Enduring advice from legendary coaches.
Paavo Nurmi, the flinty Finnish star of the 1920s and a winner of nine Olympic gold medals, was once asked how to best approach a runner with advice.
Nurmi responded in his typical brusque manner: "If you want to say something to an athlete, say it quickly and give no alternatives. This is a game of winning and losing. It is senseless to explain and explain."
If you are training for a marathon, Gavuzzi's words of wisdom are certainly worth consideration.
Many of us attack our long runs at a pace that's slightly too fast and end up running 15 to 18 miles, when 20 to 22 conducted at a slower pace might be smarter. Sometimes it makes more sense to slow down. Some coaches suggest your long run training pace might be nearly 1 minute per mile slower than your planned marathon race pace. (That means a 3-hour marathoner might be close to 8 minutes per mile during a long training run.) Remember, for the marathon especially, training the mind to be out there for a long period of time is almost as important as training the body. And slowing down your long run pace -- but staying out on the course longer -- does just that.
As a coach, Peter Gavuzzi is most famous for training the French-Canadian star and four-time Boston Marathon champ Gerard Cote. Gavuzzi (who even used some snow-shoe and ice-skating competitions as cross-training for his runners) also took part in the infamous Bunion Derby that raced across the continent in the late 1920s. He finished second in the New York-to-Los Angeles race in 1929.
Why? Because studies show that runners produce lactic acid at a more rapid rate if they hit a hill kamikaze style. Similarly, a Springfield College study from the 1990s showed that a course featuring a number of killer hills is best attacked with more brains than bravado. Take the first few inclines at a steady, doable pace, perhaps increasing your pace near the top, then cresting the hill and carrying your momentum into a subsequent descent. Save your dig-down-deep, guns-blazing effort for the last quad-crusher on the route.
Harry Groves coached for more than 50 years, including 38 at Penn State University before his retirement in 2006. The Nittany Lions' Greg Fredericks set an American 10,000m record under Groves' tutelage in 1972.
Lydiard's advice, a more interesting way to say, "Run your own race," is pertinent to world-class and midpack runners alike. The examples among elite runners are numerous enough to warrant several large books on the subject. To choose a recent example, Ben True helped spearhead the U.S. to surprise second-place honors in the 2013 IAAF World Cross Country Championships with a sixth-place finish. The race was conducted on a six-lap layout in Poland. True was in 25th place after the first circuit and did not sneak into the top 10 until the race was more than half over. It's unlikely True would have performed as well had he insisted on sticking with the frontrunners from the get-go with a come-hell-or-high-water strategy.
If you're shooting for a PR, no matter what your level of competition, even pacing or negative splits usually produce successful races, especially at long distances like the half and full marathons. But it means restraining the demonic duo -- ego and pre-race adrenaline -- that ignites rocket-like starts but result in finish-line fizzles.
New Zealand's Arthur Lydiard (1917–2004) coached numerous Olympians, including Peter Snell, who struck Olympic gold in the 800m and 1500m in 1964, and 5,000m gold medalist (1960) Murray Halberg.
This is not just about mileage. It touches upon how runners can (admit it) get caught up in the numbers of this crazy sport of ours. And this has not gotten better with, say, the introduction of the Garmin, state-of-the-art treadmills or online training apps.
Do we freak out if one week we average 6-mile repeats at sub-6:00 pace and then, inexplicably, two weeks later average only 6:11?
Is there a hint of panic if we expected to run the first half of a marathon in 1:30 and, with warm conditions or a pesky headwind, are forced to settle for 1:33?
If we had planned on a 50-mile week, and midnight approaches on day seven, only to reveal that we've logged a mere 47, might we trudge out for a moonlit 3-mile run?
The bottom line: Don't let the numbers control you. The stopwatch, Garmin, and, yes, even the sacred training log are just tools to help your running. They should not be confused with the Dead Sea Scrolls or the U.S. Constitution. The numbers are never (or should never) be etched in stone.
Bill Bowerman (1911–1999) was the longtime coach at the University of Oregon, where he coached two dozen NCAA champions. According to running legend, he once ruined his wife's waffle iron in an attempt to make a nub-bottomed running shoe.
The vast majority of distance runners can benefit from quality workouts and, without them, it's more difficult to achieve real improvement, at least in terms of personal bests confirmed by a stopwatch.
Obviously, an ultramarathon (think Western States 100) and a highly competitive 1500m race require completely different kinds of quality. But if you're aiming to improve your 5K or marathon, then interval sessions on the track, hill repeats and tempo runs can all help you kick it up a notch. Long, slow distance has its place, of course, but with rare exceptions it is difficult to reach the next level on a daily regimen comprised solely of leisurely paced runs.
Brooks Johnson coached at Stanford University (1979–1992) and was on the U. S. Olympic Track & Field team staff four times, including head women's coach at the 1984 Games. A former sprinter in his competitive days, Johnson preached "the need for speed" to his middle- and long-distance runners.
Mark Will-Weber has coached at the high school and college levels and helped prepare Heidi Wolfsberger Peoples for the 2008 U.S. Olympic marathon trials. He compiled The Quotable Runner (Breakaway Books) in 1995.


