text:
This is a photo taken by someone I didn't know at the Help Island Public welcome area. He was kind enough to give me a copy.
Posted by Cheyenne Palisades at 3:55 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Thin Music: Part IV: Second Life Streams
Written 27 May, 2011
Thin Music
Second Life Streams and Hard Drive Capacities
Every parcel in Second Life can stream music, either live or from one of the many online radio stations. Bit rates range from about 32 kbps to 128 kbps.
Alas, it seems thin music is a fact of our Second Lives.
But it doesn't have to be part of our out-of-world experiences.
In this world of inexpensive hard drives with huge capacities, it's possible to build huge libraries with uncompressed WMA or other files-- and for those who wish to compress files to do so at high bit rates like 320 kbps.
Right now my iTunes library weighs in at some 75,000 songs and fills just over 500 gb on my external hard drive (I keep it on the external drive so my C:\ drive won't have to work as hard).
With 2 TB drives selling for less than a hundred bucks these days, there's no reason to rip your tracks at 128 kbps. Try 320kbps, or, better yet, just save your files as WMAs (an exact image to the files on your CDs). And go buy a good set of headphones.
Because no one should have to listen to thin music.
Posted by Cheyenne Palisades at 1:49 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Thin Music: Part III: Music Goes Portable
Music Goes Portable
I was perhaps the first person in East Tennessee to own a Sony Walkman.
I was working at a state-run developmental center as a behavior analyst, and every day I would walk between the buildings with my Walkman and earphones, enjoying my music. I had no idea the rest of the staff were talking about me until a unit supervisor said to me, "You know, people are saying you're crazy."
"I might be," I said. "If so, I'm certainly in the right place for it."
I put the headphones on her ears and let her listen for a moment.
"You're not crazy," she said.
Before long, of course, Walkman and Walkman knockoffs were being sold in Wal-Mart and K Mart and half the stoners in Tennesse had one.
The Walkman was the size of a fat paperback novel and had a formidable sound. Playing audiocassettes through a pair of pretty good headphones, it played music with an immediacy and precision that many people had never experienced. My first generation Walkman cost several hundred dollars, but before long they were $30 or so at department stores.
The significance of the Walkman, of course, was that personal libraries of music, at first limited to the house and then made semi-portable by way of the automobile, now traveled with the person. The Walkman wasn't tiny, but it would fit in a purse or a coat pocket and could be clipped to a belt, and the tapes were small, meaning users could easily carry around three or four.
The cassette Walkman was eventually replaced by the CD Walkman, but but for some reason-- maybe partially the skipping and partially confusing controls-- I never warmed to the latter. I bought one, but never really used it.
I did, nowever, buy and use an MP3 when this century was new.
The years since 2000 or so have seen widespread ripping of CDs and, for vintage material not available on CD, ripping from vinyl and audiocassette. Today, of course, downloads are by far the most popular way to buy or steal music. I've not bought a single CD since the quality of the material at Apple and Amazon reached an acceptable bit rate.
There's a problem with digital downloads, however: to make the files smaller, they're encoded in lossy formats. MP3s is one of these lossy formats, meaning material already compromised by the slow sampling rate on CDs is further dumbed down when turned into an MP3-- and the smaller the file (and the lower the bit rate), the more the music becomes thin.
By thin I mean without presence, absent of fidelity, watery, insubstantial. It lacks warmth and immediacy and highs and lows and the middle.
This significant problem is further compounded by cheap electronics and crappy earbuds which cannot reproduce highs and lows.
The result is people who, like me back in the day, have never experienced high-fidelity music.
Ripping tracks at the highest bit rate possible helps-- a lot. MP3s encoded in stereo at 320 kbps sound immensely more full and satisfactory than those ripped at 128 kbps.
Good earphones help, too. Expensive doesn't necessarily mean good, but there are some pretty good iPod-compatible models available.
It helps, too, to have a pretty good player. I have an iTouch-- but for critical listening I use my aging iRiver.
I find it sad that we live in an era of thin music. Things will get better, I'm sure-- most promising are new formats like FLAC files that don't lose information. But for now we live in an age of thin music.
The tiny drivers in these earbuds reproduce bass and treble
just as faithfully as these Sony over-the-ear closed headphones. Really.
Posted by Cheyenne Palisades at 12:21 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Thin Music: Part II: Fidelity Fades Away
Fidelity Fades Away
Back in the days of vinyl there was a better medium, one that produced full clear sound without the pops and clicks that plagued even the best record pressings: tape.
The technology of recording tape was primitive, but reel-to-reel recorders moved a wide-enough tape fast enough past the heads to ensure a high-quality sound. Audiophiles loved them. I have one myself, unused these days, but still displayed in my bedroom.
1964 saw the introduction of the 8-track tape cartridge.
In the South 8-track tapes are still sold at flea markets
Here's how this tricky little gadget works.
With a wide tape and a fairly fast speed, the sound was acceptable, although the click at the end of the loop as the tape changed tracks was disconcerting. So, too, was the recording of songs to allow the shortest possible tape length. Still, the 8-track made it possible for people to listen to their own music in their cars. Previously, the only such option was a problematic under-the-dash record player made by RCA and sold by car dealers and mail-order automotive company J.C. Whitney. J.C. Whitney was best known for their cheesy accessories. "Yes, I'd like a pair of fuzzy dice and a steering wheel spinning and a pair of Yosemite Sam mud flaps, and, oh, yes, one of those 45 rpm car record players." Needless to say, the auto record player never quite caught on.
The 8-track's history was brief: in just a few years it had been replaced by the compact audio cassette.
Introduced in 1962, more than ten years before the 8-track, the compact cassette had a lot of advantages: It was small, rugged, convenient, portable, and inexpensive to produce. The tape was cleverly hidden, and so protected from damage. And the cassette could hold up to 90 minutes of recorded sound.
The only problem was it sounded like crap.
Developed to record sound in the early 70s, the narrow tape width and slow 1 7/8" ips speed was unsuitable for music. There just weren't enough magnetic particles moving past the heads to make for a pleasurable music listening experience. It was a matter of physics.
And so, since getting better sound would have required an expensive redesign, they changed physics.
Not really. What tape and tape deck manufacturers did was create a new tape coating with smaller particles. And they changed the material itself, adding chromium dioxide, which increased fidelty. And they introduced Dolby noise reduction. The result was much improved sound.
Introduced in 1971, these innovations doomed the 8-track player, and audio cassettes prevailed until they in turn were doomed by introduction of the compact disk. (Now, of course, the CD is itself in decline, challenged by downloaded digital files.
While the audio cassette was far from the perfect medium, it worked well for automobiles and in the newfangled Sony Walkman.
Thin Music: Part I: High Fidelity
Infinity's Legendary Quantum-3 Loudspeakers
I remember the first time I heard high fidelity music.
I was at 100 Oaks Mall in Nashville, Tennessee. I and my friends Clyde and John were hanging out, which for us meant having a Whopper at Burger King and going to a mall and walking around and perhaps seeing a movie.
Clyde had a newfound interest in recorded sound, and he steered us into a stereo store. Just at the door there were a pair of small Bose 301 bookshelf loudspeakers. From them was pouring the overture from the Who's rock opera Tommy, and the sound was textured and rich with a wide soundstage. Instruments were coming from my left and from my right and from in front of me, each from its own point in space and with each instrument sounding as if it were being played life right in front of me. It was mesmerizing; I was transfixed.
Before that my experience with recorded music had consisted of top 40 tunes played on AM stations through the small transistor radio radio my parents had given me at Christmas, and 45s and LPs spun on my mother's stereo, which was a wooden console with the cheapest and tinniest possible mechanism-- not that she cared. For my mother having a stereo was about having a stereo and not about the music at all. When her console broke it sat there for ten or more years, mute, and she was happy with it.
So hearing Tommy in all its richness immobilized me. John and Clyde almost literally had to drag me away.
I was a poor graduate student, but soon I had a turntable, and eventually a receiver, a cassette deck, and a parade of speakers. I had some income by then, and the receivers grew ever more powerful and the speakers ever bigger. Every time I was content, Clyde would upgrade his system and I would grow discontented and upgrade my own.
Eventually I wound up with perhaps the best-engineered electronic products I have ever owned-- a pair of Infinity Quantum 3 loudspeakers, bought as seconds for $730, a fortune for me even at $300 below the normal price.
The Q-3s were large speakers, about three feet high, with a Watkins-Infinity dual-voice-core bass driver, a mid-bass, a 5" midrange, and two electrostatic tweeters. My Q-3s, although some others apparently didn't, had additional tweeters in the back, facing the wall. They were the antithesis of the big and worthless Definator X-1 speakers in the 1986 film Ruthless People: they accurately reproduced sound. They were wonderful.
Before I shelled out the money I looked at and listened intently to just about every speakers on the market, from the small Bose 901s to huge Klipschhorns: Advents, ARs, JBL-L100s, Japanese Pioneers and Marantz' and Yamahas, and some over-the-top expensive systems like Dahlquists and Altec-Lansing's preposterous Voice of the Theaters, and, of course, every speaker in the Infinity lineup.
The speakers I liked best were the Dahlquist DQ-10 (which sounded a bit better than anything else, IMO, but was way out of my price range) and ADS L810s. I actually owned a pair of 810s for a time, and loved them, but sold them to help finance the purchase of the Q-3s. A few years ago I picked up a pair for a few hundred dollars on eBay, and they now sit in my living room, powered by a big Onkyo A/V receiver.
The Q-3s didn't have (to my mind, at least) imaging as the 810s, but they just sounded so GOOD! The electrostatic tweeters made for clear highs and the big Watkins-Infinity woofers made the floor shake.
But what I liked about the Q-3s the most was their accuracy. While John and Clyde preferred the boomy (to my ears) West Coast sound and purchased JBLs, I wanted to hear bass drums sounding like bass drums and cymbals sounding like cymbals. The Infinities did that.
I still own those Q-3s. They're in my bedroom, hooked up to a NAD pre-amp and a BK power amp, and I listen to them sometimes, and even with CDs, they sound marvelous. I heard nuance and detail most people never hear because their music systems are incapable of producing them: fingers slipping on fretboards, the inhalations of musicians, the rustle of clothing in the recording booth. They provide a high-quality listening experience I can't get from my downstairs setup, or from the really good sound system in my car, and certainly not from iTunes or my iTouch.
Still Listening After All These Years
About ten years ago my Infinities needed some attention. I bought a kit and refurbished the woofer surrounds, but, courtesy of a friend who cranked my system up to eleven and then went out to eat, I had a blown midrange and there were no replacements to be found.
I found myself speaker shopping again. I started with the highest-end systems-- $10,000 or more. I even listened to my Q-3s (I took them to an audiophile store to get the midrange repaired) side-by-side with speakers costing half my annual salary, and you know what?
None sounded as good to me as my Q-3s.
This is What a $700,00 Pair of Loudspeakers Looks Like!
Posted by Cheyenne Palisades at 12:48 AM 0 comments Links to this post
I'm not quite sure which time zone Jesus uses, but the prediction of 89-year-old preacher Harold Camping is that the world will end at 6 pm today.
Of course today here is yesterday in some other places and today there is tomorrow here, so let's say we just better be prepared at the top of every hour.
Sweetie had the brilliant idea of having an end of the world party on Whimsy, but IRL my wacky little town is having an end of the world party (5:40 pm, don't be late!) and I think I'll drop by. I do plan to stay logged in while I'm away, though, so if the world does end I'll be in a safe alternate location.
When I get back from my town's brief little get together we may well have a post-end of the world party on Whimsy. IM me if you would like an invitation.
Butt Culture in Second Life
Written 5-13-2011
For some people, the avatar is all about the bootie.
This seems especially true for women from Brazil.
Giving a Presentation with Sweetie
Written 8 May, 2011
A Presentation with Sweetie
Yesterday Sweetie and I drive a hundred and fifty miles and gave a presentation about our Second Lives at a conference that wasn't about Second Life.
The conference was small with multiple tracks, so we had only about ten people in the room, but it was fun to slow slides of us and of Whimsy and talk about our relationship.
There was another couple present who had also met in Second Life. Their story was more drama-filled than mine. They met in a Second Life strip club and become partners. When she traveled to the U.S. to a conference, they met in real life. She wound up seeking asylum, spent a month in a holding cell, her blue card is now in process, and the couple of living together. Another couple in the room had met them in Second Life and helped them when they ran into legal snags in the immigration process. Another attendee couldn't seem to learn how to turn her computer on and wanted help. And a friend showed up to support me by questioning every thing we said and IMing throughout the presentation.
We spent a lot of time in preparation for such a small audience, but we have from it a nice PowerPoint presentation and movie Sweetie made. I'll post it here in the blog soon-- if it doesn't show her virtual face, that is.
Can't... Reach... the... Mute... Button... ARRGH!
Welcome areas tend to have no end of obnoxious and deliberately insulting people-- from newbies drunk with power who like to spam the chat by hitting return after every word and make rude gestures or brandish freenises, to year-old cynical twentysomethings who come to be cool and generally fall short of that mark.
In a Battle of Wits it is Not Wise to Arrive Lightly Armed
READ MORE! READ MORE! READ MORE!
Mute and Derender
If you mute a mime, is he still silent?
Photo from Albion Spiteller's FLICKR site
Second Life is designed to make a level playing ground for every resident. A few people are able to game the system, but for the most part everyone has access to the same security and privacy safeguards. If you keep your password strictly to yourself and don't grant build and map-tracking features to others, people can't mess with your account or your in-world property.
But they can still harass and annoy you.
There are two tools which are absolutely invaluable when people annoy you: mute and derender.
Mute stops you from hearing their chat or getting their IMs, and silences their gestures and scripted object. Blessed silence!
Not all viewers have a derender feature, but Phoenix and Imprudence, at least, do. Derender stops you from seeing them something or someone. Combine it with mute and they're just... gone. It's as if they never existed.
Mute and derender persist until you reverse them. You can easily cancel them.
To mute someone, just right click on their avatar and mute them, or mute them from their profile. To unmute them, just go to your mute list, highlight their name, and choose unmute (or unmute them from their profile).
You an also mute someone by muting one of their objects.
To derender something or someone in Phoenix, just right click them and derender. To re-render them, go to the Phoenix Menu, choose Whitelist, and remove them from the list.
Last night my friend and Whimsy resident Serenek Timeless IMed me with an important question. At least she said it was an important question. Did Whimsy need any scripted gophers that would squeal when their holes were stepped on?
Gophers?
Were gophers now shoulder pets? Or horrors, were they the latest in breedable animals-- you put one on your land and next thing you know there are thousands and the tulips are all gone.
Nope, this was a cut little animated gopher that pops out of its hole and squeaks at you when you tread on it. Cute!
I went to the store she pointed out to me and bought the gopher-- copyable-- for just $60L and put a couple on the ground on Whimcentricity between Serenek's house and Mairenn's. Poor Mairenn will probably get a fright the next time she goes to fire her cannon and steps on one the little guys.
Serenek said maybe the gopher could be the cannoneer.
I said maybe the gopher could be the cannonball.
We speculated on whether we could make a cannon that fired gophers.
"Why not?" I said. "I made one at Christmas that fires fruitcakes."
I explained my reasoning. "Since both gophers and fruitcakes are hard to get rid of," I said, "a gopher cannon should work."
That set us off on a delightful discussion of regifting and plum puddings and hard sauce and other British desserts. Then I mentioned I had a can of something called spotted dick at home. I had picked it up as a novelty, I said. Since Xubi has a jar of hard sauce maybe I could bring my spotted dick with me the next time I visited.
That didn't sound right.
Although I couldn't think of a better way to say it.
Why Newbies Need to Activate Advanced Mode
"What am I supposed to do in this game?"
Written 30 April, 2011
About a month ago the Lindens introduced a new feature in the default viewer (2.6): Basic Mode.
Basic Mode is less complex and hopefully less discouraging than the regular viewer for first-time-in worlders, but functionality is limited. There's no voice, no inventory, no building, no way to modify the avatar, no groups, no ability to spend or obtain Linden dollars.
I'm sure newbies will rush to activate Advanced Mode once they realize they can't:
Crank their breast size up to 100 (females)
Get a freenis (males)
Buy and wear clackety shoes
Clutter their inventory with 50,000 houses, free vehicles, tacky jewelry items, and butt skirts
Make themselves bling at every attachment point
Cover themselves with tattoos
Attach nuclear facelights
Wear those animation overriders that make you strut around like you have to go to the bathroom
Get badly-fitting prim hair
Beg for Linden dollars
Work newbie jobs for three cents an hour
Leave prim clutter all over the place
Play annoying farting gestures in crowded places
Talk dirty to you in voice IM
Sell the badly-textured t-shirt they just made
Those who don't activate Advanced Mode will just have to limit themselves to whining about how stupid and pointless Second Life is and offering friendship to everyone who comes within 20 meters


