Sandals® Resorts presents 16 unique escapes across six Caribbean islands, where guests can relax in tropical beauty and enjoy an intimate escape with luxury at every turn. A desire to constantly innovate and provide more for the guest has made Sandals an industry pioneer. Next-level luxury has arrived!
OVER-THE-WATER BUNGALOWS AND VILLAS For those who desire a completely unobstructed view of the Caribbean Sea to share with their special love, Sandals Over-the-Water Bungalows and Villas are the premier choice. With plenty of ways to enjoy the clear water, from suspended hammocks to private pools and Tranquility Soaking Tubs™ for two in the seclusion of a personal verandah, these dreamlike escapes are the absolute most secluded spots available. Whether guests want to spend breakfast in bed watching nature swim under glass floors or embrace nightfall on the deck, Sandals Over-the-Water innovations are the new standard for five-star luxury.
UNPARALLELED BUTLER SERVICE When booking a top-tier suite, guests get the royal treatment from a personal butler that cares for every desire with the utmost attention to detail. Sandals butlers are trained to the highest level of excellence by the Guild of Professional English Butlers, an organization with deep heritage and pride for the art of service. Butlers can fulfill and exceed any request – from drawing a hot bath to bringing you drinks by the pool or reserving a spot on the beach. Merely responding to requests isn't the height of a Sandals Luxury Included® Vacation. Once a butler learns his or her guests' preferences, they'll receive surprises, like specially made desserts or custom cocktails throughout the day – serving as a reminder that they're in paradise.
INFINITY-EDGE SKYPOOLS Sandals has taken the phrase "the sky is the limit" to heart with this newest creation – infinity-edge pools that blend seamlessly into the horizon. Guests can float in private waters just steps from where they sleep. The glass-edge pools offer some of the best views possible, where couples can appreciate clear skies or vibrant sunsets free from all cares.
PREMIER BAR CONCEPTS If there's a better way to enjoy unlimited premium spirits or endless pours of Robert Mondavi Twin Oaks® wines, you can count on Sandals to create it. As the leader in revolutionizing the Caribbean with beachfront and swim-up bars, the brand continues to challenge what's expected. From the Latitudes Overwater Bar at Sandals South Coast, featuring hammocks for two hanging over the waves to The Rabbit Hole, a 1920's inspired speakeasy at Sandals Ochi, guests can sip the most nuanced drinks at unique locales.
SANDALS ST. LUCIA GOLF & COUNTRY CLUB AT CAP ESTATE Tee off at Saint Lucia's first 18-hole championship course. Spanning over 6,700 yards with tight greens and winding fairways, even the most experienced golfers will be challenged to stay under par. Playing through a game at Sandals St. Lucia Golf & Country Club at Cap Estate means expertly calculating and precisely measuring each swing. But it's not all hard work – taking in the island's beautiful scenery between strokes is effortlessly rewarding.
OVERWATER WEDDING CHAPELS Saying "I do" is one of the most important events in a couple's journey. That's why Sandals has created the most romantic way to celebrate the start of forever: chic, intimate chapels set over the Caribbean's bluest waters. At Sandals Grande St. Lucian, wedding guests can witness two become one with a breathtaking backdrop – verdant, rolling mountains in the distance or watch calm waters join blue skies at Sandals South Coast. One thing is certain – Sandals Over-the-Water Serenity Wedding Chapels are gorgeous spots for couples to declare their love.
BRAND FIRSTS AT SANDALS ROYAL BARBADOS The visionaries of Sandals have created a true masterpiece with the new Royal Barbados property – debuting some brand firsts. This all-suite resort is home to Lovers Lane, a 4-lane bowling alley complete with a craft beer bar serving 19 varieties, and a rooftop pool and bar offering sights of white-sand shores and crystal waters. All signature suites are available here, so the best of Sandals can be indulged in. Whether guests desire the convenience of a swim-up pool at their patio or the luxury of a secluded, gardenlike Rondoval, it's all waiting to be explored. Booking a Luxury Included® stay means couples get a private paradise to enjoy pure romance. The latest Sandals innovations have only made it easier to indulge in the Caribbean's beauty.
SANDALS® RESORTS – GROUPS JUST WANT TO HAVE FUN This is not your average all-inclusive – Sandals® Resorts offers 16 award-winning escapes across the Caribbean. From Emerald Bay's laid-back vibe to Ochi's party atmosphere, each resort has a distinct personality complete with the finest amenities for every size group. Kick back on your family reunion, special celebration or girls getaway and enjoy 5-Star Global Gourmet™ dining, neverending pours of premium spirits and Robert Mondavi Twin Oaks® wines, and exciting water sports, like PADI scuba diving for certified divers. From sunup to sundown, there are events, shows and chic gatherings to keep the party going. Sandals is the only place where you escape the worries of every day and share a good time in the beauty of the Caribbean. It gets even better – the more friends and family that come, the more luxury you enjoy.
Groups that book 5 or more rooms receive: · Private group check-in · One evening group dining experience · One-hour cocktail reception · 15-minute group portrait session · 5"x7" photo per room · 6th and 12th room free!
Golden orange sunsets, soft white-sand beaches, vibrant aqua-blue skies, swaying coconut palms—Punta Cana has all of the right ingredients for paradise perfection. Not only is it the fastest growing tourist destination in the Caribbean, it's also the largest single destination for golf. If you are looking to surprise your partner with an all-inclusive resort stay for the holidays, or possibly a romantic beach getaway for some rest and relaxation, this is the place for you. To make your visit as easy as possible, here are some quick tips to help you plan an authentic and unforgettable Punta Cana getaway.
