Laing O'Rourke is a leading international engineering enterprise with world class capabilities. With revenues of £4.4bn, a forward order book of £8.2bn and over 15,000 employees their focus on continuous improvement coupled with a cultural philosophy framed around 'Excellence Plus', every aspect of client partnering, innovation, safety and investing in people is given the focus it truly deserves. With a track record of delivering many complex high profile UK and international construction and engineering projects, such as the Olympic Park, Laing O'Rourke continuously demonstrates just how agile and collaborative it is.
Laing O'Rourke holds the reputation of being the company most committed to people development within its sector. To continue to lead the field in the complex engineering sector, new challenges constantly appear and new capabilities need to be built and enhanced. A critical area of focus in delivering competitive advantage is in building technical capability. To that end Laing O'Rourke are building an L&D Academy that across some 15 functions will ensure each employee will have robust, accessible Career Toolkits in which competency frameworks and career corridors are housed. The Technical Capability function will build and fine tune a development program curricula aligned to the needs the Toolkits highlight. These will be industry leading blended solutions, either e-learning accessible through a learning portal or classroom based. Laing O'Rourke now wish to make the key appointment of e-Learning Manager to work closely with the Head of Technical Capability and Talent in driving towards this goal of an accessible, branded, technical learning offering of consistently high quality.
The e-Learning Manager will work across a range of key functions to identify and work with key technical stakeholders to understand ongoing and future technical capability needs. Then using their knowledge of how adults learn, build effective learning solutions. These will be created using both in-house and external resources, so a good knowledge of instructional design would be a distinct advantage as would be knowledge of on line training content development tools such as Articulate or Moodle. As Laing O'Rourke rapidly increase the numbers of entry level technical talent they are hiring, the e-Learning Manager will also play a key role in building the technical development aspects of their structured programs and will play a support role in how Laing O'Rourke attracts that sought after talent to join them.
You will need genuine energy and passion to make a difference and the credibility to develop a network with Subject Matter Experts across the business to enable your work. You might be an e-learning manager or instructional designer currently or a Learning and Development Business Partner with a potential interest in a broad technical e-Learning development role. Either way there is real scope to create a legacy within this role for both yourself and Laing O'Rourke, and with a well structured Learning and Talent function Laing O'Rourke presents significant opportunity for personal career growth. Whilst the role will be based in Dartford, there will be some need for travel across Laing O'Rourke's operations and some scope for remote working.
To apply, please e-mail your CV and covering letter, detailing your current remuneration package to our retained recruitment partners Paul Tanton & Michelle Lawton, Directors at Consult HR by clicking the "Apply Now" button below. All direct and third party CV's will be forwarded onto Consult.
To Storyboard or not to Storyboard?
What's in a name? – Your Help Needed!
I'm guilty, but I am trying….


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Updated 2 January, 2013 - 08:03 ancient-origins
…is author of ten biographies, including the best-selling Grace O'Malley – The Biography of Ireland's Pirate Queen 1530-1603, an historical novel and a collection of short stories.
Her latest biography, The Great Leviathan: The Life of Howe Peter Browne, 2 nd Marquess of Sligo, 1788-1845 was published in 2018.
Her books have been translated into many languages and have been the subject of TV and Radio documentaries for Discovery, The Learning Channel, Travel Channel, ABC Australia, BBC, BBC World Service, RTE and Lyric FM.
Anne was short-listed for the Irish Book Awards for her biographies of TK Whitaker in 2014, Eleanor Countess of Desmond in 1987 and for short stories at the 2004 Hennessey Literary Awards.
In 2018 she was awarded the Wild Atlantic Way Words Festival Hall of Fame Award in recognition of her contribution to Ireland's literary tradition.
Her play Matriarchs - The Pirate Queen meets the Virgin Queen was staged in Westport Town Theatre in August 2019.
She writes screenplays for film and TV. Her short film Coming Home was broadcast by RTE.
Anne is a member of the Writers Guild of Ireland.
Ancient-Origins
This is the Ancient Origins team, and here is our mission: "To inspire open-minded learning about our past for the betterment of our future through the sharing of research, education, and knowledge".
At Ancient Origins we believe that one of... Read More

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


See "What will it do for me?" for a guide on all the different uses of phenibut.
The best way to describe the overall phenibut experience is that it's like all of the positive aspects of alcohol, Adderall, and caffeine with none of the side effects.
Overall it allows you to be yourself without any inhibitions. It's more effective than alcohol, even at low doses, but there's no intoxication or hangover. If you normally drink at a party, take some phenibut instead and watch yourself become a social animal. You will lose the majority of your anxiety, or all of it. Walking into a room full of people, you'll be glad to be there. It's easy to smile and look people dead in the eye and you feel totally relaxed. People generally like you a lot more because phenibut takes away your inhibitions, but you can think much more clearly than normal. You will feel less of the need to think or worry, and you will have more energy.
It really is the "magic pill" for those introverted, anxious, or even already social butterflies who want to talk to people and make more friends–or more than friends.
All of this with minimal side effects and increased motivation and drive.
You can check out all the uses of it here.
Even if you're not suffering from serious or severe medical depression, any "down" mood, lack of motivation, or otherwise undesirable state can be "cured" with Phenibut.
If you ARE suffering…Phenibut can be just as, if not more effective than the clinical anti-depressants the government/corporations will try to sell you and it's much more affordable.
If you are hooked on a clinical antidepressant, like Trazodone, SSRIs like Prozac, Wellbutrin, Cimbalta etc. there is a depressive withdrawal in store for you–phenibut can help.
If you're just lying in bed with no reason to get up, if you've taken Phenibut you'll notice you have more inspiration and will be more relaxed. Creativity will increase. It will be easier to act on things you want to do, instead of holding back because of depression.
No more lying around or sleeping, with no creativity or drive. Phenibut can awaken your mind and get you out of your slumber.
For a detailed guide to using phenibut as a sleep aid, see this article.
Phenibut is an amazing sexual tool and it also is great for talking to women.
Sorry I realize this is an old post.
I have a question which I have been researching, with no results.
Can you use red monkey or straight phenibut, while also taking testosterone supplementation. Prescripted T-therapy?
Just be prepared for heightened aggression.


Just a quick heads up for my RSS subscribers that Google Friend Connect added social bookmarking. 30 new bookmarking sites right in the sharing window that opens from "Invite Friends".
YouTube adds Twitter links in the sharing section in all videos. Real big opportunities here.
This entry was written by Chris Lang, posted on March 31, 2009 at 1:08 pm, and filed under Google Friend Connect.
Just found you and your site, think I found you on youtube, then I followed deep into the rabbit hole now I am in your network, loving it. Keep up the goodness.
I'm still trying to figure out friend connect.
I joined you of course – great to be connected!


The difference between an old and new year on the calendar is the difference of one second – one day leading into the next. In history, the changing of one day into another is all that has proven necessary many times in order to bring about great change. Entire empires can rise and fall in the course of one day, such as the fall of Babylon in a single night as described in Daniel Chapter 5.
At the conclusion of most lessons presented on a Sunday morning or evening worship, there is the common practice of the invitation. This invitation encourages those who have questions, special needs or concerns to publicly share them, many times in light of the message that was just presented. The response is not to any person or the church herself, but instead to God and His Word.
In the physical body, the nervous system serves an important purpose in transmitting signals from the brain in order to control muscles and other parts of the body. The nervous system also serves the purpose of warning the brain of possible problems throughout the body through the signal of pain.
One of the many frustrating things in life is ungrateful people. Not simply people who are rude, but those who, although you may have sacrificed your time, money, or attention to help them, do not seem to be appreciative or thankful in any way. Although the measure of our demonstration of love for our neighbor should never be based upon how they choose to react, it can be frustrating when someone we help or give a gift to is completely ungrateful.


We are back in National League 2 North after winning the league this season.
Our aim is to carry on our success both on and off the pitch and this is your chance to get behind a winning team.
Click here to visit the website of Solar 21.