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A Visit to the Prado, or, What I did on my Holidays
Posted by argumentativeoldgit in Art, Culture.	Tagged: El Greco, Goya, Prado, Rubens, titian, van der Weiden, velazquez, Zurbaran.	7 comments
There are, next to each other, two fridge magnets, on our fridge (as one might expect), of Rembrandt's painting "The Jewish Bride", and of Velazquez' painting "Las Meninas". And I used to say that one was the greatest painting I have seen, and the other the greatest painting I haven't. Well, I have finally remedied that. Heaven knows why it has taken so long. We finally made that trip to Madrid, and spent a day at the Prado – one day was never going to be enough, but it will have to do for now – and so, yes, I have now seen "Las Meninas" as well.
Visiting the Prado is a dizzying experience. There is far too much to take in in a single visit. After a while, one finds oneself walking past paintings one knows to be masterpieces, but feeling too saturated with what one has already seen to try to absorb anything more. And what about all those other paintings that deserve the time I did not have, and the attention that had already drained away? Well, another visit, perhaps, some other time. Maybe a longer stay in Madrid, and more than a mere day. My mind these days is too small to absorb too many things within so short a space of time. (This, incidentally, applies to my reading also, but let us not get side-tracked.)
Not that I responded to everything. I can make nothing at all of Hieronymus Bosch for instance, and "The Garden of Earthly Delights", so often cited as one of the gallery's highlights, left me cold. And what is one to make of Rubens? Now, there are a great many paintings by Rubens that I admire – some immensely – but he did churn them out, didn't he? And yes, I love flamboyance: if anything, my tastes run towards the flamboyant rather than towards the restrained. But there were times I stood in front of some of those canvases, and thought to myself, "This is just silly!" Standing in front of "The Adoration of the Magi", I actually found myself laughing: not quite, perhaps, the most appropriate response. And yes, this is a comment on me, not on Rubens. But, much though I love the dramatic and the colourful, certain things are beyond even my threshold.
And El Greco. There was a strange one. There was a time when the paintings of El Greco fascinated me, with those colours, at once vibrant and austere, and those forms curiously elongated, but I can see little in them these days except a sort of mystic terror. I don't think I am so earthbound as to reject anything that may be termed "spiritual" (I use inverted commas there as an admission of defeat: "spiritual" seems far too vague a term to describe what I would like to convey, but neither can I think of a suitable alternative). But, whatever "spirituality" I may profess, an artistic vision that appears to me to offer little other than terror is not one that speaks to me. Not these days, at least: perhaps my receptivity had been broader in my younger days.
But let us not dwell on all that I failed to respond to. What is the point, when there was so much that transported me? Merely to list all the paintings that I loved would be tedious, certainly for myself, and even more certainly, I think, for the reader. So let me highlight just a few paintings that made a particular impression on me. Please indulge me as I choose my personal choices – five paintings that I would take with me from this gallery for my own imaginary private collection.
But choosing merely a few highlights is not very easy in a gallery such as this, where, after having been held transfixed for God knows how long by Velazquez' "Las Meninas", I turned round to see through an open doorway Titian's magnificent equestrian portrait of Carlos V. And this would be my first choice.
"Carlos V" by Titian, courtesy Prado Museum
Of course, I suppose I should pick "Las Meninas" too – perhaps the most famous painting in a gallery bursting at the seams with famous paintings. But no – for Velazquez, I will pick his portrait of Sebastian de Morra. He was a dwarf, and was in the court merely to amuse the courtiers with his short stature. But Velazquez paints him as a he would an emperor. He doesn't hide his physique – quite the opposite – but gives this man, the purpose of whose very existence was merely to provoke mirth, a dignity and a nobility that is nothing short of majestic.
"Sebastian de Morra" by Velazquez, courtesy Prado Museum
My next choice is not so well-known. It is a still life by Francisco de Zurbarán, and at first glance, it is simplicity itself: four vessels, one of metal, the other three of earthenware, arranged in a straight line parallel to the plane of vision, none of them touching or overlapping with each other. Other than these vessels, and the ledge on which they are placed, all is dark. What could be simpler, or, one might think, less remarkable? And yet, the painting projects a sense of stillness, of utter silence, that seems almost sacred. I had said earlier that I do not reject the "spiritual", and, given my sensibilities, I must say that I find greater spirituality here than in all the mystic visions of El Greco. (Once again, this is not a comment on El Greco … etc. etc. …)
"Four Vessels" by Zurbaran, courtesy Prado Museum
It was towards the end of my visit of the gallery, after many hours' wandering, and as I was nearing the end of my attention span, that I found myself face to face with Rogier van der Weiden's "Descent from the Cross". And it's one of those occasions where I wish I were more skilled at this ekpharsis business. I wish I could explain why it is that I find myself so unutterably moved by the fact of Christ's right hand and the Virgin's left hand being parallel to each other. But I can't. I can't explain anything at all about this wondrous painting. Perhaps I had best resort to that old cliché of certain matters transcending analysis, and leave it there.
"Descent from the Cross" by Rogier van der Weiden, courtesy Prado Museum
My last choice is a Goya. Not one of those horrific "black paintings" – but one he painted at the end of that series: "The Milkmaid of Bordeaux". I may be completely wrong in this, but standing in front of that painting, I get a sense of serenity. Through that web of silvers and blues and greens, there seems, to me at least, a sense of having, as it were, come through: after all the horrors, after a journey through Hell itself, Goya presents us with a vision of radiance in a simple figure of a milkmaid. But it is also the vision of someone who knows what he has gone through, and hasn't forgotten. It is a vision of serenity despite all the terrors. All this is no doubt very fanciful, and I do not possess the skill to explain why I feel this way. I can only report on that fact that I do.
"The Milkmaid" by Goya, courtesy Prado, Madrid
Another trip beckons. I don't know when: it has taken many, many years just to make my first visit. But I know I have to return. I can't just leave it here.
"The Scarlet Letter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Posted by argumentativeoldgit in books, literature, Uncategorized.	Tagged: Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter.	4 comments
The Scarlet Letter opens dramatically with a scene of startling vividness, but Hawthorne makes us wait for it. For he had added a very long chapter titled "The Custom-House", and subtitled "Introductory to The Scarlet Letter". I suppose it is up to the individual reader whether or not to treat this "introductory" as an integral part of the novel: looking through various online comments, many readers seem to find this boring, and skip it. I, however, am something of a completist in these matters, and it did not seem to me boring at all: quite the contrary. Written in a most eloquent and musical prose style, it consists, for the most part, of a delightfully diverting account, leisurely narrated, of the custom house in which Hawthorne had worked, with pictures of various colourful characters associated with the place. Hawthorne presents himself as friendly, open, and companionable, and, reading this chapter, I could not imagine to myself a more convivial presence by the fireside. But it wasn't entirely clear in what way this "introductory" is related to the rest of the novel: for all his apparent openness, Hawthorne leaves this something of a mystery.
In this introductory chapter, which Hawthorne tells us right away will be autobiographical, he tells of his own dreary travails at the custom-house, in order, seemingly, to placate the stern ghosts of his Puritan forefathers with remunerative toil; and he tells also of the apparent drying-up of his literary imagination during his three years spent here. And, towards the end of this chapter, he moves seamlessly from what he had till that point presented as fact, to what, we may surmise, is fiction, by telling us of his discovery of the Scarlet Letter itself – a small piece of cloth with the capital letter A embroidered in scarlet – and of the manuscripts he had found with it, telling the story of Hester Prynne. What follows, he tells us, is his re-writing of the story, "imagining the motive and modes of passion that influenced the characters who figure in it". "I have allowed myself," Hawthorne continues, "nearly or altogether as much licence as if the facts had been entirely of my own invention. What I contend for is the authenticity of the outline."
Of course, there are many other examples of fictions that claim to be derived from authentic documents, with the claim itself implicitly understood to be part of the fiction. What is more puzzling is why Hawthorne should pen so long an introductory chapter merely to make this not very remarkable point, when a mere paragraph or two would have done just as well.
Hawthorne goes further:
While thus perplexed,—and cogitating, among other hypotheses, whether the letter might not have been one of those decorations which the white men used to contrive, in order to take the eyes of Indians,—I happened to place it on my breast. It seemed to me,—the reader may smile, but must not doubt my word,—it seemed to me, then, that I experienced a sensation not altogether physical, yet almost so, of burning heat; and as if the letter were not of red cloth, but red-hot iron. I shuddered, and involuntarily let it fall upon the floor.
Here, Hawthorne explicitly identifies himself with Hester Prynne, the wearer of the Scarlet Letter, and more than intimates some mysterious connection between himself and the Letter, and, indeed, with Hester Prynne herself.
And only now do we come to the first chapter. The opening is rightly famous. The setting is the prison house in Boston, in the Puritan society of the late 17th century.
The founders of a new colony, whatever Utopia of human virtue and happiness they might originally project, have invariably recognized it among their earliest practical necessities to allot a portion of the virgin soil as a cemetery, and another portion as the site of a prison.
Symbols abound. There is the heavily timbered prison door, studded with iron spikes; the prison itself, "the black flower of civilised society"; and, next to the prison door, Nature's counterpart to this "black flower", a wild rose bush. And there's the scaffold, upon which the adulteress Hester Prynne stands to public gaze and scorn, holding to her breast her illegitimate child; and, of course, the embroidered Scarlet Letter upon her breast. These are very explicitly symbols, and are often referred to as such throughout the narrative. But what precisely they are symbols of is not always clear. Indeed, they are often as vaguely glimpsed and as obscure as that most famous literary symbol of all, the white whale dreamt up by Hawthorne's friend Melville.
The embroidered letter A is clearly the symbol, to begin with, of Hester Prynne's sinfulness, of her transgression. But as we progress, it acquires various other layers of meaning that are not always obvious. The daughter Pearl is explicitly referred to at one point as a "symbol": there is about her an element that Hawthorne describes as "pagan": at one point, she is referred to as an "elf-child". She is a child of Nature, seemingly unaffected by the stultifying moral codes that bind together this Puritan society. When out in the forest outside the reaches of the town – another symbol – Hester momentarily takes off her Scarlet Letter, but Pearl immediately protests, and Hester puts it back on again. What are we to make of this? And, in the epilogue, we are told that Hester, as an old woman, and no longer under any obligation to wear the Scarlet Letter, insists on keeping it on. We can, should we choose, invent all kinds of correspondences: the letter represents sin, humiliation, expiation, defiance, inner strength – whatever we want; but as with the white whale, the symbol, though resonating powerfully throughout, remains beyond the reach of any such facile explanation.
But whatever the symbolic underpinnings of the story, Hawthorne does not bind himself to them. Hawthorne promises us at the end of the first chapter "a tale of human frailty and sorrow": not an allegory in which the humans embody abstract concepts, but a drama, played out in human terms. The various symbols certainly resonate, but our understanding of the drama does not depend upon correct interpretation of the symbols – even assuming that these symbols are capable of being interpreted "correctly": rather, the nature of these symbols help us penetrate the minds of the three protagonists.
The first protagonist is, of course, Hester, publicly humiliated, living the rest of her life in poverty with her daughter Pearl, and shunned by the rest of society. The next is the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, Pearl's father, tormented by his awareness of his own sinfulness, which is known only to himself and to Hester. The third is a desiccated old man, Roger Chillingworth, who makes his first appearance in town on the very day of Hester's public humiliation: he is, unknown to all except Hester herself, Hester's husband, though long separated from her by circumstance. He soon discovers for himself the identity of his wife's lover, and, his identity still secret, delights in tormenting him.
