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Earnings Reports and News
Alibaba Earnings: What Happened
Alibaba beat sales and earnings expectations, annual customers lagged
By Matthew Johnston
Adjusted EPS was 14.82 yuan per ADS vs 13.28 yuan analysts expected
Sales growth beat expectations
Growth in annual active customers failed to match expectations
Alibaba beat both earnings and revenue expectations for its June quarter. As the Chinese economy recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic with the spread of the coronavirus largely under control, Alibaba's Chief Financial Officer, Maggie Wu said "Our domestic core commerce business has fully recovered to pre-COVID-19 levels across the board". The only area of disappointment was that the number of annual active customers in the Chinese retail market didn't grow as much as analysts had predicted. Alibaba is also expanding into cloud computing, a very high margin business where it will compete with Amazon and Microsoft, among others. Alibaba's cloud segment grew 59% year over year, even faster than its overall revenue growth of 34%.
(Below is Investopedia's original earnings preview, published August 13, 2020)
Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd. (BABA), the giant online retail company often referred to as the Amazon.com of China, has dramatically outperformed the broader market in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the worst economic crisis in decades. Alibaba's outlook has brightened as the spread of the coronavirus has slowed sharply in China, the company's biggest market by far.
Investors will be looking to see if Alibaba's growth has rebounded when the company reports earnings on August 20, 2020, for Q1 FY 2021. The company's 2020 fiscal year (FY) ended March 31, 2020. Analysts expect year-over-year (YOY) growth in adjusted earnings per share (EPS) and revenue to slow dramatically compared to the same quarter a year earlier. But the good news may be that analysts estimate revenue growth will accelerate significantly compared to the previous quarter. Note, all mentions of EPS refer not to Alibaba's shares listed in Hong Kong with the ticker 9988, but to its american depository shares (ADS) with the ticker BABA.
Investors will also be focused on Alibaba's annual active consumers, a key metric indicating the number of people making purchases on its platform. Analysts expect YOY growth in annual active consumers to be slightly lower than the previous two quarters, but dramatically slower than the same period a year ago.
Shares of Alibaba have outperformed the broader U.S. stock market over the past year. While the stock was not immune to the coronavirus-induced market crash that began in late February, it has since rebounded and reached new highs. Alibaba's stock has provided investors with a total return of 60.2% over the past 12 months compared to the S&P 500's total return of 17.3%.
Source: TradingView.
Alibaba's shares initially slumped after reporting earnings that beat estimates for Q4 FY 2020, which ended March 31, 2020. It was during the fourth quarter that the coronavirus first began to spread rapidly. Adjusted EPS grew 7.4%, a dramatic slowdown from the previous four quarters where YOY growth ranged between 36-56%, and the slowest pace since Q1 FY 2019. Revenue grew 22.3%, the slowest pace in at least 16 quarters and the fourth consecutive quarter of decelerating YOY growth. But the stock quickly resumed its upward momentum the following week.
It was a stark contrast to Alibaba's Q3 FY 2020, a quarter not yet affected by COVID-19. Adjusted EPS grew at a robust pace of 49.0%. Revenue growth, at 37.7%, also was strong. However, this continued a deceleration trend that began in Q4 FY 2019. Regardless, mounting fears over the spread of the virus caused the company's stock to crash along with the rest of the market in late February.
Analysts' are forecasting a pickup in growth for Q1 FY 2020, now that the worst of the pandemic in China may be over. They estimate that adjusted EPS will grow 5.6% for the quarter, which ended June 30, 2020. That would mark the slowest pace of growth since Q1 FY 2019. Revenue is expected to grow 28.6% to 147.8 billion yuan ($21.3 billion), a definite improvement from last quarter's growth rate, but still the second slowest pace recorded in the past several years.
Alibaba Key Metrics
Estimate for Q1 2021 (FY) Actual for Q1 2020 (FY) Actual for Q1 2019 (FY)
Adjusted Earnings Per ADS 13.60 yuan 12.55 yuan 8.04 yuan
Revenue 147.8 billion yuan 114.9 billion yuan 80.9 billion yuan
Annual Active Consumers 745.6 million 674.0 million 576.0 million
Source: Visible Alpha
As mentioned, many investors also will focus closely on Alibaba's annual active consumers. This key metric refers to the number of user accounts with one or more confirmed orders on Alibaba online platforms during the previous 12 months, regardless of whether or not the transaction was settled. Retaining and attracting active consumers is important to Alibaba's business model, which in large part consists of selling marketing services to the merchants that sell their wares on the company's online platforms. The more active consumers Alibaba attracts, the more the company is able to generate advertising revenue from those merchants.
Alibaba reported a total of 726 million annual active consumers for Q4 FY 2020, marking a rise of 11.0% compared to the same quarter a year earlier. It was the slowest rate of growth the company had posted since Q1 FY 2018 and was a continuation of the deceleration trend that had begun in Q4 FY 2019. Still, it beat analysts' expectations and was only moderately lower than the 11.8% increase posted in the previous quarter. Alibaba engineered this growth even though it was the first quarter that Alibaba was affected by COVID-19. That trend of moderate growth is expected to continue in Q1 FY 2021. Analysts estimate that annual active consumers will rise 10.6% to 745.6 million.
Another challenge potentially facing Alibaba's investors could be the delisting of the company's stock from U.S. exchanges. The Trump administration earlier this month proposed a plan that would force Chinese companies listed on U.S. exchanges to comply with U.S. financial audit requirements. The proposal follows bipartisan legislation that passed the U.S. Senate in May, which would give non-compliant Chinese companies three years to delist in the U.S. Alibaba's shares trade on several global stock exchanges, including the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd. "Alibaba Group Will Announce June Quarter 2020 Results on August 20, 2020." Accessed Aug. 12, 2020.
Visible Alpha. "Financial Data." Accessed Aug. 12, 2020.
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. "Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2019," Page ii. Accessed Aug. 12, 2020.
Wall Street Journal. "White House Seeks Crackdown on U.S.-Listed Chinese Firms." Accessed Aug. 12, 2020.
Alibaba Q1 FY 2022 Earnings Report Preview: What to Look For
Microsoft Q4 FY2022 Earnings Report Preview: What to Look For
Roku Q2 FY2022 Earnings Report Preview: What to Look For
Alibaba Q4 FY2022 Earnings Report Preview: What to Look For
Disney Q3 FY 2022 Earnings Report Preview: What to Look For
Fiscal Quarters (Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4) Explained
A quarter is a three-month period on a company's financial calendar that acts as a basis for the reporting of earnings and the paying of dividends.
What Are Lion Economies?
"Lion economies" is a term that refers to the fastest growing economies in Africa and is analogous to the "tiger economies" in Asia.
Year-Over-Year (YOY): What It Means, How It's Used in Finance
Year-over-year (YOY) describes how investors can see a difference in financials or information of a company between comparable quarters or years.
Guide to Company Earnings
A quarterly earnings report is a filing made by public companies every three months to report on their most recent financial performance.
Gross Domestic Product (GDP): Formula and How to Use It
Gross domestic product is the monetary value of all finished goods and services made within a country during a specific period.
Halloween Massacre
The Halloween Massacre refers to Canada's 2006 decision to tax all income trusts domiciled in Canada.