Punjab National Bank is one of the leading public sector banks in India and the first Swadeshi Bank as well. The bank has been in the field of banking and financial services from last 121 years and has been delivering finest of all products. PNB has been recently announced as the first bank among all the banks in deposits mobilized through Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY). The bank has also bagged many awards and recognition for its performance and customer-friendly products. It is also the first bank to start opening of 'Sukanya Samriddhi deposit accounts'. Other than this, PNB has also brought in Vanita financing scheme, PoWer Ride scheme, etc. and has opened 45 'Akshaya' branches which are managed by women for the women customers only.
PNB has designed its products by keeping in mind the financial needs of the customers from all the section of the society. Having said that, the home loan along with other loan products are offered at a low-interest rate with the facility of a higher loan amount as well. In this article, you will get all the details like the loan amount, eligibility criteria, flexible repayment options, annual interest rates and other relevant information under the loan segment. Also, you will get to know about the investment products like Fixed Deposit as well which comes with higher saving options.
In New Delhi, Punjab National Bank offers affordable personal loans, home loans, Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana, loan against property, car or vehicle loans, under the loan products. Also, the saving options like Fixed Deposits and Recurring Deposits are made keeping in mind the financial needs of the customers. Below are the details like eligibility criteria, annual interest rate, tenure, fund limit, documents and other general details that you must know while applying at Punjab National Bank.
Car Loan For private use only.
Business concerns (corporate or non-corporate).
Net Income should be double that of Monthly Instalment in the case of Term Loan as well as Overdraft limit on monthly reducing DP basis.
Fixed Deposit Individual (singly or jointly) with others.
Minors who have attained the age of 10 years and above in his own name on giving proof of age by his guardian or any other reliable source or through his natural/legal guardian.
Proprietorship/partnership firm, commercial organization, company/ corporate body.
Association, club, society, trust or religious/charitable or educational institution.
Here are the documentation required to apply at Punjab National Bank, that an applicant must follow so as to get instant approval and easy processing.


Caitlin Steffens is constantly looking for a way to challenge herself. As a child, she was involved in as many sports as her mom would allow. In college, she took up running and has run numerous 5Ks and the Austin Half Marathon. Most recently, Caitlin has decided to train to compete in a figure competition. She is the She behind SheHeFlex, launching this Fall. Caitlin loves her healthy lifestyle and hopes to continue to help others find the same happiness in health and fitness!


This is ONE SWEET CONDO! Perfectly located in the McIntire Historic District, you will fall in love with the gorgeous Victorian details this 2 bedroom, single level home offers. The spacious open living space includes a gracious living room with a spectacular curved triple window and a sun-splashed formal dining room. The charming kitchen features a center island with seating and a separate pantry-all with granite counters and stainless appliances-PLUS gas cooking! The black and white spa bath boasts crisp white subway tile and an over sized granite-topped vanity. There's even a mudroom space in the entry area. Gorgeous refinished hardwood floors, high ceilings, crown molding and tons of windows all add to the beauty of your new home! The full basement is exclusive use for this unit and has private laundry. There is also a huge shared brick patio & shed for bike storage! Walk to everything in minutes from this Awesome location!! Owner occupied 4-unit association and Pet Friendly too!!
Beach, Extra Storage. Public Transport, Close To Shops, Close To School.
I am interested in 49-51 Warren Street UNIT 51A, Salem, MA 01970.
Courtesy: Julianna Tache - TACHE REAL ESTATE, INC.


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Q: Deploying SpringBoot application for free I have a Spring boot app with MYSQL database and I have to deploy it freely on server. I have tried Heroku and its add-ons but stuck in that credit card verification step.
Have searched a lot but can't find any alternate solution...
Please with a humble request guide me about any free platform like Heroku to deploy my spring boot app freely with MySQL database..

A: You can use railway.app
Its really useful. You can easily  deploy spring boot website in a second from your Git repo.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


For week-long retreats, bookings will be accepted for the full week only.
A sesshin is an intensive retreat designed to assist the participants to go deeply into the practice of meditation. Those who come can find, sometimes to their surprise, that they touch greater depths in themselves than they had imagined were possible. Although these retreats are not easy, the helpful teaching and supportive atmosphere make them suitable for anyone who is intent on placing meditation at the centre of their lives.
This retreat is for those who wish to receive lay ordination, thereby formally expressing their commitment to the Buddhist Precepts. This commitment is the means by which one formally becomes a Buddhist. The retreat includes a number of beautiful and moving ceremonies that reveal the essence of the life of training. If you would like to attend Jukai for the first time, you should seek advice from a senior monk of our Order. We also welcome those returning to renew their vows to live by the Precepts. A special weekend retreat is also held each year as preparation for this event, which people who are wishing to take the Precepts for the first time may find helpful to attend.
Autumn is a season when change can be highlighted and is therefore a good opportunity to consider impermanence and our mortality. Through meditation and training, we can find a true refuge within life and death.
This is a transition time when we naturally tend to reflect upon our spiritual journey and the direction of our life. In addition to the usual retreat activities, we greet the New Year with a midnight ceremony.


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Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Composers: Ade Fenton and Tim Slade
Label: Lakeshore Records
lakeshorerecords.com
Lakeshore Records release the original score to Nails. The movie follows Dana who awakens in hospital, paralysed and imprisoned in her own body. Whilst struggling to regain control of her life, Dana is confronted with a vindictive spirit; a terrifying presence called Nails, whom she is convinced exists inside her hospital room. Faced with scepticism from her husband, doctors and the staff, and believed to be suffering from a mental breakdown, Dana is left struggling to keep her grip on reality as the targeted attacks grow increasingly violent. To save her marriage and her life, Dana must find a way to convince her family that Nails is real before he succeeds in destroying her and everyone who stands in his way...
Sadly Ade Fenton and Tim Slade's score for Nails, probably not surprisingly, is another horror score that relies on too many atmospheric music cues that go nowhere. No doubt perfect for the scenes they are scored for, but they sound a little uninteresting when listened to in isolation (which they were never intended to be).
If you're a collector of this style of cliched genre score you may find something of interest. Personally, out of the album's 29 tracks (1 hr, 9 min, 19 sec) I only really enjoyed the song 'Air Raid'. This is one score best heard in the film.
Each of the store links below opens in a new window, allowing you to compare the price of this product from various online stores.
iTunes GB


Our business model allows us to reply and take action quickly anywhere in the city — even within the tightest of deadlines. Whether you're in the City Center, Clifton, Montpelier, Southville and anywhere in Bristol, we have a T-shirt printing solution for you. Branded garments are a great way to promote a brand. May it be for events as staff uniforms or to give away as souvenirs, there are many ways in which this marketing tool can be applied. Not convinced? Find more advantages in our personalised T-shirts section. section.
At Printsome, we have experience printing garments in bulk. For orders of 50+ custom T-shirts in Bristol we recommend screen printing whereas for smaller orders of 25+ we recommend DTG printing, but we revise every order independently and advise always what fit best your needs and budget. Stability is what Printsome likes to offer, you can rest assured your order will be there on time — sometimes as fast as 48h. We're famous for our customer service. From the moment you get in touch with us, one of our printing experts will give you personalised attention. We will find the best printing solution so you can reach your goals. T-shirts, long-sleeved shirts, vests, sweats, caps, polos, workwear and tote bags are just some of the items we offer in our catalogue. Each one of these products is a blank canvas with the potential to help you reach your marketing goals. Get in touch with our account managers to find the best solution for your project!
T-shirt printing Bristol is here and all along the west of the UK is a live and kicking and waiting for you to join the party! If you were wondering where to get printed t-shirts in Bristol, Printsome is your option. Our extensive catalogue of garment printing Bristol includes hoodies, work uniforms, aprons, vest tops, and more. There is really no excuse not to get promotional clothing for your upcoming event. Get ready to promote your brand! We work hard on offering a real premium service to our customers, and because we understand that sometimes there is no time for planification we have a very fast T-shirt printing in Bristol service. Within 2-4 days you will have your order at your door when you choose this fast service. At Printsome we have a large range of printing techniques available to produce custom T shirts Bristol. Among our customisation techniques we offer: DTG printing, which is great for reproducing intricate designs, but it is not (unfortunately) cost effective when ordering bulk T-shirt printing. However, when ordering in bulk, we usually recommend screen printing T-shirts which is much more friendly in terms of costs and is a technique that leaves a rich, lasting print, but is not that great when reproducing complicated designs. It is also a good fit for personalised hoodies and all type of garments. We also offer vinyl T-shirt printing, one of the preferable techniques for designers. If you don't know what is best for your needs, or if your T-shirt printing Bristol order involves many garments and a complex design, then please get in touch with us and we'll sort your situation. We pride ourselves in our excellent customer service. From the first moment you get in touch with us, one of our account managers will help you along the way. We will recommend the best possible route for your case and help you get the best possible deal, that's why we are the best T-shirt printers Bristol. Whether you are the manager of a small local business looking for embroidered shirts or a designer representing a big brand, looking for thousands of custom t-shirts Bristol, Printsome can help. T-shirt printing companies in Bristol offer a wide range printing techniques but for a truly VIP experience online, Printsome is the way forward. We have in house a friendly team of advisors that will recommend the best price, technique and will have a fun conversation with you. Try! We are not lying when we say we give premium customer service to our clients in search of T-shirt printing Bristol. Not in Bristol? No problem! Printsome is part of the wider network of garment printing all over the country. So no matter if you are in Newcastle, Norwich, Belfast or Sheffield, we can get your customised clothing to you whether you need it in a week or need express T-shirt printing. We work with some of the best couriers in the business to ensure you receive your package when you need it. We have two delivery options: Standard, which promises to deliver in five to ten days and express t-shirt printing, which guarantees your package in two to four days, or sometimes even less depending on your order details! Because it's easy for companies to brag about themselves, we invite you to go ahead and read about our job on trustpilot. We are not perfect, but we always try to make our customers happy!


