well beyond anything else I've seen on television, and it makes it terrifyingly compelling. The highlight comes at the end of episode two, when Murdock must brawl through a tight, dimly lit hallway crawling with Russian thugs. He's already running on empty, battered and bloody and slowed down. He uses the tight quarters to his advantage, and the entire scene, a mere three and a half minutes, is tense and grueling to watch, but goddamn if it isn't impeccably shot — and all in a single, visceral take at that.
Daredevil is as close to perfect as it could probably be, and I say that as a vociferous fan of the comic book. The characters are all solid reflections of their comic book counterparts, and it captures the mood of writers like Bendis, Miller, and Brubaker. But it also has its own rhythm and flow, a kind of moody intensity that's broken up by moments of genuine warmth between its characters — both the good ones and the bad. Every element — the criminals, the cops, the lawyers, the media, even Murdock's struggle with his Catholic guilt — is explored with at least some degree of detail, while mostly avoiding lazy exposition. It uses a number of clever elements to tell its stories — a prime example being its depiction of the neighborhood it takes place in. Hell's Kitchen isn't the rough spot it once was, so the show's conceit is that it's backslid in the wake of the alien invasion from The Avengers, thus explaining the rapidly, cancerous growth of criminality. It's smart, dark, grim, fun, and it's just damn good television.
Check back in a few days for Part Two, where we'll talk about the final half of the series and dive into the overall stories a bit more deeply.
Apparently Foggy from Marvel's Daredevil was in EVERY 90's movie.
Posted by Pajiba on Tuesday, April 14, 2015
Pink Shuts Down Fat Shamers Like a Damn Badass
What the Hell Happened on this Week's 'The Good Wife'?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Ben Duoc tunnels is about 20km farther away than popular-Bến-Đình area and attracts fewer foreign tourists. There is also a massive temple in memory of Vietnamese killed at Củ Chi, it is, at present, the largest war memorial in Việt Nam. If you are looking for an authentic experience to a less touristy site in a small budget, this package is a perfect choice for you.
Your guide and driver will pick you up at your hotel and after leaving Ho Chi Minh City, we drive about 1,5 hours through the pleasant countryside before arriving at Bến Dược tunnels, Cu Chi. We may stop along the way for refreshments and toilet.
Option 1: Drop you back to the pick-up point.
Option 2: We can take you to a local restaurant in the city center, where you can enjoy a complimentary Vietnamese three-course lunch, and then make your own leisurely way back to your place.
Lunch option is only applied for morning tour.
Please inform your choice to our tour-guide in advance.
Option 1 will apply to all tour dates EXCEPT the period from February 1-10, 2019.
Please note that timing and itinerary are subject to change without notice. However, we will do everything we reasonably can to make sure everything goes according to plan.


Melur and Thyme is the latest offering from Suria KLCC. Opened less than a month ago, this place is gradually making its mark of Asian and Western offerings.
Melur and Thyme is located opposite Harrods Cafe (the new one, at Concourse level). But if you're still not sure where it is, it's at the Isetan / Ralph Lauren boutique.
The cozy interior. Outdoor seatings are also available.
Just like the name, there are Asian and Western menu available. The food ranges from Melur Tapas (Asian) or Thyme Tapas (Western). As for mains, it ranges from curry mee, baked fish to grilled chicken herb.
My friend recommended the Coconut Jelly. Not really a fan of Coconut, I really liked this jelly though. Very refreshing especially after a hot day.
This is the chocolate pecan pie. The base is as awesome as the chocolate.
The chocolate cheese cake is also another awesome dessert. The chocolate is really rich.
Lastly, the peanut butter cake. Compared to the previous two, I'll give this as "OK". Still nice but I prefer the previous two combo!


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Q: Modify python string with contain method I want it to find the following file in mylist: "Microsoft Word 105Prt" (this file name could vary but will always have "Word" in it.
for myfile in filelist:
    if myfile.contains("Word"):
        print myfile

How can I modify this to work in python 2.7.5 since contains doesn't work.

A: You can substitute find for contains and just check for a return code of something other than -1.
for myfile in filelist:
    if myfile.find("Word")!=-1:
        print myfile

A: You can simply use the in keyword, like so:
if 'Word' in myfile:
    print myfile