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Strategy and inspection : Strategic planning : Values & ethos : Promoting British values in schools
Promoting British values in schools
School types: All · School phases: All
Read a summary of your school's duty to actively promote British values and governors' role in monitoring provision. Download our list of questions to ask school leaders to help you do this.
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Your school's duties
How your school can promote British values
Examples of practice in schools
Schools are required to promote the spiritual, moral, social and cultural (SMSC) development of their pupils. As part of this, your school should actively promote the fundamental British values of:
Mutual respect for and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs
This is set out in the Department for Education's guidance on promoting British values in maintained schools and part 2 of The Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014 for academies and independent schools.
Knowledge and understanding expected of pupils
As a result of your promotion of British values, your pupils are expected to gain:
An understanding of how citizens can influence decision-making through the democratic process
An appreciation that living under the rule of law protects individual citizens and is essential for their wellbeing and safety
An understanding that there is a separation of power between the executive and the judiciary, and that while some public bodies such as the police and the army can be held to account through Parliament, others such as the courts maintain independence
An understanding that the freedom to choose and hold other faiths and beliefs is protected in law
An acceptance that other people having different faiths or beliefs to oneself (or having none) should be accepted and tolerated, and should not be the cause of prejudicial or discriminatory behaviour
An understanding of the importance of identifying and combating discrimination
This is outlined in pages 5 and 6 of the DfE guidance for maintained schools, and pages 6 and 7 of the DfE's advice for academies and independent schools on improving SMSC development.
As a board, you should make sure that the fundamental British values are reflected in your ethos and implemented effectively in your school's policy and practice.
You must take "swift action" to suspend anyone from office that acts to undermine these values. This may include considering whether to remove an individual from office if they act in this manner.
Ofsted inspectors will also consider how well your school promotes British values when making its judgement on the effectiveness of leadership and management
This is outlined in sections 2.2 and 4.1.2 of the Governance Handbook, and in paragraph 152 of the School Inspection Handbook.
Use our questions to help you monitor provision
KeyDoc: questions to ask about British values DOC, 156.5 KB
You can use these to question senior leaders during:
Full governing board meetings
You may need to adapt them to reflect your school's context.
Include age-appropriate material in the curriculum on the strengths, advantages and disadvantages of democracy, and how democracy and the law works in Britain in comparison to other forms of government in other countries
Make sure that all pupils within the school have a voice that is listened to
Demonstrate how democracy works through actively promoting democratic processes, such as an elected school council
Organise visits to local councils, Parliament and places of worship, and encourage contact with those in political or local office
Use opportunities such as general or local elections to hold mock elections to teach pupils how to argue and defend points of view
Use teaching resources from a wide variety of sources to help pupils understand a range of faiths
Consider the role of extra-curricular activities, including any run directly by pupils, in promoting fundamental British values
These are suggested in the DfE's guidance for maintained schools, academies and independent schools. This list is not exhaustive.
Read advice from 2 of our experts on how to promote British values in different subjects in another article.
British values are reinforced regularly at The Cranbourne Primary School through annual pupil surveys, e-safety and PSHE lessons, and pupils participating in extra-curricular activities
Nether Kellet Community Primary has outlined the importance of rights and responsibilities within its behaviour policy
Westacre Middle School reinforces the fundamental British values by holding school council elections, arranging visits from the police and fire service, and implementing an anti-bullying culture
Washingborough Academy delivers 'values education' which reflect the fundamental British values. Its values based curriculum is based around 22 core values that are explicitly taught over a 2-year period
Queen Elizabeth High School promotes British values through its student council, assemblies, and by participating in Global Education Day
The Prevent duty: governors' role
Also in this topic: Values & ethos
Find your vision and strategy part 1: lay the groundwork
Find your vision and strategy part 2: how to run an away day
How to embed your school's vision
School vision statements: what they are and how to create one
The Key has taken great care in publishing this article. However, some of the article's content and information may come from or link to third party sources whose quality, relevance, accuracy, completeness, currency and reliability we do not guarantee. Accordingly, we will not be held liable for any use of or reliance placed on this article's content or the links or downloads it provides. This article may contain information sourced from public sector bodies and licensed under the Open Government Licence.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Unbitrium, eller grundämne 123 med den kemiska beteckningen Ubb, är det tillfälliga IUPAC-namnet. Det kan också kallas eka-protaktinium efter Dmitrij Mendelejevs förutsägelser om det periodiska systemet.

Unbitrium är det femte grundämnet i den åttonde perioden i det periodiska systemet. Det har ännu inte gjorts några försök att framställa ämnet. Unbitrium kommer att vara en aktinoid, om fysikerna lyckas framställa grundämnet.

Kuriosa
I science fiction-serien Star Trek: The Next Generation är detta grundämne upptäckt och namngivet. I avsnittet "Rascals" finns ett "trans-periodiskt system" i ett klassrum. Där avbildas element nummer 123 som jamesium, med den kemiska symbolen Rj och atomvikten 326.

Referenser

Grundämnen
Periodiska systemet
Syntetiska grundämnen
Kärnfysik

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


In this podcast, we discuss mobile games, in particular the game Stack. We apply Ian Bogost's relaxation argument. We also discussed the nature of PC games compared to mobile games and the differences that come with each one.
Join us in this sometimes funny, sometimes cringy but informative podcast where we go into the world of the mobile app Pokemon Go. We get into topics such as exercise, nostalgia, personal experiences, potential dangers of this type of game, and even some live gameplay with a first time gamer. All of this with the help of our special guest Sam!
Imagine being in possession of a supernatural power, reversing time, which most people would dream to have. It might seem that this game is like any other but as we analyze it, we discover that this game mirrors our choices we might have to make and their consequences. In this Podcast, we relate this video game to Ian Bogost's term: "Empathy" and how it may be generated within the player.
Assassin's Creed is more than a game. If used correctly, it can be a tool to teach various historical events. In our podcast we play Assassin's Creed Unity, which takes place during the French Revolution. We look at the pros and cons of using Assassin's Creed as a teaching medium and whether or not Ubisoft created the game to teach history.


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Common People 90s indie night to be held in Hitchin
alan.davies@whtimes.co.uk
@alpdavies
PUBLISHED: 09:23 06 September 2019 | UPDATED: 09:45 06 September 2019
90s Indie Night will take place at Hitchin Town Hall
90s Indie Night
If you love 90s indie music, head over to Hitchin Town Hall this weekend.
Music by Oasis, Shed Seven, Pulp, Blur and The Bluetones can all be heard at the Brand Street venue on Saturday, September 7 at the latest Common People event.
The evening will feature DJs Ed The Saint, Colin Toms and Sarah Clarke, and expect to hear everything from Beastie Boys to Carter, Blur to Beck, The Charlatans to the Chemical Brothers, Cure to Cypress Hill, and Suede to The Wonder Stuff.
Organiser Jon Prayer said: "We will be playing all the indie anthems you remember from the 90s plus all those forgotten classics.
"Expect tracks from the likes of Nirvana, Blur, Cypress Hill, Carter, Primal Scream. Basically if it's danceable, it's in."
Promoters are also donating 10 per cent of proceeds to charity Helping Herts Homeless. Doors open at 8pm and the night finishes at 1am.
For more information, visit www.indienights.co.uk


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Q: How to delete a string from struct array I'm doing a project for displaying the table of a soccer championhip. The part that I'm struggling with is the deletion of a club by entering his name. I have, for example, the following record:
struct soccer_table_properties
{
    char name[LENGTH];
    int gscored;
    int gconceded;
    int points;
};

If I enter the name club in order to delete it, I also delete his gained points, gol scored and conceded, but I can't figure that. Can You help me, please?
For the deletion part, I tried this implementation but it doesn't work.
do {
        printf("Enter the club name: \n");
        scanf("%s", club[i].name);

        for (j = 0; j < i; j++) {
            res = strcmp(club[j].name, club[i].name);
            if (res == 0){
                true = 1;
                strcpy(club[j].name, 0);
                i--;
            }
        }

        if (true == 0) {
            printf("wrong number \n");
        }
   } while (true == 0);

A: I guess you are using a array of structures.so to delete an element you must move all the elements to right of element i.e left shift all of them after the element.or else if are making it 0 to represent deletion then it should be fine.in the code use "0".

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
using System.Collections.Generic;

namespace AngelFont.EqualityComparers
{
    /// <summary>
    /// Equality comparer for the <see cref="AngelFont.Font"/> class. This comparer performs a deep
    /// compare on the given objects.
    /// </summary>
    public sealed class FontEqualityComparer : IEqualityComparer<Font>
    {
        /// <summary>
        /// Determines whether the specified objects are equal.
        /// </summary>
        /// <returns>
        /// true if the specified objects are equal; otherwise, false.
        /// </returns>
        /// <param name="x">
        /// The first object of type <see cref="AngelFont.Font"/> to compare.
        /// </param>
        /// <param name="y">
        /// The second object of type <see cref="AngelFont.Font"/> to compare.
        /// </param>
        public bool Equals(Font x, Font y)
        {
            // If they are the same instance then they must be equal.
            if (ReferenceEquals(x, y))
            {
                return true;
            }

            // If they are both null then they are equal; otherwise not equal.
            if (x == null || y == null)
            {
                return x == null && y == null;
            }

            // Initialize sub comparers for this equality comparison.
            FontInfoEqualityComparer fontInfoComparer = new FontInfoEqualityComparer();
            FontCommonEqualityComparer fontCommonComparer = new FontCommonEqualityComparer();

            // Perform comparisons and return the result.
            return
                fontInfoComparer.Equals(x.Info, y.Info) &&
                fontCommonComparer.Equals(x.Common, y.Common) &&
                Equals(x.PageTable, y.PageTable) &&
                Equals(x.GlyphTable, y.GlyphTable) &&
                Equals(x.KerningTable, y.KerningTable);
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Returns a hash code for the specified object.
        /// </summary>
        /// <returns>
        /// A hash code for the specified object.
        /// </returns>
        /// <param name="obj">
        /// The <see cref="T:System.Object"/> for which a hash code is to be returned.
        /// </param>
        /// <exception cref="T:System.ArgumentNullException">
        /// The type of <paramref name="obj"/> is a reference type and <paramref name="obj"/> is
        /// null.
        /// </exception>
        public int GetHashCode([CanBeNull] Font obj)
        {
            return obj == null ? 0 : obj.GetHashCode();
        }
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


We help brands arrive at sales faster. Find out more about our Brand to Sales approach.
To give you an idea of the quality of our work, here's a brief selection. View all.
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Momiji's Community Bazaar is our largest annual fundraising event and is a much-loved community tradition. Each year, the Bazaar offers something for the entire family to enjoy: valuable bargains, delicious Japanese cuisine (including manju and sushi), a bake table with a vast assortment of goodies to enjoy, a large silent auction and a Collectibles (definitely Vintage … and possibly Antique) Corner where you are sure to find a treasure or two. Proceeds from the Bazaar support Momiji's Programs and Services.
VOLUNTEER: We rely heavily on volunteers to help on the day of the Bazaar and on the days before, with sorting of donations, our famous "sushi bee" and "manju bee," and set-up. If you are interested, please contact our Volunteer Services Manager at 416.261.6683 ext. 234 or volunteering@momiji.on.ca.
DONATE: We are always looking for donations of gently used, previously loved items such as Japanese items, Corningware and Pyrex tea pots and coffee pots, Mid-century modern pieces, and vintage linens. All donations are gratefully accepted, but please, no used clothing or furniture. To donate contact bazaar@momiji.on.ca.
COME & SHOP and bring your whole family!