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Category: environment
Smothered by Smog, Day by Day
Since 2011, every winter, major Chinese cities appear on global media always with the word "smog", attached with a picture of a seemingly ghost town in those typical horror films. Just a few weeks ago, when I was at Beijing International Airport waiting for transfer, I was hoping to see the world-(in)famous scene of air pollution which is also a tool for the Western media to mock at the growing Chinese dragon. For better or worse, this was what I saw around 8am there.
Just after three days since my arrival in my northwestern hometown, the Beijing International Airport had to cancel most of flights due to worsened air condition.
Smog is a "big city problem". It's also seen as a early stage of economic development, in which the environmental and ecological problems are increasing and previously ignored. Before the 2000s, my home city was the best example of the worst air condition city in China. Older generations told us, in those years, if somebody wore a white face mask outdoors for a few hours, there would be two black dots appearing on it — how much polluted and harmful air did people actually inhaled for all these years? But my city was only a medium size town with three million people, located in the vast western land — our problem was nobody else's problem. Nowadays elderly Beijingers remembered there was smogs in the capital far before the 2000s. At that time, no name was given to the smoky sky with forever color of grey, the locals only knew that, the old way to praise the days of fall and winter "with extremely blue and high sky" was no longer applicable. Nobody in China who has watched the opening ceremony of Beijing Olympic Games could forget, some athletes from the US were wearing anti-poison respirators. People could get used to feeling bad in their own throats and having lung problems, but only to realise the unaware threat to their own lives when others starting to protect themselves from the air made them "lose face".
There have been more and more discussions concerning smog in big cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Tianjin online. Frequently asked questions include "what is smog", "what is PM2.5", "what harm would smog cause", and "what could prevent smog killing us"… The convenience which provided by the new media creates a perfect platform where real and fake infos mix and travel from anywhere to everywhere. Some posted articles on public accounts of Wechat, claiming the smogs that are inhaled into people's lungs will forever stay in human bodies. Some believe agaric could clean up the poisonous from the air, therefore buying a big amount agarics and cooking them in as many dishes as possible were popular for a while. Experts come to refute rumours.
Every year, smog in big cities becomes popular topics in "friend circles" of Wechat, Weibo, and also on traditional media. However, lacking of education on the matter is still the main reason for why there is no effective means to solve the problem and to prevent the numerous harms it causes the urban population.
Posted in China Today, Chinese Urban, environment


Goli Baje or Bajji also called as Mangaluru Bajji is a Karavali dish which is hugley popular everywhere. Its made of very simple ingredients and doesnt take a lot of effort but the result is just awesome. Its crisp on the out and spongy in the inside. Its flavorful and a hit with both young and old. Since the ingredients are very easily available, it can be made in large quantities like functions or parties. Its served with simple coconut chutney or tastes great with tomato ketchup or any of the sauces/dips!
Ginger - 2 inches fresh ginger very finely chopped.
In a large mixing bowl, mix the Maida and Rice flour along with the salt, cooking soda and sour curds. This mixture has to set for about 2-3 hours before other ingredients are added. Make sure the mixture is not too runny as it has to be dropped in the hot oil for frying.
After the flours soak for about 2-3 hrs, add the rest of the above mentioned ingredients which are all finely chopped. Green chillies, curry leaves, coconut pieces, ginger. If the dough looks a little dry sprinkle some water or more curds and mix really well.
Meanwhile heat oil in a kadai or fry pan and bring it to smoke point and reduce the heat to low-medium as the bajjis need to cook through. If the heat is too much then it will be undone inside or might get burnt or darker outside. For perfectly golden coloured bajjis, heat should be appropriate and preferably low-medium.
Drop the mixed dough slowly into the hot oil and turn it when its done on one side. Make sure the colour is uniform and then finally take it out on a kitchen paper towel to drain any excess oil.
Serve it with coconut chutney or ketchup or any dips of your choice. Tastes best when served hot!
Avoid grating the ingredients as it tends to make the dish soggy and strong flavours like ginger will empower subtler ones and instead chop them finely.
Well soaked and elastic consistency dough will not absorb lot of oil.
Also keep a check on the soda used as it tends to absorb a lot of oil. If by chance lot of oil is being absorbed, add some more maida, rice flour and a pinch of salt to balance it.


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relatable af
This woman's reaction to walking by Beyoncé at the 2018 Grammys is all of us
Have you ever wondered what would happen if you saw Beyoncé in the flesh? Maybe you'd scream? Or perhaps burst into hysterical sobs? Seeing Queen Bey in person could definitely cause even the coolest among us to go full-on speechless…which is exactly what happened to one woman at the Pre-Grammy Gala on January 27th. And the resulting photo is hilarious.
Beyoncé and fam seemed to have a pretty rockin' Grammys weekend. They were spotted at several Grammy-related pre-parties and events, and Blue Ivy has already spawned a thousand memes thanks to her sassy antics (seriously, look it up).
Beyoncé posted a series of Instagram photos of her party looks with Jay, but one photo in particular is captivating the internet. It shows the exact moment when one woman realized she was standing next to Queen Bey.
Click through the below to see the moment in all its glory (it's the fourth in the series).
Of course, the photo has now gone viral, with members of the Beyhive admitting that they, too, would have the same exact reaction if Bey and Jay just casually walked by them like it was NBD.
BEYONCÉ! pic.twitter.com/mQVblUtfgD
— vic sanusi (@victoriasanusi) January 28, 2018
Everyone if Beyoncé ever walked past them. #GrammyAwards #Grammys2018 #GRAMMYs pic.twitter.com/RauCBoVQlv
— DHILLAN B (@dhillanratchet) January 28, 2018
when you realize you're lucky to be alive during the same era as Beyonce pic.twitter.com/eEuYKkOHkL
— ziwe (@ziwe) January 28, 2018
No word on who this mystery woman is, but we think it's safe to say that she's a kindred spirit to all of us, and we give her props for managing to keep even a semblance of composure upon seeing this power couple. We hope she's okay now, and we're thankful to Bey for sharing this priceless moment with the world. Legends only!
Some of music's most powerful women rallied behind Kesha during her emotional performance at the 2018 Grammys
Grammys 2018: A minute-by-minute breakdown of the night's biggest moments in music
This is why part of Logic's 2018 Grammys speech was censored
The reason Lorde didn't perform at the 2018 Grammys is absolutely infuriating
Lady Gaga arrived at the 2018 Grammys in the train-length dress you'd wear to your enemy's wedding
What time is the 2018 Grammy Awards?
Blue Ivy telling Beyoncé and Jay-Z not to clap during the 2018 Grammys is winning the internet
Here's how to watch and stream the 2018 Grammy Awards
Why isn't Ed Sheeran at the 2018 Grammys?
How many Grammys does Beyoncé have? (Hint: it's more than we'll ever have)
How many Grammys does Nicki Minaj have?
Rejoice! BTS just became the first K-pop group to ever be nominated for a Grammy
The Resistance Revival Chorus sang with Kesha at the Grammys, and gave a hella inspirational performance
Everyone is talking about Andra Day's outfit at the 2018 Grammys
What Logic's 2018 Grammys performance meant to someone who struggles with depression
Miley Cyrus performed "Tiny Dancer" with Sir Elton John at the 2018 Grammys, and it brought the audience to their feet
Watch celebrities read from "Fire and Fury" at the 2018 Grammys, and oh the shade of it all
Is Taylor Swift going to the 2018 Grammys? Here's what we know
Lady Gaga's performance at the 2018 Grammys was absolutely *perfect*
Twitter is furious Kesha was ROBBED of her 2018 Grammys by Ed Sheeran
Beyonce Grammy
Beyonce Grammy Awards
Beyonce Grammys


Shaun does amazing work. His shop is nice and clean, hes very professional and a joy to be in company with. He has awesome ideas and thoughts. He gives you the best work he can for the budget you set, and he always goes above and beyond the set price. Although there are many talented artists out there, shaun is the only person that will put a tattoo on me. My tattoo is with me my whole life, so I will only go with the person I trust the most. Cant wait for my next tat! See you soon!!!
Shaun did an amazing cover up at an extremely affordable rate. Not only did he do exactly what I wanted, but he even offered suggestions to which i loved, and eventually bettered the finalized piece. Golden Hammer maintains a comfortable and clean shop. I have recommended Shaun and other artists at Golden Hammer to numerous friends and will continue doing so.
You'd be an idiot to sleep on the artists operating out of this shop. Go get work done now!
Shaun is an amazing tattoo artist slamming job on my panther , love it !!!!