CouplesList A place for Couples to Find and Meet New Couple Friends - The Most Popular Couple Friends Website CouplesList! • Your city is not listed on the site?
If you want to join or post and your city is not listed please send me a message and I'll add it. When I setup this site I added what I considered to be major cities in various states (I needed to put my Geography degree to use somehow) and I'm sure I missed a couple. If your town is 200 people or something like that just give me the next sizable city nearest to you and I'll get it added ASAP. Thanks!
admin wrote: If you want to join or post and your city is not listed please send me a message and I'll add it. When I setup this site I added what I considered to be major cities in various states (I needed to put my Geography degree to use somehow) and I'm sure I missed a couple. If your town is 200 people or something like that just give me the next sizable city nearest to you and I'll get it added ASAP. Thanks!
Hello, can you add Appleton, Wisconsin to the list? Appleton, itself, is around 73,000 people and with all of the cities connected to it, we are about 175,000 in population. I think you will get more people on here if this city was added.
This city is now added. Thanks!
Could you add Benson/Mescal/J Six/Tombstone/Bisbee Areas (Arizona)? We recently moved to Mescal, which is a Benson address, and we would really like to meet some couples who are interested in the same things we are. Thank you!
This area is now added, thanks for letting me know!
Thanks for the heads up, these areas have been added.
i live in Dubai, can my city be listed? im originally from Lebanon, id love to meet with couples here in Dubai , hopefully after u update the list i could find couples to meet. thank you!
Dubai has been added to the site under Asia and United Arab Emirates. Thanks for your interest in the site!
Hello! It'd be great if you added Delray Beach to Florida. Much appreciated!
Delray Beach is added to the site.
Thanks for letting me know, Lakeland is added.


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/Biographies
By: Edward • Essay • 1,674 Words • February 18, 2009 • 1,022 Views
Essay title: Albert Einstein
Of all the scientists to emerge from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries there is one whose name is known by almost all living people. While most of these do not understand this man's work, everyone knows that its impact on the world of science is astonishing. Yes, many have heard of Albert Einstein's General Theory of relativity, but few know about the intriguing life that led this scientist to discover what some have called, "The greatest single achievement of human thought."
Einstein was born in Ulm, Germany on March 14, 1874. Before his first birthday, his family had moved to Munich where young Albert's father, Hermann Einstein, and uncle set up a small electro-chemical business. He was fortunate to have an excellent family with which he held a strong relationship. Albert's mother, Pauline Einstein, had an intense passion for music and literature, and it was she that first introduced her son to the violin in which he found much joy and relaxation. Also, he was very close with his younger sister, Maja, and they could often be found in the lakes that were scattered about the countryside near Munich.
As a child, Einstein's sense of curiosity had already begun to stir. A favorite toy of his was his father's compass, and he often marveled at his uncle's explanations of algebra. Although young Albert was intrigued by certain mysteries of science, he was considered a slow learner. His failure to become fluent in German until the age of nine even led some teachers to believe he was disabled.
Einstein's post-basic education began at the Luitpold Gymnasium when he was ten. It was here that he first encountered the German spirit through the school's strict disciplinary policy. His disapproval of this method of teaching led to his reputation as a rebel. It was probably these differences that caused Einstein to search for knowledge at home. He began not with science, but with religion. He avidly studied the Bible seeking truth, but this religious fervor soon died down when he discovered the intrigue of science and math. To him, these seemed much more realistic than ancient stories. With this new knowledge he disliked class even more, and was eventually expelled from Luitpold Gymnasium being considered a disruptive influence.
Feeling that he could no longer deal with the German mentality, Einstein moved to Switzerland where he continued his education. At sixteen he attempted to enroll at the Federal Institute of Technology but failed the entrance exam. This forced him to study locally for one year until he finally passed the school's evaluation. The Institute allowed Einstein to meet many other students that shared his curiosity, and it was here that his studies turned mainly to Physics. He quickly learned that while physicists had generally agreed on major principals in the past, there were modern scientists who were attempting to disprove outdated theories. Since most of Einstein's teachers ignored these new ideas, he was again forced to explore on his own. In 1900 he graduated from the Institute and then achieved citizenship to Switzerland.
Einstein became a clerk at the Swiss Patent Office in 1902. This job had little to do with physics, but he was able to satiate his curiosity by figuring out how new inventions worked. The most important part of Einstein's occupation was that it allowed him enough time to pursue his own line of research. As his ideas began to develop, he published them in specialist journals. Though he was still unknown to the scientific world, he began to attract a large circle of friends and admirers. A group of students that he tutored quickly transformed into a social club that shared a love of nature, music, and of course, science. In 1903 he married Mileva Meric, a mathematician friend.
In 1905, Einstein published five separate papers in a journal, the Annals of Physics. The first was immediately acknowledged, and the University of Zurich awarded Einstein an additional degree. The other papers helped to develop modern physics and earned him the reputation of an artist. Many scientists have said that Einstein's work contained an imaginative spirit that was seen in most poetry. His work at this time dealt with molecules, and how their motion affected temperature, but he is most well known for his Special Theory of Relativity, which tackled motion and the speed of light. Perhaps the most important part of his discoveries was the equation: E= mc2.
After publishing these theories Einstein was promoted at his office. He remained at the Patents Office for another two years, but his name was becoming too big among the scientific community. In 1908, Einstein began teaching party time at the University of Berne, and the following year, at the age of thirty, he became employed full time by Zurich University. Einstein was
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Of all the scientists to emerge from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries there is one whose name is known by almost all living people.
Albert Einstein was a famous scientist, Physicist &Genius. Einstein was born in Ulm, Germany. In 1880 the Einstein family moved to Munich. In 1886
Albert Einstein Friend or Foe Albert Einstein is considered to be one of the greatest and most popular scientists of all time. Einstein was born
Einstein Plagiarist