But the story is not really about "sin", as such: it is, as Hawthorne clearly says, about "human frailty and sorrow". The "sin" for which Hester – though not her lover, whose identity she refuses to divulge – is punished is adultery: in that society, it was considered a grievous transgression, and we are told that even the death penalty had been considered for Hester. In Hawthorne's own times, this transgression would not have been so harshly judged, but nonetheless, it still bore a stigma: Hester would most certainly have been ostracised. In our own times, we would barely consider it a transgression at all, given especially that Hester had never really been close to her much older husband, had not heard from him for years, and that he was, in all probability, dead. Hester herself does not appear at any time to consider herself guilty: she stays on in the town, earning a meagre living as a seamstress, but at no point does she express remorse or penitence: on the contrary, she fights fiercely when it is suggested that Pearl be taken away from her; and, despite much pressure put upon her, she refuses to disclose Dimmesdale's name, either to the authorities or to her husband. The letter A, embroidered upon her breast, and intended to be a humiliating mark of sinfulness, she wears almost as an act of defiance.
Dimmesdale, on the other hand, is torn with remorse and with guilt. But his guilt is not because he has let Hester alone bear that punishment and the public humiliation that he himself fears so much: it is for the act of adultery itself. And the Scarlet Letter that Hester wears so openly, Dimmesdale wears secretly in his heart. He has, indeed, every reason to feel guilty: but like all weak-willed men, the pain he feels is solely for his own self: at no point does he stop to consider what Hester Prynne may be going through. Nonetheless, the pain he feels is real enough, and what he thinks is sorrow for his sin of illicit sex may well be a displaced sorrow for a greater guilt – the lack of human empathy. But Hawthorne is not censorious: human frailty and sorrow are common to us all, after all.
The conceit that this story is Hathorne's own retelling of an old tale he had found in his manuscript allows his both to be realistic, as he is in the psychological depictions of courage and of guilt, and also unrealistic, as he can bring into his narrative elements of folklore and of the supernatural, claiming that these elements were in the manuscript he had found, but, as a modern man, expressing scepticism about them. At one point, Hester is met by Mistress Hibbins, an actual historical character who had been hanged for witchcraft, but who, at the time of this drama, had been very much alive; and Mistress Hibbins tempts Hester to join her in the woods at night to meet with the Devil. Hester turns down the invitation: despite the Scarlet Letter upon her breast, she is no sinner. But the supernatural is introduced here quite unobtrusively, without ruffling the realistic surface of the story.
The drama plays itself out to its superb climactic scene set during a public holiday, and here, the Scarlet Letter that had burned secretly within the Reverend Dimmesdale's breast is finally revealed. Once again, Hawthorne gives us the option either of accepting the supernatural, or preferring, in line with what we perhaps unthinkingly expect from nineteenth century novels, a more realistic interpretation. Neither diminishes the extraordinary dramatic culmination of this "tale of human frailty and sorrow".
All of which still leaves open the enigma of that introductory chapter. Why does Hawthorne align himself so unmistakably with Hester Prynne? Normally, I try to consider a work independently of the author's biography, but since the author has introduced autobiographical elements so explicitly into the work, that becomes impossible here. Hawthorne had, he tells us, worked at the custom-house because he felt that he owed it to his ancestors to be more than a mere storyteller, but that, during his time there, his imaginative faculties had dried up; and only after he had stopped working there could he return to the art of storytelling. Could it be that he saw his return to his literary vocation as a defiance of his Puritan forebears, much as Hester's proud display of her Scarlet Letter was similarly a defiance of the Puritan ethos? I honestly do not know. It's the only explanation I can think of, but it seems to me frankly far-fetched. But leaving aside that introductory chapter – which, though wonderfully diverting, remains for me something of a mystery – what Hawthorne has given us is a wonderfully moving tale, narrated in the most exquisite prose, and drawn with clear precise lines that belie the complexity of its underlying symbols, of human frailty, of human sorrow, and also, I think, of human courage, and resilience, and love.
The darker films of Billy Wilder
Posted by argumentativeoldgit in Cinema, Culture, Uncategorized.	Tagged: Ace in the Hole, Billy Wilder, double indemnity, Jack Lemmon, Jane Wyman, Ray Milland, Sunset Boulevard, The Apartment, The Lost Weekend.	1 comment
Mention the Golden Age of Hollywood – the 30s, the 40s, and into the 50s (although the studio system that gave rise to that Golden Age was already collapsing by then) – and most people these days … well, let us be on the safe side and say "a great many people these days" … will have a mental picture of the "Dream Factory" – a pipeline churning out frothy escapism, undemanding entertainment that is best seen with one's brains left safely at home. Of course, there's no denying that much that came out of Hollywood back then was indeed light, frothy entertainment: no-one will be watching the Astaire-Rogers musicals, say, or screwball comedies, expecting anything too serious. Although it may be added that should anyone take their brains along to these films rather than leave them at home, those brains would not necessarily feel insulted by what they see: there are gradations even in light, frothy entertainment.
But there was far more to the Dream Factory than merely confecting sweet dreams. Even at the height of the Depression, when, heaven knows, escape from a bitter reality was very much needed, the focus was not always purely on "escapism": even comedies such as the Laurel and Hardy films acknowledged the reality of the Depression (Stan and Ollie were frequently penniless vagrants), and Chaplin, in films such as The Kid or Modern Times, certainly didn't hold back. Social criticism was very much an integral part of the gangster movie genre at Warner Brothers; and in 1940, barely a year after the Great Depression is reckoned to have ended, John Ford made a magnificent cinematic adaptation of Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath: those who reckon Hollywood films of that era were essentially frothy escapism can still let out an astonished gasp or two as one of the characters in that film describes in shockingly graphic detail how his children had starved to death.
The darkness Hollywood films of that Golden Era were prepared to depict was not necessarily merely the darkness of social evils, murky though they were: sometimes, the darkness was of the human heart. And here, Billy Wilder, especially, excelled. In some sixteen or so years – between 1944 and 1960, to be precise – Billy Wilder co-wrote and directed, amongst, it may be admitted, more light-hearted fare, five films that look very uncompromisingly indeed into the darkness of the human heart. These films are, in chronological order, Double Indemnity, The Lost Weekend, Sunset Boulevard, Ace in the Hole (also known as The Big Carnival), and The Apartment. Each of these films features as protagonist a man who, through flaws and shortcomings in his character, finds himself morally compromised, and becomes, as a consequence, filled with self-disgust. (In Double Indemnity and Sunset Boulevard, this protagonist shares the spotlight with a female character who, too, is very deeply flawed, though in very different ways.)
At this point, when the reader is, I'm aware, wondering what all this is leading to, and when I am eager to press ahead and satisfy the reader's curiosity on that score, I have to issue one of those tiresome "spoiler alerts". I know I have to, because when I don't, I receive indignant e-mails. So here it is: If you have not seen these films – more particularly, if you have not seen The Lost Weekend and The Apartment – and plan to see them, and feel that the essence of good drama lies in finding out what happens next (at least on first viewing), and, in particular, in what happens at the end, then it is probably best that you read no further. For it is on the endings of The Lost Weekend and of The Apartment that I intend to focus.
With that out of the way, let us continue.
Three of these five films (Double Indemnity, Sunset Boulevard, Ace in the Hole) end in tragedy: they could hardly have ended any other way. The other two films are also dark and tragic in content, although tragedy is averted at the end. In The Apartment, the last film of this unofficial series, the deeply flawed protagonist is, at long last, allowed to redeem himself morally. And there is a real sense of joy when this happens: there is a sense of release, a rare concession, amidst all the pessimism and all the cynicism and all the vitriol, that a way out, even given our profound human shortcomings, may be possible. It is possible not by the Grace of God – the presence of God is not particularly apparent in any of these films – but by a moral strength that even the most unremarkable of us may retain within ourselves. This ending moves us because it is so hard won, because we have, both earlier in this film and in the previous films, been shown the various red hells into which our sightless souls may stray. For, until that ending of that final film, we are, morally, in very murky waters indeed. We are far from the Dream Factory here.
All five of these films seem to me masterpieces, but speaking entirely subjectively (as I often do on this blog), it is The Lost Weekend that particularly intrigues me. Its protagonist (played by Ray Milland) is an alcoholic, but the film is not really about alcoholism, as such: at least, alcoholism is not its central theme. The central character, Don Birnam, seems to have everything going for him: he is handsome and charismatic, he is intelligent and cultured, and he is supremely articulate. But he is haunted by a sense of failure. He had aspired, and aspires still, to be a writer, but all he has to show for it are a series of unfinished manuscripts. His tragedy is not merely that he is mediocre, or, worse, talentless; his tragedy is also that he recognises it, and that he cannot come to terms with what he recognises. And he takes refuge in drink, and exercising his supreme articulacy with the barman:
It shrinks my liver, doesn't it, Nat? It pickles my kidneys, yeah. But what it does it do to the mind? It tosses the sandbags overboard so the balloon can soar. Suddenly I'm above the ordinary. I'm competent. Extremely competent! I'm walking a tightrope over Niagara Falls. I'm one of the great ones. I'm Michelangelo, moulding the beard of Moses. I'm Van Gogh painting pure sunlight. I'm Horowitz, playing the Emperor Concerto. I'm John Barrymore before the movies got him by the throat. I'm Jesse James and his two brothers, all three of them. I'm W. Shakespeare. And out there it's not Third Avenue any longer, it's the Nile, Nat. The Nile and down into the barge of Cleopatra.
As the film progresses, we see Don Birnam travel through what seems like the circles of some Dantean inferno. Even now, some seventy-five years after the film's release, I doubt I have seen anything more horrific in a film than the sequence in the drying-out ward, or the horrific alcoholic hallucinations Don Birnam has back in his flat.
But the tragedy that seems inevitable is averted. His girlfriend Helen (played by Jane Wyman), persuades him to start writing again, and he sits down to pen a novel based on his experiences. We, the viewer, may be left unsatisfied by this. Don Birnam has had false starts before, we know; and, further, we know also that, despite all his qualities, he does not have whatever it takes to be a writer: what stirs his imagination is not what he is writing, but rather, the idea of being a writer. When I saw this film in my younger days, I had no doubt that he would return to his drinking, and that what we see on screen is not so much a new start, but, rather, tragedy deferred.
But in my latest viewing (last week), I thought differently. Shortly before the end, Don has redeemed his revolver from the pawnbroker, obviously planning to shoot himself, and Helen, knowing this, and not really knowing what to do about it, pours him a drink; and when he expresses puzzlement, she breaks down and says "I'd rather have you drunk than have you dead". Now, call me sentimental (as you probably will), but I suddenly found myself rather moved by this. Helen has, after all, stayed by him even when she has been told, by Don himself amongst others, to get out while she still can. And if she would rather have him drunk than dead, then maybe she would rather have him talentless than dead too. Maybe she could reconcile him to his lack of talent. Maybe. The future, as the film ends, is still uncertain, but if Don is to redeem himself, it won't be through discovering his talent (he doesn't have any), but, through Helen's love, by being reconciled to that fact. And if that sounds sentimental, I'd counter that perhaps, too often, we miss out on profound matters by our fear of being sentimental as much as we do by actually being sentimental. At any rate, this last viewing, the ending did not seem to me so inevitably dark as it used to seem.
It is only at the end of the last film of this series, The Apartment, that the protagonist (played here by Jack Lemmon) is allowed unambiguously to redeem himself. What he had been doing really was unspeakably sordid: in return for promotion, he would lend out his apartment to senior managers in his office for them to carry out their extra-marital affairs. But in this film, the protagonist is, at long last, allowed to rediscover his moral bearings. And yes, the driving force, once again, is love. Perhaps these Wilder films are not quite so cynical as they are so often made out to be: yes, morality is frequently flouted and love frequently slighted, but morality and love both exist, and they are both potent, redeeming forces.
By the time The Apartment was released, in 1960, what we think of as The Golden Age of Hollywood was finished. Perhaps The Apartment and John Ford's The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, released two years later, were the last remnants of that age. And while it did turn out the most glorious entertainment, it wasn't blind to the darkness either. And no director, I think, peered into that darkness as insistently as did Billy Wilder. But it would be a mistake, I think, to see in even his darkest films merely undiluted pessimism and cynicism.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