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WoSo Stats
Collecting, analyzing, and sharing data about women's soccer from around the world.
How matches are logged
Category Archives: NWSL 2016 Season
Passing networks for the Seattle Reign's 2016 season
Posted on May 13, 2017 by alfredom2012
Following up on the previous post that delved into the passing network for the Portland Thorns' 2016 season, now it's time for the Seattle Reign. Same approach as last time, and the Seattle Reign's passing networks as an Excel workbook can be downloaded here from the WoSo Stats GitHub repo.
I'll also look at how the numbers compare to the Portland Thorns' passing network, although as I write more of these for every team it's going to be harder to keep these comparisons within the scope of one blog post.
First things first, the first sheet in the Excel workbook, and explanations again for what we're looking at.
The rows are players passing the ball and the columns are players receiving a completed pass. The cell in the bottom-left area where the "Yanez" coumn meets the "Barnes" column, then, is the total number of passes that Yanez completed to Barnes throughout the 2016 NWSL season.
Each cell only represents completed passes. This is extremely important, because we're missing out on data about how many times a player was actually targeted by another teammate. This data is missing because, well, it can get extremely hard, if not outright impossible, to determine both from looking at the match spreadsheet and even during a match where a missed/blocked/cleared/intercepted pass was supposed to go. Maybe in the future we, or someone else, can go back through all these matches or future matches and figure out how to do that, but for now we're going to have to go without that. But at the very least understand that these passing numbers only represent completed passes
The darker the green, the higher the value of the cell. The whiter the cell, the closer it is to zero.
These are raw numbers for the entire season, and they don't take into account how many minutes each player combo was actually on the field. The table below does, with each cell now representing passes completed per 90 minutes on the field that player combo was on the field.
As was done with the previous post, I hid the columns for players who never were on the field with any teammates for 270 or more minutes to exclude any extremely high passing per 90 numbers that may show up merely because a few passes were exchanged during very limited minutes.
Despite that, there are two player relationships with extremely higher completed passes per 90 than anyone else – Reed-to-Kawasumi (17.1) and Solo-to-Corsie (13.0) Outside of those two, there's a concentration of passing relationship with relatively high numbers in the upper left portion of the spreadsheet, with a few more darkly-shaded cells further down the defender columns and defender rows.
Compared to the Portland Thorn's per 90 passing network, where that upper-left region of the spreadsheet is lighter, a greater proportion of Seattle's completed passes were coming from defenders or going to defenders. That doesn't necessarily mean that Seattle's midfielders or forwards were doing less. If you look at the raw numbers in the area for midfielders-to-midfielders and midfielders-to-forwards, it actually looks like Seattle had more completed passes per 90 going on – there was just even more passing going on in the back.
Below is the same spreadsheet, but with each row (each passer's recipient) highlighted individually.
This table makes more sense if you look at the columns and look for players with a high number of very dark cells, indicating that they're a top completed passing target for several players.
With that in mind, Barnes and Fishlock stand out. Barnes was the #1 or #2 target for the most completed passes per 90 for six different players – Kopmeyer, Fletcher, Pickett, Fishlock, Utsugi, and Winters. Fishlock was the #1 and #2 for four different players – Barnes, Corsie, Little, and Solaun.
As for the forwards, the two biggest targets appear to have been Kawasumi and Yanez, with a relatively high number of passes per 90 going her way from the midfield, other forwards, and the defense.
Below, the highlighting is flipped around and each column's highest values are highlighted.
Now, look at which rows have a higher number of darker cells, indicating that they're a top origin for completed passes per 90 for several players.
Defenders stand out as a top origin for completed passes, as opposed to the Thorns' passing network where those columns were a lighter shade. The Reign in general appear to have some pretty extreme differences throughout this spreadsheet, with players like Utsugi, Fishlock, and Kawasumi passing to certain teammates way more than anyone else.
Posted in NWSL 2016 Season	| Leave a reply
A look at Ali Krieger's passing and defending stats in the NWSL
Posted on February 26, 2017 by alfredom2012
Yesterday, I did a bit of how-to and analysis in one post for open play passing stats in the NWSL 2016 season – at least for the matches for which we have location data (40 out of 103, as of this writing, to be exact).
Now, I'm going to work with the same dataset in combination with the NWSL 2016 rosters database we've got to look at a very statistically interesting type of player – the fullback. We'll focus one highly productive example – the Washington Spirit's Ali Krieger, one of the fullbacks in our dataset with the most open play passes attempted per 90 minutes. We'll look at how their passing and defensive responsibilities change in each third.
The following visualizations and data are all available to interact with and download from this Tableau visualization. All the data can be calculated from our WoSo Stats GitHub repo by following the instructions in yesterday's post for how to use the R code I've created.
The following data is also only for 40 out of 103 NWSL 2016 matches that we've logged with complete location data. To see the list of matches this data represents, see the database in the WoSo Stats Github and look for all the matches with "yes" in the "location.complete" column.
Open Play Pass Attempts by Thirds of the Field
Let's look again at this chart from yesterday- it's all players with a minimum of 270 minutes logged with location data by the WoSo Stats project, sorted by open play pass attempts per 90, and broken down by what third of the field a player's passes originated.
Takes just a little bit of mental math to notice that out of all the defenders up here, the two with a noticeably higher percentage of pass attempts in the attacking 3rd are O'Hara and Krieger. Those of you who follow the sport will know why – they're both fullbacks, asked to join the attack much more often than their counterparts at centerback.
Now, using the rosters database, let's filter out anyone who isn't a defender.
Sticking with these passing stats one more time before we delve into other stats, I duplicated the chart above, but I filtered out anyone who isn't a defender. And now the stacked bar charts represent the percentage of all passing attempts that were within each third of the field. In other words, we're now looking at defenders passing attempts, now broken down by what percentage was in each third. I sorted the following by percentage of passes in the attacking 3rd, so the defenders with the highest percentage of passes in the attacking 3rd are at the top.
The top, for those of you familiar with the NWSL 2016 season, is full of fullbacks. Pickett, Reed, Catley, Gilliland, Hinkle, they're all there. Reed and Pickett, the two Seattle players visible here, are notably the only defenders with more than 25% of their pass attempts in the attacking 3rd. Further down the chart, we run into more defenders who were shuffled between the fullback and centerback role throughout the matches we've logged, and then more and more centerbacks.
Back to Krieger. 18.8% of Krieger's open play pass attempts were in the attacking 3rd, compared to the other fullback on her team visible here, Kleiner, with 15.3%. Krieger's middle 3rd open play pass attempts were 60.1% of all her attempts, and her defensive 3rd open play pass attempts were the remaining 21%.
There's a lot of different things we could look at with regards to passing stats. How is Krieger passing the ball out of her defensive 3rd, relative to other defenders? What's she doing in the midfield with over 60% of her pass attempts? And what's going on with those 18.8% of passes in the attacking 3rd compared to everyone who's above her – and below her?
Open Play Passing in the Attacking 3rd
Let's just look at those attacking 3rd open play passing attempts. Below is the same group of players from above, now charting the percentage of open play pass attempts in the attacking 3rd vs. their open play passing completion percentage in that attacking 3rd.
Out of all the defenders whose percentage of open play pass attempts in the attacking 3rd is over the 75th percentile, Krieger is among two others – Reed and Klingenberg – whose completion percentage hovers around the the 75th percentile for open play passing completion percentage in the attacking third.
Recall from yesterday's post that the median open play passing completion percentage in this 3rd of the field for all players was 60.6%. Krieger's is 65.4%.
Defending in the Middle and Defensive 3rd
Now let's turn to defending stats. I started off with what in the stats table are called "possession disruptions," – successful tackles and dispossessions of the opponent. That is, instances where a defender was attempting to go 1 on 1 with an opponent and strip the ball away. Below is a chart for all defenders with at least 270 minutes logged with location data, sorted by opponent possessions disrupted per 90 minutes, and broken down by what third of the field they were in.
Krieger doesn't even show up in this list. She's down below in the middle of the pack, not even getting more than two opposing possessions disrupted per 90.
But there's more than one way to defend and her contribution to defense is much more apparent when we look at a different type of defending stats – "ball disruptions." That is, interceptions, blocks, and clearances of the opponent's ball – usually a pass attempt. Below is a chart for all defenders with at least 270 minutes logged with location data, sorted the players by ball disruptions per 90 minutes, and broke it down by what third of the field they were in.
Krieger is not only up there at #3, but she's also surrounded by mostly centerbacks.
Now let's look at those disruptions in the attacking 3rd and middle 3rd, broken down by whether they were interceptions, blocks, or clearances.
Krieger is also out of the top 15 when we look at ball disruptions in the defensive 3rd, but in the middle 3rd she's ridiculously ahead of every other defender. Even when I included all players, not just defenders, in this visualization, she was still far and away the top of the list.
The number of interceptions per 90 minutes, 4.1, that Krieger gets by themselves are higher than all ball disruptions for some players. I personally think extremely highly of interceptions, as they're instances when a defending player not only stops the ball but wins clear possession of it – essentially getting credit for a turnover in possession. To get them that high up the pitch compared to every other player might not just make her a good defender, it can also make her a dangerous attacker.
As was noted above, this is only 40 matches out of a 103-game NWSL 2016 season. The WoSo Stats project desperately needs your help to log more basic stats and location data for the 2016 season. The more data we get, the better we'll understand the sport.
If you're interested in logging data for matches (that are all publicly available on YouTube), read more here and email me at wosostats.team@gmail.com or send me a DM at @WoSoStats on Twitter. All the data logged with be publicly available on the WoSo Stats Github repo.
Posted in NWSL 2016 Season	| 1 Reply
How to break down NWSL passing stats by thirds of the field
In this post, we're going to look at passing stats by location.
We'll create two spreadsheets, one with stats for all NWSL 2016 matches that have been logged with location data by the WoSo Stats project, and another with those same stats but broken down by thirds of the field.
I'll show you the R code used to generate them, and we'll go over some Tableau visualizations I've created to dig into the passing data a little further.
The instructions for how to use the creating-stats.R file are here in the WoSo Stats Github repo. If you're familiar with R, first things first, source this R file and then run the getStatsInBulk function with the arguments shown below:
your_stats_list <- getStatsInBulk(competition.slug="nwsl-2016″, location_complete = TRUE)
This will take about a minute. Then run the mergeMatchList function with the following arguments to get the stats table as a data frame named "your_stats":
your_stats <- mergeStatsList(stats_list = your_stats_list, location = "none", add_per90 = TRUE)
In there are columns for open play passes, which in the columns are called "opPass." Open play passes are defined as all passes that aren't one of the following – namely, dead ball plays:
Throw-ins
Goal kicks
Free kicks
Drop kicks or throws by the goalkeeper
The columns we're going to be primarily concerned with are those named "opPass Att per 90" "opPass Comp Pct," and it might be useful to also look at "opPass Comp per 90." When we break these down by thirds of the field further below, they'll be prefaced with their respective location – so, there will be "A3 Pass Att per 90," "M3 Pass Att per 90," and "D3 Pass Att per 90."
If you don't know anything about R, don't worry, you can just follow along with the charts below and ignore all these details about the code and spreadsheets.
The data represented in this post will be available to download from this Tableau visualization. There, you can also interact with the charts shown below.
Another fair warning: the following data only represents 40 matches out of the 103 NWSL 2016 season. They're all the NWSL 2016 matches in the database with "yes" marked off in the location.complete column. We need more help logging data, and that help could be you!
On to the data, though. What do open play passes look like, without regard for where they came from?
Open Play Passes (without location)
This chart shows open play passing completion percentages, sorted by open play passes attempted per 90. That is, the players at the top attempted the most passes in open play per 90 minutes (take their open play pass attempts, divide it by the number of minutes they played, and multiply that quotient by 90).
Here is a table showing the data behind this chart, with an added column for open play passes that were actually completed. "GP" is games played (really, the games that we've logged) and "MP" is minutes played.
The top 15 is full of players with generally very high passing completion percentages – all are above the median of 74.9%, except for Fishlock and Krieger.
This chart is stacked with Seattle Reign players, but it's also stacked with largely defensive-minded players. Corsie, Fletcher, Barnes, Averbuch, O'Hara, Hickmann Alves, and Krieger – nearly half the players are defenders. Defenders usually have higher passing percentages (or at least they should), and they probably see more of the ball than the rest of their teammates, so it shouldn't be surprising that, since we sorted by open play pass attempts per 90, we got a lot of defenders, and that most of them have pretty good passing completion percentages.
How to look at open play passing stats, then, in a way that accounts for a lot of passing going on in the defensive third. What's going in with Little? Does her passing completion percentage fall off the top 15 if we could look at her passes in the attacking third? And what about O'Hara, a player who is known to run up and down the field? What does her passing look like in the defensive, middle, and attacking thirds of the field?
To get this data, we have to run some R code again.
Open Play Passes (broken down by thirds of the field)
To get a stats table with all stats broken down by thirds of the field (attacking, middle, and defensive thirds), run this code.
your_stats_list <- getStatsInBulk(competition.slug="nwsl-2016″, location_complete = TRUE, location = "thirds")
your_stats <- mergeStatsList(stats_list = your_stats_list, location = "thirds",add_per90 = TRUE)
You might be sitting there for a few minutes, but the "your_stats" data frame, a 900-column table, will have what we're looking for.
Now, when we sort by open play passes attempted per 90 and break down passes by thirds of the field for that top 15, it becomes clearer where everything was going on.
Fishlock – who, in this dataset, it should be pointed out only has 4 matches logged with location data – is far ahead of the pack when it comes to open play pass attempts, but very few are from her own defensive third. The brunt of her open play pass attempts, as it is for almost everyone seen here, are in the middle of the field, but there is a significant portion of attempts going on in the attacking third.
Another player who had a relatively low open play passing completion percentage was Krieger, and the distribution of her passes is more even. Roughly 60% of her passes were in the middle, and roughly 20% in the defensive and attacking thirds. Her passing completion percentage is probably pretty good in the defensive third, but we'll soon have look at what it's like in the middle and attacking third.
And then there's Little, who had a better open play passing completion percentage by over 20 percentage points than Fishlock, and that's with a higher percentage of passes in the attacking third (27%, compared to Fishlock's 24%).
What this chart lacks is passing completion percentages for each third of the field. For that, we can look at a chart, similar to the first one, but for each third of the field.
Open Play Passes in the Defensive 3rd
When looking at open play passing completion percentages in the defensive 3rd, and sorting by how many open play passes were attempted (per 90) out of the defensive 3rd, the chart is exclusively defenders and goalkeepers.
Unsurprisingly, the media open play passing completion percentage, at 81%, in the defensive 3rd is higher than the median for all open play passes. There's quite a range of passing completion percentages, from over 90% for the likes of Kallman and Fletcher and at or below 70% for Pressley and D'Angelo (a goalkeeper). That's probably more of a reflection of how they're trying to get the ball out of their own 3rd – D'Angelo and Pressley are probably launching more speculative long balls into the midfield and attacking 3rd, while Fletcher and Kallman might be passing the ball around in the defensive 3rd much more.
That requires a deeper look at the type of passes out of the defensive 3rd, but we'll save that for another day. Now, let's look at this chart, but for passes in the middle 3rd.
Open Play Passes in the Middle 3rd
In the middle 3rd, when looking at open play passing completion percentages in the middle 3rd and sorting by open play passes attempted in the middle 3rd, it's a different story.
Defenders are all out of the picture now, except for Barnes, and the top 15 is now stacked with midfielders. For those of you who follow the NWSL pretty closely, you'll also notice these are mostly defensive-minded midfielders. Killion, Brian, Winters, Zerboni, Kyle, and Colaprico are all midfielders generally known to lie deep in the field and support the defense. And it makes sense they'd appear at the top of this list, and generally with such high passing completion percentages, as they're likely to get the ball a lot, either from the defense, other midfielders passing back, or by winning it from the opposing team.
Little is no longer the #2 player, but she is #1 when looking at passing completion percentage for this top 15. She has an impressive 90.1% passing completion percentage in the middle 3rd with 33.2 open play passes attempted per 90 minutes in that third of the field. Killion is up there, too, with an 85.7% completion percentage in the middle 3rd with 36.5 open play passes attempted per 90 minutes.
Meanwhile, the rest of this top 15 is generally at or above the median of 76.3% for passing completion percentage. Fishlock sticks out for the wrong reason – with the most open play passes attempted per 90 in the middle 3rd (42.7) but with a passing completion percentage of only 65.5%, well below the 25th percentile.
What else could be look at here? There are a lot of passes here. How good are these numbers when we look at passes going forward? How many are being launched forward, or how many are going back to the defense? That's another analysis for another day, but it's worth considering if simply looking at pass attempts vs. pass completion percentage is going to hide players who maybe don't pass the ball a lot out of the midfield and don't have highest completion percentages – but, maybe they're more likely to complete a through ball at the expense of a higher passing completion percentage from safer passes, or maybe they're launching the ball forward and into aerial duels that their teammates are losing but are still creating dangerous loose balls their teams can capitalize on.
The median for passing completion percentage has been dropping the further up we go up the field. It was at 81.3% in the defensive 3rd, 76.3% in the middle 3rd, and now we're going to see how far it drops in the attacking 3rd.
Open Play Passes in the Attacking 3rd
When we look at open play passing percentages in the attacking 3rd, and sort by open play passes attempted in that third per 90, the percentages are all over the place. There's also a lot of new names – namely forwards and more attacking-minded midfielders.
The median open play passing completion percentage in this 3rd is low, at 60.6%. That makes sense, as you're likely not going to have an easy time moving the ball around that close to an opponent's goal. There's several players who still stand out, though.
Back to Kim Little, her passing completion percentage out of this third, at 76.5%, is nearly 10 percentage points lower than in the middle 3rd. But compared to the rest of the field, she's a star, over six percentage points over the 75th percentile.
Perhaps even more impressive is Washington's Banini, who we haven't even seen in the top 15 by open play pass attempts per 90 until now. With 14.4 open play pass attempts in this 3rd per 90, she's getting off a completion percentage of 83.0%. That would be above the 75th percentile even in the middle 3rd!
Fishlock is here, too, although her passing completion percentage is comparable to the rest of the field, unlike in the middle 3rd where she was relatively very low. Relatively low compared to everyone else, though, is Mathis and Leon, who attempt to pass the ball a lot in this 3rd but struggle to get half of them completed.
If we were to break this down further, we'd want to look at how many of these completed passes are staying in the attacking 3rd of if a significant amount of passes out of this 3rd are going back to the midfield. Also, what about crosses, and are those types of high-risk-high-reward passes behind Melis' and Leon's low completion percentage? And what about forwards like Alex Morgan and Lynn Williams, who aren't even in this top 15? Should we even expect them to have high passing attempt numbers, or should a table like this only include fullbacks, midfielders, inside forwards, and exclude players who's job is to shoot first?
Posted in NWSL 2016 Season	| 2 Replies
Aerial duels in the 2016 NWSL season (through 54 matches)
Posted on November 3, 2016 by alfredom2012
In the WoSo Stats Shiny app is a section titled "Aerial Duels" that has data for how many times a player goes up for an aerial duel, and how often she wins them. In the 2016 NWSL Season Tableau workbook, I originally didn't include a visualization for aerial duels, but I recently created one to get a better look at how the distribution of players looks when you compare the amount of times they go up for an aerial duel per 90 minutes to the percentage of times they win an aerial duel.
You can view the "Aerial Duels" section of the Tableau visualization for yourself. As of this writing, with 54 matches logged for the season, two players, Dagny Brynjarsdottir and Natasha Kai, stand apart pretty clearly from the rest of the league for how often they are involved in an aerial duel per 90 minutes.
It of course makes sense that they'd have a lot of aerial duels; they're both tall and are typically thrown into attacking positions high up the field. After Kai (15.6 aerial duels per 90) and Brynjarsdottir (13.6 aerial duels per 90), the rest of the field appears starting with another Portland Thorn, Lindsey Horan (10.1 aerial duels per 90).
The players with the highest aerial duel win percentage with a significant number of aerial duels per 90 (beyond the 25th percentile, the left edge of that light grey rectangle you see running parallel to the y-axis) are further back, with far less aerial duels per 90 but with generally greater defensive duties. The top four – again, with 54 matches logged so far – are Whitney Engen (82% of aerial duels won), Becky Sauerbrunn (78%), Julie King (78%), and Alanna Kennedy (72%).
Sauerbrunn and Kennedy noticeably have a very high win percentage while still being above the 75th percentile of aerial duels per 90. As is evident by looking at the chart, more aerial duels appears to correlate with a winning percentage approaching around 45%.
Finally, I looked at how each team compares. The Western New York Flash stands out for having four players -Erceg, Kennedy, McDonald, and Mewis – clustered in the top-right corner of the chart. No other team has a cluster like that.
Meanwhile, have a look at the Seattle Reign. Their players are generally clustered behind the 75th percentile.
An interesting follow-up to this chart would be to break down the per 90 and win percentage by location. Each match with complete location data has the location of each aerial duel logged, so this is something that should be possible to visualize and analyze once a way of coding through the matches and sorting out the aerial duels by location is resolved.
Another more complex follow-up question is what happens after each of these aerial duels. If it went out of bounds, it was recovered by a teammate of the player who won the aerial duel, if it was cleared away, if the aerial duel resulted in a foul, and so on. This data is deep in the spreadsheet that is logged for each match and I haven't yet figured out an easy way to do that type of analysis, but it is going to be worth digging into.
In the meanwhile, feel free to dig through the chart and have a look at this for yourself!
Posted in NWSL 2016 Season	| Tagged aerial duels, tableau	| Leave a reply
R Package for the WoSo Stats project
Putting this project on hiatus
Advanced Passing Stats – USWNT vs. England – SheBelieves Cup 2018
Advanced Passing Stats – USWNT vs. France – SheBelieves Cup 2018
Advanced Passing Stats: USWNT vs. Germany – SheBelieves Cup 2018
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Michael Saunders on Putting this project on h…
Advanced Passing Sta… on Advanced Passing Stats –…
Advanced Passing Sta… on Advanced Passing Stats: USWNT…
Applied Sports Scien… on USWNT passing – comparin…
NWSL 2016 Season
shebelieves cup 2016