This weekly periodical helps keep you up-to-date with news in your State and reveals what is going on in others States and around the world.
• Opinions– Marijuana opinions published by sending with an 850 word maximum.
Morgan, Shirley. "Marijuana News Periodical." http://www.protectoursociety.org. 29 August 2017. Web. 11 October 2017.


The video appears to show workers bungling the slaughter of cows struggling to walk and even stand. Under federal regulations, sick animals cannot be slaughtered for human consumption.
The agency suspended operations Monday at Central Valley Meat Co. in Hanford after receiving the video Friday from the animal welfare group Compassion Over Killing. The footage shows animals bleeding and thrashing after being repeatedly shot in the head with a pneumatic gun in unsuccessful efforts to render them unconscious for slaughter.
In-N-Out Burger, a fast food chain, severed its ties with the company after learning about the situation. Mark Taylor, chief operating officer, said on Tuesday that the company acted immediately upon becoming aware it.
"As soon as we became aware of the allegations regarding Central Valley Meat Company and their handling of cattle, we immediately severed our supplier relationship with them. In-N-Out Burger would never condone the inhumane treatment of animals and all of our suppliers must agree to abide by our strict standards for the humane treatment of cattle," Taylor said to The Associated Press in a written statement.
In-N-Out's agreement with suppliers prohibits companies from shipping beef from sick animals. The agreement also includes standards on humane treatment of animals.
"That's the main issue right now," said DeJong of the USDA's Food Safety Inspection Service.
"We were extremely disturbed to be informed by the USDA that ... our plant could not operate based upon a videotape that was provided to the department by a third-party group that alleged inhumane treatment of animals on our property," said a company statement.
Some clips show cattle with swollen udders that are unable to keep their legs under them. Other footage shows a downed cow trembling and unable to stand even as workers try to pull her up by the tail.
Within hours of seeing the video, the USDA's Office of Inspector General sent investigators who found evidence of "egregious inhumane handling and treatment of livestock." The possibility that animals were being inhumanely treated caused officials to shut down the plant while the investigation unfolds.
Four minutes of excerpts the animal welfare group provided to The Associated Press showed cows being prepared for slaughter. One worker appears to be suffocating a cow by standing on its muzzle after a gun that injects a bolt into the animal's head had failed to render it unconscious.
In another clip, a cow is still conscious and flailing as a conveyor lifts it by one leg for transport to an area where the animals' throats are slit for blood draining.
"The horror caught on camera is sickening," said Erica Meier, executive director of Compassion Over Killing. "It's alarming that this is not only a USDA-inspected facility but a supplier to the USDA."
"It's a good sign that the USDA is taking this seriously, but I want to see what comes next," said Meier of Compassion Over Killing, adding the video will be posted on the organization's website.
In the video, Action News reporter Gene Haagenson has complete coverage on the story.