At Simon Mansion, a consistently top-rated restaurant inside the Hard Rock Hotel, you can feast on fresh seafood options like ceviches and tartars, as well as Asian-inspired delicacies like charred edamame and crispy sesame rice. For exotic cravings, head to Passion inside the stunning Paradisus Punta Cana. Here, famed Spanish chef Martín Berasategui delivers a tantalizing marriage of Mexican, French and Spanish flavors with dishes such as Kobe steak, warm lobster salad and liquid Brie cheese spheres decorating the menu. For an authentic taste of the Dominican Republic, head to Nam Nam in the quirky Plaza Sol Caribe Shopping Center and order a bowl of tres leches ice cream or a rich, coffee-spiced cake topped with juicy guavas.
While many of Punta Cana's impressive beaches belong to resorts, Bávaro Beach is open to everyone. And a good thing too, since everyone loves visiting this slice of Caribbean heaven to swim and snorkel in the crystal blue waters. Boat rides are also plentiful, so hop on a sunset sail or fishing expedition to enjoy a view of the island that will leave you speechless. For an immersive experience into the island's wild interior, visit HorsePlay Punta Cana, a 300-acre plantation home to lush walking trails, a treetop course and horseback riding paths. Adventurous types flock to the river tour to dash through rushing rivers on horseback then fly through the trees on a zip line.
Located on the island's eastern-most coast, Zoetry Agua Punta Cana is rated highly by travel agents and with good reason. Not only will you enjoy a wealth of luxurious services and gourmet dining through their Endless Privileges® philosophy, but the cane-thatched suites with hardwood floors and natural stone accents just might inspire you to remodel your own home when you return. Overlooking one of the 10 best beaches in the world, the Barceló Bávaro Palace has enough room for the entire family, including spacious family suites with separate rooms for parents and children.
Royal Caribbean is about to reset all your expectations for what a beach day can be. CocoCay, its much-loved Bahamas escape, is getting a revolutionary, $200 million sand-to-sky makeover, with all-new adventures for every type of vacationer. And once completed, you'll easily appreciate the meaning behind the aptly named Perfect Day at CocoCay.
Get ready for gallons of adventure in the heart of the island, Thrill Waterpark—home to the tallest waterslide in North America, Daredevil's Peak, a 135-foot plunge. And that's just one of 13 slides at the park across two towers. After conquering Daredevil's Peak, experience the other thrilling chutes of Daredevil's Tower. You can race a friend down the twin Dueling Demons with an addictively frightening drop. The Screeching Serpent will have you doing just that (in a good way) all the way down a fully vertical speed slide. And face the coils of the Green Mamba, a don't-miss aqua tube slide.
You'll find another entire set of adventures at Thrill Waterpark's Family Tower. But don't let the name fool you—because its six awesome slides are anything but tame. On The Slingshot, four at a time can share a raft and experience a zero-gravity moment before freefalling. Grab a buddy for the two-person winding tube slide, The Twister. Or let your competitive side roam free on the four-lane Splash Speedway racers.
And no visit to Thrill Waterpark will be complete without a dip in the largest wave pool in the Caribbean, complete with a countdown clock that signals the big wipeout.
The kids can leave their cares behind with an entire section of thrills just for them. Royal Caribbean is already known for Splashaway Bay, the fan-favorite children's aqua park onboard its ships. Now it's going ashore at Perfect Day at CocoCay and it's bigger than ever, with more fountains, sprinklers, geysers and water cannons, plus five slides and two massive drench buckets. All in all, no island has more ways to get soaked.
Perfect Day at CocoCay will be more than slides and rides—three beach areas make the island the ultimate sun soaking escape. Chill Island maxes out the relaxation while South Beach is the go-to spot for those who like to get their game on. Volleyball, beachside basketball, paddle boarding, kayaking, and even zorbing amp up the excitement. Be sure to refuel over burgers, sandwiches, salads and more at the Snack Shack. And to quench your thirst, wade on over to the floating bar just offshore.
For those seeking the ultimate in luxury, head to Coco Beach Club —an upscale take on the island's authentic Caribbean vibe. Spend the afternoon in the comfort of the only overwater cabanas in the Bahamas, each complete with its own hammock, freshwater shower and a slide that plunges you into the ocean. Take a dip in the beachfront infinity edge pool with in-water loungers. And indulge in Mediterranean flavors at the Club's exclusive on-site restaurant.
Experience all this and more when Perfect Day at CocoCay is completed in May 2019.
Nothing prepares you for the abundant wildlife, the dramatic scenery, and the surreal stillness of Antarctica. Set sail on a journey to the world's last untouched continent, peppered with indulgences of South America's most remote locations. As Amundsen and Shackleton before you, be amongst the lucky few to set foot on these remote icy lands. Expect to be amazed as you experience native wildlife like never before. This is where penguin colonies, seals, sea lions and huge populations of wildlife thrive. The landscape is equally phenomenal: calving glaciers and sweeping panoramas of bending blue icebergs carved by time.
Make your way through the legendary Drake Passage and visit historic sites of the early explorers, viewing what remains of impressive whaling operations. Enjoy multiple Zodiac cruises and nature hikes, immersing you in Antarctica's fascinating landscapes, while informing and assisting you every step of the way. Discover Paradise Bay's snow-covered mountains and Deception Island's volcanic caldera — all while learning about the natural evolution and human history of this mysterious continent.
Silversea's Antarctica expeditions take you to a land of grandeur and beauty on a wonderful journey to the land at the end of the world. When it comes to Antarctica, heart-stopping landscapes astound like no other place on Earth.