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Senate Votes to Arm Middle East; House Votes to Ban Trump's Nukes
June 16th, 2019 - by Jason Ditz / AntiWar.com
US Senate Upholds Arms Sales to Bahrain and Qatar:Votes fail after tanker bombings in region
Jason Ditz / AntiWar.com
(June 13, 2019) — In two surprising votes held on Thursday, the Senate rejected bills by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) to block US arms sales to Bahrain and Qatar. The Bahrain vote was 43-56, and the Qatar vote was 42-57.
Sen. Paul has been leading pushes against selling US arms to countries with authoritarian governments. In Thursday's comments he declared that "dumping more weapons into the Middle East won't get us any closer to peace." He also urged the US to "stop sending arms to people who abuse human rights."
The Senate leadership dismissed such concerns, saying that Bahrain and Qatar would find arms somewhere even if the US didn't sell them. Emphasis on the importance of the two nations centered on them hosting America's 5th Fleet and Central Command headquarters, respectively. The White House had threatened to veto either of the measures if they'd passed.
Both votes were considered highly likely to pass up until they were rushed to the floor today. The timing appears almost certainly to have been related to Thursday tanker bombings in the Gulf of Oman, and shifted a number of Senators' votes in favor of continuing the arms sales.
More votes are expected next week, on US arms sales to Saudi Arabia. The Saudi votes are also considered likely to pass, as Senate support for the Saudis has soured since the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, and war crimes in Yemen, there have been growing calls for the US to limit backing to them.
The Saudi votes are also expected to be an argument between opposing US support of human rights abusers and the administration really wanting the large sales the Saudis are committing to. Expect growing US hostility toward Iran to also figure prominently in the Saudi debates.
SecDef: US Arms Saudis to Prevent Russia, China From Arming Them
(June 14, 2019) — Facing growing opposition from Congress on arms sales to Saudi Arabia, the Trump Administration's officials are lining up to dismiss concerns about whether Saudi war crimes and the murder of Jamal Khashoggi might warrant ending those sales.
The go-to administration argument was expressed by Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan on Wednesday, when he insisted the US must sell the Saudis all the arms they want or risk losing those sales to Russia and China.
State Department officials were making the same argument, and while it's plainly not a moral argument, it doesn't appear to be factually correct either. Indeed China has long attempted to bolster its own relationship with Saudi Arabia, but has conceded that even without the US there isn't a practical way for China or Russia to supplant those huge arms deals.
That argument may be all the administration has, however, as officials were very dismissive of Congressional questioning, declining to offer any details of their attempt to circumvent Congress by declaring a "state of emergency."
Many in Congress are particularly angry about this declaration, since some of the arms in question aren't to be delivered to the Saudis for more than a year, which hardly justifies the administration trying to skirt a 30-day oversight period.
House Panel Approves $733 Billion Military Bill, Drops Low-Yield Nukes
Republican amendment backing tactical nukes failed
(June 13, 2019) — The House Armed Services Committee has passed a $733 billion version of the annual military spending bill. The vote was 33-24, largely along party lines, and will send this version to the House floor for a vote.
Once the House passes a version of this bill, it must be reconciled with the Senate version. That's going to be a big job this year, as there are some major differences in the bills on some key subjects of debate.
One of the biggest issues is the question of low-yield nuclear weapons. The House bill ends funding for the low-yield nuclear missiles, and bars their deployment. A last-minute Republican amendment in committee to preserve the weapons failed.
Low-yield nukes are intended by the Pentagon to be more usable, tactical weapons, that would have a much lower threshold for deployment. This was the source of support among hawks, but also the source of much opposition, concern that more usable nukes would usher in an era where nuclear warfare is more routine.
Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX) angrily condemned the failure of the amendment, saying that not having the option of tactical nuclear war "does not make sense to me," and that he didn't understand abandoning the plan after it had already been funded in the past.
Strategic Forces Subcommittee Chair Rep. Jim Cooper (D-TN) said the tactical program is such a tiny fraction of the US nuclear force that it isn't even a rounding error, so it is misleading for hawks to call it vital to the arsenal.
The House bill also adopted a measure that would create a Space Corps as a separate branch of the US military. The Senate bill also has a similar force, but with different language and differences in approach to establishing the force.
Posted in accordance with Title 17, Section 107, US Code, for noncommercial, educational purposes