SIERRA VIEW Townhomes For Sale in LINCOLN | Sacramento Condo Mania!
After settling into Sierra View, you'll likely wonder why you didn't move here sooner. These two-story townhomes are filled with comfort and style. Though upgrades vary, you'll usually find open concept living space with floor-to-ceiling glass, wood or laminate flooring and a cozy gas fireplace. Most connecting island kitchens contain granite countertops, stainless steel appliances and tile floors. Second floor bedrooms are carpeted. A spacious private patio and attached two-car garage are part of the package. In addition to a community pool and clubhouse, the HOA provides swimming pools, a fitness center and high-speed internet.
Located in the bedroom community of Lincoln, Sierra View is walkable to parks, Starbucks, Target, Safeway, shopping centers and restaurants. Via I-80, Sacramento is 30 miles away.
Want to sell your condo in SIERRA VIEW?
Over the last 90 days, 5 Townhomes have sold in SIERRA VIEW. Final sale price ranged from $280,000 up to $312,000 pending possible revisions. The median sale price was $303,000 with a median Price Per Square Foot of $212.


Republicans with the National Republican Congressional Committee hired cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike — a team led by a Russian ex-pat and former FBI official that worked with the DNC and bungled the response to its embarrassing email hack — and the NRCC got hacked during the 2018 election.
Politico reported Tuesday that the emails of four top NRCC officials were stolen in a major hack that was detected in April, eight months ago.
The NRCC did not tell Republican leaders or the public that it had been hacked, though it did notify the FBI.
CrowdStrike was on the scene responding to the DNC's hack as of May 5, 2016, but emails continued to be stolen for weeks. In fact, the majority of the emails on Wikileaks were not even written until after May 5. That's despite the fact that Crowdstrike claims it knew within minutes that the problem was a specific virus and that it was tied to Russia.
Crowdstrike took until June 10 to replace all the software in a move it believed would put an end to the breach, but by then, the it had already stopped.
The DNC's head — without even informing its own board — refused to let the FBI examine the server and instead had Crowdstrike write a report whose explanation of the hack was fed to the Washington Post and relied upon by the intelligence community.
"Apparently the NRCC didnt pay attention to security hygiene for their senior staff. This is a continuous problem for senior political staff that think that they're too senior to have to need good security practices; they're not technical enough to follow thru with good security practices; or that it's too much of a hassle to commit to good security practices," he said.
The DNC went on to blame the hack for its election loss to Donald Trump.


Federal authorities have charged three Illinois men Tuesday with the bombing of a Minnesota mosque last year. One of the suspects said they had a goal to "scare" Muslims out of the United States, according to a report from the Associated Press.
From the AP: A statement from the U.S. attorney's office in Springfield, Illinois, says the men also are suspected in the attempted bombing of an abortion clinic in November.
The report says McWhorter admitted that the three rented a pickup in Champaign and drove more than 500 miles to Minnesota to bomb the mosque, according to a criminal complaint.
The report continues: He said they wanted to let Muslims know they are not welcome in the United States and "scare them out of the country," according to notes taken by the FBI.
The complaint did not indicate why they targeted a mosque so far fro Illinois, or why they targeted the clinic.


A 250 million pound ($325 million) luxury development has been launched in Dubai — and the people behind it don't mind if you pay in bitcoin.
Announced Wednesday by British entrepreneurs Michelle Mone and Doug Barrowman, Aston Plaza and Residences spans more than 2.4 million square feet and is split across two 40-storey residential towers.
Its developers claim that it will be the "first major development" to be priced in the virtual currency bitcoin.
"Being a designer for 21 years, it's a real passion of mine as the design side, and it's great to be partnering up together as well to launch this. And this is the first major global development where you can purchase in bitcoin," Mone told CNBC in an interview last week ahead of the announcement.
"Previously there's been an apartment here and there's been a house here and there, but never a £250 million development, so it's really exciting to be involved in."
Mone founded the lingerie brand Ultimo in 1996 through her company MJM International. She now owns the interior design firm Michelle Mone Interiors, which will be responsible for building main walkways and reception areas.
She is also a lawmaker in the U.K.'s upper chamber of parliament, and was appointed by former Prime Minister David Cameron two years ago.
Mone's partner Barrowman, who is chairman of the Knox Group of companies, said that the pair chose bitcoin as part of the virtual token's emergence as a more "mainstream" means of investment.
"I've been invested in the crypto world for the last couple of years really, and it's a sector I've watched grow and emerge," the venture capitalist told CNBC in an interview.
"So I see it coming to that stage where the early adopters are giving way to a more mainstream application of cryptocurrency, and therefore it's a logical extension to take land and buildings and effectively offer people the opportunity to pay in cryptocurrency or bitcoin rather than just fiat currency."
Barrowman said the "crypto world" would warm up to the property development as investors who don't wish to live in the property can receive a nine percent return on their investment after completion.
"And that finds favor with how the crypto world operates, they like to be rewarded discounts, on ICOs (initial coin offerings), to allow them to buy into things. And I just think it's quite groundbreaking what we're doing," he added.
Several governmental authorities have expressed concern over a lack of regulation for cryptocurrencies.
On Monday, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) was just one of several Chinese authorities to announce a clampdown on initial coin offerings (ICOs). ICOs are used by start-ups to raise funds by flogging off new digital tokens.
But, addressing regulatory concerns about the virtual cash, Mone said that she would not be getting involved in bitcoin if it wasn't a trustworthy investment.
She said: "It's the currency of the future. And I think because everything is logged and registered, everything's transparent, that I wouldn't be getting involved in it — especially from the House of Lords element, I'm a baroness — so I wouldn't be getting involved in it if it was a kind of 'dodgy' industry."
She referred to several laws which have been put in place to try and regulate cryptocurrencies. The Isle of Man, a small independent island between England and Ireland, introduced its own legal framework to force crypto businesses to fall into compliance with anti-money laundering (AML) laws in 2015. Meanwhile, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said in July that federal securities laws could apply to token sales.
Mone refuted the idea that the bitcoin-priced development was a "marketing gimmick".
"It's not a gimmick. These people do want to buy things with their bitcoin," she told CNBC Wednesday morning.
"So we're here, they can buy a studio apartment, a one bedroom, a two bedroom, they can go online right now … and buy that apartment within minutes."
She added: "These people have had bitcoin right from the very start, years ago, and at the start of the year in January it was (worth) $800 a bitcoin. Now, yes it's dipped slightly, but it's around … $4,500 at the moment."
The cryptocurrency hit a low of $4,037 on Tuesday, down 20 percent from its all-time high of $5,000 over the weekend.
It managed to make a recovery Wednesday, currently trading at $4,519, according to CoinDesk's price index.
The studio apartments will be sold initially at a starting price of 30 bitcoin — worth $133,918.
It includes more than 1,000 apartments and a shopping mall, and is due for completion by September 2019.
Transactions will be processed by cryptocurrency payments platform BitPay, which provides payment tools to Microsoft and billionaire Richard Branson's space endeavor Virgin Galactic.
"These property purchases can now happen in minutes from anywhere in the world with the speed of sending an email," BitPay CEO Stephen Pair said in a statement on Wednesday.
"We are pleased to partner with Knox group of companies in this exciting first for Bitcoin and for property payments."


text:
Drew Peterson's Defense Rests After Calling 3 Witnesses
Published May 27, 2016 • Updated on May 27, 2016 at 1:31 pm
Drew Peterson's attorneys rested their case after calling three inmates to testify in the former suburban Chicago police officer's murder-for-hire trial.
The Chicago Tribune reports that the inmates testified Friday that the prosecution's star witness is untruthful and a scam artist. Peterson is accused of trying to hire someone while in prison to kill former Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow, who helped convict Peterson in 2012 of killing Peterson's third wife, Kathleen Savio, eight years earlier.
Peterson is serving a 38-year sentence, but could get another 60 years if he's convicted in the murder-for-hire case.
Among the evidence prosecutors presented were secret recordings of Peterson talking with a prison informant. Peterson's attorney tried to discredit the recordings as unintelligible conversations recorded by a snitch.
Closing arguments are scheduled for Tuesday.