Here are the process videos for my Buhle Painting. Still a bit skwonky and all over the place, but I am starting to feel more at home in Photoshop. Huzzah!
The second starts with a few quick colour comps before diving into the final piece.
I have very recently been diving head first into recording process videos for my art and dun dun dun… Here is the very first video up on YouTube!
But for now, here is the video, wobble and weird angles included, of a charcoal sketch for MerMay2018!
Please let me know what you think, and if you have any advice for recording large, easel based works, I am all eyes!
Do you know what makes me happy? Painting! Painting makes me happy! All that smooshy wooshy messy turpentine smelly gloriousness that is Painting Makes. Me. Happy.
Here are some progress shots from my Hogwarts Alumni Portrait. Still got a fair bit to go on it, and I've made some ridiculous errors (see weird blue section at bottom of robe) but I am super duper happy with the progress thus far.


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Economic forces may delay Bloomington's O'Neil Pool reopening until 2023
WGLT | By Ryan Denham
Bloomington city officials held a ceremonial groundbreaking for the O'Neil Pool and Park project on Oct. 20, 2021.
A summer of swimming may be the latest casualty of supply chain bottlenecks, rising prices, and a tight labor market.
Bloomington City Manager Tim Gleason said the opening of the rebuilt O'Neil Pool could be delayed until 2023. It was initially set for 2022, with construction starting this winter. A late-season 2022 opening is still possible, but 2023 is now more "realistic," he said.
"As we are advancing in that process, we're finding the lack of available contractors to fill certain portions of the project is a challenge. The flip side of that is, it's because they're all working in other areas of the region, so it's not all bad. For this specific municipal project, it is a challenge," Gleason said on WGLT's Sound Ideas.
Another challenge is the cost of supplies. Equipment that you need to build a pool, such as piping, is in short supply, which has led to higher prices, Gleason said.
"That's going the drive the price of that project up," he said. "We are victims no different than somebody on the home front, purchasing for their household."
The city approved funding for the new $11.8 million aquatic center in March. The city held a groundbreaking ceremony for the pool last month, and the old pool was demolished at the start of the pandemic. The old pool lasted 20 years past its life expectancy.
The slower timeline will give the city more time to "use the available contractors at a lesser cost, or what the norm is, what we projected," Gleason said.
"And definitely on the equipment side, hopefully the supply catches up and it does not cost us as much."
Support Nonprofit Journalism
Community support is the greatest funding source for WGLT. Donations from listeners and readers means local news is available to everyone as a public service. Join the village that powers public media with your contribution.
Local NewsBloomington City CouncilTim GleasonO'Neil Pool
Ryan Denham
Ryan Denham is the content director for WGLT and WCBU.
See stories by Ryan Denham
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Bloomington's city manager 'in no rush' to require staff vaccines, but wishes the rate was higher
Bloomington City Council adopts $26.8 million combined city, library tax levies
Bloomington to consider opioid settlement and tax levy increase for the library expansion


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RFK Jr. on the deaths of his father and uncle
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks with Tucker Carlson to share his thoughts on the assassinations of his father Robert F. Kennedy and his uncle John F. Kennedy.
Thursday, Decembet 17, 2020. So much to cover -- Andrew Cuomo, Jill Biden, Joe and Hunter and Iraq.
A lot to deal with this morning. First, Jonathan Turley writes:
There remains a blackout on the sexual harassment allegations against Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo by most major media outlets. Putting aside the striking lack of interest in comparison to the allegations raised against Justice Brett Kavanaugh, the controversy from that confirmation fight could raise difficult questions for Cuomo who not only insisted that Dr. Christine Blasey Ford must be believed but demanded that Kavanaugh take a polygraph examination. It is not clear if Cuomo will now follow his own standard and take a polygraph examination arranged by others.
During the Kavanaugh hearing, various Democratic leaders publicly insisted that "women must be believed" when raising sexual harassment allegations and declared Kavanaugh guilty before either he or Ford actually testified. Senator [Masie] Hirono publicly stated that Kavanaugh was not even entitled to any presumption of innocence. Indeed, Hirono insisted that men needed to "just shut up" and accept the allegations.
The view that "women must be believed" changed the minute that Joe Biden was accused of sexual assault and then refused to allow the review of his papers held under seal at the University of Delaware. Suddenly, figures like Nancy Pelosi and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer insisted that they believed Biden without any review such papers or even speaking with the alleged victim (a former Biden staffer). Ethics experts like Richard Painter attacked those who suggested that the accuser might be telling the truth as endangering the election. Others like Rep. Iihan Omar, Linda Hirschman, and Lisa Bloom found an even more startling resolution: they stated that Biden was clearly a rapist, but they would still vote for him.
The allegations raised by former [Cuomo] aide Lindsey Boylan are notably easier to confirm. She stated "Yes, [Cuomo] sexually harassed me for years. Many saw it, and watched. I could never anticipate what to expect: would I be grilled on my work (which was very good) or harassed about my looks. Or would it be both in the same conversation? This was the way for years."
These are not allegations that are decades old with few, if any, witnesses. Boylan worked for the governor's administration from 2015 to 2018 and says that there were many witnesses. Notably, the Kavanaugh hearing was in 2018.
I was not aware of this until last night when I saw Turley's writing on the topic. I then posted:
ALBANY JUST IN: Cuomo responds to SEXUAL HARASSMENT allegation
Andrew Cuomo tipped as attorney-general pick as sexual harassment allegations loom
That's a video of him denying the allegations and a video of SKY NEWS reporting on the allegations.
This site does not exist to cover for my friends nor do I want to look the other way. I like Andrew and have found him to be a good person. But that's my dealings with him. If Lindsey Boylan had another interaction, she has every right to speak about it. She is making an allegation and I do support everyone's right to do so. I have never stated "believe all women" or "believe all survivors." I do not support that belief. We are thinking creatures with analytical skills.
There are people who have come forward with assault, harassment or rape charges that I have believed and there are ones that I haven't believed. Unless the accuser makes some crazy statement that harms survivors (like the idiot who said rape was "sexy" while claiming she was raped), I'm not here to tear you down even if I don't believe you.
I hope the allegations aren't true. But someone has made the allegation and she deserves to be heard.
We started with that so I wouldn't be accused of playing favorites or ignoring a serious topic. Jill Biden's name has rarely appeared here. We made it through eight years without noting her once and did so because I know Jill. I'd like to make it through the next four years without mentioning her. If we praise her, we have to hold her accountable. If I don't note her here and there's some issue (as with Andrew above) I have to cover it or be a hypocrite.
But there are some issues that need to be addressed -- chiefly her role and Hunter Biden.
Let's start with her role. She is not "Dr. Jill Biden." She is First Lady Jill Biden.
We need to prepare for the day of a First Gentleman. It will be coming before you know it. If it is, for example, some spouse of David Petraeus, he will not be "Gen Petraeus." That's no longer the office he will be occupying.
Jill's a smart person. She doesn't need the "Dr" to prove that. More to the point, Michelle Obama is smart. The title of "First Lady" was just fine then. It was fine with Hillary Clinton. Both Michelle and Hillary held law degrees and they could practice law. Despite the massive stupidity of Whoop Goldberg, Jill is not a medical doctor. She has a phd in education. Even if she was a medical doctor -- Howard Dean's wife, for example, Judith Dean, once you become First Lady, that is your title. I was all for Judith going by Dr Dean in the campaign but had Howard been elected president, her medical degree had nothing to do with the office of First Lady and that would have been her title.
It's an office. The spouse isn't elected individually but they are part of the election. Jill walked out on stage after stage -- many more than Joe did after the pandemic struck. She campaigned for the office.
She now holds the office. Her title is First Lady. The same title that Michelle held, that Hillary held, that Nancy Reagan, Rosalyn Carter, Betty Ford, Pat Nixon, Laura Bush, etc have held. She has a staff now, that we pay for as taxpayers, she has offices in the White House that we also pay for. We are not paying for "Doctor of Education." We are paying for First Lady. If that's not good enough for her or for some of her supporters, they need to examine their own latent sexism and ask why?
We've addressed this issue before in many ways including noting David Petraeus was not "Gen" when he served as Director of the CIA. His title then was "Director." And if that wasn't good enough for him, he shouldn't have accepted the job. If "First Lady" isn't good enough, then the person should have talked their spouse out of running.
Hunter Biden.
If Jill would not comment on anything to do with Hunter other than with regards to him as a child (Jill raised him), I'd be fine with that and she'd be on solid ground. I don't mean "When Hunter was 12 . . ." I mean, if she shares the same boring tales that any of us who are parents share about our children, that's fine. But if she starts injecting herself into the legal aspects -- as she did on the campaign trail -- then reporters could and should press her for comments about his legal situation.
As First Lady, her role now, I am fine with her avoiding the topic of Hunter's legal mess. But if she starts getting into that now to defend him or whatever, she is opening the door and it is a valid question for the press to pursue.
If she wants to wall herself off from that, fine by me. But she cannot have it both ways. She cannot attack those raising questions or insist that Hunter is innocent and not respond when the press has questions on this topic. Better to just wall it off and be consistent. Better to reply, "I'm happy to talk about seeing him with his latest child and how happy they looked but I'm not going to discuss any legal issues or any allegations."
Hunter.
Joe does not have the same luxury. It is his name that Hunter traded on. And, so sorry to inform him, but "Dad of Hunter" is no longer his title. He wanted to be the President of the United States. His little baby Hunter falls down the list of priorities over the next four years.
He will not be in the White House to protect Hunter. If it even appears that he's attempting that, he should be censured (at the very least). That would be an abuse of the office.
Hunter. Yesterday, I saw a video where someone (I'm being kind) wanted to talk about Hunter's latest mess. And the man felt the need to say (paraphrasing), 'Look, I don't care about this either. There are more important things to talk about."
No, they're aren't and that remark was shameful.
Did the person mean it? I hope they just said it because of all the attacks if you speak of Hunter and reality.
But the guy said it and it needs to be called out (and next time when he says we will name and shame). Corruption. That's what we're talking about. And corruption always needs to be called out. We noted the idiot -- just like her pill popping mother -- who wanted to whine that Ivanka Trump has done similar things in the last four years. And we noted this isn't an either/or. You can call both out. You can prosecute both. And you should.
Hunter's corruption goes back decades.
There need to be consequences.
To say that it doesn't matter? Oh, okay. So there are things that matter if it's your average citizen but then if you're the child of a powerful politician, it doesn't? So we have a two-tier justice system?
To say that it doesn't matter? That's to say that corruption doesn't matter. I don't agree with that. I don't support that and I don't believe most Americans do.
Ending government corruption may not be 'sexy' but many have tried to tackle it -- some have even made it a lifelong pursuit. And to imply that this is a minor or unimportant or trivial issue is to lie to yourself and to others. Corruption is wrong.
And Joe's mouthed words about the appearance of conflict. That is the standard for elected officials -- they are to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest.
If Joe can't do that, he doesn't need to be president.
And idiots like Chuck Rosenberg going on MSNBC should be ashamed of themselves. It's not the time? Then when is the time, you liar? If anything, it's way past time.
And let's be clear that unemployed Americans aren't getting $400,000 or more in corrupt deals. But we can look the other way for Joe Biden's son? No. Especially not while Americans are suffering.
Here's KDKA's Andy Sheehan reporting on the story.
In Iraq, things are getting worse. Another protester assassinated, liquor stores bombed and now, ALJAZEERA reports, a professor assassinated:
The gunman fled the scene immediately after shooting al-Sharifi at Al-Manara University College, sources said.
In a statement, IHCHR warned of the return of a "series of assassinations" targeting Iraqi academics and university professors, and called on the government to create legislation to protect them.
The commission warned that if the state continues to fail to protect them, many revered academics would have no option but to leave the country at a time when Iraq needs to rebuild.
The brain drain. It's taken place in waves throughout the ongoing Iraq War as professors, technocrats, doctors and nurses have been targeted. Again, while few are noticing, things are getting worse in Iraq. Don't tell the Kenny Pollards of the world who are too busy pimping for Mustafa al-Kadhimi the way that they once pimped for the illegal war.
There brain drains elsewhere -- specifically in the mind of the jerk who Tweeted this:
I am not against women joining military, they are brave and patriotic as any Male soldier. I am concerned about sexual assault, rape by enemy soldiers in case they are captured during war! Even US women soldiers had to face it during iraq & Afghanistan!
If you were concerned, you'd be informed and you're not. No "US women soldiers had to face" being assaulted "by enemy soldiers" in Iraq or Afghanistan. The women in the military who were assaulted, whether it was Suzanne Swift or anyone else, were assaulted by their peers, by US troops. Excuse me, by their peers or by their superiors -- "command rape" is the term that the ongoing wars has popularized.
The reactionaries are always pretend to care but they never care enough to know what they're talking about.
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Turley on Swalwell and Ava and C.I. on disco
Dr. Flowers is right
pardon him
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Mae Brussells on the Kennedy assassination
John Barbour
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The true reality