RPC Superfos, RPC Kolding and RPC Kambo jointly host a stand at Northern Europe's No. 1 packaging exhibition plus a sustainability event. Please make sure to visit us at Scanpack, Gothenburg, booth D02:22 – we very much look forward to meeting you.
Shortly, doors will open to Northern Europe's most important packaging trade fair: Scanpack in Gothenburg, Sweden, is on from 23 to 26 October 2018. We warmly welcome you at booth D02:22 which we share with our sister companies RPC Kolding and RPC Kambo, belonging to RPC M&H Division.
The central focus of our part of the exhibition is sustainability and the role of plastic in a circular economy.
"Like any responsible business, creating a sustainable future for generations to come is a core commitment of RPC Superfos. Sustainability underscores everything we do – both the products we manufacture and the way we run our operations. We work to ensure that we meet all our own environmental responsibilities and, likewise, our customers achieve theirs," he adds.
Plastic packaging protects and preserves your products. Plastic is a resource efficient material. It is lightweight, secure, versatile, durable − and key for reducing food waste as it enables long shelf life. Production of plastic products uses far less energy than comparable materials − and plastic components weigh 50% less than similar components made from other materials.
As a side event at the packaging exhibition, RPC Superfos, RPC Kolding and RPC Kambo have invited Maria Wetterstrand, a former political spokesperson of the Swedish Green Party, to give an inspiring speech about sustainability and environmental issues. Group Sustainability Manager Katherine Fleet, RPC Group, will addresses the targets, efforts and results achieved by RPC Group.
Please visit our booth D02:22 to learn more about how we can help you to create a packaging solution which allows for cost-efficiency, optimal protection of your product and a high degree of environmental benefits.
"Our presence at Scanpack is a perfect opportunity to catch up on current trends in sustainable development. We look forward to advising on biopolymer, recycled plastics and reusable packaging. All queries are welcome – we are ready to answer questions about the full range from hands-on packaging solutions to climate change and the circular economy in relation to plastic packaging," says Søren Marcussen.