Located just minutes from downtown Charleston, Dr. Marianne W. Rosen, Dermatologist, provides a full range of dermatological services to help you look and feel your best. In addition to medical dermatological services, we also offer cosmetic services, including Botox®, Juvederm®, spider vein treatment and more. Our goal in creating the M. Rosen Dermatology website was to provide easy access to information about the services offered by Marianne Rosen in a fully responsive environment.


Manages and Overseas the passive and overall site operations in region – a minimum of 400 sites.
Bachelor's Degree in Engineering especially Electrical Electronic or Mechanical.
Must have outstanding team leadership skills.


April 3, 2011 in Blog, Culture, Nigeria, Politics.
The is the third post in the series on the lakes of Opi, Enugu state, Nigeria.
Better imagery was now available from Google Earth of the area and when I checked again I discovered not one or seven but sixteen lakes!
September 24, 2009 in Geology, lakes of Opi, Nigeria, UNN.
March 14, 2009 in Geology, Nigeria, UNN.


The Carry Handle Backpack from Urban Classics is a super smart design. You can carry it on your back like you're used to, but thanks to the handles, you can also use it as a handbag or shopping bag.
Size: 41 cm x 34 cm x 14 cm (height x width x depth).
90% Polyester 10% Polyurethane Nylon/PU 328 gsm.
The shoulder straps are cushioned and adjustable for a better comfort.
The fabric makes the Carry Handle Backpack easy to clean.


3000+ Investors in Chengalpattu as on April 2019. Find Investors in Chengalpattu and 155 countries, 950+ industries with Investment Capacity ranging from INR 2 lakh - 350 crore. Sell or Finance your Business in Chengalpattu by sending your business proposal to pre-screened Investors in Chengalpattu with verified contact details and background information and investment requirements. Join our 737,000+ Member Network Today to Sell or Finance your Business in Chengalpattu.
Interests: Interested in Facility management, Laundry, Handyman Services, Restaurant, Retail, Hotel and Travel Agencies.
Background: Have 11 years of work experience.