Are you receiving your benefits?
What the Chamber did in January?
The Bedford Sign Bylaw Committee is presenting it's recommendations to the Selectman on Monday February 4th at 7:30pm in Town Hall. This is a public hearing. The purpose of the meeting is to get the proposed changes on the warrant to present to Town Meeting on April 1st (any Sign Bylaw changes need to be voted on at Town Meeting).
We encourage you to attend the meeting and provide your feedback and support on the proposed changes. The Sign Bylaw Committee has been working hard over the past year to address business concerns. While not all concerns have yet been addressed, the proposed changes are an important first step and should prove useful for most businesses in town.
The Bedford Chamber of Commerce kicked off 2013 with their monthly meeting drawing nearly 100% of the board. The chamber is ready to kick the year into gear with more programs that will help support local Bedford businesses. Including networking with other towns around issues such as public transportation and other ways they attract young talent to local businesses.
One of the many programs the chamber offers is the Bedford First Program. The Bedford First Program encourages more than 150 Chamber-member companies and their 5000 plus employees to prefer other Chamber members when making buying decisions. The offers are valid for both corporate and personal purchases, and as we continue to accept new discounts offers throughout the year, we will update the list of participating companies on a monthly basis. A Bedford First card will be available to Chamber members and their employees. The card entitles members to many valuable discounts, from restaurants and accommodations to local attractions. There is no fee to participate in the program. Members simply present their card at participating businesses to receive discounts on many products and services.
Are you sure your company or organization is receiving all of the benefits of Chamber membership? Look at the list below and place a check next to the programs/events your company participates in. You may be surprised at the opportunities you are missing.
I have been a guest on the Chambers Cable show "Chamber Connections"
I promote my business by taking advantage of specialty advertising opportunities, such as the town planner, the Chamber map, and our web site.
I network with my fellow Chamber members by attending the Annual Dinner, Monthly card exchanges, Flavors of Bedford and other events.
I display my Chamber Plaque where customers can see it.
I have sponsored Chamber events throughout the year.
I have checked the Chamber Insurance to see if I could be saving money.
I have informed the Chamber office of my website or any changes in my current listing.
I encourage other businesses to participate and take advantage of the benefits of being a Bedford Chamber of Commerce member.
Well how did you do? Out of the 20 items listed, to what extent are you taking advantage of your Chamber membership benefits and participating? Your Chamber membership cannot benefit your business without your participation.
The Bedford Chamber of Commerce is at your disposal as a vehicle to enhance your business and the community serves. If you would like information on any of the services listed above, please free to contact the Chamber office.
Friday evening January 11th, about 100 well wishers gathered at the Bedford TV Station to celebrate the premiere season of the new show, "Let's Get Fit!" with Sandy Morvillo, a local health and fitness expert. The show has two formats: An Interview Show and a Workout Show. In the Interview Show, Sandy sits down with her guests and discusses their fitness issues and goals and then provides them with a comprehensive fitness and health "game plan" tailored to meet their needs. In the Workout Show, she takes viewers through a high impact exercise workout and offers modifications so viewers can follow along appropriately at their own pace. Sandy is excited about the show as she believes it will allow her to reach even more people right in their own homes. According to Madeleine Altmann, Executive Director at Bedford TV, "The viewer response has been very positive. I am impressed how many of our senior citizens are tuning in and working out. It's so great to have this kind of programming on Bedford TV."
Sandy has long been passionate about helping people of all ages and fitness backgrounds live healthier lives. For over 20 years, the 43 year old mother of two, has helped countless people of all ages live more healthfully by providing classes such as kick boxing, weight training and total body conditioning as well as fitness clinics for children and adolescents. She exemplifies a "complete health" lifestyle that encompasses daily exercise, eating well and a holistic approach to health care. Her high energy, motivational ability and achievement of results has garnered her many followers. She is the Group Fitness Director of Summit Health Club in Bedford, MA where she teaches classes as well as runs a popular Women's Boot Camp through the Bedford Recreation Department. She continues to work as the conditioning coach for the Bedford Boy's Football Team which she has done for several years and also provides personal training for clients seeking a one to one fitness program.
The interview shows vary in topic with the three currently being shown focusing on Maintaining Balance and Consistency, Incorporating Healthful Living into a Busy Lifestyle and Diabetes Related Issues and Health. There will be many more shows to follow in 2013. The shows can be viewed on Bedford TV on Comcast Channel 8 and Verizon channel 38 (check "TV Guide" for the schedule). The shows can also be seen on YouTube by searching "Sandy Morvillo" or "Bedford TV."
If you would like to learn more about Sandy or apply to be a guest on her interview show, please visit her web site at sandymorvillo.com . She is also available on facebook at "sandymorvillo.com."
The Bedford First Program kicked off in January and we already have 12 members signed up. All chamber members are getting their Bedford First Member Cards with their 2013 Chamber decal.
Hi, I am ----------------, from -------------- and I am a Bedford Business.
I love doing doing business in Bedford because _______________.
The Bedford Chamber is looking for a Few Good Retailers.
A new Retail Group has been formed whose mission is to make it easier to do retail business in Bedford. The group meets approximately once per month and works on issues such as Signs, Zoning, Promoting Bedford Businesses and more. We're looking for a two to three more retailers. If you're interested in helping your business and the retail business in Bedford succeed, please reply to this email.
The Bedford Historical Society is happy to announce that some of thier most popular merchandise, formally only available at the office or at the Freight House Store, is now available through the Bedford Freight House Online. Please visit the Bedford Freight House Online when searching for any Bedford-related merchandise.
Orders can be placed any time of the day or night and paid for using credit cards and PayPal! We will continue to add items over the next few months. Please feel free to email us at info@bedfordmahistory.org if there are any additional Bedford Historical Society books or merchandise that you would like to find available online.
FREE informational seminar on how to produce dollars for training. Shawsheen Technical Institute and the Mass Workforce Training Fund are providing 2 free workshops on either February 5th or February 21st, both at 10 am. Merrimack Valley businesses can learn how to use state funding to more effectively train their workforce. Workshops will be held at Shawsheen Technical Institute, located at Shawsheen Valley Technical High School, 100 Cook Street, Billerica, MA. Learn more online at: www.shawsheeninstitute.org.
Genetti's Wine & Spirits, Inc.