DALLAS, December 9, 2016: When travelers check into a hotel in 2060 they can expect it to feature augmented reality, artificial intelligence, morphing beds, robotics, touchscreen everything, hyper connectivity and much more, as revealed by the Hotels.com® Hotels of the Future study.
Hotels.com celebrates 25 years of accommodation expertise this year and is looking to the future by partnering with renowned futurist Dr. James Canton of the Institute for Global Futures on the Hotels.com Hotels of the Future study. It uncovers how the travel and hotel experience will be different in a year, 25 years and as far ahead as 2060.
The way travelers choose a destination, book a trip, travel to the location and enjoy the in-stay experience will be dramatically different in the future. Hotels.com is already one of the technology leaders in the travel industry but these new forecasts see super-tech meet super-science.
These autonomous robots can be designed online before arrival and can be programmed with special talents, skills, languages and information to help make the hotel stay exceptional. They will do everything from greeting guests at the airport, to offering gourmet food service, room makeup, companionship, education, entertainment, business advice and concierge services.
This is the next generation of made to order. Hotels which self-assemble and morph from one design to another based on consumer's votes. These crowdsourced hotels will use nanotechnology and machines that can self-assemble environments, buildings or even entire physical worlds (the Real Jurassic Park?). This could all be possible in the next 20 years.
Taking luggage on holiday will be a thing of the past. 3D Printers will transform the travel experience and specifically the in room experience. 3D Makers will generate in real time items guests desire, such as a new pair of shoes, clothes, pharmaceuticals, even computers or wearable phones. 3D shopping will be available, where consumers can download retail goods from the cloud that they want to design on demand. This will become the standard in every hotel room.
Take a tour of the hotel room of the future here.
If you can't wait until 2060 to book a hotel with all these features, Hotels.com has hundreds of thousands of properties available to book right now. Check out the very best Loved by Guests hotels around the world, as inspiration for your next trip. Click here.
Dr. James Canton is available for interview on request.
Hotels.com L.P. operates Hotels.com, a leading online accommodation booking website with properties ranging from international chains and all-inclusive resorts to local favorites and bed & breakfasts, together with all the information needed to book the perfect stay. Special apps for mobile phones and tablets can also be downloaded enabling customers to book on the go with access to 20,000 last minute deals.


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Sun, Feb 14 | Sparrow Live
A Lovely Musical Affair with Pizzicanto
Join Pizzicanto for a Valentine's Day concert of songs about love in all its forms. Let this Boston-based soprano-cello duo open their hearts and home to you with musings on love of one another, love of life, love of the Earth, and love of culture set to music by masters of the past and present.
Feb 14, 2:00 PM EST – Feb 15, 2:00 PM EST
Sparrow Live
Live stream - one per device
+$3.92 Tax & Fees
Use of this service is subject to the Terms of Usage, Privacy Policy, and Cookie Policy of Sparrow Live. All rights reserved. © 2021


Two University of South Wales (USW) academics are among seven new research fellows who are joining the National Assembly as part of a programme of shared knowledge between higher education institutions and the Welsh parliament.
It's the first time a fellow from USW has been included on the list.
Dr Roiyah Saltus and Dr Filippos Proedrou have joined the other fellows who have been selected for the Assembly's Academic Fellowship Scheme through a competitive application process.
This builds on a successful pilot scheme with six academic fellows that operated in 2017 and 2018. These fellows produced material on a wide range of policy areas that fed directly into the work of the Assembly and its committees, including dementia policy, Bovine TB, and the implications of Brexit for Environmental Law.
The new programme is designed to increase the Assembly's knowledge and understanding in key policy areas, with academics sharing their expertise and carrying out new research to enable Assembly Members to develop policy and practice for the benefit of the people of Wales.
Dr Saltus (left) will focus on what interventions to address loneliness could work for older migrant and minority ethnic people in Wales, while Dr Proedrou is addressing the climate policy gap in Wales by exploring new evidence, best practices and novel policies in support of the implementation of strict carbon budgets.
Fellowship placements are part-time for up to six months at a time, with academics working alongside the National Assembly's expert Research Service which support Assembly Members and committees at the Senedd.
"Loneliness-reducing and health-improving interventions that attend to the societal context in which older people live has long been advocated by older people's organisations, and was the subject of an Assembly Committee Inquiry (2017) and, more recently, a Consultation on tackling loneliness and social isolation in Wales," Dr Saltus said.
"We need to examine how loneliness is understood and operationalised, what interventions to address loneliness could work for Wales's migrant and minority ethnic older people, and what cross-fertilisation of underlying approaches, processes and conditions also effectively address loneliness for other population groups.
"The evidence gathered is part of, and will contribute to, the National Assembly's wider focus on wellbeing, improved public health, and community cohesion – with a more specific (but not exclusive) need to add value to both the development of the Welsh Government's loneliness strategy and its subsequent rolling-out.
Dr Proedrou said: "The time is crucial for long overdue climate action to retain our planet as a hospitable place. The Wales Future Generations Act makes it imperative that action is taken now for the future, and least represented, generations.
"The Welsh Government is about to release its Decarbonisation Plan, has designed its first two carbon budgets up to 2025, and will soon have to design carbon budgets for 2026 and beyond.
"My role is to assist the National Assembly for Wales, and in particular the Committee for Climate Change, Environment and Rural Affairs, in its scrutiny role vis-à-vis the Welsh Government.
"In doing so, what is at stake is the increase of climate ambitions and targets in line with climate science, and the design of proportionate carbon budgets.
Elin Jones AM, Llywydd of the National Assembly for Wales, said: "I welcome the seven new fellowships with universities from across Wales that will give us access to academic expertise on a wide range of important policy areas.
"It benefits the Assembly by levering in external expertise to supplement the knowledge of Members and Assembly Commission staff.
Chief Executive and Clerk to the National Assembly, Manon Antoniazzi, said: "The National Assembly Commission prides itself on delivering a world class standard of service to Assembly Members including rigorous and detailed research.