G. Ajelli & Co., publisher.
Postcard featuring a color illustration of two cats. The cat on the left is dressed as a Red Cross nurse and is holding a lit match. The cat on the right is dressed as a soldier and has a cigarette in his mouth. He is leaning towards the nurse-cat to light his cigarette.
Purchase ; Michael Zwerdling ; 2004 ; 04-22.


text:
On the Edge by T.S Krupa Blog Tour & Review @TS_Krupa @RylSocialMedia
Andy Parker is a war widow raising her fifteen-year-old daughter on her own. Hayden Grace dreams of becoming a professional snowboarder, and Andy is doing everything she can to make that happen.
When Hayden Grace's passion begins to falter, Andy is at a loss for how to re-inspire her daughter.
Andy does her best balancing Hayden Grace's competition schedule, practice, and school with her own work schedule at home, in the city, and on the mountain. But work starts to demand more from Andy.
Then, Andy receives an opportunity of a lifetime. An opportunity that will turn their lives upside down. But is it too good to be true?
Soon, mother and daughter find themselves in Aspen for Hayden Grace's first national competition when a chance encounter brings Andy into a passionate, unexpected romance, a romance that could change everything.
Will Andy be able to find the happiness she deserves?
Published June 5th 2015 by TS Krupa, LLC
Add to Goodreads Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks | Kobo
My Requested Nosy Guest Post:
On the Edge is the kind of story you want to curl up with. I enjoyed every word and loved the whole premise. When an author writes this kind of story, I always wonder where their thoughts are and how they go about formulating the characterizations. So I asked. Because I am nosy like that and love when the author's tell me :)
Inside the mind of T.S Krupa:
For me every book is different whether it's the actually writing process or how the idea forms and translates into a story. The idea for On the Edge came to me about five years ago in 2010, while I was watching the Winter Olympics. My favorite event is the Men's and Women's Half Pipe competition. I just have so much appreciation for the risk they take as athletes and the overall excitement I have as a spectator.
Three things had to come together for On the Edge to become a story. First, unlike Safe & Sound, this novel would take some research because I didn't know much about snowboarding. I did the majority of my research online and read a lot of tutorials. That only took me so far—so next I reached out to several professional snowboarders in order to properly fact check what I had learned and what I was thinking for my characters. This process really shaped Hayden Grace Parker—her goals, her ambitions, and her journey.
Secondly, I wished to explore the perspective of the single parent with a gifted/talented child. I had watched many friends and family members raise their own families. Eventually, there comes a time when they fall into a routine—school, work, home, and repeat. I gathered inspiration from them and started to shape Andy Parker. I wanted Andy to be a strong woman, but not perfect—for the reader to experience and truly understand her challenges and strengths. It was also important Andy's late husband, Stephan Parker, to be a serviceman for two reasons. My own father serviced in the Army and then the National Guard, until he retired. His service defined who I was as a person, who my family was, and our values. It fit with the story I wanted to tell. But even more importantly, I wanted to highlight the sacrifice these men and women make daily for our country, which is ENORMOUS—I wanted to celebrate that.
Finally, let's talk about Paul Westcott. His character is part professional snowboarder, part celebrity, and entirely fictional. Paul comes into the story without much baggage, which allows him to server as a good balance for Andy. He was so much fun to write because he was carefree, relaxed and "chill."
Until he met Andy, he had conquered everything in life. He never anticipated his greatest challenge would be love.
You can read my 5 Star "Tell Me A Story Kind of Story" Review
T.S. Krupa was born in New Haven, Connecticut. Raised in a Polish household with a blended American culture, she is fluent in Polish. She graduated with her bachelor's degree from Franklin Pierce University,where she also played field hockey. She earned her Master's from Texas Tech University and recently graduated with her Doctor of Education from North Carolina State University.
She lives in North Carolina with her husband and her dog.
In 2014, T.S. Krupa published her award-winning debut novel Safe & Sound. On The Edge is her second novel.
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Thank you so much for hosting, Annmarie! You are truly a delight to work with. I look forward to future Royal Tours together!!! :)
credorosa June 26, 2015 at 6:39 PM
Thanks so much! I really appreciate that.
Thank you for the fantastic review, Annmarie!!! I'm grateful you took the time out of your busy schedule to read it and am thrilled to hear you enjoyed it!!! xoxo ~T