Q: I'd like to take out a loan against my home's equity, what are the differences between a home equity line of credit (HELOC) and a typical home equity loan? How does an environment of rising interest rates impact each choice?
A: It's true that most financial experts are predicting an interest rate hike (or multiple hikes) this year. With rising rates, borrowing against the equity of one's home will likely become a more popular choice. That's because people will choose to fund home renovations and other high-priced needs with their equity instead of moving to a new home with a mortgage that has higher interest rates. Refinancing their existing mortgage for a lower payment will no longer be a viable option either, since they probably already have a great rate they won't want to give up.
A home equity line of credit is a revolving credit line that allows you to borrow money as needed to a limit, with your home serving as collateral for the loan. Lenders approve applicants for a specific amount of credit by taking a percentage of their home's appraised value and subtracting the balance owed on the mortgage. They may also consider any outstanding debt you have, your income and your credit history.
If you're approved for a HELOC, you can spend the funds however you choose. Some plans do have restrictions, though, and may require you to borrow a minimum amount each time, keep a specific amount outstanding or withdraw an initial advance when the line of credit is first established.
HELOCs allow for more freedom than fixed home equity loans. Since you're opening a line of credit and not borrowing a set amount, you can withdraw money as needed from the HELOC over the course of a set amount of time known as the "draw period." This is especially beneficial if you're renovating your home or using the money to start a new business and don't know exactly how much money you'll need to fund your venture.
Repayment options on HELOCs vary, but are usually very flexible. When the draw period ends, some lenders will allow you to renew the credit line and continue withdrawing money. Other lenders will require borrowers to pay back the entire loan amount at the end of the draw period. Others allow you to make payments over another time period known as the "repayment period."
HELOCs have variable interest rates. This means the interest you're paying on the loan can fluctuate over the life of the loan, sometimes dramatically. This variable is based on a publicly available index, such as the U.S. Treasury Bill rate, and will rise or fall along with this index. Lenders will also add a few percentage points, called margin, of their own.
Obviously, taking out a HELOC in an environment of rising interest rates means your rates are likely to increase over the life of the loan. In addition, HELOCs that only require repayment of principal at the end of the term can also prove to be difficult for some borrowers. If you have trouble managing your monthly budget, you may not be able to pay back the full amount on time. In that case, you will be forced to refinance with another lender, possibly at an unfavorable interest rate.
A home equity loan, also secured by your home's equity, allows you to borrow a fixed amount that you receive in one lump sum. The amount you will qualify for is calculated based on your home's loan-to-value ratio, payment term, your income and your credit history. Most home equity loans have a fixed interest rate, a fixed term and a fixed monthly payment.
The primary benefit a fixed home equity loan has over a HELOC is its fixed interest rate. This means the borrower knows exactly how much their monthly payment will be for the entire life of the loan. In an environment of rising rates, this is especially beneficial for the borrower, as their loan will not be subject to the increasing rates of other loans. Also, the interest paid on a home equity loan is often 100% tax deductible (consult your tax advisor for details).
Unlike the repayment policy of HELOCs, every payment on a home equity loan includes both principal and interest. Some loans allow borrowers to pay back larger sums if they choose, but many will charge a penalty for early payments. Regardless of policy, at the end of the loan term, the entire amount is paid up and you can forget about the loan.
Taking out a fixed home equity loan means paying several fees. Receiving all the funds in one shot can also be problematic if you find that you need more than the amount you borrowed. Also, the set amount is due every month, regardless of your financial standing at the time. And, of course, if you default on the loan, you may lose your house.
Carefully weigh the pros and cons of each kind of loan before tapping into your home equity. Shop around for the best rates and terms, and be sure to calculate whether you can really afford the monthly payments of your chosen loan.
Don't forget to call, click, or stop by USCCU to find out about the loans we have available for you.
Your Turn: Have you ever borrowed against your home's equity? Share your experience with us in the comments!


Ngati Pakeha Tiki are a celebration of being Pakeha in this country. These artworks say that the Tiki is ubiquitous in all that we do, no matter where we travel. Ngati Pakeha Tiki come from a line of work I was painting in the early 2000s. They are updated and printed but the longevity of the acceptance and love of them speak to a deep trust and joy.They say that everything in the World now has a little of New Zealand-Aotearoa in it and acknowledge that Tiki all have a little of every part of the World in them.