Nobody has won the Lotto Jackpot (6/6 match) for Lotto draw on 19.01.2019. How much was the win for 5/6 + BB match? This prize was paid exactly R101,895.00. The total prize pool was: R4,474,266. This means that 97,581 people got some payout. The biggest prize was for matching all Lotto numbers drawn on 19.01.2019 - 02, 07, 17, 24, 39, 46 BB 27. A Number of the draw is 1885.


text:
Manchester City's chances of winning quadruple 'almost impossible' – Guardiola
Pep Guardiola has praised his Manchester City players for still being in contention for the quadruple
Pep Guardiola insists it is "almost impossible" for Manchester City to win the quadruple despite keeping that dream alive by beating Brighton to reach the FA Cup final.
City will return to Wembley on May 18 to face Wolves or Watford after Gabriel Jesus' fourth-minute header sealed a 1-0 victory against Chris Hughton's well-organised side.
FA Cup glory is now just a win away for Guardiola's men, who have already wrapped up the Carabao Cup and remain in the Premier League driving seat as they boast a game in hand on leaders Liverpool.
Attention now turns to the Champions League and Tuesday's quarter-final first-leg clash at Tottenham, but the City boss has tried to downplay growing talk of the quadruple.
"I will announce you something: it's almost impossible to win the quadruple," Guardiola said.
"Almost. So, put it in the headlines, guys: 'Almost impossible to win the quadruple'.
Gabriel Jesus nodded home the winner early on (Nick Potts/PA)
"Surviving in that stage with all competitions is already a miracle, so it's nice to be there.
"(Being in contention still) is why it is incredible what these players have done last season when you achieve 100 points. Not Liverpool, not Manchester City can repeat that.
"The year after, when you have the tendency to be a little bit more arrogant or a little more presumptuous or think something like that, really you are not.
Glenn Murray rues a missed chance for Brighton (Nick Potts/PA)
"And still we are there, so that's why it's incredible what these players have done so far.
"Every game we lose players but that is normal when you play a lot of games. But we are going to try until the end, every game."
Guardiola is hoping that Sergio Aguero will be fit when City take on Tottenham as the absent striker is "much, much better" after a muscle issue, but Kyle Walker looks a doubt to face his former club.
Bien hecho, muchachos 蘭 A la final de la #FACup //Well done, lads 蘭 Onwards to #FACup finals  C'mon, City! pic.twitter.com/kNmqJugo4D
— Sergio Kun Aguero (@aguerosergiokun) April 6, 2019
The right-back was caught up in controversy during the first half after a coming together with Brighton's Alireza Jahanbakhsh, but avoided a red card following a Video Assistant Referee review.
Walker was taken off at half-time, but Guardiola insists it was injury-related.
"I didn't see it," Guardiola said of the incident with Jahanbakhsh. "What I saw and the people tell me he didn't touch.
Kyle Walker, right, reacts to Alireza Jahanbakhsh's challenge (John Walton/PA)
"No (I didn't bring him off because he was on a yellow card), he had problems in the back, in the hamstring, he could not run."
Brighton counterpart Hughton has seen the incident back three or four times and was disappointed that Walker was not sent off.
"In my opinion, it was a red card," Hughton said. "We ask the players to be honest.
Catch all the action as @ManCity overcame @OfficialBHAFC to secure a place in the #EmiratesFACup final!  pic.twitter.com/ZWXe9KDqZY
— The Emirates FA Cup (@EmiratesFACup) April 6, 2019
"Alireza doesn't make a big meal of it. We certainly would have seen in the past players clutching their head, rolling on the floor, so I don't think he makes a big deal of it.
"But certainly if I look at the action, which I have done, there would have been numerous circumstances where that exact same action would have got somebody a red card.
"I think there was sufficient force in the action to warrant that."
Asked if the unsuccessful VAR review made it all the more galling, the Albion boss said: "Yes, because I think we're at a stage now where everybody is pushing for it.
"I'm probably one that has been converted a little bit and I am still not sure how far it is going to take us.
"But, yes, I'm even more disappointed with the fact this was a VAR (decision)."
Made it a mountain to climb going behind early and unfortunately couldn't get ourselves back in to the game on the scoresheet. Proud of the character we showed to make a contest of it, will take the momentum into our remaining games to do what's needed to be done. Atmosphere 
— Maty Ryan (@MatyRyan) April 6, 2019
But amid the natural disappointment of losing a second ever FA Cup semi-final was pride in Brighton's display.
"I am incredibly proud," Hughton said. "After conceding after three minutes I don't think there was anyone in the stadium that thought the second wasn't going to come.
"We hung in and to go through the 90 minutes and, apart from the goal, I struggle to think of a real clear chance.
"That wouldn't have happened often. if at all, to them this season."