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Sleeps: 8 Cabins: 3 Heads: 3
It has been almost a decade since an opportunity like this has become available here on the Chesapeake Bay, so we are very excited to present this 1969 Chris Craft Roamer now available and ready for her new owner. After twenty-seven years of ownership, loving and enjoyment, her current owners say it's time to pass the helm, creating an awesome opportunity to own a classic piece of history, whether you just want to motor up and down the bay, or the ICW, in class or live-aboard. With over 1,000 square feet of useable/livable space on board, to say she's roomy…is an extreme understatement.
Step aboard and enter by way of the wing doors leading to the huge aft deck. At seventeen feet wide and twenty-one feet deep, there's plenty of room to get around. While the sides are hard-enclosed, the aft area is protected with removable eisenglass to allow for open air cruising. The wrap around seating and huge custom-built cocktail table creates a comfortable atmosphere whether at the docks or underway. The helm is situated forward of the built-in wet bar and offers great visibility. The side decks are extra wide and protected with high railings making it safe and easy to get forward…where you'll find the best seats on board while underway with the molded in bench seating stretching across the forward section of the cabin and offering a huge foredeck for additional lounging. A pair of deck boxes mounted to either side of the foredeck with a pair of fender racks makes for clean storage of deck gear.
Stepping down below is where you'll really be "wowed". The salon is cavernous, at 210 square feet of space. A full sized L-shaped lounge is to port, while additional seating and a table to starboard crate a warm, roomy and welcoming salon. And the headroom…lots! Continue forward and step down into the galley and dining area. Her fully equipped galley is large, and offers everything the ship's chef will need for meal preparation. Continuing forward you'll find the day head and all the way forward is the first stateroom, configured in V-berth fashion with over/under bunks. (Perfect storage room for live-aboard convenience).
Engine room access is provided through the swing up steps leading down to the galley. You'll have plenty of room to get around the engines and ship's systems (including two generators). She was re-powered in 1981 with a pair of Detroit 8V92T's and currently only have about 2,000 hours. Even with these two engines and the two generators (7.5kw and 15 kW), there's still plenty of room to move around and get to all the critical components in this huge, brightly-lit engine room.This Roamer will reach a top speed of about 23 knots and will maintain a plane while cruising along at a comfortable 16-18 knots. If you're not in a rush, she'll also cruise nicely at trawler speeds while sipping fuel at about 12 gallons an hour stretching her range to almost 1,000 miles!
Walk aft through the salon and step down into the aft hallway. To starboard is the guest head and shower, while on port side you'll find a roomy guest stateroom with double twin berths and plenty of space, including a large hanging lighted closet. Continue aft and you'll enter the giant master stateroom; seventeen feet wide and 15 feet deep!. Configured with two double berths on either side and center-line dresser, there's an abundance of room. With his and hers lighted hanging closets on either side and drawers everywhere, there's a plethora of storage space. The master stateroom includes, of course, its own private head and shower.
This majestic yacht truly needs to be seen in person to be fully appreciated. She has been meticulously maintained throughout the years. She'll be spending the winter with us here and is ready to be sen. Come see her today before this opportunity passes...We promise, you will be impressed!
For more details contact Patrick at 443.350.4412
or send email to Patrick@mcdanielyacht.com
My 58 Roamer Pictures


text:
Q: If an astrophysical jet contains gamma rays does it mean that at the source poles there is small gravitational redshift? If an astrophysical jet contains gamma rays does it mean that even though the source has incredibly strong gravitational pull, at the source poles there is small gravitational redshift? Maybe there is no much gravity if there is a so small grav. redshift?

A: Let's consider a gamma ray emitted from the surface of a $1.4$ solar mass neutron star, assuming the radius is 10 km (on the low end of what is consistent with observations from LIGO and NICER). Let's also assume the spin is small in units of the mass of the object, (a) for simplicity and (b) consistent with observations of known neutron stars.
The redshift of a light ray emitted from the surface of a (non-spinning) neutron star obeys
\begin{equation}
1+z = \left(1-\frac{R_s}{R_{\rm NS}}\right)^{-1/2}
\end{equation}
where $R_{\rm NS}=10{\ \rm km}$ is the radius of the neutron star, and
\begin{equation}
R_s = \frac{2GM}{c^2} = 4.1\ {\rm km}
\end{equation}
is the Schwarzschild radius of a $1.4$ solar mass object.
Plugging in the numbers we find that $z=0.3$. In other words, if the energy of the emitted gamma ray was $100\ {\rm keV}$ (a typical scale associated with the gamma rays observed from 170817, a collision of two neutron stars), then the energy of the gamma ray that is observed far away from the neutron star is $100{\ \rm keV}/(1.3)=77\ {\rm keV}$. So, there is some effect from gravitational redshift, but it is not enough to make a qualitative difference. (note that the exact boundaries between what is called a gamma ray, vs an X-ray, are somewhat fuzzy, and in astronomy what typically matters more is the process producing the radiation more than the radiation itself)
Said differently, neutron stars are compact objects, but not so compact that their gravitational field is enough to strip the majority of the energy from emitted radiation.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Санта-Катерина-Виллармоза () — коммуна в Италии, располагается в регионе Сицилия, подчиняется административному центру Кальтаниссетта.

Население составляет 6084 человека, плотность населения составляет 81 чел./км². Занимает площадь 75 км². Почтовый индекс — 93018. Телефонный код — 0934.

Покровительницей коммуны почитается святая Екатерина Александрийская. Праздник ежегодно празднуется 25 ноября.

Ссылки

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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The first time Jack visited my hometown of Portstewart and met my family, my parents enquired if he came from "horsey people?" Not because an equestrian background is a pre-requisite to dating their daughter, I hasten to add —we're a far cry from William and Kate. No, they asked because to many, horses are to Kildare what flat caps are to farming.
Indeed, the county is at the very centre of Ireland's equine industry. Home to more stud farms than any other county in Ireland, Kildare also boasts world-renowned race-courses including those at Punchestown and the Curragh.
Not surprisingly then, a day at the races is an annual highlight on the social calendars of many Kildare residents. Jack's parents go every year when the excursion is as much a celebration of the fact that lambing is drawing to a close as anything else! Jack, too, goes when he can — the event providing a perfect opportunity to catch-up with friends he mighn't have seen since the previous year's festivities.
So, when he asked if I could swing a day off work to attend day three of the world-famous Punchestown Festival, I was, of course (and you'll forgive me for this. . . .) chomping at the bit.
Now, what I know about horse racing rivals that which I knew about farming when I first met Jack. All the digits and decimals in the little festival brochures mean nothing to me: I place my bets based on the horse's name, or the colours of the jockey's silks.
Seemingly, however, this approach works as well as any. The farming symbolism too blatant to ignore, I backed "Great Field" to win the 18:40 Ryanair Novice Chase —and win he did! Jack got lucky, too, betting on Minella Awards for a win in the 5th race of the day.
Truth be told, there's a part of me that doesn't want to like horse racing. Whether on television or in person, the sight of a horse falling at the jump turns my stomach. Nor do I like the repeated cracking of the whip against the flank of an animal that's already racing flat-out to the finish. And then there's the grim reality that for every great equine success story, there are just as many, if not more, equine fatalities.
At the same time, I can't deny the draw of the races. The rhythmic thud of the horses hooves on the ground, the intensifying energy of the crowd as the horses enter the final stretch, and the roar of those spectators who see their horse making a break for the finish. Jockeys bent low, their knees bent high, the slightest of pilots steering these incredible power houses to victory, or not.
It's ironic, in a way, the fact that just as it is responsible for cutting short the lives of many horses, it is also racing that gives us the opportunity to see these finest of specimens up close and in their prime. Stunning creatures with their gleaming coats and rippling muscles; the long, arched necks, bright, gentle eyes, and the elegant legs that look too delicate to carry the weight of the animal above them.
But there are other ways to appreciate these animals, too.
After we'd covered the cost of a decidedly more decadent-than-usual takeaway the day following the races, Jack and I decided to put what remained of our winnings toward a visit to another Kildare gem — the National Stud and Japanese Gardens. There, we saw some of these marvellous animals in their paddocks, unburdened by saddles, bridles or humans. When one would take off on a trot or gentle canter around the field, free from all the trappings of the races, we witnessed an animal in flight.
Born and raised on Ireland's North West coast, there are those times when I miss living by the sea — on a rare, scorcher of a day, for example, when the salty breeze and cool water provides welcome relief, or, on a stormy night when you can stand in my parents' back garden and hear the waves rushing in, pounding the shore.
By the same measure, however, I realise how fortunate I am to have been invited into Jack's world and his home county of Kildare. From the little gifts that farming brings, like when I bottle feed a hungry lamb or cook up a batch of spaghetti Bolognese made from beef reared on his family's farm, to the luxury of traveling just thirty minutes up the road to watch some of the world's best racehorses and feel the vibrations of their hoofbeats on the ground —some of Ireland's finest land— beneath our feet.
In these moments, that coast-to-country trade-off is one I really can't find fault with.
Jack does actually have something of a horsey background. As children, he and his siblings shared a much-loved pony called Silver and a rather more ornery Shetland Pony that went by the name of "Beauty," and behaved like anything but. In the latter's case, any would-be equestrian inevitably spent less time in the saddle and more time in the dirt, such was Beauty's attitude to being ridden.
With horsey history like that, who could blame Jack for preferring the company of cattle?