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Home > Space > GSAT-7A and India's growing military space needs
GSAT-7A and India's growing military space needs
The December launch of the GSAT-7A satellite is the latest sign that India is devoting more resources to military space capabilities. (credit: ISRO)
by Ajey Lele
Military space programs made a lot of news in 2018. Obviously, the announcement by the White House to re-establish US Space Command is a major story to end the year. That came six months after President Trump announced his desire to establish a sixth branch of the US military, the Space Force. Without offering any value judgement of his decisions, it could be said that US armed forces are tasked with various military campaigns in different regions of the world and obviously the need for space assets is significant. Whether or not the existing structures are sufficient to manage existing and future military space requirements is an argument for another essay.
Countries like Japan, which have a limited security mandate, are keen to increase space-related military investments as well. The defense budget projections for the year 2019 by the Japan Ministry of Defense indicate that they are keen to establish cross-domain expertis, including space and cyber. The ministry is asking for significant funding for development of space situational awareness (SSA) systems and for strengthening of other space-supported systems. They also want to study a proposed space-based optical telescope to gather information about space debris and unidentified objects that fly around Japan's satellites in geostationary orbit. Japan modified their national space policy in 2015 by adding a focus on security.
These broad global and reginal state-specific investments could be viewed as representative cases, in a limited sense, regarding how spacefaring nations are making investments in military space capabilities. India's launch of a military communication satellite, GSAT-7A, on December 19 could be regarded as a continuation of this global policy and practice in some sense.
GSAT-7A is a geostationary satellite, located at 63 degrees east longitude, weighing 2250 kilograms with a lifespan of eight years. This satellite was launched essentially to cater to the requirements of the Indian Air Force (IAF).
Why is India investing in the military space domain and are these investments adequate?
India's space agency ISRO, since its inception a half-century ago, has been tasked to undertake missions that clearly have a civilian and socioeconomic developmental mandate. India spends approximately 0.04 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) in the space arena. ISRO's initial focus was on launching multipurpose satellites. More recently, India has started launching satellites that are designated for specific purposes like remote sensing and communications. India has undertaken missions to Moon and Mars, but they were more of technology demonstration missions and carried only a small scientific payload.
Against this backdrop, India's space program could be considered more modest in comparison with those of the US, Russia, China and Europe. However, this modest program is serving an economy that is the world's sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and is the third largest by purchasing power parity. Its population is approximately 18 percent of the total world population. On a strategic front, India has major unresolved border issues with its neighbors, Pakistan and China, with whom it has fought five wars during last seven decades. India has the world's second largest military force, with approximately 1.5 million personnel in active military service. India, Pakistan, and China are have nuclear weapons and missiles.
Many space-based assets are known to be dual-use systems, including those operated by India. From the 1970s to the 1990s, Indian armed forces were dependent more on tweaking the available civilian data for their use. As India's armed forces started modernizing and also as ISRO started transforming, military requirements also started becoming clearer. Like any other nation, it is obvious that the effective use of space technologies during the 1991 Gulf War must have influenced the Indian military thinking.
Since the 1980s, India has launched nearly 40 communications satellites, of which about ten are currently operational. However, the first communication satellite exclusively for military use was launched only in September 2013: GSAT-7, a multi-band military communications satellite developed by ISRO for use by the Indian Navy. There was a longstanding demand by the IAF for a satellite that GSAT-7A is designed to fulfill. GSAT-7A will provide services in Ku-band and offers a secure mode of communication expected to facilitate exclusive-frequency flight communications for the IAF. The IAF's various bases are spread across India, including deserts, jungles and mountains. The Ku-band links are expected to offer uninterrupted connectivity that is less susceptible to disruptions caused by rain. This satellite will help IAF link its airbases, radar stations, Airborne Early Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft, and manage the activities of drones. India is expected to launch one or two more military communications satellites in the near future, with the Indian Army expected to be the next beneficiary.
Remote sensing is one arena where ISRO has developed significant expertise over the years. ISRO has more than ten operational remote sensing satellites currently, which provide data in a variety of spatial, spectral, and temporal resolutions. This information is used for many purposes, such as land and water resource management, drought/irrigation monitoring, urban planning, forest surveys, cop health monitoring, identifying mineral deposits, and coastal studies.
Some of these satellites also have a specific defense utility. On October 22, 2001, the Technology Experiment Satellite (TES) was launched was launched by ISRO. This satellite had a resolution of lesser than one meter. India's pursuit to use satellite technology for defense in a very systematic way could be said to have begun with the launch of this satellite. Over the last decade, India has established one major constellation of satellites called Cartosat (cartographic satellites), which largely is known to have defense applications:
Name of Satellite
Cartosat 1 5 May 2005 2.5 m
Cartosat2 10 Jan 2007 < 1 m
Cartosat2A 28 Apr 2008 80 cm Perceived to be dedicated satellite for the Indian Armed Forces
Cartosat2B 12 Jul 2010 < 80 cm
Cartosat2C 22 Jun 2016 < 80 cm Used for weather mapping too
Cartosat2D 15 Feb 2017 < 80 cm
Cartosat2E 23 Jun 2017 < 80 cm
Cartosat 2F 12 Jan 2018 < 80 cm
Cartosat3 Proposed system Expected to be around 30 cm For land & infrastructure mapping, enhanced disaster monitoring, and damage assessment
A few other important remote sensing satellites with dual-use capability include satellites in RESOURCESAT series (1, 2, 2A) and weather satellites like SARAL and Megha-Tropiques. Similarly, there are a few satellites are in the Oceansat 1 and 2 series as well as the Radar Imaging Satellites called RISAT 1 and 2.
However, India's remote sensing satellite inventory is grossly insufficient for India's needs. India shares borders with seven nations, starteching for more than 15,000 kilometers on land, as well as more than 7,500 kilometers of coastline. Although India has major challenges to manage its borders with Pakistan and China, keeping an eye on its other borders is also important. Most of these borders are open borders, and the intrusion of terrorists can take place from those regions too To have all-terrain, all-weather, continuous monitoring of these borders, India needs many more sophisticated remote sensing satellites.
In the arena of navigation, India has put in place an Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) which is now called as NAVIC (NAVigation with Indian Constellation). This is a seven-satellite regional system, with all seven satellites currently in orbit. This system offers two levels of service, a "standard positioning service" for civilian use and a "restricted service" that is encrypted for for military use.
The military's requirements for satellites are much more than what India has today. In the arena of satellite-based navigation, India seems to have taken the first successful step. NAVIC, when declared fully operational. would be able to largely serve India's requirements. However, there is a case for India developing a global satellite navigational network, both for commercial and strategic reasons.
While India has no extraterritorial ambitions, and the basic job for the Indian armed forces is to safeguard its own borders, India wants to ensure a conducive security environment for making economic progress and maintaining social harmony. For this, India needs to ensure that there is safe access for global trade and management of energy security. Also, the humanitarian operations after the 2005 Asian tsunami, and anti-piracy operations off the coast of Somalia undertaken by the Indian Navy, highlight the need for India to remain prepared for any out-of-area contingency. The Indian diaspora continues to grow and ensuring their safety is important. In 2015, Indian armed forces undertook Operation Raahat to evacuate Indian citizens and foreign nationals during the Yemeni crisis. To undertake such delicate tasks, a satellite navigational system with global reach is essential.
Today, Indian armed forces are expected to remain prepared to handle asymmetric threats as well as conventional and nuclear warfare scenarios. In addition, there is significant dependence on military forces for disaster response management and to undertake out-of-area contingency operations when needed. Space is an important domain that would assist India's armed forces to address all these challenges. Therefore, India needs to enhance its capabilities in space. More importantly, India needs to invest in systems beyond reconnaissance, navigation, and communications systems. India needs to expand its existing infrastructure and add signals intelligence satellites as well. India could also make greater use of small satellites. Overall, there is a clear need for India to increase its investment in the military satellite arena.
Aerospace Space 2019-02-19
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I'm supposed to be working, trying to read an email from Amy, who contacted me looking for hope. Her mother's world is being hammered by the cruel reality of uncontrolled hoarding. Like Amy, my mother is a hoarder, and my personal knowledge and experiences draw family members, friends, and even those who hoard to me for help, hope and even healing.
I hear my girls' laughter bubbling through their bedroom door and down the hall as they play with their Fisher-Price dollhouse.They are laughing and playing, and I can hear the clink of plastic as they arrange and re-arrange the furniture in the dollhouse. Although I know that I am supposed to be working right now, I want so badly to just peek in and watch my daughters play.
In this moment, I am reminded of the bridge that adult children like myself represent. At one end of the bridge is a childhood filled with memories — no, nightmares! — of a home overflowing with stuff, detritus, treasures and trash. At the other end is the carefully protected joy of the next generation, our own children, who will never experience such an environment. For me, although my career has taken me into many hoarded homes and nightmarish childhoods like my own, I work hard to keep my children from these experiences.
I sneak down the hall and look inside the door. Before me are two beautiful little girls in a bright, sparsely decorated room lying on the floor playing with a pink dollhouse. Their joy can't cut through the numbness with which I have acquainted myself as an insulator. Instead of smiling, I am grimacing. Their laughter has drawn me into the painful memories of the past.
The past is back again, and I wonder if I will ever heal enough so that those memories can't find their way back anymore.
It must have been 1982, the last year that my presents were under the Christmas tree in the corner of the great room within the old townhouse. Growing accumulations of my mother's craft supplies, papers, books, and random items prevented us from reaching the tree in the years that followed. The string lights we'd hung on it when it was first decorated, possibly two years prior, must have been of the highest quality. They faithfully lit up twice daily for nearly a decade, when we once again were able to reach the tree in its corner.
That year, Mother assembled a dollhouse from a kit, placing it on a chair to the left of the tree. It was sad and sparse, almost an ironic symbol amid the clutter of our home. The whole of the miniature house was bland and naked, au natural, save for one wallpapered wall in its living room. Not a single part of the dollhouse, not the roof, exterior walls, door, floors or stairs were painted or decorated. Inside, there were maybe three pieces of furniture in it, and no dolls to play with.
Mother intended for me to respond with glee to this wooden dollhouse. Instead, I'm quite certain my response was flat. This was not the house I'd dreamed of, where dolls would live amongst beautiful decorations and miniature pieces. It was not the home of dreams coming true amidst carefully chosen pieces, fabrics, and colors. I wanted a dollhouse that could be the home our house was not — a home devoid of stairs dripping with bags of forgotten treasures and "great deals," beds surrounded by "supplies for a rainy day" that never came, and a kitchen with failing appliances that could not be reached for use anyway.
Suddenly, my mood seems to have struck my daughter. Her giggles fade, turning to curiosity, "Mommy, are you okay?" I am retracted from this surreal visit back in time to the adorable little girls playing on the floor before me. For a moment.
The floor! I cannot remember once as a child lying on the floor to play with my dollhouse, or any other toy in my home. We had enough bare floor to navigate from one place to another, but never to sit down on, to play on, to sweep or vacuum. Perhaps this is why I never played with that dollhouse — a lack of floor space, and not the lack of furniture or dolls.
In years long gone, my mother would brag about the effort she put into making that house for me, working into the wee hours to surprise me for Christmas. She was blissfully oblivious to the pain such gifts caused me until just a few years ago. It would have been easier if she had simply woken up to the pain growing up in our hoarded home had caused me, continues to cause me. Mother's lack of insight is common in hoarding behavior — destroying relationships, childhood wishes and family dreams with a terrifying and haphazard deftness.
In the past three years, my mother has become available to me in a way that I never thought possible. The mental health struggles that robbed me of a healthy childhood have been mediated by treatment and intervention. When I left my childhood home and Mother, I carried with me a piece of the chaos and the hoarding. I knew that someday Mother's hoarding would become my problem, my responsibility, my burden to bear. Unfortunately, healing came long after her world fell apart and the struggle to clean up the hoard came.
Healing comes slowly sometimes. It comes in bits and spurts. Nearly two years after we'd cleared out the hoarded house and moved Mother into a clean apartment, we began family counseling.
"It never felt like it was about me." The boxes of my mother's old clothes that blocked my toy box screamed out to me that my life was never about me. And if the stuff hadn't spoken so clearly, my mother's rage and screaming fits would have done the job adequately. "If only I hadn't kept you," she would accuse.
As an only child, I recognized the blessing that no other children had to face the same treatment. Being an only child meant that when it got really bad, there was no one else to share the weight of Mother's anger and blame. Some days, I was the parent and caregiver. Often, I was the scapegoat. I spent other days balancing the roles of clown, enabler, and invisible child. I learned quickly that each of these roles had appropriate usages; I learned even more quickly that I couldn't know which one was best.
My familiarity with these multiple roles as an only child who survived the hoard is an asset today. I use this knowledge, familiarity, and intimate understanding to help the families and individuals our organization, Lightening the Load, supports as they overcome hoarding behaviors. This expertise is why individuals like Amy look for me, and the healing I've received is what I want to share with them: hope.
These various roles and the dysfunctional dynamic of the family affected by hoarding are at the heart of the film, Clutter (launching on iTunes and all other leading VOD platforms on May 8 ). Written by Paul Marcarelli, the film gives a fresh perspective of hoarding through the experiences of the Bradford family. The journey into not only the family home but the interpersonal relationships represents the shame-filled, dirty truth of family dynamics and the lasting effects of growing up with a parent who hoards.
I recognize the struggles of these siblings as my own. The oldest Bradford child, Charlie, attempts to balance the contradictory desire to love his mother, make her happy, and fix her problem. Lisa, the middle Bradford child, is typical of the scapegoat and clown roles, a personal life marked by violence, chemical abuse, and dark humor. Yet none seem to free her from the effects of her mother's hoarding. Penny, the youngest of the Bradford clan, rounds out the siblings. Beautiful and poignant in her role as the voiceless and invisible child, she attempts to fix her broken world and family through her dollhouse and home staging career, seeking to please those around her at any cost. I know these siblings and their roles intimately, personally.
My children will not know these roles. Not ever. I will fight everyday to become the parent they deserve, and to protect them from this type of pain as best I can. I will instill in them the hope and knowledge that we can do more than simply survive; we can overcome and thrive. When I return to my desk, I respond to Amy's plea for help with her mother's hoarding and the family dysfunction, and I realize that my experiences have made the bridge between the past and the future strong and stable.
Dear Amy, before I tell you about how we might be able to help your mom, I want you to know one thing. Your mom has created this situation on her own. You are not responsible for it, no matter what she or others have told you. You didn't make her become a hoarder, a clutterer, or a mother. The first step in the process is for you to know this. It isn't easy. I have to acknowledge it myself on a daily basis. You've made it this far; you're a survivor. But rest assured, there's help, healing and hope available. We are here!