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
/* //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 * includes
 */
#include "thread.h"
#include "atomic.h"
#include "time.h"
#include "thread_local.h"
#include "../utils/utils.h"
#include "impl/thread_local.h"

/* //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 * types
 */

// the return value type of the thread function
#ifdef TB_CONFIG_OS_WINDOWS
typedef tb_uint32_t     tb_thread_retval_t;
#else
typedef tb_pointer_t    tb_thread_retval_t;
#endif

/* //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 * declaration
 */
__tb_extern_c_enter__
tb_void_t tb_thread_local_clear_atexit();
__tb_extern_c_leave__

/* //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 * private implementation
 */
#ifndef TB_CONFIG_MICRO_ENABLE
static tb_bool_t tb_thread_local_free(tb_iterator_ref_t iterator, tb_pointer_t item, tb_cpointer_t priv)
{
    // the local
    tb_thread_local_ref_t local = (tb_thread_local_ref_t)item;
    if (local)
    {
        // free the thread local data
        if (local->free && tb_thread_local_has(local))
        {
            // free it
            local->free(tb_thread_local_get(local));
        }
    }

    // ok
    return tb_true;
}
#endif

tb_void_t tb_thread_local_clear_atexit()
{
#ifndef TB_CONFIG_MICRO_ENABLE
    // free all thread local data on the current thread
    tb_thread_local_walk(tb_thread_local_free, tb_null);
#endif
}

#ifdef TB_CONFIG_OS_WINDOWS
static tb_thread_retval_t __tb_stdcall__ tb_thread_func(tb_pointer_t priv)
#else
static tb_thread_retval_t tb_thread_func(tb_pointer_t priv)
#endif
{
    // done
    tb_thread_retval_t  retval = (tb_thread_retval_t)0;
    tb_value_ref_t      args = (tb_value_ref_t)priv;
    do
    {
        // check
        tb_assert_and_check_break(args);

        // get the thread function
        tb_thread_func_t func = (tb_thread_func_t)args[0].ptr;
        tb_assert_and_check_break(func);

        // get the thread private data
        tb_cpointer_t priv = args[1].ptr;

        // free arguments before calling thread function
        if (args) tb_free(args);
        args = tb_null;

        // call the thread function
        retval = (tb_thread_retval_t)(tb_size_t)func(priv);

        // free all thread local data on the current thread
        tb_thread_local_clear_atexit();

    } while (0);

    // return the return value
    return retval;
}

/* //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 * implementation
 */
#ifdef TB_CONFIG_OS_WINDOWS
#   include "windows/thread.c"
#elif defined(TB_CONFIG_POSIX_HAVE_PTHREAD_CREATE)
#   include "posix/thread.c"
#else
tb_thread_ref_t tb_thread_init(tb_char_t const* name, tb_thread_func_t func, tb_cpointer_t priv, tb_size_t stack)
{
    tb_used(tb_thread_func);
    tb_trace_noimpl();
    return tb_null;
}
tb_void_t tb_thread_exit(tb_thread_ref_t thread)
{
    tb_trace_noimpl();
}
tb_long_t tb_thread_wait(tb_thread_ref_t thread, tb_long_t timeout, tb_int_t* retval)
{
    tb_trace_noimpl();
    return -1;
}
tb_void_t tb_thread_return(tb_int_t value)
{
    tb_trace_noimpl();
}
tb_bool_t tb_thread_suspend(tb_thread_ref_t thread)
{
    tb_trace_noimpl();
    return tb_false;
}
tb_bool_t tb_thread_resume(tb_thread_ref_t thread)
{
    tb_trace_noimpl();
    return tb_false;
}
tb_size_t tb_thread_self()
{
    tb_trace_noimpl();
    return 0;
}
#endif

#if defined(TB_CONFIG_OS_WINDOWS)
#   include "windows/thread_affinity.c"
#elif defined(TB_CONFIG_OS_MACOSX) || defined(TB_CONFIG_OS_IOS)
#   include "mach/thread_affinity.c"
#elif defined(TB_CONFIG_POSIX_HAVE_PTHREAD_SETAFFINITY_NP)
#   include "posix/thread_affinity.c"
#else
tb_bool_t tb_thread_setaffinity(tb_thread_ref_t thread, tb_cpuset_ref_t cpuset)
{
    tb_trace_noimpl();
    return tb_false;
}
tb_bool_t tb_thread_getaffinity(tb_thread_ref_t thread, tb_cpuset_ref_t cpuset)
{
    tb_trace_noimpl();
    return tb_false;
}
#endif

tb_bool_t tb_thread_once(tb_atomic32_t* lock, tb_bool_t (*func)(tb_cpointer_t), tb_cpointer_t priv)
{
    // check
    tb_check_return_val(lock && func, tb_false);