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Library Voices Share "Space Age" And Message
Library Voices offer up a small announcement for the end of 2014 and a live video performance of "Space Age" from their For John EP.
Hello world (or sliver thereof),
We're also proud to share a new live video for Space Age. No cranes or drones. No cocksure crowd shots. Just a little bit of rock n' roll. The clip was filmed last June at our record release show. Our apologies if we didn't make it to your town in support of the EP. You'd think by now they would have invented some sort of affordable virtual reality solution that would allow us to play everywhere all at once. Until then, this will have to do. If you are one of the four people who saw us play last time we were in Cleveland, we are hoping this will tide you over until we make it back there…
Thanks to everyone for the support over the last year. Recording and performing the For John EP has been more than a breath of fresh air for the band. It provided us with some much needed oxygen. It was the literal mouth to mouth that saved our band and we are excited for what lies ahead.
See you on the other side.
Library Voices.
Library Voices release video for "Oh Donna"
'Lovish" by Library Voices
Library Voices drop second single "Zzyzx"
Library Voices announce album release shows


Mick Dundee uproots himself from the rural Australian outback to accompany his partner, Sue Charlton, a journalist, to bustling, trendy Los Angeles. Sue has been assigned to run the LA bureau of her father's newspaper and investigate a major story. When Mick accidentally gets caught up in her work, the stage is set for an extended series of comic jibes that poke fun at the Southern California lifestyle from the ultimate outsider's point of view.