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text:
Q: Ubuntu 12.10 can't adjust brightness on my laptop I can't adjust the screen brightness on my HP 2000-2b09WM 15.6-Inch Laptop. Everything is standard on this machine. I have absolutely no idea where to start. Any help would be welcome, as I can only get about 3 hours of battery life as is. I was getting almost 5 hours on windows 8, with the screen as dim as it could get. I use this machine to take notes in school and do assignments between classes, and finding an outlet isn't always an option, but neither is booting back into windows, gross.
edit: I hope this goes without saying, but I've tried the brightness buttons on my keyboard as well as trying to adjust the brightness in the settings. I'm using the cinnamon desktop, if that makes a difference, but the problem is still there with unity.

A: To get working brightness key. try following
press Alt+f2 , execute gksudo gedit /etc/default/grub
Change this line
GRUB_CMLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash"
to something like below
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash acpi_backlight=vendor"
Open a terminal by Alt+ctrl +T, Execute sudo update-grub and reboot . See if brightness keys are working.

If the above is not working set a fixed value for brightness. To do so,
Open a terminal by pressing Alt+ctrl+T.
Type ls /sys/class/backlight/*/brightness, copy the outputs to a separate text file
The possibility is there will be two paths,try the following for each path and replace accordingly
example paths will be like
/sys/class/backlight/acpi_video0/brightness

Run following commands in terminal,

*

*For the above path Get the maximum brightness:

cat  /sys/class/backlight/acpi_video0/max_brightness
Try a lower value to set the brightness, say output is 16 so I will try with half of it
echo 8 | sudo tee  /sys/class/backlight/acpi_video0/brightness
If this works,  make this happen in each login automatically by doing the following
gksu gedit /etc/rc.local
Enter this line just before exit 0. It should look like
echo YOUR_VALUE_HERE > /sys/class/backlight/acpi_video0/brightness
exit 0

Also you can try with xdotool
More info here.

A: I had this problem for some time and I found the solution for my HP ELitebook. My problem was graphics driver.
Screen brightness hot keys did work, but brightness didn't change. In this case you don't need to change grub file...
Hotkeys: To set brightness hotkeys you can use Global Keyboard shortcuts KDE control module. In section KDE Daemon you can set keys for Decrease/increase monitor brightness
This should change current value that in file: /sys/class/backlight/acpi_video0/brightness
echo 7 > /sys/class/backlight/acpi_video0/brightness

will change current brightness to 7.
If all this works but brightness still doesn't change, then you have the same problem as I had: drivers.
Your Laptop is using AMD Radeon HD graphics driver and you'll have to download latest driver here:
http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/Pages/index.aspx
To install driver
First remove old stuff by:
sudo apt-get remove --purge fglrx*
sudo apt-get remove --purge xserver-xorg-video-ati xserver-xorg-video-radeon
sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg

then install your new driver:
sudo chmod 755 ./amd-driver-installer-12-4-x86.x86_64.run
sudo ./amd-driver-installer-12-4-x86.x86_64.run

***VERY IMPORTANT: if/when it gives you the number options like [1] DO NOT HIT ENTER, you must actually enter the number 1 then enter.
sudo aticonfig --initial

There is also a good idea to install "Catalyst Control Center"...
For people with Intel onboard graphics, go to this url to check the solution:
http://ubuntuku.org/10/how-to-fix-intel-graphics-issues-in-kubuntu-maverick/
There are also other useful posts on this (add http):
help.ubuntu.com/community/BinaryDriverHowto/ATI
ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2088043
wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Backlight
The best way to solve problems like this is to narrow down the location of the real problem and not trying everything that you find about topic. Hope that this will help you and others with this problem ;)
Cheers!
Gregor


Comparing two aerial images from the Badlands, viewed via GoogleMap. One is a bombing target carved into the earth by the military (the bottom portion of the target is less visible, so it may be grazed now, and if so, I am guessing there is a cattle-fence running through the center of the old target). The other location is a Sundance (ceremonial) site. Sacred and Profane; within field-glass view of each other. It is hard to shift our perspectives. Try walking around all day looking at the world through a magnifying glass. The fact that we can see our daily terrain from the perspective of plane-photos and satellite imagery is really a major paradigm-shift. Here is an aerial view of the Minuteman Missile Silo I visited, just north of the Badlands…. and the aerial view of a Badlands prairie dog town. I am really amazed that all of these patterns are so strikingly visible at such distances.


text:
The roots of a plant in the legume family with nodules
(the roundish bumps) where the Rhizobia bacteria live
When I think of bacteria, I think of sick people. Anthrax, leprosy, and bubonic plague as well as more minor infections all involve bacteria. And to think about a fungus makes me think about mold growing on a loaf of bread that has gotten old. To think that these microorganisms might form relationships with plants makes me concerned for the health of the plant! However, while there are plant diseases caused by these microscopic organisms, other bacteria and fungi actually help out plants.
Bacteria are the classic example of the unlikely relationships between microbe and plant. It all starts when a legume plant sends out a message looking for available Rhizobia bacteria of a certain kind. The Rhizobia respond to the call and move into the residence that the plant builds; this residence is called a nodule and looks like a small bump on the plant's root. The plant then starts feeding the bacteria. In turn, the bacteria use their ability to take nitrogen from the air, and it gives that nitrogen to the plant. While the air is nearly 80% nitrogen, plants cannot use the nitrogen directly from the air so the service that the bacteria provide is quite valuable to the plant. In the end, both the plant and bacteria are happy and getting something from the other that they cannot produce by themselves.
Certain fungi, referred to as mycorrhizae, have a similar relationship with plants. They invade the plant's roots and obtain food. Producing food is what a plant does well as plants are one of the few organisms that produce their own food; most organisms eat other animals or plants as their source of food. The fungus, on the other hand has a different specialty that is useful to the plant. It has an ability to explore more soil than the plant's roots in search of water and nutrients; the fungus' mycelium are both more abundant and smaller than plant roots so they can explore more soil. It then brings this extra water and nutrients to the plant. Mycorrhizal fungi also have the ability to alter the chemistry of the soil to extract certain nutrients that the plant could not get on its own. These fungi seem to be especially important in the acquisition of phosphorus. Many plants, but not all, have a relationship with mycorrhizae, and wherever these relationships exist, they benefit both plant and fungus.
Since not all plants form a relationship with nitrogen-fixing bacteria or water and nutrient-acquiring fungi, it is important to have a diversity of plants. After the plant that hosts the microorganism uses the nutrients, they can be recycled in the soil and used by other plants that do not have the ability to form these relationships with bacteria and fungi. For folks aiming to produce forage for livestock, these relationships are the equivalent of free fertilizer. Having these plants means the production of more forage for livestock. For wildlife enthusiasts, these microorganism-plant relationships produce food (e.g. foliage and seeds) that are more nutritious (e.g. higher in protein and minerals). Landscapers, who are always concerned about blooms, should see more blooms where more nutrients are available; it is the equivalent of a bloom-booster fertilizer. Lastly, those folks interested in restoring glades, prairies, and savannas should appreciate these relationships, if for no other reason, just because they are a part of our native grasslands. A diversity of plants yields a diversity of relationships with microorganisms which, in the end, is beneficial to us humans.