The US Dollar is testing a critical resistance confluence against the Canadian Dollar and leaves the broader uptrend vulnerable into the start of the year. These are the updated targets and invalidation levels that matter on the USD/USD charts.
Technical Outlook: In my latest USD/CAD Weekly Technical Outlook we noted that the price breakout was, "accelerating towards the next major confluence resistance zone at the 61.8% retracement of the 2016 decline / 2017 high-week close at 1.3647/86." Note that the 61.8% slope line of the broader 2017 ascending pitchfork formation also converges on this region into the start of the month and further highlights its technical significance.
Interim support rests with the median-line (currently ~1.3450s) backed closely by the October channel support / 2017 open at 1.3435- a break / close below this region would suggest that a larger price correction may be underway with such a scenario targeting the 38.2% retracement at 1.3328.
Notes: A closer look at price action highlights the October channel with USD/CAD carving out a weekly opening-range just below slope resistance. A break below 1.3565 would risk a deeper pullback here targeting the lower parallels at ~1.35 and 1.3535- look for a bigger reaction there for guidance IF reached. A breach above channel resistance would be needed to mark the resumption of the broader uptrend targeting subsequent topside objectives at 1.3793.
Bottom line: The USD/CAD rally is vulnerable near-term while below 1.3685. From a trading standpoint, I'll favor fading weakness while below this region targeting a move towards the lower parallel. Ultimately, a larger setback may offer more favorable long-entries closer to daily slope support.


text:
What I learned from Jean-Philippe Courtois
Nov 30 / Utkarsh Amitabh
Jean-Philippe is one of the most senior leaders at Microsoft and I did not work with him on a daily basis. However, I did get opportunities to help out with some strategic projects. These projects turned out to be tremendous learning opportunities. Among other things, I realized what mattered most to me and how might I serve others uniquely.
I first met Jean-Philippe Courtois at the Microsoft MBA orientation at the company-wide strategy summit in Miami. That was 6 years ago. I was a freshly minted MBA from INSEAD and Microsoft was my first real corporate gig.
My pre-business school experience was mostly in social impact and I was eager to connect the dots between business and society. During the Q&A, I asked him about Microsoft's strategy to empower digitally disconnected communities. How might we calculate ROI (return on investment)? Should we calculate ROI at all? How might we move beyond CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) and explore sustainable business models?
It is company-sensitive information so I won't be able to share what he said but his words have been my guiding force ever since. There were two things that jumped out at me.
First, his energy.
It was an intense week and my question was towards the very end of the summit. He didn't need to answer my fairly broad question with such depth and detail but he did. And did so with full energy and great empathy.
For those five minutes, I was the most important part of his packed agenda. It made me realize that great leaders are there in the moment. They are present, they care and no matter how exhausted they are, they do what they do with full energy.
Second, his clarity of thought.
I was struck by how quickly he understood my underlying question and explained the context and the concept in a way that a newbie would get it. He even assigned a small "home work" to all the MBAs in the room. I ended up doing it an it helped me tremendously.
These are many things I learned from JP (what he is fondly called within the company) but I will reflect on five key takeaways today.
1. Empower others. The best way to empower yourself is to empower others. It makes strategic sense but more importantly, it is the right thing to do. JP's mantra is to relentlessly work towards enabling others to achieve outcomes that matter to them. His giver-first philosophy has led to tremendous business success and also create a platform for young leaders to flower - within and outside Microsoft.
2. Lead with grit and empathy. Enterprise and public sector deals/partnerships at the highest levels are both complex and sensitive. JP balances grit and empathy with panache. I learned how one can be firm with one's goals and understand where the other party is coming from to explore an optimum partnership that is a win-win for everyone.
3. Social impact. One area where JP and many millennials such as myself have strong resonance is social impact. In all the roundtables and discussions that I helped organize at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, I was moved by his relentless focus on moving the needle for those who needed it the most. JP gets us. I remember how energized all the Global Shapers and Social Entrepreneurs were after interacting with him. The best part was that he ensured that there was strong follow-up on deliverables and even fluid ideas with potential got the support required to achieve their true potential. In a way, he gave wings to dreams and transformed ideas into action. To share an example, one shaper based in Nigeria needed executive support to move his connectivity project forward.
Without batting an eyelid, he asked his Corporate Vice President (a super senior position) to intervene so that things could proceed.
4. Surprise + Inevitability. JP is intensely prepared for all meetings. He of course knows his facts and figures but there is a sense of adventure with the way he goes about stuff. "Eat Pray Love" author Elizabeth Gilbert says that great writing is often a combination of surprise and inevitability. I think this holds true for great meetings and great partnerships as well. This Surprise + Inevitability is something JP brings to every context he shapes.
5. Cultural Intelligence. Cultural intelligence is our ability to build bridges and add unique value to companies/communities. Cultural contribution is more important than cultural fit but you can't impose your contribution. Understanding this is cultural intelligence and I learned this from JP.
I could go on but I will pause for now. I plan to dive deep into some of these lessons during JP's Network Capital Vodcast in a few weeks. I am of course thrilled but so are 100,000+ other millennials from 104 countries who will be watching and hearing as he reflects on his leadership principles. Hope you tune in.
It goes without saying that what I learned from JP and the broader Microsoft ecosystem also features in my book "The Seductive Illusion of Hard Work" which has now become an Amazon best-seller globally. If you have not read my book but wish to get a flavor of what it entails, feel free to check out my Harvard Business Review article.
JP, by virtue of doing what he does and standing up for what he believes in, has built his category of one and inspired thousands of others along the way. Let me conclude with a quote that means a lot to JP an is an important reminder to all of us.
"I have this vital desire to positively change other people's lives"
Whose life will you positive change today?
Join for the complete Network Capital experience
A market place for the best talent in the world
Policy/Development/Social Impact
Technology, Politics and the Chinese Dragon
The Corridors of Markets, Policy & Public Opinion (Part 2)
Career Principles
A Tale of Two Leaders
Extract from "The Global Handbook of Impact Investing: Solving Global Problems Via Smarter Capital Markets Towards A More Sustainable Society", John Wiley & Sons
The Corridors of Markets, Policy and Public Opinion
API between business and the 'messy political world'

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Romance is in the Air with your Gorgeous Blue or Green & Silver Beaded Bracelet!
Light Blue Or Green Glass Chips and Long Silver Spacers Make this Bracelet a Must to Have!!
This is not your ordinary memory Bracelets, it is a show stopper!!


I don't have a problem with Massdrop shipping using DHL, who then hands off the package to USPS for local delivery. It is A LOT easier for me to go sign & pickup my package from post office, than the s#!t UPS pulls now, making me wait until 8PM, drive half-way across the city, to pickup my headphones from their terminal. Every time I need to sign for delivery, UPS tries to deliver before noon, whenever no signature is needed, I get my packages after 5PM.


I am so deeply sorry to learn about the death of your loved one Billy. I know that this is a difficult time for you but please know that our loving heavenly father Jehovah cares for you and assures us that our loved ones who have died will live again by means of the resurrection. John5:28-29 What a wonderful time that will be! How good to know that our loved ones are only sleeping and that soon we will see them again. Do not let your hearts be troubled. Have faith in the promises of God. He can't lie!! Once again I am deeply sorry for your loss!


What's with all this presidential nastiness? Donald Trump issues scalding tweets about Gold Star families, Congressional Democrats and Republicans – even the NFL. It all reveals a person given to volatile and aggressive emissions of rhetoric. What sort of personality would produce such behavior in the Oval Office?
Todd Eberly and I in our 2013 book American Government and Popular Discontent charted the rise of public disaffection with politics. We found two major trends, stretching back to the mid-1960s.
The State Capitol in St. Paul, Minnesota–the home state of author Steven Schier.
In the era of Trump, it's easy to lose perspective on broader trends in US politics. While the national press obsesses about the president's every statement or ill-advised tweet, it largely ignores the vital activity of the nation's fifty state governments.
How "Unpresidented" is Donald Trump?
23 december 2016 / Steven Schier / Kommentarer inaktiverade för How "Unpresidented" is Donald Trump?
In mid-December, Donald Trump tweeted the following: "China steals United States Navy research drone in international waters – rips it out of the water in an unpresidented act." This hasty composition with the humorous misspelling actually suggests a crucial question: How unpresidented will Trump's service in the White House turn out to be?
The author lecturing about American politics.
Not, apparently, to Swedes. A prominent Swedish political scientist I know warned me not to use this one when addressing Swedish audiences about the 2016 presidential election. I recently gave lectures to audiences at Uppsala and Södertörn Universities and participated in a 2016 election panel before the American Club of Stockholm.
Q: If Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are in a boat and it capsizes, who survives?
President Obama making a point.
Barack Obama's presidency has been a "clarifying" presidency. Obama's big ambitions inevitably made him a highly polarizing figure for Americans, just as his predecessor George W. Bush, also a person of grand ambitions, had been. Like Bush, Obama led by acting as a national "clarifier" of differences between him and his partisan opponents.
A "New Normal" in American Politics?
7 maj 2016 / Steven Schier / Kommentarer inaktiverade för A "New Normal" in American Politics?
2016 may well inaugurate a "new normal" in American politics. What exactly is new?
First, the politics of personal appeal has a new importance. Now, the "authenticity" of candidates seems to matter much more than anything they actually say or know about public policy or how they plan to govern. The current leading examples are Donald Trump's plurality support among Republicans for the GOP presidential nomination and Bernie Sanders' strong support in his competitive Democratic nomination race with Hillary.
Donald Trump, in an interview with the Washington Post editorial board last week, explained his foreign policy views. Those views are a radical break from both traditional GOP approaches to the world and, more broadly, to the maintenance of both contemporary international security arrangements and the global economy.
There are four aspects of the political "new normal" benefitting Trump. These aspects were absent or much less consequential 20-25 years ago than they are today. All of them benefit the unorthodox Trump candidacy, which is the utlimate product of this new political environment.


NEW DELHI: Reports that Pakistan will 'invite' Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation summit evoked shrugs and a smile in New Delhi.
Addressing a conference on Kashmir in Islamabad Tuesday, Pakistan's foreign office spokesman Dr Mohammad Faisal said Modi would be invited to the annual summit, which has been dead in the water since 2016 after India pulled out following September 18 attack on an Indian Army camp in Uri by four Pakistani terrorists, who killed 19 soldiers before being gunned down. Subsequently Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Bhutan also pulled out.
Claiming that the inauguration of the Kartarpur Corridor, which would allow Sikh pilgrims visa-free travel to the Gurdwara in Pakistan, was a "great success story" for Pakistan, Faisal admitted that -"We fought a war with India, relations cannot be fixed quickly.-" Dr Faisal said.
"Unless there has been some back channel decision, it is highly unlikely that Modi will attend," said former foreign secretary Shashank. Noting that the US too is exerting pressure on Pakistan on terror, he said while the other lower level SAARC talks would continue, Modi was unlikely to attend the summit, which is only for the heads of states or governments.
"Last time Modi said he was not going. I'd be surprised if he goes this time," concurred former ambassador and Lt Governor of Andamanan and Nicobar islands and Puducherry Nagendra Nath Jha. "SAARC is doomed in any case. That's why we started the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) and Bangladesh, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal (BBIN) Initiative," he said.
"When the chief minister of Punjab refuses to attend the Kartapur corridor opening in Pakistan citing terror, do you seriously think the Prime minister will attend an event in Pakistan?" asked another official. "Invitations are easy. It is up to our Prime Minister to accept or decline," he smiled.