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FLAG : The flag, adopted in 1862, is crimson with a cross of the same color mounted in a white square in the upper left corner.
ANTHEM : Koe Fasi Oe Tu'i Oe Otu Tonga (Tongan National Anthem) begins "'E 'Otua Mafimafi Ko homau 'Eiki Koe" ("O Almighty God above, Thou art our Lord and sure defense").
MONETARY UNIT : The Tongan pa'anga ( T $) of 100 seniti is a paper currency at par with the Australian dollar. There are coins of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, and 50 seniti, and 1 and 2 Tongan pa'angas, and notes of 1 / 2 , 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, and 50 pa'angas. T $1 = US $0.4926 (or US $1 = T $2.03; in March 2003).
WEIGHTS AND MEASURES : The metric system is the legal standard, but some imperial and local weights and measures also are employed.
HOLIDAYS : New Year's Day, 1 January; ANZAC Day, 25 April; Crown Prince's Birthday, 4 May; Independence Day, 4 June; King's Birthday, 4 July; Constitution Day, 4 November; Tupou I Day, 4 December; Christmas, 25–26 December. Movable religious holidays include Good Friday and Easter Monday.
TIME : 1 AM (the following day) = noon GMT.
Coconut palms, hibiscus, and other tropical trees, bushes, and flowers are abundant. Tonga is famous for its flying foxes.
The Tongans are a racially homogeneous Polynesian people. Less than 2% of the population is of European, part-European, Chinese, or non-Tongan Pacific island origin.
Tongan, a Polynesian language not written down until the 19th century, is the language of the kingdom, but government publications are issued in both Tongan and English, and English is taught as a second language in the schools.
The Tonga People's Party (TPP), led by Viliami Fukofuka, and the pro-democracy Human Rights and Democracy Movements, led by Akilis Pohiva's were the principal political parties active in 2003.
The Tonga Defense Force was organized during World War II, became defunct in 1946 and was reactivated in 1952. It consists of a regular cadre and volunteers serving an initial training period, followed by attendance at annual training camps. Forces are organized into marines, royal guards, a navy, a police force, and a newly created air wing. The naval squadron consists of several fast patrol boats policing territorial waters.
Beef cattle are generally kept for grazing in coconut plantations to keep the undergrowth in check and to provide additional income. Every householder has several hogs, which generally are not sold but are used for feasts. Sheep were brought into Tonga in 1954 but did not thrive, and in 1956 the entire flock was slaughtered. Livestock in 2001 included 81,000 hogs, 12,500 goats, 11,400 horses, and 11,250 head of cattle.
Fish are abundant in the coastal waters, but the fishing industry is relatively undeveloped, and the supply of fish is insufficient to meet local demand; thus, canned fish has been imported in recent years. Principal species caught are tuna and marlin. The fish catch was 3,531 tons in 2000; exports of fish products were valued at almost $3.45 million that year.
Forestland covers about 5.5% of Tonga's total area, mainly on Eua and Vava'u, but this diminishing resource has not been efficiently exploited, and much wood for construction must be imported. Roundwood production in 2000 was 2,000 cu m (70,600 cu ft). There is a government sawmill on Eua. Charcoal is manufactured from logs and coconut shells.
Tonga had few known mineral resources. A limited amount of crushed stone is produced at local quarries.
All power is derived from thermal sources. Installed capacity in 2001 was about 7,000 kW; electricity production in 2000 totaled 30 million kWh. Consumption of electricity in 2000 was 27.9 million kWh. Oil has been discovered through seepage into water wells, but test wells have been unproductive.
Hango Agricultural College, part of the Free Wesleyan Church Education System, offers diploma and certificate courses. Tonga Maritime Polytechnical Institute is located in Nuku'alofa.
Blue Shield (Oceania) Insurance covers life, health, travel, workers' compensation, total permanent disability, accident, and local consultation services. There were at least seven other major insurers doing business in Tonga in 1999.
Income tax is levied at progressive rates. Resident businesses pay 15% on profits up to $100,000, and 30% thereafter. Non-resident businesses pay 37.5% on profits up to $50,000 and 42.5% thereafter. All male Tongans 16 years of age and older, except the aged and infirm, pay an annual head tax, the receipts of which are used to finance free education and medical benefits. There is also a 5% sales tax.
Tonga has no territories or colonies.
Bott, Elizabeth. Tongan Society at the Time of Captain Cook's Visit: Discussions with Her Majesty Queen Salote Tupou. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1982.
Cook, James. The Explorations of Captain James Cook in the Pacific, as Told by Selections of His Own Journals, 1768–1779. New York: Heritage, 1958.
Ellem, Elizabeth W. Queen Salote of Tonga: The Story of an Era 1900–1965. Auckland, N.Z.: Auckland University Press, 1999.
Ferdon, Edwin N. Early Tonga: As the Explorers Saw It, 1616– 1810. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1987.
Gailey, Christine Ward. Kinship to Kingship: Gender Hierarchy and State Formation in the Tongan Islands. Austin, Tex.: University of Texas Press, 1987.
Lawson, Stephanie. Tradition Versus Democracy in the South Pacific: Fiji, Tonga, and Western Samoa . New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996.
Huntsman, Judith (ed.). Tonga and Samoa: Images of Gender and Polity . Christchurch, N.Z.: Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies, 1995.
Stanley, David. Tonga-Samoa Handbook. Emeryville, Calif.: Moon Publications, 1999.


text:
Democrats for Life Just Want to Be Included, and They Have a Good Reason For Why They Should Be
Joanna Rothkopf
Filed to: dncFiled to: dnc
Image via AP.
PHILADELPHIA—On Wednesday morning, a group of around 50 pro-life Democrats gathered in a small conference room in a DoubleTree hotel in Philadelphia's Center City, in part to honor Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards with the Governor Casey Whole Life Leadership Award for his commitment to protecting the lives of the unborn.
"There is a difference between being anti-abortion and being pro-life, because the two are not synonymous," Edwards said in his acceptance speech at Democrats for Life of America's DNC reception. "Now, I don't think you can be pro-life without being anti-abortion, but being anti-abortion does not make you pro-life, because there are so many other issues that affect people, whether it's access to healthcare, to housing, to nutrition, you name it."
"By the way, if a young lady who's expecting a baby knows that there's gonna be help when that baby's delivered and they're not gonna be on their own, they're much more likely to deliver that baby."
Edwards managed to win a staunchly conservative state despite his support of Barack Obama, Medicaid expansion, increasing the minimum wage, gender pay equality, and on reducing the number of people incarcerated in the state. He feels that his progressive platform coupled with his pro-life record helped him win the governorship. He ended with a moving story about he and his wife deciding to carry their first pregnancy to term after learning their daughter would have spina bifida—she's now 24, newly married, and in graduate school.
"I don't like the labels 'conservative' and 'liberal' because I get asked all the time, 'Are you a conservative democrat?' 'Are you a liberal?'" he continued. "I say, 'Well, you ask me about an issue and I'll tell you where I stand on that issue and you decide yourself whether I'm conservative or liberal, because on the pro-life issue, the Catholic Christian faith that informs my views and helps me to being pro-life also tells me that the Medicaid expansion was the right thing to do. One of those positions is typically referred to as being very conservative and the other one is very liberal but they come from the same place."
The DFLA's position works well with the Democratic platform in many ways, because it is so committed to providing healthcare, child care, and educational resources (as DFLA executive director Kristen Day said, "programs that give women good choices,") and it'd be hard to find a progressive voter who would take issue with any of these stances. The controversial part comes when discussing the start and the end of life.
According to the organization, one in three Democrats (around 21 million people) are pro-life, and with their exclusively pro-choice platform, the party is alienating an important base that could help them win back lost legislative seats. Additionally, they believe the 2016 Democratic platform, which called for the repeal of all laws and policies that would impede abortion access, effectively marginalized that community. In a statement, Day wrote:
The future of the Democratic Party depends on its diversity, its ability to remain inclusive. The 2016 platform language on abortion torpedoes those goals. When Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin III of West Virginia heard about the platform's call to repeal the Hyde amendment he had a succinct response: "That's crazy." We couldn't say it any better.
The most major distinction between pro-life and pro-choice Democrats (and the reason the two groups may have trouble co-existing) is their views on when life begins. Pro-life Democrats often believe that life begins at conception, and to end such a life would be murder.
"I think Democrats for Life is amazing because they do adhere to the consistent life ethic—respecting and protecting life from conception until natural death—and I respect that so much," said Rosemary Geraghty, a junior at University of Alabama and intern at Life Matters Journal who was at the DNC with a few other interns who all consider themselves feminists. "Human rights don't need to be something that's a red issue or a blue issue... I think that it's common sense legislation: Don't allow people to kill people. Make that illegal."
The other interns echoed her sentiments, and stressed the need for resources for young or struggling moms.
"We need to put resources in place so that women can be given a fair choice. It's not right to put a woman in a situation where she feels like she has to risk her career, her education, or kill her child," said Chrissy Healy, an intern and medical student at Case Western Reserve University. "That's in no way feminism."
"The core tenets of feminism are non-discrimination and equality," said Maria Oswalt, a senior at University of Alabama, "From non-discrimination comes non-violence and so we think that should apply to all human beings from the moment they first exist."
For the attendees I spoke with, the focus was less on repealing laws, and more about reducing the need for abortion services, which, in a vacuum, is not controversial. The unspoken counterargument would discuss women who don't seek abortions for financial reasons, but for reasons more emotionally difficult, and unsolvable by after-school care.
"We want to end abortion because it's a moral issue—life begins at conception—but there's so much more to it," said Lisa Stiller, a delegate from Oregon and DFLA board member who supports Bernie Sanders because of his championing of free childcare and education. "What we can do is work towards a world where abortion does not have to be a choice and that's where I'm trying to find common ground. Let's work towards a place where women don't have to make that decision."
Last Night's DNC Was All About the Invisible Work of Women
Day 2 of the DNC: A Reminder That Hillary is a Woman
Lincoln Chafee Might Be in Brazil, But I'm Still Searching All of Philly For Him
Senior Editor, Jezebel
Recent from Joanna Rothkopf
I Did It for the Blog
Goodbye to Ellie Shechet, the World's Only Ansel Elgort Beat Reporter
The Age of Aquaria is Upon Us


text:
School bus hit by train in Rockingham County
Brad Zinn
Staunton News Leader
ROCKINGHAM COUNTY — A school bus with nearly 20 children onboard was hit by a train Wednesday afternoon in Rockingham County, according to Virginia State Police.
Police said the crash took place at 3:30 p.m. on Island Ford Road near the intersection of South Eastside Highway.
A Rockingham County Public School bus was headed east on Island Ford Road when it stopped at a stop sign, but police said the rear of the bus was partially hanging over the nearby train tracks.
The railroad crossing arms descended and the rear of the bus was struck by a Norfolk Southern freight train, police said.
Four children on the bus suffered minor injuries in the crash and were taken to Sentara RMH in Harrisonburg for treatment. Police said 16 children were on the bus at the time of the crash.
The driver of the bus, James A. Kite, 70, of Elkton, was not injured. He was charged with failure to obey a traffic control device/railroad crossing sign.
A conductor and engineer were the only people on the train. Both were uninjured, according to police.
The crash remains under investigation.
To subscribe, visit www.newsleader.com and click "subscribe" at top of page.
More:Branch out this Thanksgiving with these alternatives to the traditional turkey dinner
Brad Zinn is the cops, courts and breaking news reporter at The News Leader. Have a news tip? Or something that needs investigating? You can email reporter Brad Zinn (he/him) at bzinn@newsleader.com. You can also follow him on Twitter.