text:
Gen Z is generation that shops most for themselves during holidays
Gen Z is more likely than other generations to spend the most on themselves during the holidays
Ruobing Su,
It's no secret that Gen Z, millennials, Gen X, and boomers have different shopping preferences.
But who exactly will the members of these different age brackets be spending the most on when they hit the stores this holiday season?
To find out, Business Insider teamed with global technology company Morning Consult to conduct a nationwide survey of 2,300 American adults.
Aside from Gen Z — a group that includes actual teens — most of the respondents seemed focused on buying things for their children.
Gen Z was also the most likely to spend the most on themselves this holiday season.
Sign up for Business Insider's retail newsletter, The Drive-Thru.
Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Shoppers of all ages will be hitting the stores this holiday season, but there's a generational gap when it comes to the content of their to-do lists: namely, who they have in mind while they're filling their carts.
In order to glean insights on holiday shopping season this year, Business Insider partnered with global technology company Morning Consult to survey over 2,300 American adults about their retail preferences. Of those survey participants, 8% belonged to Gen Z, 28% were millennials, 26% were a part of Gen X, and 33% were boomers.
Business Insider and Morning Consult asked each respondent who they planned on shopping for the most this holiday season, and the numbers we gathered give some clear insights into concerns, preferences, and the general life stage of each large demographic bracket.
Among all generations, with the unsurprising exception of Gen Z, the largest group of shoppers plan to spend the most on stuff for their kids this holiday season. Merchandise-wise, Gen X appeared to be the most doting parents, with 52% saying they planned to spend the most on their children. Boomers and millennials trailed a bit behind, at 42.7% and 42.5% respectively.
Only 9.6% of Gen Z respondents planned spend the most on their kids. Given that the age bracket features people between the ages of 18 and 22, it's likely that a large chunk of those respondents simply haven't started a family just yet.
On the flip side, nearly a quarter of Gen Zers participating in the survey said they'd spend the most on their parents. Just 12% of millennials said the same thing, while only 6% of Gen X said they'd be shopping most for mom and dad. When it comes to the boomers, people aged between 55 and 73, the low percentage of 1.8% likely reflects the sad reality that many of their parents simply aren't around anymore.
Gen Z also appears to be the generation with the best lock on the "treat yourself" mentality. This year, 21.9% of Gen Z participants plan to splurge the most for themselves during the holiday shopping season. Of our respondents, a total of 6.4% of Gen X, 5.9% of millennials, and 5.1% of boomers will follow suit for some much-needed retail therapy.
who shop for
Ruobing Su/Business Insider
Boomers did appear to be the most romantic generation when it comes to marital wooing, with 19.1% of respondents saying that they planned to shop the most for their spouse. Millennials and members of Gen X followed closely behind at 16.6% and 15%, respectively.
Only 7.5% of Gen Z participants said they'd be looking to buy things for their significant other, another clear sign that much of the generation hasn't reached that life stage yet. Instead, they'll be spending that money on their siblings, with 15.1% of participants asying they'd be spending the most on their brothers and sisters. When it comes to sibling groups, 5.6% of millennials will keep them on top of mind this holiday shopping season, along with 3.4% of Gen X, and 4.7% of boomers.
Out of everyone, cousins and coworkers seem to be getting the short shrift from all the generations.
A total of 1.4% of Gen Z respondents left room for their cousins on top of their shopping lists. That's more than the rest of the generations combined, as only 0.3% and 0.5% of millennials and boomers agreed. Gen X is presumably saving its gifts for the family reunion.
No Gen Z or millennial respondents said they planned to shop for their colleagues, while only 0.2% of Gen X and 0.1% of boomers saying they planned on playing office Santa.
Mark Makela/Reuters
It's no secret that Gen Z, millennials, Gen X, and boomers have different shopping preferences.
Sign up for Business Insider's retail newsletter, The Drive-Thru.
Shoppers of all ages will be hitting the stores this holiday season, but there's a generational gap when it comes to the content of their to-do lists: namely, who they have in mind while they're filling their carts.
Only 9.6% of Gen Z respondents planned spend the most on their kids. Given that the age bracket features people between the ages of 18 and 22, it's likely that a large chunk of those respondents simply haven't started a family just yet.
On the flip side, nearly a quarter of Gen Zers participating in the survey said they'd spend the most on their parents. Just 12% of millennials said the same thing, while only 6% of Gen X said they'd be shopping most for mom and dad. When it comes to the boomers, people aged between 55 and 73, the low percentage of 1.8% likely reflects the sad reality that many of their parents simply aren't around anymore.
Gen Z also appears to be the generation with the best lock on the "treat yourself" mentality. This year, 21.9% of Gen Z participants plan to splurge the most for themselves during the holiday shopping season. Of our respondents, a total of 6.4% of Gen X, 5.9% of millennials, and 5.1% of boomers will follow suit for some much-needed retail therapy.
Only 7.5% of Gen Z participants said they'd be looking to buy things for their significant other, another clear sign that much of the generation hasn't reached that life stage yet. Instead, they'll be spending that money on their siblings, with 15.1% of participants asying they'd be spending the most on their brothers and sisters. When it comes to sibling groups, 5.6% of millennials will keep them on top of mind this holiday shopping season, along with 3.4% of Gen X, and 4.7% of boomers.
A total of 1.4% of Gen Z respondents left room for their cousins on top of their shopping lists. That's more than the rest of the generations combined, as only 0.3% and 0.5% of millennials and boomers agreed. Gen X is presumably saving its gifts for the family reunion.