To celebrate the reissue of the band's cult 1981 self-titled album we chat with original members Frankie Ennui and Chuck Roast.
The post-1970s Los Angeles new wave scene was undoubtedly one of the most interesting and rich musical breeding grounds of the modern era. Epitomised by people like Geza X and the television program New Wave Theatre, the scene was fertile soil out of which grew hundreds of new wave and punk bands.
One of the most cruelly overlooked bands of this period were Suburban Lawns. Consisting of five art students from Long Beach, all performing under pseudonym, the band performed a jerky, manic style of new wave that echoed the best elements of punk and surf rock. The radiant jewel in the crown of Suburban Lawns was frontwoman Su Tissue, who's vocal style could slip from monotonic drawl to squeal in an instant, and who's aloof stage presence was aggressively anti-punk.
The band released their first single "Gidget Goes To Hell" in 1979, and quickly followed that up with a self-titled album in 1980. The LP has since become stuff of legend; a wholly unique slice of experimental rock 'n' roll that epitomised everything that was exciting about new wave.
The band went on to release one more EP before parting ways. Members formed other bands, Su Tissue went on to record an experimental solo piano album and have a minor role in Jonathan Demme's Something Wild, and Suburban Lawns slipped further into obscurity.
To celebrate Futurismo reissuing their classic LP, we had the pleasure of talking with guitarist Frankie Ennui (real name Richard Whitney) and drummer Chuck Roast (real name Charles Rodriguez) about their time in Suburban Lawns.


text:
package com.googlecode.jsonrpc4j;

import org.slf4j.Logger;
import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;

import javax.net.ServerSocketFactory;
import javax.net.ssl.SSLException;
import java.io.BufferedInputStream;
import java.io.Closeable;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.OutputStream;
import java.net.InetAddress;
import java.net.ServerSocket;
import java.net.Socket;
import java.net.SocketException;
import java.net.SocketTimeoutException;
import java.util.Collections;
import java.util.HashSet;
import java.util.Set;
import java.util.concurrent.LinkedBlockingQueue;
import java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor;
import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicBoolean;

/**
 * A multi-threaded streaming server that uses JSON-RPC over sockets.
 */
@SuppressWarnings({"unused", "WeakerAccess"})
public class StreamServer {

	private static final Logger logger = LoggerFactory.getLogger(StreamServer.class);

	private static final long SERVER_SOCKET_SO_TIMEOUT = 5000;

	private final ThreadPoolExecutor executor;
	private final ServerSocket serverSocket;
	private final JsonRpcBasicServer jsonRpcServer;
	private final AtomicBoolean isStarted = new AtomicBoolean(false);
	private final AtomicBoolean keepRunning = new AtomicBoolean(false);
	private final Set<Server> servers = new HashSet<>();
	private int maxClientErrors = 5;

	/**
	 * Creates a {@code StreamServer} with the given max number
	 * of threads.  A {@link ServerSocket} is created using the
	 * default {@link ServerSocketFactory} that lists on the
	 * given {@code port} and {@link InetAddress}.
	 *
	 * @param jsonRpcServer the {@link JsonRpcBasicServer} that will handleRequest requests
	 * @param maxThreads    the mac number of threads the server will spawn
	 * @param port          the port to listen on
	 * @param backlog       the {@link ServerSocket} backlog
	 * @param bindAddress   the address to listen on
	 * @throws IOException on error
	 */
	private StreamServer(JsonRpcBasicServer jsonRpcServer, int maxThreads, int port, int backlog, InetAddress bindAddress) throws IOException {
		this(jsonRpcServer, maxThreads, ServerSocketFactory.getDefault().createServerSocket(port, backlog, bindAddress));
	}

	/**
	 * Creates a {@code StreamServer} with the given max number
	 * of threads using the given {@link ServerSocket} to listen
	 * for client connections.
	 *
	 * @param jsonRpcServer the {@link JsonRpcBasicServer} that will handleRequest requests
	 * @param maxThreads    the mac number of threads the server will spawn
	 * @param serverSocket  the {@link ServerSocket} used for accepting client connections
	 */
	public StreamServer(JsonRpcBasicServer jsonRpcServer, int maxThreads, ServerSocket serverSocket) {
		this.jsonRpcServer = jsonRpcServer;
		this.serverSocket = serverSocket;
		executor = new ThreadPoolExecutor(maxThreads + 1, maxThreads + 1, 0L, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS, new LinkedBlockingQueue<Runnable>());
		executor.setRejectedExecutionHandler(new ThreadPoolExecutor.AbortPolicy());
		jsonRpcServer.setRethrowExceptions(false);
	}

	/**
	 * Returns the current servers.
	 *
	 * @return the servers
	 */
	public Set<Server> getServers() {
		return Collections.unmodifiableSet(servers);
	}

	/**
	 * Starts the server.
	 */
	public void start() {
		if (tryToStart()) {
			throw new IllegalStateException("The StreamServer is already started");
		}
		logger.debug("StreamServer starting {}:{}", serverSocket.getInetAddress(), serverSocket.getLocalPort());
		keepRunning.set(true);
		executor.submit(new Server());
	}

	private boolean tryToStart() {
		return !isStarted.compareAndSet(false, true);
	}

	/**
	 * Stops the server thread.
	 *
	 * @throws InterruptedException if a graceful shutdown didn't happen
	 */
	public void stop() throws InterruptedException {
		if (!isStarted.get()) {
			throw new IllegalStateException("The StreamServer is not started");
		}
		stopServer();
		stopClients();
		closeSocket();
		try {
			waitForServerToTerminate();
			isStarted.set(false);
			stopServer();
		} catch (InterruptedException e) {
			logger.error("InterruptedException while waiting for termination", e);
			throw e;
		}
	}

	private void stopServer() {
		keepRunning.set(false);
	}

	private void stopClients() {
		executor.shutdownNow();
	}

	private void closeSocket() {
		try {
			serverSocket.close();
		} catch (IOException e) {
			logger.debug("Failed to close socket", e);
		}
	}

	private void waitForServerToTerminate() throws InterruptedException {
		if (!executor.isTerminated()) {
			executor.awaitTermination(2000 + SERVER_SOCKET_SO_TIMEOUT, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS);
		}
	}

	/**
	 * Closes something quietly.
	 *
	 * @param c closable
	 */
	private void closeQuietly(Closeable c) {
		if (c != null) {
			try {
				c.close();
			} catch (Throwable t) {
				logger.warn("Error closing, ignoring", t);
			}
		}
	}

	/**
	 * @return the number of connected clients
	 */
	public int getNumberOfConnections() {
		return servers.size();
	}

	/**
	 * @return the maxClientErrors
	 */
	public int getMaxClientErrors() {
		return maxClientErrors;
	}

	/**
	 * @param maxClientErrors the maxClientErrors to set
	 */
	public void setMaxClientErrors(int maxClientErrors) {
		this.maxClientErrors = maxClientErrors;
	}

	/**
	 * @return the isStarted
	 */
	public boolean isStarted() {
		return isStarted.get();
	}

	/**
	 * Server thread.
	 */
	public class Server implements Runnable {

		private int errors;
		private Throwable lastException;

		public int getNumberOfErrors() {
			return errors;
		}

		public Throwable getLastException() {
			return lastException;
		}

		/**
		 * {@inheritDoc}
		 */
		public void run() {
			ServerSocket serverSocket = StreamServer.this.serverSocket;
			Socket clientSocket = null;
			while (StreamServer.this.keepRunning.get()) {
				try {
					serverSocket.setSoTimeout((int) SERVER_SOCKET_SO_TIMEOUT);
					clientSocket = serverSocket.accept();
					logger.debug("Client connected: {}:{}", clientSocket.getInetAddress().getHostAddress(), clientSocket.getPort());
					// spawn a new Server for the next connection and break out of the server loop
					executor.submit(new Server());
					break;
				} catch (SocketTimeoutException e) {
					handleSocketTimeoutException(e);
				} catch (SSLException sslException) {
					logger.error("SSLException while listening for clients, terminating", sslException);
					break;
				} catch (IOException ioe) {
					// this could be because the ServerSocket was closed
					if (SocketException.class.isInstance(ioe) && !keepRunning.get()) {
						break;
					}
					logger.error("Exception while listening for clients", ioe);
				}
			}
			if (clientSocket != null) {
				BufferedInputStream input;
				OutputStream output;
				try {
					input = new BufferedInputStream(clientSocket.getInputStream());
					output = clientSocket.getOutputStream();
				} catch (IOException e) {
					logger.error("Client socket failed", e);
					return;
				}

				servers.add(this);
				try {
					while (StreamServer.this.keepRunning.get()) {
						try {
							jsonRpcServer.handleRequest(input, output);
						} catch (Throwable t) {
							if (StreamEndedException.class.isInstance(t)) {
								logger.debug("Client disconnected: {}:{}", clientSocket.getInetAddress().getHostAddress(), clientSocket.getPort());
								break;
							}
							errors++;
							lastException = t;
							if (errors < maxClientErrors) {
								logger.error("Exception while handling request", t);
							} else {
								logger.error("Closing client connection due to repeated errors", t);
								break;
							}
						}
					}
				} finally {
					servers.remove(this);
					closeQuietly(clientSocket);
					closeQuietly(input);
					closeQuietly(output);
				}
			}
		}