text:
Dreamliner Woes Spotlight Japan Battery Maker
The troubles with Boeing's 787 Dreamliner are drawing an unwelcome spotlight for the Japanese maker of the powerful lithium-ion batteries that have become the focus of investigations into onboard fire risks. Kyoto, Japan-based GS Yuasa Corp. said it began working Thursday with investigators probing the cause of recent problems with the 787.
Elaine Kurtenbach, AP Business Writer
TOKYO (AP) — The troubles with Boeing's 787 Dreamliner are drawing an unwelcome spotlight for the Japanese maker of the powerful lithium-ion batteries that have become the focus of investigations into onboard fire risks.
Kyoto, Japan-based GS Yuasa Corp. said it began working Thursday with investigators probing the cause of recent problems with the 787. An overheated leaking battery prompted an All Nippon Airways jet to make an emergency landing on Wednesday, leading regulators in Japan, the U.S., India and Europe to ground the planes.
Safety experts say the leakage of electrolyte from the ANA jet was cause for serious alarm because the very corrosive fluid can damage electrical wiring, components and even support structures for the plane's composite body.
"The cause of the problems is unclear," said Yasushi Yamamoto, a spokesman for GS Yuasa. "We still don't know if the problem is with the battery, the power source or the electronics systems," he said.
The 787 relies far more than older aircraft on electrical systems, and troubles with the batteries could pose a challenge to GS Yuasa's aerospace aspirations. Apart from the 787, the company has a contract to supply lithium ion batteries to the International Space Station.
The Dreamliner is the first airliner to make extensive use of lithium-ion batteries to help power its main electrical systems. The batteries were chosen for their quick charging times and capacity to fit into space-saving shapes, facilitating the use of energy-efficient, lightweight composite materials for the plane's body instead of the usual aluminum.
But like other lithium-ion batteries, they do pose risks. Such batteries are used in countless electronic devices and overheating that had the potential to cause fires resulted in laptop recalls in recent years.
Japanese manufacturers such as GS Yuasa, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and other powerhouses provide about 35 percent of the Boeing 787's parts, and the project has boosted the ambitions of an aerospace production hub centered on the central city of Nagoya. Building up such high-tech industries is a pillar of government policies aimed at restoring Japan's export competitiveness and revitalizing an economy mired in recession.
Lithium-ion batteries account for a small but growing part of total sales for GS Yuasa, a company first founded in 1895 that according to data company Toyo Keizai Inc. is the world's third-biggest battery maker.
The company is much better known for its status as the biggest maker in Japan of automotive batteries, both conventional lead-acid batteries and also alkali and advanced batteries used in electric vehicles. It also is one of the biggest manufacturers of batteries used in power sports vehicles such as jet skis and ATVs, and of power and lighting systems, with overseas sales accounting for nearly half its revenues.
Yamamoto said he did not expect that use of lead-acid batteries, GS Yuasa's bread-and-butter business, would be phased out anytime soon given the rapid growth in use of motorcycles and cars in developing countries.
But like many other Japanese manufacturers, Yuasa is carving a niche for itself in advanced technology. Just over a year ago, it began construction in Ritto, Japan, of a factory that will eventually have the world's biggest capacity for lithium-ion batteries.
The batteries used in the Dreamliner are built at GS Yuasa's flagship factory in Kyoto, Yamamoto said. Thales Alenia of France is providing the charger equipment, power conversion, standby flight instrument and in-flight entertainment systems.
Early on, regulators acknowledged concerns over fire and overheating hazards from lithium-ion batteries, issuing special precautions for installing them to minimize risks.
In a report on integrating lithium-ion batteries into aircraft systems, Thales researchers describe various protective devices and fail-safes meant to make the technology "perfectly safe."
Illustrating Japan's commitment to the 787, its two main carriers, Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways, have been Boeing's biggest buyers for the jet, taking 24 of the 50 delivered so far.
The troubles they have seen include leaked fuel and a cracked cockpit windshield. But the most alarming were the incidents involving batteries, including a fire centered in an auxiliary power unit of a Japan Airlines 787 that took firefighters 40 minutes to extinguish.
GS Yuasa's Yamamoto said he was unsure how long the investigation into the problems with the 787 would take. Each day will likely hurt. The company's share price sank another 5 percent on Thursday and is approaching a 52-week low.
Officials of both the Federal Aviation Administration and Japan's aviation authority say they want clear assurances the aircraft can be operated safely before they will allow it to fly.
"This will not be decided by us. The Transport Ministry is in charge," Yamamoto said.
"But I don't think this is going to be a matter of just a few days. Not quite so soon."
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I've analyzed hundreds of home inspector websites, and with that, I've seen a lot of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) mistakes. But, there's one tactic that I see more than any other — service area listings. Does cramming towns and zip codes into the bottom of your page actually help your search rankings?
The short answer is no. Stuffing the names of dozens or hundreds of counties, cities, towns, and zip codes into your page is an outdated technique. It's ineffective. You could even be hurting your search rankings, pushing you down into the deeper pages of Google — where no one will find you. However, there are other techniques you can use to much greater effect.
Google has a vested interest in providing relevant, useful information for the topic being searched. The most effective SEO techniques revolve around providing the best, most relevant content possible, and proving it by attracting high-quality (reputable) links from around the web. However, when people start catering to search engines instead of real people, they begin running into problems.
Large lists of service areas aren't exactly what I would call user-friendly. Here's an example; Let's say you're looking to buy a home in Tinton Falls, New Jersey. How easy do you think it is for someone to find "Tinton Falls" on a page that looks like this? Go ahead, try it. I promise, it's in there.
Here's a more blatant and insidious example of service area spamming. Google refers to this, and similar techniques meant to hide text, as cloaking.
That's obviously for the search engines, not for people. Whether you're aiming for the first page on Google, or you legitimately want to help people see if they are within your service area, there are far better ways to go about it.
Optimizing your business for search results based on your area, or the area which you service, is called local SEO. I say optimize your business because there is a lot that you can do that doesn't directly involve your website. Use the following options as a better alternative to just listing a bunch of service areas.
Claim your business on Google My Business.
Choose the correct category for your business.
Add a description, phone number, address, photos, and so on.
Verify that all information is accurate.
Get satisfied customers to post reviews on your GMB listing.
Make sure your business name, address, and phone number are the same across GMB, your website, and any other directory listings such as Yellow Pages.
There's no need to list every single town in your area. A handful of areas will do the trick, and focusing only on the most profitable areas will give you the best return. If you service a large city and the surrounding area, there's no need to list every single town and village. No one is going to look through several lines of difficult-to-read text to see if their town is included.
Add pages specific to each area — but heed caution!
Don't go adding hundreds of pages to cover your entire service area (yes, I've seen this, too). Doing so can get you a slap on the wrist from Google (a penalty to your search ranking), for a number of reasons. Instead, only create pages for the most important areas.
Do not recycle content between these pages. If you reuse the same text, but change the names, you'll have a nasty case of duplicate content (almost the same text on multiple pages). Search engines don't appreciate that kind of behavior. At the very least, most or all of those pages will be ignored.
Instead, load these pages up with content that's unique for each area. Sounds like a tough job, right? Here are a few simple suggestions that'll get you a long way.
Talk about inspections you've performed in the area. Pictures are a nice bonus.
List positive reviews from clients in that area.
Include other information relevant to the area, especially if it has to do with your services.
Display an interactive map with your service area highlighted.
Allow people to search a database of areas you service by name or zip code.
Spamming service areas on your website is an ineffective SEO strategy from an older, simpler time. Now you know not to do it, and I've provided you with much better alternatives. Invest in doing things the right way, and see the results.
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Jacob R. Lupacchini, 79, formerly of North Charlotte Street, Pottstown, Montgomery County, died Thursday in Geriatric and Rehabilitation Center, Royersford, Montgomery County. He was the husband of Lena A. (Antonic) Lupacchini.
He was a crane operator for many years for Mayer Pollock Steel Corp., Pottstown.
Born in Bolivar, Westmoreland County, he was a son of the late Constantini and Mary (Dentini) Lupacchini.
Survivors: Wife; sons, William R. of Kempton and Bernard J. of Pottstown; sisters, Edith Corvi of Delmonte and Mary Plumber of Waterford; five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Services: 9 a.m. Monday, Catagnus Funeral Home, 711 N. Franklin St., Pottstown; Mass at 10 a.m. in St. Aloysius Catholic Church, Pottstown. Call 7-8:30 p.m. Sunday.