text:
package boofcv.alg.interpolate;

import boofcv.core.image.GImageSingleBand;
import boofcv.core.image.border.ImageBorder;

/**
 *

 * Computes the line integral of a line segment across the image.  A line is laid over the image
 * and the fraction of the line which is over a pixel is multiplied by the pixel's value.  This is done
 * for each pixel it overlaps.
 *

 *
 *

 * Two different functions are provided below for handling pixels lines which are either contained entirely
 * inside the image or may contain elements which extend outside the image.  If a pixel extends outside the
 * image then {@link ImageBorder} is used to handle the pixels outside the image.  If the border is not
 * specified then it will likely crash.
 *

 *

 * Inside image definition:

 * {@code 0 &le x < width}

 * {@code 0 &le y < height}
 *

 *
 * @author Peter Abeles
 */
public class ImageLineIntegral {

	// reference to image.
	GImageSingleBand image;

	// length of the line just computed
	double length;

	/**
	 * Specify input image.
	 *
	 * @param image image
	 */
	public void setImage( GImageSingleBand image ) {
		this.image = image;
	}

	/**
	 * Computes the line segment's line integral across the inside of the image. Where the
	 * inside is defined as 0 ≤ x ≤ width and 0 ≤ y ≤ height.
	 *
	 * @param x0 end point of line segment. x-coordinate
	 * @param y0 end point of line segment. y-coordinate
	 * @param x1 end point of line segment. x-coordinate
	 * @param y1 end point of line segment. y-coordinate
	 * @return line integral
	 */
	public double compute(double x0, double y0, double x1, double y1) {

		double sum = 0;

		double slopeX = x1-x0;
		double slopeY = y1-y0;

		length = Math.sqrt(slopeX*slopeX + slopeY*slopeY);

		int sgnX = (int)Math.signum(slopeX);
		int sgnY = (int)Math.signum(slopeY);

		int px = (int)x0;
		int py = (int)y0;

		if( slopeX == 0 || slopeY == 0 ) {
			// handle a pathological case
			if( slopeX == slopeY )
				return 0;

			double t;
			if (slopeX == 0) {
				t = slopeY > 0 ? py + 1 - y0 : py - y0;
			} else {
				t = slopeX > 0 ? px + 1 - x0 : px - x0;
			}

			t /= (slopeX+slopeY);
			if (t > 1) t = 1;
			if( t > 0 )
				sum += t * image.unsafe_getD(px, py);
			double deltaT = (sgnX+sgnY)/ (slopeX+slopeY);

			while (t < 1) {
				px += sgnX;
				py += sgnY;
				double nextT = t + deltaT;
				double actualDeltaT = deltaT;
				if (nextT > 1) {
					actualDeltaT = 1 - t;
				}
				t = nextT;
				sum += actualDeltaT * image.unsafe_getD(px, py);
			}
		} else {
			double deltaTX = slopeX > 0 ? px + 1 - x0 : px - x0;
			double deltaTY = slopeY > 0 ? py + 1 - y0 : py - y0;
			deltaTX /= slopeX;
			deltaTY /= slopeY;

			double t = Math.min(deltaTX,deltaTY);
			if (t > 1) t = 1;
			if( t > 0 )
				sum += t * image.unsafe_getD(px, py);

			double x = x0 + t*slopeX;
			double y = y0 + t*slopeY;
			px = (int)x;
			py = (int)y;
			int nx = px + sgnX;
			int ny = py + sgnY;

			while( t < 1 ) {
				deltaTX = (nx-x)/slopeX;
				deltaTY = (ny-y)/slopeY;

				double deltaT = Math.min(deltaTX,deltaTY);
				double nextT = t + deltaT;
				if( nextT > 1 ) {
					deltaT = 1-t;
				}

				double sampleT = t + 0.5f*deltaT;
				x = x0 + sampleT*slopeX;
				y = y0 + sampleT*slopeY;

				sum += deltaT*image.unsafe_getD((int)x,(int)y);
				t = t + deltaT;
				x = x0 + t*slopeX;
				y = y0 + t*slopeY;
				px = (int)x;
				py = (int)y;
				nx = px + sgnX;
				ny = py + sgnY;

			}
		}

		sum *= length;

		return sum;
	}

	/**
	 *

	 * Return true if the coordinate is inside the image or false if not.

	 * 0 ≤ x ≤ width

	 * 0 ≤ y ≤ height
	 *

	 *
Note: while the image is defined up to width and height, including coordinates up to that point contribute
	 * nothing towards the line integral since they are infinitesimally small.

	 *
	 * @param x x-coordinate in pixel coordinates
	 * @param y y-coordinate in pixel coordinates
	 * @return true if inside or false if outside
	 */
	public boolean isInside( double x, double y ) {
		return x >= 0 && y >= 0 && x <= image.getWidth() && y <= image.getHeight();
	}

	/**
	 * Returns the line segment's length
	 * @return length
	 */
	public double getLength() {
		return length;
	}
}