		private void handleSocketTimeoutException(SocketTimeoutException e) {
			// this is expected because of so_timeout
		}
	}
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Political statement
The recent publication of the report of the Saville Inquiry is to be welcomed. It is a repudiation of the two attempts at a cover-up by the Widgery and Whitelaw Inquiries.
The British establishment has been forced to acknowledge that all those murdered and wounded on Bloody Sunday, 30 January 1972, were completely innocent of any crime. Nevertheless it has attempted to place the blame on the actions of individual British soldiers on the day. It is clear that the orders for the actions of the British army came from the very heart of the British government and state. Their strategy was to break the spirit and smash the mobilisation of the people that the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association had successfully achieved in its struggle for civil rights in Northern Ireland.
As the CPI has been pointing out since the onset of the present economic crisis, working people are paying and will continue to pay a heavy price for the policies of both the Irish and the British governments of bailing out the banks and finance houses, giving priority to the needs of finance capital at the expense of workers.
The most recent emergency budget introduced by the British government is yet another example of making workers pay. The coalition government in London has proposed cutting £128 million (€156 million). This follows the £370 million (€451 million) in cuts agreed by the Northern Ireland Assembly last September.
These savage cuts will bear heaviest on the poor, the unemployed, and those who rely on public services. They will result in significant jobs losses in the public sector and reduced public services and will lead to the further privatisation of existing public services.
It is against this backdrop that we must view the role and potential use of the draconian provisions of the Public Assemblies, Parades and Protests Bill. It is imperative that this legislation be defeated, and it is necessary to mobilise public opinion to do so. What is needed is the enactment of a Bill of Rights, not more repressive measures.
Banks appear to be determined to further deepen the economic crisis and to expose Ireland to even greater debt by pursuing aggressive mortgage policies requiring an impossible increase in house prices over a number of years. Like NAMA, this is leaving Ireland in a position of extreme vulnerability, potentially threatening the solvency of the state itself.
The recent publication in the Republic of two reports on the banking crisis simply confirms what has been public knowledge. They confirm the influence and dominance of banking and speculative investment policies and to some degree the extent of the financialisation of the economy that has been a growing feature over the last two decades. These economic and social policies have dominated all other policy needs and requirements.
Unfortunately the reports, rather than being used to question the basis and direction of the economy, are being used for meaningless party political point-scoring by the egos that occupy Dáil Éireann.
The Regling-Watson Report reveals the effects and the restrictions on possible economic and fiscal policies of the Republic's adoption of the euro. The abandoning of fiscal controls to the European Central Bank resulted in policies being determined by the major economic powers and by the European finance and banking monopolies.
What is increasingly clear to any objective observer of the policies now being perused is that the crisis can only deepen. The policies now being imposed by the EU Commission, not just in Ireland but in other EU member-states, will only lead to further savage cuts and reduced public spending and will drive millions into poverty. They will only further damage the real economy.
There are no solutions that the EU Commission will consider that would shift the impact of the crisis onto the backs of those who caused it.
The labour movement has to be won away from the belief that solutions can come from the Irish or British governments or from the European Union. The two failed economic entities are being exposed daily, and this process can only increase over the coming months and years. The lasting needs of the people, north and south, can be met only in the process of building an all-Ireland economy, with the maximum democratic contribution from and control by working people.
Mobilising the people back onto the streets is what is now needed, north and south, if working people are to defend their wages, their terms and conditions, and the services the public depend on, to stop the destruction of public services, and to prevent mass emigration. Now is the time to call for the repudiation of the national debt. This debt belongs to the bankers, not to working people.
The selfless and courageous actions of the Irish and other international volunteers in the Freedom Flotilla in breaking the illegal Israeli blockade of Gaza, in particular those who were murdered in cold blood by the Israeli army, stand in stark contrast to the policies of the European Union and the United States, which have encouraged the aggressive policies and actions being pursued by the Israeli regime.
The opportunist, sectarian and divisive actions by elements of the pseudo-left in relation to the recent mobilisation in solidarity with the freedom flotilla actively play into the hands of the forces they claim to oppose.
What is needed is full support by all democratic forces in Ireland in uniting behind the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign and the Trade Union Friends of Palestine to build on the present momentum and push for the complete economic, academic and cultural boycott of Israel.


On a weight for weight basis Spirulina is natures richest and most complete source of nutrition. This green superfood containing over 100 synergistic nutrients comes from a microscopic freshwater plant, ecologically grown without chemicals and concentrated by removing nothing but the water. Spirulina is widely used throughout the world as a food supplement for maintaining health, energy and optimum weight.
Natures richest source of protein (65% of its weight), 300% more than fish, meat or poultry (but with zero cholesterol).
58x richer in iron than spinach. A natural non-toxic easily absorbed source. n A Rich wholefood source of anti-oxidants (25x richer in beta-carotene than carrot).
2x richer in chlorophyll than alfalfa, barleygrass or wheatgrass.
A highly concentrated source of essential fatty acids (EFAs). n Spirulina may be used as part of a weight management program. If taken 30-45mins before meals, it induces a less hungry feeling whilst still supplying a broad range of nutrients.
As an unrefined whole food, spirulina is absorbed up to 16x more effectively than synthetic multivitamin supplements.
100% pure, highest quality, certified organic Spirulina. No fillers or additives. To preserve nutrient and enzyme content, each bottle is nitrogen flushed to eliminate oxygen.
Start-up: 1-2 grams (1/2 teaspoon) per day for one week.
Best taken at or after meals with at least 1/2 1 cup fluid. As part of a natural weight management program, consume 30-45 minutes before meals.
Blend 1 ripe banana with 1 cup of apple, orange or other favourite juice and 1 teaspoon (or more) Synergy Spirulina powder.
Synergy Natural Spirulina Powder is high of nutrients and helped me loose weight a bit.
I have been trying this product from 3 months. It is so nice.


Home backs up to Greenbelt for privacy with wrought iron fence for views. Kitchen was remodeled - Granite counter tops, tile backsplash, 5 burners, built in microwave. Bedroom or office on 1st floor. Covered back patio with stairs going to yard. Lg MBR suite with walk in closets, double vanity, separate tub and shower. Sprinkler system. Washer, dryer, refrigerator to convey with acceptable offer to the Seller.


The playwright Sir Ronald Harwood has deservedly received just about every honour going: a knighthood, CBE, FRSL and a host of honorary degrees, marking a career in which he has written 23 major stage plays spanning more than half a century.
But one accolade has always eluded him: the generously subsidised National Theatre has never staged one of his plays. Plenty of left-wing wing dramatists — Howard Brenton, David Edgar, David Hare — have had their work commissioned and staged by the NT, and as for Bertholt Brecht, the NT has put on so many of his plays it's a wonder they haven't named an auditorium after him. Under Nicholas Hytner's direction, the National embraced a more tolerant approach, notably staging plays by the far-from-left-wing Richard Bean. But the signs are that the NT's agenda under its new artistic director Rufus Norris is returning to the relentlessly progressive.
Harwood's treatment by the left-wing theatrical establishment curiously mirrors that of his great mentor Sir Donald Wolfit, the inspiration for Harwood's greatest and most popular play, The Dresser, who gave young Harwood his first break after he had to leave RADA when his mother back in his native South Africa could no longer afford to pay his fees.
Perhaps it doesn't matter. Robinson quotes Sir Ralph Richardson's comment to Harwood after he had seen the original production of The Dresser in 1980: "Lucky fellow, that Wolfit. When we're all dead and forgotten, he will be remembered because of your bloody play." And so will its author.


Parte integrante do documentário FIFA Fever.
The nastiest villians from all FIFA World cups!
Game winning goal for spain in fifa 2020 football world cup final. Spain makes history by winning the football world cup 2010.
Fans in Kansas City cheer at the final whistle as the United States advances to the knockout stages of the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
Brasil vs Italia. Copa 1970. dvd fifa fever.
Brasil vs Italia. Copa 1970. dvd fifa fever. link raiz para o jogo "Futebol Interativo (prototipo)": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeMG3zSqYLQ.
Tagged: 1970, Brasil, Copa, fever, FIFA, Italia.


April saw us welcome Strike Force cheerleading to Gormanston Park. The hall was transformed to accommodate for 500 people and have a large dance floor for the cheerleaders thus confirming Gormanston Park can host any type of event in Irelands largest indoor sports complex. The annual dance recital was to demonstrate the achievements and progress the Strike Force team have made and if this event was anything to go by, we can only imagine how good they will be next year.
The display went off without a hitch and it was absolutely fantastic to watch. It was like a scene out of bring it on. The flips and tricks were something to behold and it is a testament to the hard work all the cheerleaders put in every week. We can certainly say that Strike Force are going places!


The years to come will see Bord na Móna play an ever greater role in the new national effort to ensure Ireland plays its full part in meeting the worldwide challenge. The company is rapidly decarbonising and as it does it is building a new, more sustainable business and Midlands economy. Apart from radically lowering its own carbon profile, by producing nationally significant volumes of low-carbon goods and services it will help other Irish businesses and communities lower their carbon footprints.
Over 80 years ago, Bord na Móna was established to develop Ireland's peat resources for the economic benefit of Ireland. This peat was used to generate electricity for Irish towns and villages, but more than this, it generated jobs and built communities.
We have a clear focus on environmentally and economically sustainable approaches. Since 2007, our plans have shown an understanding of the need to reduce the use of fossil fuels and restore our peatlands – yet we plan on going further. We want to increase our pace in line with the ambitions of both national and international leaders in a way that is sustainable for our people, our profits and our planet.
Bord na Móna began co-firing with Biomass at our Edenderry Power Plant in 2008. Since then, volumes have increased year-on-year with procurement and supply now supporting a Biomass co-firing rate of 42% at our plant in Edenderry.
Already we power a quarter of a million Irish homes. Half the electricity we produce is now generated from renewable sources. Our ambition is to double the number of homes we power in the next five years. We plan to achieve this by developing wind farms, procuring biomass and through the possible introduction of solar farms.
Bord na Móna is uses state of the art technology to collect landfill gas from our Drehid location. This gas is then processed and used to fuel a combustion engine which drives generators to create electricity. Today, the landfill gas utilisation facility at Drehid generates enough sustainable and renewable electricity to power 8,500 homes.


Vexcon is here to protect Shreveport / Bossier and provide all their pest control needs. We've Done It All! From opossums, armadillos, bats, skunks, snakes, alligators, rats, mice, squirrels, raccoons, ants, bees, wasps, yellow jackets, hornets, crickets, earwigs, millipedes, centipedes, American roaches, smokey brown roaches, German roaches, scorpions, silverfish, spiders to termites, call Vexcon today and let us eliminate what vexes you!


text:
John Stewart, 3. Earl of Buchan (* um 1498; † nach dem 14. Juli 1551), war ein schottischer Adeliger.

Leben
John Stewart war der älteste Sohn des Alexander Stewart, 2. Earl of Buchan, aus dessen zweiter Ehe mit Margaret Ruthven, Tochter des William Ruthven, 1. Lord Ruthven. Er war noch minderjährig, als er 1505 beim Tod seines Vaters dessen Adelstitel als Earl of Buchan und Lord Auchterhouse erbte. Erst nach Erreichen der Volljährigkeit, wurde er 1519 mit den Ländereien seines Vaters belehnt und in seinen Titeln bestätigt.