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text:
Top Things to Do in New York This May
Apr 12, 2019 by I LOVE NY Staff
We've made it through the winter and April's showers will soon be forgotten—get ready for May flowers and perfect weather throughout New York State. This year, we're celebrating special occasions like Walt Whitman's 200th birthday and the 50th anniversaries of both the Stonewall Uprising and Woodstock with a variety of events leading up to this summer. Other activities of note across the regions will get you exploring nature and outer space (kind of), playing on carnival rides, and feasting on cupcakes, apple butter, and cuisines from around the world!
Eat ADK Restaurant Week (Adirondacks)
If you've been meaning to explore the Adirondacks in the gorgeous spring weather, take this event as a sign that the time is now! May 2 through 9, restaurants all over Lake Placid, Saranac Lake, Tupper Lake, Wilmington, and Long Lake are offering amazing deals. From gastropubs to bistros and lodges, prix-fixe menus of local cuisine are offered at just $15, $20, and $30. Reservations are highly recommended during this week. Pro tip: many spots include wine and beer options as a low-cost add-on! May 3- May 10; various locations
Celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month (Multiple Regions)
The month of May honors the culture, traditions, and history of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. In the Finger Lakes, learn a Polynesian dance at the Just Be Cause Center in Ithaca on Thursdays through June 6 or visit the Memorial Art Gallery in Rochester for the Asian Pacific Heritage Celebration on May 11. While you're there, visit the Asian art gallery on the second floor featuring paintings and sculptures. In the Hudson Valley, visit the Hammond Museum and Japanese Stroll Garden. Mahayana Buddhist Temple, the oldest Chinese Buddhist temple in the eastern US, is in South Cairo in the Catskills.
Empire State Fair (Long Island)
You don't have to wait until summer for the epic state fair experience—Long Island has you covered. The Empire State Fair jump-starts your month with a massive array of festivities, with more than 100 carnival rides, Long Island's largest Kiddy Land, deep-fried everything, a live shark encounter, BMX performance, Lumberjack Show, and so much more. May 3- May 19; Uniondale; free admission
Blast Off to Space Fair (Central)
May the 4th be with you! (In case you missed it, May 4 has turned into a celebration of the Star Wars franchise thanks to the play on the phrase, "May the Force be with you.") In a very cool move, Roberson Museum & Science Center in Binghamton is taking advantage of the moment and holding a Blast Off to Space Fair for young minds curious about the real outer space! Explore two stations with indoor and outdoor challenges, visit the stars with fantastic programs in the planetarium, watch submissions from NASA's film festival, and make space-themed arts and crafts. May 4; Binghamton; Admission is $8 for adults; $6 for students/seniors/military; kids 4 and under are free.
Rochester Lilac Festival (Finger Lakes)
Take time to stop and smell the lilacs! The Rochester Lilac Festival has an amazing array of lilacs and flowers for your sniffing pleasure plus enough worthwhile activities to fill ten days! Events include a parade, craft beer and wine-tasting expos, a 5K and 10K race, an outdoor art exhibit, and live stand-up comedy and musical performances on stage. Wander through food trucks and vendors, and of course the flowers, from tulips to azaleas, pansies, and lots of lilacs! May 10- May 19; Rochester; free admission
71st Annual Tulip Festival (Capital-Saratoga)
Photographer: Albany CVB
Albany's treasured Tulip Festival is a tribute both to its beautiful blooming tulips (more than 140,000 of them!) and its Dutch heritage. Albany was the first Dutch settlement in America, and in proper Dutch custom, the streets must be literally scrubbed clean prior to a festive gathering. Albanyites of the Dutch Settlers Society dress in costume and line up in rows, brooms in hand, to scrub the street and kick off three days of fun events and tulip tours. Shop hundreds of local artisans, sample food stall bites, and bring the young ones to the KidZone. There will also be live entertainment on two stages. May 11-May 12; Albany; free admission
Gardiner Cupcake Festival (Catskills)
Why don't we have more festivals dedicated to cupcakes? The Gardiner Cupcake Festival starts with the Gardiner 5K Cupcake Classic, a race through the peach orchards of the 453-acre Wright's Farm. Feel free to show up and cheer on the runners but if you feel like joining, participants who sign up before May 8 receive a t-shirt, a fresh apple, and a cupcake at the finish line! Then it's on to the thousands of other cupcakes. There's even an Amateur Cupcake Contest with a $100 cash prize to first-place winners. Take a break from all the sugar with food from the vendors, such as wood-fired pizza, Mexican, BBQ, and Jamaican. There are a number of free activities for the kids, including wagon rides, a petting zoo, bouncy houses, and cupcake decorating! Sweet! May 18; Gardiner; admission $5, kids 6 and under are free.
2019 Apple Blossom Festival (Greater Niagara)
Celebrate spring like they did in the olden days! The Country Village in Newfane invites the public to its annual Apple Blossom Festival in and around its historical buildings. Step inside a vintage schoolhouse, blacksmith's shop, and country store, and join the festivities in the center of town. There will be live music, dancing, crafts vendors, and members of Newfane's Historical Society reenacting gun and cannon demos! (Consider bringing ear plugs?) You'll see how apple butter is made and get to shop fresh baked goods, candies, and apple desserts. May 19; Newfane; free admission
Watertown Farm and Craft Market (Thousand Islands-Seaway)
May 22 marks the reopening of the Watertown Farm and Craft Market, bringing delicious treats, fresh produce, and family programming back for every Wednesday until October! Peruse honey from local apiaries, handmade soaps and lotions, fresh-pressed cider, artisan cheese, funnel cakes, and more.This year, they're introducing the Market Scavenger Hunt—head to their website to print out activity sheets to bring with you for the kids to stay busy as bees. Every Wednesday morning from 9:30 to 10 am, settle down on the lawn for story and song time. May 22- October 2; Watertown; free admission
Lunar Festival and "Bindi Bazaar" Historic Trails (Hudson Valley)
Image Courtesy of Deep Field Film
As this summer marks the 50th anniversary of Woodstock, the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts is celebrating landmark events and movements from 1969. Tour their special exhibit, "We Are Golden: Reflections on the 50th Anniversary of The Woodstock Festival & Aspirations for a Peaceful Future," filled with memorabilia and relics from the festival. Starting May 4, traverse the "Bindy Bazaar" trails which connected two major festival grounds and where vendors sold crafts and clothes. May 17 through 19, the Center will host a Lunar Weekend all about the moon landing. You and your family can actually sleep over at the center to join the good times. There will be a bonfire, hot cocoa, stargazing, and storytelling. Then on Saturday, stay to watch Deep Field, a film (pictured) with music by Grammy-winning composer Eric Whitacre set to images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope combined with animation. Various dates; Bethel; prices vary
Sing Out, New York (Capital-Saratoga)
Get started on your Pride celebrations at the weekend-long American Music Festival. This year's theme, "Sing Out, New York!" honors American revolutions of the last century, including the fight for gay rights and the suffrage movement. Venues all around the charming city of Troy will host performances by advocates and composers David Del Tredici and John Corigliano. You can also hear works by the Albany Symphony, Grammy-winning Maestro David Alan Miller, Grammy-winning soprano Hila Plitmann, and more. May 30-June 9; Troy; festival passes start at $75
Walt Whitman Bicentennial Celebration (Long Island)
We've got a BIG birthday to celebrate this year—it's Walt Whitman's 200th! Head to Huntington, Long Island, where you can visit the farmhouse where he was born, and where you'll find a special weekend celebration courtesy of the Walt Whitman Birthplace Association. There will be exhibitions all about the great poet, as well as talks by distinguished Whitman scholars, and an actual Whitman family reunion! There will also be a live musical theater piece inspired by Whitman's 1855 "Song of Myself," and poetry readings galore. May 31-June 2; Huntington; admission $6 for adults, $5 for seniors/veterans, $4 for students, children 5 and under are free.
61st Annual Allegany Nature Pilgrimage (Chautauqua-Allegany)
Yearning to get back in touch with nature? You're not alone! Join other like-minded naturalists in the annual Allegany Nature Pilgrimage. The pilgrimage is a weekend at the end of May hosted at "Camp Allegany" in the Allegany State Park. Reserve a cabin or campsite, or stay at a nearby hotel like the Holiday Inn Express or the Hotel Westgate, both just 15 minutes away. Boy Scouts will be selling hot dogs Saturday at lunchtime, and there'll be a barbeque chicken or vegetarian dinner in the evening. Enjoy talks by famous nature-lovers, like Jared Miller, host of the TV show Animal Explorations. Join in on bird walks, hikes, an evening concert, and more. May 31- June 2; Salamanca; free admission
Eat your way through NYC this Spring (NYC)
New York City is the perfect city for walking and eating, and come springtime, that's all anybody wants to do. First up, on May 7 you've got Queens Taste 2019, an all-you-can-sample event for a good cause. The fundraiser supports neighborhood development and lets you try bites from 58 local vendors at the New York Hall of Science. Next, May 13 through 19 is Harlem EatUp!, a culinary festival headed up by chef Marcus Samuelsson, celebrating the flavors and culture of Harlem. The signature event is the Dine In Harlem series, a series of dinner parties highlighting collaborations between renowned chefs from Harlem and special guest chefs. You can also take the Harlem Stroll through Morningside Park, a walk of food samples (pictured), cooking demos, live music, and more. Finally, May 18 and 19, the historic World's Fare is back for the second year of its revival. Taste foods from more than 100 cultures, represented by more than 100 vendors, to the backdrop of curated live music. Come hungry! Various dates; various locations
Don't forget to post photos of your New York adventures on Instagram and Twitter with #iSpyNY and tag us on Facebook!
Author: I LOVE NY Staff
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