What are the key phases of website development? Knowing these will help to ensure your website represents your company's value, it's infrastructure supports your business goals, and it's designed to attract new clients. Even if you aren't building a website yourself, it helps to understand the phases of website development when working with a designer or developer. We've talked about some important questions to ask when interviewing a website designer and developer. Along with an initial time and cost estimate, potential candidates should provide you with an overview of their process for website development. This article will help you understand the overall process and what to expect, so you can make a truly great site that represents your business. Note that not all developers will follow these phases to the "T." Each step really depends on the size and functionality of the website.
The first phase of an exemplary website is the Information Gathering or Analysis phase. This is when the website developer asks you important questions about what you want to see in your website. What your goals and objectives are.
What other sites you like and think are successful in your industry.
What content sections you need, for example, do you need a services overview page or will each service be available in the main navigation.
Smashing Magazine has several sample website development questionnaires, also known as a web design brief or creative brief. The developer takes this information and a web design brief or creative brief. This document is meant to briefly and clearly outline the key elements of your website. Throughout the development process, you'll be referring back to make sure all important items are addressed.
Every good product, whether a website or an exhibit at a museum, starts with a good plan. Now that your developer has the necessary information from the Information Gathering Phase, they can put together a strategy for creating your website. The work is in their hands now! The developer may conduct competitive research during this phase, defining user personas, usage scenarios, usage goals, and performs task analysis. At the end of the planning phase, the developer should review their findings with you. They may also give you a summary of their Project Plan and an initial Site Map. A site map is an overview of all the main topics or pages and subtopics to be included in your site, and potentially how they connect.
In this website development phase, the User Experience and overall aesthetics — imagery, colors, and fonts — is created in order to achieve the website's tone. If it didn't happen in the previous phase, now they will develop a site map. The site architecture is devised. Developing the information architecture (IA) and the user interface, navigational models and wireframes are created to provide a visual guide to the underlying functionality of the website. These can be helpful for you to review to ensure your business objectives are being met. Content development can also begin in this phase. Now is a good time to compile source content; write, copy, edit and fact check unique content. SEO (e.g., keywords assigned to content pillars, internal linking structure) planning can begin now or in the next phase. At the end of phase three, you'll review the visual design, wire frames, and site map. Once these elements are approved, it is time to move on to the next phase… website development.
In the development phase, the website truly takes on shape and form. Before coding starts, especially if you have an existing website, your developer should prepare a safe place where your new site is hidden from the public and search engines. This is critical especially if you're using or editing content from an existing live site. Without having the correct code (robots.txt), you run the risk of search engines indexing your site and making it public. Not only is it embarrassing, it has the potential of creating duplicate content — something that will hurt your website's SEO.
Now that you have a development sandbox to play in, you're ready for the heavy lifting phase of website development. The approved designs from the previous phase are now fleshed out and implemented. Visual designs are transformed into appropriate media and code. The site architecture is instituted. Initial content can be inserted into the site. More usability testing and quality assurance testing can begin.
As mentioned before, the website development process is iterative. This means a phase might be "completed" but everything is being continually tested, analyzed, and refined. Findings from new usability tests inform changes on the site architecture.
White Hat SEO architecture can also begin now; keyword research and analysis to define your target keywords. These keywords are then artfully (read: natural but purposeful usage) incorporated into the content. Copy may have to be tweaked to match the layout design. Final copyediting can be done. Last but not least? You guessed it, now it is time for you to review the progress and approve the designs before moving on to the next phase…the Launch!
While this is probably the simplest of the website development phases, it is crucial to get this one right. Testing, testing, testing. Although the site has already been thoroughly tested, your developer should give it one more round of testing before putting it on a live server. This includes final spell-checking, code validation, checking all links and cross-browser checking. Yes, all web browsers are not equal! We also highly recommend that you triple-check your Google Analytics code and other conversion tracking code on the site. You don't want to lose connection to these important data-gathering tools.
Tip – launch your site on a day where you can have several sets of fresh eyes to review the site when it goes live. Often we choose Friday evenings or weekend to minimize impact during peak business times. Then sit back and relax in the afterglow of your newly minted website.
Marketing – this is the time to market your site. Now it has launched, you want people to know about it. Announce the good news to your network via your social channels like LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, etc. Don't forget to highlight in your newsletter and let your customers or prospects know.
The Marketing phase is also a time to build upon your SEO foundation. Utilize your keyword research and apply it to your marketing blog to build an audience. Link building is also an excellent way to drive traffic — and business — to your brand-new website.
A website developer should hand off all assets including source files and any documentation they may have for you. If you are happy with your web developer and aren't inspired to try it yourself, you'll want to create a maintenance plan with them. This will ensure avoiding any website emergencies in the future. Even if you decide to continue the relationship, you should understand how to add content (pages, posts) to your site. Make sure the appropriate staff members have been trained and have administrative access.
Now that the mystery of website development has been solved, you can look forward to creating a website that represents your business.
Launching a website and need help with website development or design? Or, are you tweaking your landing pages to improve sales conversion?
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I appreciate with your business phases and their benefits for business growth. Thanks for sharing with us!


DOXOLOGY is . . .
Kleinig, John W. "The Mystery of Doxology." In Paul T. McCain and John R. Stephenson, Mysteria Dei. Essays in Honor of Kurt Marquart. Concordia Theological Seminary Press: Fort Wayne, 129-47.
Kleinig, John W. "The Worship of God and the Mission of God." Luther Seminary. Adelaide, Australia. 1999.
Kleinig, John W. "Witting or Unwitting Ritualists?" Lutheran Theological Journal. 22.1 (1988): 13-22.
Concordia Journal. 40.1 (2014): 292-314.
Quadrant. January – February 2016, 38-41.
Kleinig, John W. "The Biblical View of Worship." Concordia Theological Quarterly 58.4 (2002): 225-54.
Kosche, Kenneth T. "Doxology New" Commissioned by the Rev. Dr. Harald Tomesch for DOXOLOGY: The Lutheran Center for Spiritual Care and Counsel. 2013.
Senkbeil, Harold L. "Liturgy and the Life of the Church." 1991.
Kleinig, John W. "The Blood of Jesus: sermon on Matthew 26:27-28." Lutheran Theological Review 14 (2001-02): 84-88.
Senkbeil, Harold L. "Sermon Structure: gift model." DOXOLOGY Spotlight on Ministry Conference. 2010. Presentation.