Um 1525 heiratete er Margaret Scrymgeour, Tochter des James Scrymgeour of Dudhope, Constable of Dundee. Aus der Ehe stammten zwei Söhne:
 John Stewart, Master of Buchan (⚔ 1547), ⚭ (1) Lady Mary Stewart, Tochter des James Stewart, 1. Earl of Moray, ⚭ (2) Margaret Ogilvy, Tochter des Walter Ogilvy of the Boyne;
 James Stewart, Master of Buchan († 1604), ⚭ Christian Strang, Tochter des John Strang of Balcaskie.

Am 4. August 1547, möglicherweise anlässlich des Todes seiner Frau, übergab er alle seine Ländereien, Besitztitel und Erbämter gegen eine lebenslange Rente an seinen Sohn John und dessen Erben. John fiel bereits am 10. September 1547 in der Schlacht bei Pinkie Cleugh und hinterließ als einziges Kind eine Tochter, Christina Stewart, die ihrem Großvater bei dessen Tod, 1551, als 4. Countess of Buchan nachfolgte.

Literatur

Weblinks

 Buchan, Earl of (S, 1469) bei Cracroft's Peerage

Earl of Buchan
Mitglied des Parlaments von Schottland
Politiker (16. Jahrhundert)
John Stewart, 03 Earl Of Buchan
Schotte
Geboren im 15. Jahrhundert
Gestorben 1551
Mann

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Sensual Colors For Bedroom – If you're using a mixture of a couple of colours, see they both look good when blended together. You can pick from some hot colours for your toilet that help you become energized and prepared to undertake challenges. You might not understand how to paint, but you're still able to pick the best kitchen colour combinations, to produce that singing effect. The variety of an ideal colour depends upon the particular aspects that may supply the feel of completeness into the mudroom. If you would like your kitchen to appear cheerful, choose a cheery colour like sun yellow.
Ascertain the size of the bedroom and also discover out if you need to make it look larger. If you decide on a dark colour like olive or moss green at a little dining space, it is likely to produce the space appeared little and shut. Bedrooms do not just indicate the place in which you sleep. Because of this, it's important to pick the right colours, that feels comfortable and comfy. Individuals colors might also be infused in many different patterns of architectural layouts if present from the exterior of the property.
There are many colours for rooms out of which you can select, but it is necessary to comprehend room colours and what they mean, before making the last choice. They have to make the encompassing look lively. The way you are feeling as you look at different colors is definitely distinct. Since some paint colours have a propensity to be costlier than others. When you build or buy a home, you've so many dreams connected to the way you would like it to look. You can also match the colour scheme in accord with the surroundings of your home. Selecting exterior house colours can be a difficult job and in the event you make a mistake, then you need to live with it for quite a while, as it's quite expensive to redo it.
Unique hues of the specific same colour might be employed to kill the boredom of needing to use only 1 colour. The colour shouldn't be overly bright to the eyes, yet needs to be attractive to test it. Warm colors are the safest bet when it comes to deciding on colours for your workplace. As a result, after picking your dining room colour, pick the type of paint you would like to use. After you are finished painting the space, make certain you select appropriate furniture.


We don't blindly romanticize military service around here, but I am surely not a pacifist either. I can not agree with people who say nothing is worth fighting for. Surely some things are worth fighting for? Some things must be worth bleeding for, dying for? Jesus Christ found this broken world worth bleeding for, dying for.
My dad, Grandpa to six, was honoured by his regiment in Toronto this past week for his service to Canada during WWII. He found it worthy to bleed for us, his posterity. He was not conscripted. He volunteered, as an underaged 15 year old boy.
Dad is still "right of line" worthy.
"My memories of the last war (WWI) haunted my dreams for years. Military service, to be plain, includes the threat of every temporal evil; pain and death, which is what we fear from sickness; isolation from those we love, which is what we fear from exile; toil under arbitrary masters; which is what we fear from slavery: hunger, thirst, and exposure which is what we fear from poverty. I'm not a pacifist. If it's got to be it's got to be. But the flesh is weak and selfish, and I think death would be much better than to live through another war."


This new GX derailleur not only answers the Eagle™ drivetrain's need for greater capacity, but it's also the next evolution of our proven, 1x-specific X-HORIZON™ design.
The larger, 14-tooth X-SYNC™ lower pulley allows 10- to 50-tooth cassette, and also adds to Eagle's overall smooth-pedaling feel. Our new, Type-3 ROLLER BEARING CLUTCH™ features a smoother torque curve for a quieter, more consistent operation and feel. CAGE LOCK™ has been moved back and out of the way, protecting it from trail debris. And a redesigned, robust mounting system further improves the Eagle™ derailleur's performance and overall durability.
The challenges of riding a mountain bike should be kept to roots, rocks, mud, trees, jumps, drops and breathing.
Putting total control of your gear selection into the thumb of one hand, it's simple to find the right gear, right now. The GX Eagle™ trigger shifter is the control center of the Eagle™ drivetrain. Its internal works have been updated to include a 12th gear, and improved to enhance trigger feel, precision and durability.
The SRAM GX Eagle™ crankset delivers consistent performance every time out.
Fast on the flats. Control on the climbs. Dictate your own pace, anywhere. Only Eagle™ technology is the 1x drivetrain engineered for infinite freedom. FULL PIN™ technology uses lightweight, stamped steel cogs held together with high-strength stainless steel pins. The result: a cassette that's light and strong. The open design similar to our X-DOME™ cassette aids in mud clearance, giving you cleaner shifting performance and longer component life. New X-GLIDE™2 improves both inboard and outboard shifting, as well as chain retention.


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Robert Daniels is a freelance film critic based in Chicago with a MA in English. He's the founder of 812filmreviews, and he's written for ThePlaylist, Consequence of Sound, and Mediaversity.
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Dreaming Grand Avenue
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Why Representation Won't Bring Change to the Oscars
Robert Daniels March 15, 2021
On the failures of the Academy this morning to represent the diverse quality of Black cinema in 2020.
Amend: The Fight for America Educates Netflix Audiences on 14th Amendment
Robert Daniels February 17, 2021
A review of the six-part Netflix series Amend: The Fight for America, which premieres February 17.
Dominique Fishback on Judas and the Black Messiah, Portraying Akua Njeri, and More
An interview with Dominique Fishback about playing Akua Njeri, nee Deborah Johnson, in Judas and the Black Messiah.
The Ripple Effect: Daniel Kaluuya and Chairman Fred Hampton Jr. on Judas and the Black Messiah
An interview with Daniel Kaluuya of Judas and the Black Messiah and Chairman Fred Hampton Jr., the son of the man Kaluuya plays in the film.
Sundance 2021: Playing With Sharks, Taming the Garden, Misha and the Wolves, Captains of Zaatari
On four films from the World Documentary program of the Sundance film festival.
Sundance 2021: Faya Dayi, Sabaya, Writing With Fire
Robert Daniels January 30, 2021
Three more films from the World Documentary Section of Sundance 2021.
Sundance 2021: President, The Most Beautiful Boy in the World, Flee
On three films from the World Documentary program of the Sundance Film Festival.
The Nostalgia of Epix's Bridge and Tunnel is Filled with Wrong Turns
A review of the new Epix series from Edward Burns.
Leslie Odom Jr., Aldis Hodge, Eli Goree, and Kingsley Ben-Adir on the Brotherhood of One Night in Miami
An interview with the four stars of Regina King's One Night in Miami.
Netflix's Lupin is the First Great Show of 2021
A review of the new Netflix series Lupin, starring Omar Sy.


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90 Day Fiancé's Jonathan and Fernanda Address Split Rumors
Find out with the reality duo had to say about the speculation
By Jess Cohen Jan 02, 2019 4:50 PMTags
BreakupsCouples90 Day Fiancé
90 Day Fiancé stars Jonathan Rivera and Fernanda Flores have seemingly confirmed their split.
The reality duo, who said "I do" on the season six finale of the TLC series, sparked breakup rumors over the holidays when they appeared to celebrate New Year's Eve separately.
"Bring in the New Year with this special lady!" Jonathan captioned a photo on Instagram, which shows him smiling next to his mom. "Wishing all my friends, familia and supporters and abundance of love, health, wealth and success in 2019! #Family #Love #Health #Wealth #Success #NewYearsEve #2019 #familyfirst."
Jonathan later returned to social media to address the split speculation in comments captured by fan accounts.
Here's Why 90 Day Fiancé Fans Think Jonathan and Fernanda Broke Up
"No she's in Houston. She wanted to pursue a modeling career in Chicago. Decided to leave and realized she couldn't do it on her own," Jonathan's alleged comment reads. "She said MANY things you can't take back that I won't mention, you'll have to trust me when I tell you, good luck."
Another fan account captured a second comment from Jonathan regarding Fernanda.
"Well everything we had was real," the comment begins. "Eventually she hated where we lived. I tried many time to give her everything she ever wanted but it wasn't enough. She decided to leave..left me on the airplane in Chicago amongst many other things. I decided to spend the rest of the time with my family. When she realized her lifestyle was going to be different she wanted to apologize and asked me to forgive her. I haven't."
After hearing about Jonathan's comments, Fernanda told her Instagram followers she didn't want to talk about Jonathan during her Live chat.
"I don't want to talk about anything about Jonathan again, please don't ask questions about him," she said. "He's talking a lot, he can say whatever he wants. I'm not gonna talk about it until I'm ready, and today, right now, is not the moment."
Of the split rumors, a source tells E! News, "Right now it's hard to tell if the split will be permanent. They are in touch and communicating. And they are legally married. No one has made a move to do anything official like file for separation or divorce. It's definitely a wait and see situation. Both of them have been having a really hard time. Fernanda, especially, because she is so young. She's been going back and forth between Chicago and Houston, where she has some family, for support."