text:
Tiger Woods might have a new putter for the PGA Championship
by: DOUG FERGUSON, Associated Press
Posted: Aug 5, 2020 / 07:08 PM EDT / Updated: Aug 5, 2020 / 07:08 PM EDT
Tiger Woods toss a ball down on the 17th hold during a practice round for the PGA Championship golf tournament at TPC Harding Park Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2020, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Tiger Woods appears to have something new in store for this PGA Championship: his putter.
Woods has won all but one of his 15 majors with a Scotty Cameron Newport 2 GSS, the putter he borrowed from Mark O'Meara in 1998 and never returned. The only other time he switched at a major was at St. Andrews in 2010, when he used a Nike Method.
Woods has experimented with other putters since then, such as a TaylorMade variety in 2018 before going back to his regular putter at the Tour Championship, which he won.
This week he has been working with a putter just like his Cameron Newport but with adjustable weights in the sole to adjust to green speeds. Golf Channel reported it would be in the bag Thursday, and Woods used it during a practice round Wednesday with Steve Stricker and Davis Love III.
"It's basically the same putter with a little bit more flexibility," Stricker said. "He's able to change the weights around a little bit, but the length is the difference. He's got a little more length on there, and that's just so he can practice a little bit more without back pain. That's what excites him the most is that he was able to put in a lot of time with this putter. And watching him putt, it looked exactly the same to me. He rolled the ball great."
Notah Begay III, a longtime friend who now works as an analyst for NBC and Golf Channel, said Woods was looking "to create some new sensations in his hands."
"The extra weight might give him something to at least work on and focus as he tries to find that putting stroke," Begay said.
Will he make the switch? And if he does, for how long?
"I promise you, old faithful is back at the place where he is staying right now," Begay said on Golf Channel. "It is not far away."
This is the second straight year the PGA Championship is being held on a public golf course, from Bethpage Black on Long Island, New York, to the TPC Harding Park in San Francisco. Both have reasonable rates favorable to local residents.
The going rates for Harding Park next week: $80 for San Francisco residents, $200 for Bay Area residents and $300 for everyone else. At Bethpage Black, weekday rates are $65 for New York residents and $130 for those out-of-state, though getting a tee time can mean sleeping in the car overnight to get in line.
"We're always going to go to private courses because some of the private courses are some of the best in the world, and they're courses that test the top players," Rory McIlroy said. "But at the same time, it's very refreshing that we do come to places like here, Bethpage, Torrey Pines. It is important to let the public see us on golf courses that they've played before, that are accessible for them, that aren't too expensive to get on."
That led to a question: When was the last time McIlroy paid to play?
"Valderrama, 2005," he said, adding that he paid 250 euros. "I've always liked the look at Valderrama. I was in Spain. Obviously, Ryder Cup course. The Tour Championship of The European Tour was there for a lot of years. I was there and spent a few months' worth of pocket money to go and play."
McIlroy returned three years later at the end of 2008 — the last year the Volvo Masters was at Valderrama before the season-ending event moved to Dubai. That time, he was paid to play.
He had rounds of 74-73-75-73, tied for 39th and was paid 29,500 euros.
This PGA Championship might have set a record for most players who decided not to play.
Vaughn Taylor withdrew Wednesday, citing an injury. He is the 11th player to withdraw from the PGA Championship since the field was first released six days ago.
But it actually goes deeper than that. Four other players who were either eligible or on the invitation list from being in the top 100 in the world ranking — Lee Westwood, Eddie Pepperell, Shugo Imahira and former PGA champion Y.E. Yang — informed the PGA of America they would not be playing.
Yang played two weeks ago on the Korean PGA Tour.
Westwood, Pepperell and Harrington cited international travel and the COVID-19 pandemic for not playing. Others cited injuries. Thomas Pieters of Belgium hasn't played since the European Tour shut down in March. Neither has Francesco Molinari, and his time has been consumed moving his family from London to California.
Alex Noren replaced Taylor in the field. Next on the alternate list is Pat Perez, who was at the TPC Harding Park.
Perez said it was a short drive from Lake Tahoe at the Barracuda Championship and he had a place to stay with Jason Kokrak. Otherwise, he said he might not be on site. At this rate, he might wind up getting a tee time, although the 155 players tested for the coronavirus all had negative results.
That leaves the PGA Championship with 91 players from the top 100 in the world.
PACKING FOR A SUMMER MAJOR IN AMERICA
The PGA Championship in August for years meant heat and plenty of sweating. Not this one in San Francisco, where temperatures have been in the 50s and 60s, much colder with the marine layer.
Justin Thomas said he packed for his major no differently from going to the British Open, with one difference.
"The thing is for the Open, you're most likely going to be throwing a rain suit on with whatever you have, whether it's that cold or whether it's just raining. That's what I've done many times," he said. "The one difference at an Open Championship is three of the four days I've just gone to the course in sweatpants and haven't even put golf pants on because I know I'm just going to wear my rain pants over them the entire day."
by CBS 17 Digital Desk / Jan 20, 2021
RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) - The Carolina Hurricanes have closed their training facility and postponed games through at least Saturday due to COVID-19 cases within the program.
The NHL announced the closure and postponement Wednesday afternoon due to five Carolina Hurricanes Players being on the NHL's COVID Protocol Related Absence List.
Philip Rivers retires from NFL following 17 seasons
NC State women's hoops vault to No. 2 in latest AP Top 25 rankings
NC State / 2 days ago
COVID-19 within NC State's program causes Virginia game to be postponed
Chase for the Championship / 3 days ago
NC State QB transfer Hockman commits to Middle Tennessee
Positive COVID-19 test within NC State men's basketball program forces postponement of next game
COVID-19 cluster identified within NC State's athletics department, officials say
Florida State erupts in 105-73 win over NC State
Wong, Timberlake lead Miami past NC State 65-59
NC State / 2 weeks ago
NC State quarterback Bailey Hockman to enter transfer portal
No. 19 Clemson fights back to best NC State in overtime
Chase for the Championship / 2 weeks ago
Chase for the Championship / 19 hours ago
Duke, UNC both out of AP Top 25 for first time since 1982
Sports / 2 days ago
No. 20 Hokies ride hot start to win over No. 19 Duke
Chase for the Championship / 1 week ago
VIDEO: Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski speaks out about US Capitol riots
Durham County News / 2 weeks ago
No. 21 Duke tops Wake Forest 79-68 in Krzyzewski's return
Duke / 2 weeks ago
Duke squeaks by Boston College in 1st game since Dec. 16
Saturday's game between Duke, Florida State postponed
Duke's Coach K will miss Saturday's game at Florida State
No. 20 Duke's game against Pitt postponed due to COVID-19
Duke women end basketball season amid COVID-19
UNC fails at late comeback, falls to Florida State 82-75
UNC / 4 days ago
2nd-half surge sees Tar Heels past Syracuse for 3rd win in a row
UNC's next men's basketball game versus Clemson postponed due to COVID-19
UNC / 2 weeks ago
Late sharpshooting enough to push UNC past Miami, 67-65
Texas A&M runs past UNC in Orange Bowl, 41-27
Leaky Black's late jumper helps UNC beat Notre Dame 66-65
Georgia Tech rallies past North Carolina 72-67 in 2nd half; Tar Heels 0-2 in ACC
UNC's women's basketball game at Louisville postponed
COVID-19 protocols force postponement of Syracuse at UNC men's basketball game
Carolina Hurricanes / 3 hours ago
Carolina Hurricanes game versus Nashville Predators postponed due to COVID-19
Carolina Hurricanes / 1 day ago
Hurricanes score 3 in 3rd period to beat Nashville, 4-2
Carolina Hurricanes / 2 days ago
Fabbri's late goal lifts Red Wings over Hurricanes 4-2
'Canes blank Detroit 3-0 in season opener
A look at who the Hurricanes will face off against in new Central Divison
Carolina Hurricanes / 1 week ago
All smile, Canes' Pesce back from injury and ready to resume shut-down role
Carolina Hurricanes / 2 weeks ago
Canes finding ways to bond as a team amid COVID-19 pandemic
Hurricanes announce 2021 NHL schedule
NHL postpones Hurricanes' outdoor game at NC State's Carter-Finley Stadium
Panthers staff selected to coach in 2021 Senior Bowl
Carolina Panthers / 1 week ago
Saints rout Panthers 33-7 to earn No. 2 seed in NFC playoffs
Carolina Panthers / 2 weeks ago
Black and Blue Kickoff Live: Christian McCaffrey won't play this week, ending his season
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Former Panthers linebacker Thomas Davis to retire at end of season
Washington falls to Panthers 20-13, failing to clinch NFC East
Black and Blue Kickoff Live: Panthers likely without two of their top players at Washington
Panthers likely without McCaffrey vs. Washington
HOF linebacker, pass rush great Kevin Greene dies at 58
Carolina Panthers / 1 month ago
Carolina Panthers fire General Manager Marty Hurney amid 4-10 season
Packers outlast Panthers 24-16 for 4th straight victory
Sports / 1 month ago


Women bring a much needed source of emotional intelligence to the top table and as a result improving a corporate board's ability to innovate, make consensual decisions and connect with customers and staff, according to a survey by Inspire, a business network for senior board level women supported by Harvey Nash.
The survey, completed by 326 board-level executives across 19 countries and part of Inspire's "Return on Diversity" report, revealed that almost 64 percent believe women bring a greater level of emotional intelligence to the board, which in turn brings greater cultural understanding, better board consensus and greater creativity and innovation.
In addition the survey revealed that 92 percent believe that women bring new and different perspectives to the board, with participants' comments ranging from how women took a different approach to risk through to how they offer greater pragmatism in decision making.
While most participants agreed greater emotional intelligence at board level had a positive impact on the "soft" attributes of the board, there was much less consensus about how this affected other attributes.
For instance, 60 percent of respondents believed having greater board emotional intelligence had either no affect or — in the case of one in eight — a negative effect on its ability to make bold decisions. This was even more pronounced when looking at speed of decision making where 68 percent believed emotional intelligence had no positive effect, 13 percent of which felt it was negative.
The survey also looked at how to achieve greater female board membership. Respondents overwhelmingly rejected the idea of government quotas — only 6 percent supported this option — as they preferred the emphasis to be on companies to cultivate and develop their own female talent pipeline.
A further 29 percent of respondents believed the main barrier to female progression was attitudes amongst C-level male executives.


I'm a Oblivion modder and admin of this site.
This is my personal ENB setting with a nice glowing sky and lighting settings suiting All Natural and atmospheres version 2 and higher.
First of all, you need the "d3d9.dll" from the WrapperVersion of the original Oblivion ENB version 0.181. Put it to the "Oblivion" folder (that's where the "Oblivion.exe" is located).
(for discovery1's "atmospheres" weather mods). Extract the content of the downloaded archive to the Oblivion folder as well.
You can find some samples here.
All authors provide their music freely and can be found on jamendo.com.
The Fall Hair Wig Shop is a shop where you can buy wigs with different hair colors and styles and as a sideline you are able to take a rest at the generously covered coffee table.
Relax and forget everyday life in the comfortable armchair in front of crackling chimney fire.
The shop is located in the near of Faregyl (screenshot with exact location is included). Shopkeeper Carla is looking forward to seeing you.
This is the wig version of the Fall Hair 001. The wig comes in seven colors. Thoronir in "The Copious Coinpurse" in Imperial City Market District sells you the wigs.
The wigs have custom icons and ground models. You can use the ground models as decoration if you like.
It's a face texture resource for Head06 but it also comes with a Vanilla support if you don't use the Head06 mesh. There are two options: textures with beard and textures without beard. As a special I added some HighRez images in 2048×2048 format. You can do what you want with the textures as long as my name is mentioned in the credits.


Join SimplaFYI and learn how to have a lunch that energizes your afternoon. Tailored to Babson's lunch options on campus and in the surrounding area.
Waterline features a fast-paced hour of literary works with readings by Babson College faculty fiction writers, poets, and essayists. Past readers have included Ellen Argyros, Stephen Bauer, Melissa Leonard, Michael Martin, Carolyn Megan, Weston Miller, Mary O'Donoghue, and Mary Pinard. Free and open to the public. Presented by the Division of Arts & Humanities.


text:
Difference between revisions of "Top 10"
Suppy (talk | contribs)
(err, I guess cancel that request ... I'll rewrite it instead =))
(delete please =))
{{delete|ahh, now they're completely gone, I reinstate my deletion request =)}}
{{Awards}}
The top 10 highest rated anime gets a special mention in the anime pages. An anime must have a minimum number of votes to get a Top 10 award. The top 10 is calculated dynamically from the ratings during every [[Routine Maintenance]] cycle. If you want a longer list, ou can get one by going to the [[Animelist]] and doing a descending sort on the Rating column, [http://anidb.info/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=animelist&orderby=rating&orderdir=1 direct link].
The deletion of this article has been requested.
If you have the administrative rights and feel that this request is well justified, you may kill it now.
ARC Awards: 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011
Top 10 | Mainichi Awards | Japan Media Arts | Other Awards
The top 10 highest rated anime gets a special mention in the anime pages. An anime must have a minimum number of votes to get a Top 10 award. The top 10 is calculated dynamically from the ratings during every Routine Maintenance cycle. If you want a longer list, ou can get one by going to the Animelist and doing a descending sort on the Rating column, direct link.
The Top 10 used to be listed on the AniDB main page, but this led to alot of vote stuffing, so it was decided that it would be best removed from there.
Retrieved from "https://wiki.anidb.net/index.php?title=Top_10&oldid=7152"
Articles to be deleted