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Geologists Provide Perspective on Idea of Ending War on Afghanistan in Human Historical Time Frame
2 Comments / April 12, 2021 April 12, 2021
The U.S.-led Occupation of Afghanistan may be old enough to date or marry a Congress Member, but the time that nature took to form the Grand Canyon offers a more reasonable perspective on the fantasy of ending this war in a future foreseeable and measurable by available science, many sources say.
Ever since the current war on Afghanistan began, somewhere back in the Cheneyozoic, peaceniks, weirdos, and unrelated groups such as the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan — failing to grasp even Amnesty International's understanding of the benefits of bombs to women in Afghanistan — have maintained that yes, yes, yes, yes, yes [they feign such superior frustration that this is how they talk] things will be bad when the U.S. and its NATO sidekicks leave, but the longer it takes for that departure to come about, the worse things will be. This has seemed a superficially correct prediction ever since one heard about it in grammar school, but what is true in years or decades can conceivably be petty pacifist propaganda when we're dealing in millennia of eons of epochs. Some like to pretend to know the answers, but it's just that sort of arrogance that has withdrawn empires from graveyards.
The radicals propose ending the war on Afghanistan and claim ludicrously that it is the longest war in U.S. history — a claim that depends on Native Americans not being real people and the wars on them not being real wars. Thus is the racism of ending the war on Afghanistan, or any of the other wars on dark-skinned places, exposed.
The value of the ongoing tradition of having each U.S. president promise to end the war on Afghanistan and then pretend to do so is doubly lost on the nitwits who would actually end it, few of them, no doubt, even considering the fact that if the thing were ended some jackass would almost immediately demand that one of the other wars be ended too — and then where would we be?
The reason that the top cause of death of U.S. troops who have been sent into Afghanistan has been suicide is almost certainly the dunderheads who are constantly crowing about how a war whose top cause of death (for the aggressors) is suicide must have something less than gloriously wrong with it. These are people who should have the Bill of Rights shoved down their throats until they begin to understand the value of our freedoms and how those freedoms are protected by bombing the snot out of people whose children will grow up to hate you. Imagine a society that would allow people to run around openly opposing sacrificing more troops so that the previous troops would not have killed themselves in vain. That's what the United States could become if the Taliban takes over!
The loonies actually want to end the war on Afghanistan prior to the Afghans negotiating peace and planning a new way forward. This will never work. Only with the U.S. and allied troops and mercenaries and contractors and consultants and hangers-on in Afghanistan will you have the Taliban constantly armed and hostile and threatening, on the one hand, and the Afghan government avoiding reality while predicting the apocalypse, on the other hand. If the occupation were to end, or credibly plan to end (which at this point means end), all sides would be obliged to nonviolently or violently figure out a path forward. As virtually no weapons of war are manufactured anywhere near Afghanistan, the level of violence is somewhat dependent on the profits of weapons dealers — which is the last situation a good American wants, but just what the pansieassliberals are probably aiming for.
Over a decade ago, some kook asked Zbigniew Brzezinski why U.S. opinion polls on continuing this war should be ignored in the name of democracy. He responded that a lot of people are weak and don't know any better, and they should be ignored. But, he urged that those supporters of war who would criticize the president if he pulled out should be feared and followed. This was exactly right. It's worth recalling Brzezinski's To-Do list provided on that occasion, so long after he had bragged about his masterly performance in sucking the USSR into a Vietnam in Afghanistan:
Deny safe haven to al Qaeda. That is THE objective. Don't build a nation.
Be sensitive to ethnic diversity while building a nation.
Do what USSR did in crushing democratic movements in places like Poland. Hire natives to fight.
We may have to put in more troops. Control cities and roads. Undertake counterinsurgency.
Pursue accommodations with Taliban and Talibanlike formations.
Keep economic assistance flowing rather than abandoning Afghanistan as we did after the counterinsurgency against the USSR. Seduce the population.
Involve the Europeans in funding elimination of narcotic crops.
Be more respectful of Pakistani strategic interests in Afghanistan.
Engage China and Iran with their interests in Afghanistan.
Build a North-South pipeline to the Indian Ocean.
Rename the war The Vietghanipipelinistan Quagmire of Freedom.
OK, whoever snuck #11 in there is going to get liberated next. The first 10 were what he actually said, and the fact that not a single one of them has been accomplished really goes to show how powerful Putin has been at screwing things up.
During an early era of the Afghanistocene, back when the U.S. Congress issued reports like this, they issued a report finding the top funders of the Taliban to be the U.S. military and the drug business. If that doesn't prove what a clever and devilish opponent we're up against, I don't know what you've been smoking. This is no time to relent. In fact, the war is just beginning, geologically speaking. Sure, Biden and the Democratic Party promised to end it, but so did Trump and Obama, each of whom actually announced that he had ended it. If you can't recognize messages aimed at our adversaries, you'd better just leave the thinking to your superiors before you cease to have any sort of democracy at all.
U.S. residents are possibly the biggest impediment to democracy ever seen. They're so easily befuddled by facts. Facts like these:
The U.S. government repeatedly turned down offers to hand Bin Laden over to a third nation to be put on trial, preferring instead a war that would go on for decades, and for millennia of eons of epochs after Bin Laden's Muslim Sea burial.
There's a widespread understanding that "if the CIA had not spent over a billion dollars arming Islamist militants in Afghanistan against the Soviet Union during the height of the Cold War, empowering jihadist godfathers like Ayman al-Zawahiri and Osama bin Laden in the process, the 9/11 attacks would have almost certainly not taken place."
There were U.S. plans for war on Afghanistan that pre-dated September 11, 2001.
The predictable excuses that Bin Laden gave for his murderous crimes each involve revenge for other crimes committed by the U.S. military.
War is a crime under, among other laws, the United Nations Charter.
Al Qaeda planned September 11th in numerous nations and U.S. states that, unlike Afghanistan, the United States chose not to bomb (yet! yet! this is just starting!)
There were gross failures of the CIA and FBI leading up to 9/11, but also warnings they gave to the White House that went unheeded.
There is extensive evidence of the role played in 9/11 by Saudi Arabia, close U.S. ally, oil dealer, weapons customer, and partner in the war on Yemen.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair agreed to the future war on Iraq as long as Afghanistan was attacked first, but failed miserably to add, as he should have, which one should last longer.
The Taliban had practically eradicated opium prior to the war, but the war made opium one of the Taliban's top two sources of funding, the other being, as noted, according to an investigation by the U.S. Congress, the U.S. military.
The war on Afghanistan has killed huge numbers of people, devastated the natural environment, and left the society very vulnerable to coronavirus — and the chances of serious studies and credible statistics on all that horror would increase dramatically if anybody recklessly ended the war.
The International Criminal Court is at least pretending to be investigating (at semi-glacial speed) the overwhelming evidence of horrendous atrocities by all sides during the war on Afghanistan — a state of affairs that led Trump to sanction the ICC, which it took Biden over 2 months to undo, at which point Antony Blinken announced that there were other ways to tear the ICC down and it had better watch its back. The Rule Based Order must be defended from the courts!
Facts are dangerous enough in incompetent hands. Nobody should go about piling opinions on top of them. And yet, witness:
—Sherard Cowper-Coles, Former U.K. Special Representative To Afghanistan: "For every dead Pashtun warrior, there will be 10 pledged to revenge."
—Matthew Hoh, Former Marine Officer (Iraq), Former US Embassy Officer (Iraq and Afghanistan): "I believe it's [the escalation of the war/military action] only going to fuel the insurgency. It's only going to reinforce claims by our enemies that we are an occupying power, because we are an occupying power. And that will only fuel the insurgency. And that will only cause more people to fight us or those fighting us already to continue to fight us." — Interview with PBS on Oct 29, 2009
—Former CIA Bin Laden Unit Chief Michael Scheuer, who says the more the United States fights terrorism the more it creates terrorism.
—The CIA, which finds its own drone program "counterproductive."
—Admiral Dennis Blair, the former director of National Intelligence: While "drone attacks did help reduce the Qaeda leadership in Pakistan," he wrote, "they also increased hatred of America."
—Gen. James E. Cartwright, the former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff: "We're seeing that blowback. If you're trying to kill your way to a solution, no matter how precise you are, you're going to upset people even if they're not targeted."
—General Stanley McChrystal: "For every innocent person you kill, you create 10 new enemies."
— Lt. Col. John W. Nicholson Jr.: This commander of the war on Afghanistan blurted out his opposition to what he'd been doing on his last day of doing it.
If this sort of talk weren't disgraceful enough, reality is unrelenting, although I have been using these same quotes without bothering to update them since before Pete Buttigieg learned to bicycle. The facts keep coming:
Terrorism predictably increased from 2001 through 2014, principally as a predictable result of the war on terrorism, and despite truly noble efforts at renaming a great deal of terrorism "counter-terrorism."
Thus far, 95% of all suicide terrorist attacks are indefensible crimes conducted to encourage foreign occupiers to leave the terrorist's home country.
U.S. military bases tend to generate more wars.
What can be done? Well, I know what not to do. People who have signed this petition and nothing more have already done more to damage hopes for a truly endless and glorious war on Afghanistan than all the understandable mistakes of our beloved troops may God bless them.
Why They Hate Us
From Reston to Culpeper
2 thoughts on "Geologists Provide Perspective on Idea of Ending War on Afghanistan in Human Historical Time Frame"
Jim Glover
One big mistake nuclear or not would end endless wars. A nuclear war would end it. Survivors would be killing for food and water but that would not be War as we know it. It would be the end of life as we know it . Something to think about and nothing that hasn't been the plot of books and movies.
If endless war is a gordian knot solved only by bold action Who are the bold and Where are they? The internet of course:)
Ronald E. Staff
When I returned from Vietnam, one of my early jobs was parking lot attendant. One evening my relief turned up a half hour late. I was pissed off when Zia showed up and glad he did show up. His reversed sheepskin coat with multicolored embroidering on it's shoulders gave him away as foreign. His hometown was Kabul.
Respect, patience, honoring; all indigenous hallmarks undergirded all of his interactions as mere basic measures of civility. I learned. Our country seemed to have no attention to such issues. Too bad.