« Should You Be Certified as a Registered Professional Reporter?
This article is an interview with Mary Ring, who has been a court reporter for over 26 years. She has been with Brown & Jones Reporting for over 25 years.
The family atmosphere, our dedication to professionalism, and our cutting-edge technologies.
I was born in the Netherlands, came to America at the age of 6 1/2, and grew up in Antioch, Illinois.
Wow, so many. When I started, I used a manual machine that typed on paper tape. I would dictate my notes onto a cassette tape and deliver those tapes to a typist who lived 30 minutes away. As you can imagine, it could take several weeks before I received the typed transcript from the typist.
In those days we used carbon paper, so if the typist made a mistake, I would have to erase the mistake, line up the paper on my typewriter as close to the proper position as possible and hope it looked presentable. I had to do this for each error on each page times the number of transcripts ordered. I LOVE SPELL CHECK.
The people I work with. On the top of my list are all the people that make up the "team" of Brown & Jones. Not only are they consummate professionals, but each and every one of them is a good person, and they all have enriched my life.
I also have to add that I love the job I do. I meet so many great people every day, and what I do for them is very, very important. That is why every job gets my fullest attention.
For me it is fast-talking, overlapping speakers. You really have to concentrate at times like that. I prefer to be like a fly on the wall during depositions, not interrupting the proceedings, but sometimes you have no choice. After all, we are the guardians of the record.
If you had asked me that 26 years ago, I would probably have said not being able to read back a question and looking incompetent in front of a client. In this day and age, I have some reservations about sharing my realtime with others, even though I do it for myself every day.
There have been several, from difficult medical/technical testimony of experts whose native language is not English, to a defendant who was under the influence of PCP attacking the court commissioner and sheriff's deputy, and me trying to still take down every word that was screamed by all…….because, after all, we were still on the record.
Life is very stressful, and being a court reporter can at times be more stressful than other jobs. Take time for yourself. There is always someone who wants things yesterday, which is impossible, always someone you can't please. Put it in perspective.
I am all about family. I have been married for 43 years to the most wonderful man I know. We have two wonderful children who have blessed us with three precious grandchildren (in the pictures below). Being a grandmother equals pure joy. It's worth waiting for.
We hope you've enjoyed getting to know Mary Ring better. Look for future interview articles with other Brown & Jones court reporters. In the meantime, let us know in the comments if Mary's answers brought up any memories or ideas in your mind about court reporting.
This entry was posted on Friday, December 13th, 2013 at 8:18 am	and is filed under Court Reporting. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
I remember the carbon paper/transcription tapes as it was yesterday, Mary. We have come a long way!
It's been a pleasure having you with us for 25 1/2 years, Mary!


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Q: Proof that every symmetric sequential relation on a non-empty set is an equivalence relation Given the following proof:
A relation R on a non-empty set S is called sequential if for every element (x,y,z) in SxSxS, at least one of the ordered pairs (x,y) and (y,z) belongs to R. Prove or Disprove: Every symmetric sequential relation on a non-empty set is an equivalence relation.
Would I have to show that the relation R is both reflexive and transitive in order for the proof to be true?

A: Unless I misunderstand the definition, it seems to me that once the relation is sequential and symmetric, you have that $(x,y) \in R$ for any $x, y \in S$.  In other words, $R$ is a total relation: everything is related to everything! (and that makes $R$ trivially an equivalence relation)
Why?
Given that it is sequential, we have that for the element $(x,y,x) \in S \times S \times S$: either $(x,y) \in R$ or $(y,x) \in R$.  But given that it is symmetric, if one of these is in $R$, then the other is in $R$ as well.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


It is possible now to bet online on live sporting events anywhere in the world wherever the event is being held. This gives the committed gambler access to global gambling allowing the gambler access to sports and sporting events that, pre-online betting would have been unavailable. You can also visit the poker download page at Poker.bovada.lv, install a piece of software and play the game with various people all around the world.
As an example, it is now possible that if you live in central Europe you have access to poker tournaments taking place on the American continent. You must take into account the time zones that are involved.
Some online bookmakers will accept bets on the outcome of the first half of a game, the second half of a game and final outcome. This makes it possible to place 3 bets on the same game or match. If you have any doubts about which events you can place bets on, then contact the online bookmaker or casino to look for the information you require.
Many online gaming sites will offer the user a choice of casino gaming and sports gaming. This allows the user to place bets on sporting events at the same time as playing games in a casino. There is great appeal to online poker games because the user can place bets from anywhere in the world. All casino sites now offer a variety of games for the player. These include table games such as Blackjack. Slots are represented in various categories from 3 reel machines to 9 reel machines.
It is possible today with the advent of the technological revolution, to play anonymous poker or place sports bets from a PC, a laptop, tablet, or mobile telephone almost anywhere in the world just by visiting any of the top online poker sites or betting portals. The only requirement is that you can receive an internet signal. A gambler could be undertaking a journey on a train or in a car and is now not excluded from placing bets on sporting events or playing in a virtual casino because of their location.
Besides, online casinos are considered to be much better protected from various kinds of cheaters who prefer unfair play in order to get extra winnings. This kind of players are being banned from the online casinos automatically.
The choice of which type of online gambling that is suitable for you is purely according to individual taste. If you prefer poker - download USA client software and give it a try. A lot of people that wish to place bets online will follow their natural curiosity and explore the online casino section of the site. This, the owners of the site hope will encourage gamblers to spend more money with them. The Casino section of the site may offer introductory bonuses to new players in the form of free games at table games or free spins in the slots area.


Night nestles around my home. Day has finally given up its light to make room for the stars and the moon. The sounds of the city settling are drowned out by silence, and peace descends as I ready for sleep.
A sudden noise from the kitchen alerts me that the towels left in the dryer are now dry.
I get up, leaving the warmth of my bed, and travel to the kitchen in the dark. I slowly gather the towels out of the dryer and put them on the kitchen table for the next morning. Dog whines from her crate in the dining room, asking quietly for one last bit of attention. I whisper "good-night" to her, before walking back to my lamp-lit bedroom.
I come to stand next to my bed. My blank diary pages look up at me sadly. Empty. Asking, no, begging for words. To be written in. It's the same request every time.
Unexpected anger is my response this time. I don't have the words! This is why I don't do diaries! They take up time I don't have, and I have no idea what to put down! It's all so stupid!
I sit down on my bed and scowl at the book. Having a diary seemed like a good idea a long time ago. Yes, I wrote every once in awhile, but it was mainly small smatterings of notes to myself. The intimate parts of my existence rarely made it onto pages, so why should I bother?
It was such a shame that only the careless facts, the every-day drudgery, the un-painful and un-challenging, ever made it to ink.
Looking back on all the great things God has done in my life, all that He's accomplished in me, I can see a mountain of stories and hope. Yet, all that is recorded for my future children to read is a tiny fraction of that mountain. Hardly anything, at all.
If I like writing so much, why can't I find time to record what's important? The history of me? The history of God's work in me? Of us?
If only I wanted to. If only I'd desire for the history to be kept. The pages might be filled. Instead, the pages beg.
I avert my eyes from the book, mad at myself, guilty tears forming.
He understands me better than I do.
He knows that my habit is to remove pages from my mind before they are ever recorded in a book. He knows that I am flighty, wishing to live more and pause less. He has worked with me for years to bring a new perspective to my past, so that I'm not afraid to look at it… So that I don't keep pressing forward, forgetting the past, page by page.
The pages that I remove are not lost by God. Not even for a moment.
Every time I choose to forget and move on, He catches the page. He holds onto it. With a knowing smile, He files them away for me. Always encouraging me not to give up. Ever whispering that in my surrender to Him, He will help.
It'll be okay. I love you.
I take a breath, slowly closing the diary, rubbing my fingers on its soft leather exterior.
Pages removed are never lost. Such a mystery.
I don't even know how He does it. Do I even have to?
I don't want to be the culprit of removing pages anymore, God.
Thank you. I've been worrying over missing pages … stories of God's work in my life that I simply don't remember. This truly helped me … God does keep them, doesn't he? If he captures my tears in a bottle … then surely he keeps the story they hold as well.
Karenee , that is an awesome reply. I couldn't have said it better.
@d170947d19bfdb3f9d01ca1ce865cb5c:disqus That was so gently said… I'm grateful for your words. Psalm 139:16 for both of us.
I wish I could read my father's diaries. It might give me a broader picture of the past.
God asked me to journal years ago. I would be faithful for a couple of weeks and then would find the journal 2 years later. Oops, again. It gives me GREAT comfort to realize that He has a record of how He has worked in my life and I'm sure He can bring it to my rememberance when it is important. Thank you for that Peace, it wasn't there before I read your article.


We had a bit of downtime the other day thanks to a problem with someone from China attacking our host server, I've explained all the details in this post about the outage/downtime.
I had a thought the other day that not everyone knows about our parrots for sale section, if you have something parroty that you want to sell, whether it be a parrot (obviously), toys or an old cage maybe that you want to shift, then it's an ideal place to do so.
The service is completely FREE, all you have to do is hit the 'Post an Ad' button and off you go, the feedback we've had from people that use it is that it's one of the best places to advertise something, please note that you cannot use your forum login details to post on there, you need to register a new account as it's a seperate bit of software to the forum, not ideal I know but we will address that one day!!
Really busy day for us on Sunday, we have 4 new rescues to collect, drop a few off at foster homes, and all in time to get home to watch the Canadian Grand Prix ... phew it's gonna be tight, wish us luck!!
A big thank you to everybody that took part in the first of the monthly raffles! The £10 Amazon voucher was won by Donataz a new member so that was really good! Well done to you! As it was a big success and who knows, it might just shoot me to stardom, we will be holding a raffle on the 1st of every month. The prizes will be a £10 voucher and a £5 voucher as 1st and 2nd prizes. There are a lot of other companies that do vouchers online, so if you would prefer a voucher other than Amazon, let me know and I'll see if it's possible.
There is just two more months to go before we count up the money in the High Five Fund, so still time to join in if you want to.
It's good to see a lot of new members joining in and hopefully a lot more people will be joining in the monthly raffles.
That's it this time, short and sweet, I've been in the house for 10 minutes after our trip to Italy, so you're lucky (or unlucky whichever way you look at it) to be getting this much from me.
Well it's newsletter time again, so lets look at what has occurred on the AGPC forum during the last fortnight. Last month was the busiest ever on the forum so well done to all members and keep it up (don't be dirty Irina). Unfortunately the site suffered some down time apparently due to Chinese hackers, although I still blame Donna.
caused major turmoil which only calmed down when she left the Country.
Nice to see an old favourite Tezza back om the forum this week, don't be a stranger again otherwise we will send someone round to break your other leg, the girls are particularly grateful for your diagnoses and grateful that they can't catch Man-flu.
Bella finally managed to get a word in, a miracle when she lives with Karen, and Angus let Rachel know what he thought of her specs. Geoff finally got his computer fixed to the huge relief of the kids falling behind on their homework in the local library and Scouse George showed off his award winning smile.
If you want to know the cost of anything ask Mand (as long as you are not called Karl) and welcome to our latest Jabbajaws Crazy Horse, we were all amazed and appalled at the same time at the revelations about Stevie, such depravity, if you want to read them get posting.
Does AGPC Have An Annual Meet??
They Love Their New Cage!!! Yeahhh!!


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Zoom Agrees to Settle Lawsuit Over 'Zoombombing'
Zoom Video Communications, the videoconferencing company whose internet app became a mainstay of American life during the coronavirus pandemic, has agreed to pay $85 million and improve its security practices to settle a lawsuit claiming it violated the privacy of its users.
Filed in March 2020, not long after the pandemic reached the United States, the suit claimed that Zoom shared personal data with third-party internet services and allowed hackers to interrupt online meetings through so-called "Zoombombing," a phenomenon in which internet trolls exploit a screen-sharing feature on the videoconferencing app to show offensive messages or images.
Under the settlement, which still requires the approval of a federal judge, Zoom subscribers would be eligible to receive a 15 percent refund on their primary subscriptions or $25 — whichever is greater. Other users could receive a refund of up to $15.
The company also agreed to notify users when others use third-party apps during meetings and to provide training on privacy and data handling to its employees.
"The privacy and security of our users are top priorities for Zoom, and we take seriously the trust our users place in us," the company said in a statement. "We are proud of the advancements we have made to our platform, and look forward to continuing to innovate with privacy and security at the forefront."
In agreeing to settle the case, the company denied any wrongdoing.
In the spring of 2020, 14 class-action complaints were filed against the company over Zoombombing, a widely discussed phenomenon in the early weeks of quarantine that often involved pornography and racist language. This included, for instance, posting white supremacist messages during a webinar on anti-Semitism.
In May, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California consolidated the many complaints into a single class-action suit.
The suit also claimed that Zoom shared users' personal data with third-party services such as Facebook, Google and LinkedIn and that it falsely told users that its service provided end-to-end encryption, a security measure that aims to prevent outsiders from eavesdropping on online communications.
#Zoom #Agrees #Settle #Lawsuit #Zoombombing
Agrees Lawsuit Settle Zoom Zoombombing
Petrol-Diesel Price Today, Check The Latest Fuel Rate City-wise – Petrol-Diesel Price Today
A Brain Drain Among Government Scientists Bogs Down Biden's Climate Ambitions


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Paul McCartney Pushes John Lennon's Name After His In New Lyric Boook
https://audio.pulsewebcontent.com/MP3/2003/08_aug/Ringo_Starr_on_Paul_McCartney_Beatles_credits_flap.mp3
https://audio.pulsewebcontent.com/MP3/2015/07_jul/Paul_McCartney_On_Songwriting_Credit_Issues_With_Yoko_Ono.mp3
It looks as though Paul McCartney is once again trying assert his importance in the Lennon/McCartney songwriting team. For decades, McCartney has had issues with the fact that his late partner's name has come first in how the pair has been listed, taking particular umbrage in John Lennon getting "top billing" for Beatles songs he had little or nothing to do with.
Save for only three songs — "Please Please Me," "A Hard Day's Night," and "A Day In The Life" — McCartney's new career-spanning tome, The Lyrics: 1956 To The Present, credits all the co-written Beatles songs to "Paul McCartney and John Lennon."
McCartney first switched the credits to "McCartney/Lennon" as opposed to the traditional "Lennon /McCartney" for his 1976 Wings Over America live album, for which Lennon had no public comment. He last switched the credits around for his 2002 live album, Back In The U.S.
According to insiders, at the time of the Back In The U.S. credit change, McCartney was reacting to Yoko Ono pulling his name off Lennon's 1969 Plastic Ono Band debut, "Give Peace A Chance" — despite the fact he had no hand in its writing or recording.
At the time, Ringo Starr told us that he was disappointed with McCartney's decision to reverse the songwriting credits: ["I think that the way it was done was underhanded, just to change 'em. I mean, 'cause there are a couple of tracks with my name on it — maybe I'll put that first."] SOUNDCUE (:08 OC: . . . put that first)
A while back, Paul McCartney explained that he's in no way trying to diminish Lennon's contributions to the Beatles or tarnish his reputation: ["I wasn't trying to elbow John out at all. He used to get a little bit pissed off, actually, because he'd go into a restaurant, and the pianist would go (sings 'Yesterday,' laughter) — he'd go, 'I didn't write that one!' And I rang up (Yoko) and asked for that as a favor and it was refused, and I thought, 'Wait a minute — you weren't even there when I wrote it!"] SOUNDCUE (17: OC:. . . I wrote it)


The University of Arizona has taught classes in Phoenix at the UA North Valley campus since 2015. UA North Valley is located on the campus of Paradise Valley Community College. We offer 2+2 or degree completion academic programs. We offer 4 pathways to a bachelor's degree that build upon the curriculum offered across the campuses of Maricopa Community College District. Programs focusing on the social and behavior sciences and humanities are popular at this location. UA North Valley offers the experience of a small liberal arts college with the backing of a major research university.


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Astrogator's Logs
New Words, New Worlds
Artist, Heather Oliver
The Fashionable Virtue-Signaling of "White Women's Tears"
I just saw Lady Macbeth, based on Nikolai Leskov's novella Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk (also made into an opera that almost got Dmitri Shostakovitch sentenced to Siberia for rather obvious reasons). The film has magnificent cinematography — the Yorkshire moors never fail to form a mesmerizing backdrop — and a ferocious, career-making performance by Florence Pugh, 19 at the time. Those with Netflix access will see her equally spirited and charismatic as Elizabeth de Burgh, stalwart partner of Robert the Bruce, unfortunately played by Chris Pine.
However, Lady Macbeth stumbles in trying to shoehorn a facile, shallowly treated racial angle into an film that has (too) many messages about gender and class; and the critics made this worse by deciding to call a cast member, who's an USian of Armenian ancestry, "a person of color" (if he is, so am I — in such classifications, the "woke" ultra-PC are as primitive and tone-deaf as their supremacist adversaries). We can/should celebrate and firmly keep in memory the very real (and often dramatic) presences and contributions of people who found themselves between, from the two famous Alexanders — Pushkin and Dumas — to Dido Elizabeth Belle. Speaking of Belle, the riveting issue of a mixed-race upperclass male heir is posited in Lady Macbeth only to be left almost entirely unexplored, whereas Leskov's novella is rigorous yet subversive in its character and plot logic.
The fact is, the servants in Lady Macbeth would have been treated exactly as shown no matter what their color: class, ethnicity and religion defined humanity at that particular nexus, and the Irish (and the Greeks and…) of the 18th and 19th century were treated as subhuman regardless of hair and skin tones. This, incidentally, is also true of the recent remake of Wuthering Heights: Heathcliff is subtly coded as Irish in the original, and Emily Brontë (whose father's unmodified name was Prunty, and whose entire family spoke in strong Irish accents, according to witnesses) wrote her paradigm-shattering novel when the Irish famine was gathering force.
It's important to look at classics through new lenses, but selective historic amnesia is a particularly myopic one to choose. Progressives have made both a tactical and a moral error by erasing class (age, too, incidentally) from the intersectional grievance list. Lady Macbeth's framing fits too patly into the "white women's tears" narrative so beloved of pseudo-pious powermongers. If only it were that neat and easy, grasshoppas. And, yes, before someone hastens to "educate" me, I'm fully aware of the behavior of ruling-class women in the Confederate South, British colonies — but also in such less-visited enclaves as Ottoman, sub-Saharan, Brahmin and Han households with their punitive mothers-in-law and tai-tai.
Images: 1st, Katherine (Florence Pugh) in Lady Macbeth; 2nd, Dido Elizabeth Belle (cropped from David Martin's famous portrait of Dido with Elizabeth Murray, her cousin and co-ward of Lord Mansfield).
Who Will Be Companions to Female Kings?
Grandmothers Raise Civilizations
The Hue (and Cry) of Stormtroopers
Anything for a Son
Procrustean Beds
Posted in Art, Biology & Culture, History, Writing & Literature | 2 Comments »
The Year of Few Blog Posts
"Nen lókdwenzish, Michael": Sister-Brother Love in Science Fiction
Minna Sundberg's Silent World
Naming Names
Andreadis Poetry and Prose
The Other Half of the Sky: Awards, "Best Of" Picks, Reviews, Interviews
The Other Half of the Sky: Contents
The Other Half of the Sky: Endorsements
To Shape the Dark: "Best of" Picks, Reviews, Interviews, Endorsements
To Shape the Dark: Contents
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You've seen it in all the movies. The hero narrowly escapes a really stressful situation and finally, when out of danger, pours himself a drink to calm his nerves.
The trouble is, this scenario happens outside the movies. People who are anxious often self medicate with alcohol or drugs. It gives them temporary relief from anxiety, but it doesn't help uncover the cause of that anxiety. It just calms the symptoms. Over time, their brains develop a tolerance and more and more alcohol or drugs are required to keep them calm. In addition, substance abuse can contribute to anxiety.
If you are addicted to drugs or alcohol, your chances of also having anxiety are greater than the rest of the population. In other words, anxiety and substance abuse often go hand in hand.
When your body is threatened, or you perceive that it's threatened, it goes into survival mode—the ancient flight or fight response. Instead of being chased by a saber tooth tiger, you may have to get into a claustrophobically small space. You may have to speak in front of a large audience. You may have to make small talk at a party. All these things and more can trigger a feeling of panic.
You physically respond with a faster heart rate and breathing. Adrenalin pumps through your body to give you extra strength. You may have chest pain, sweating, dizziness. You may literally shake with fear. You may feel like you can't breathe. Most attacks like this last about 10 minutes or so. And when they are over, you feel like having a drink to numb your nerves. Before you know it, you've got two problems—anxiety disorder and substance abuse.
Because both issues—anxiety and substance abuse—can be intertwined, it's important to work with qualified counselors who understand the integrated nature of the problem. One of the most important aspects of becoming healthy is to wean yourself of drugs or alcohol while keeping panic to an absolute minimum. This can be a very frightening process, but it can be achieved with the help of a trained professional.