    /* called?
     *
     * 0: have been not called
     * 1: be calling
     * 2: have been called and ok
     * -2: have been called and failed
     */
    tb_atomic32_t called = tb_atomic32_fetch_and_cmpset(lock, 0, 1);

    // called?
    if (called && called != 1) return called == 2;
    // have been not called? call it
    else if (!called)
    {
        // call the once function
        tb_bool_t ok = func(priv);

        // call ok
        tb_atomic32_set(lock, ok? 2 : -1);

        // ok?
        return ok;
    }
    // calling? wait it
    else
    {
        // try getting it
        tb_size_t tryn = 50;
        while ((1 == tb_atomic32_get(lock)) && tryn--)
        {
            // wait some time
            tb_msleep(100);
        }
    }

    // ok? 1: timeout, -2: failed, 2: ok
    return tb_atomic32_get(lock) == 2;
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


ZUG, Switzerland, Jan. 3, 2019 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- heymate, the portable deal-closing tool, which allows workers in the gig economy to create, negotiate and settle offer-for-work contracts in under 20 seconds on any non-transactional marketplace, proudly announced the appointment of a new board member and two strategic advisors.
BOULDER, Colo., Dec. 12, 2018 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- TeamSnap confirmed today the company will be expanding its popular payments solutions platform to better serve the growing demand from sports and recreation clubs, leagues and teams. Effective immediately, TeamSnap Payments will be a core pillar on the leading sports management platform.
STUART, Fla., Nov. 27, 2018 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- Jeffrey Schneider, EA, CTRS, NTPIF, ACT-E of SFS Tax & Accounting Services and SFS Tax Problem Solutions in Stuart, Florida, a tax preparation and tax resolution firm, has received the Advanced Crypto Tax Expert designation (ACT-E).


text:
New genetic markers for COPD discovered
Published	 Wednesday 8 February 2017	 Published	Wed 8 Feb 2017
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the third leading cause of death in the United States, yet there are no effective medicines that improve mortality from the disease. While smoking remains the single most important risk factor for COPD, genetics also play an important role. In a new Research Letter published in Nature Genetics, investigators describe 13 new genetic regions associated with COPD, including four that have not previously been associated with any type of lung function. The researchers also found overlap of the genetic risk of COPD with two other lung diseases, asthma and pulmonary fibrosis. These findings create an improved understanding of the genetic basis for this deadly disease.
"We are excited about these findings because we have not only uncovered new genetic risk factors for COPD, but also shown overlap of COPD genetic risk with the risk to asthma and pulmonary fibrosis," said lead author Brian Hobbs, MD, MMSc a physician-researcher in the Channing Division of Network Medicine and Pulmonary and Critical Care Division of BWH. "This is the first step in a longer process in which we hope to better understand the genetic basis for COPD, or what may be several different diseases that present as COPD. Now that we know there are new regions of the genome associated with COPD, we can build on this research by probing new biological pathways with the ultimate goal of improving therapies for our patients with this disease."
Researchers conducted a genome-wide association study of risk for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in a large, multi-ancestry cohort (15,256 cases and 47,936 controls). This type of study allows investigators to look across a comprehensive set of genetic variants in different individuals to see if any variant is associated with disease. Top findings from this study were replicated in a second cohort. The authors also sought to understand more about their findings by examining overlap with other diseases and examining what was known about gene function in these regions. In addition to identifying 13 new genetic regions associated with COPD, they also discovered four genetic regions that were not previously associated with any lung function trait. Nine of the genetic regions have been identified as playing an important role in lung function. Two have previously shown an association with pulmonary fibrosis; however, the specific forms of these genetic variants that increase risk for COPD decrease risk for pulmonary fibrosis. All analyses accounted for the effects of age, gender, and cigarette smoking on disease risk.
"While it is extremely important that patients not smoke for many health reasons - including the prevention of COPD - we know that smoking cessation may not be enough to stave off the disease," said Michael Cho, MD, MPH, one of the senior authors of this manuscript and a physician-researcher in the Channing Division of Network Medicine and Pulmonary and Critical Care Division. "Many patients with COPD experience self-blame, but they may be comforted to know that genetics does play a role in who ultimately develops the disease."
The BWH group also co-authored a companion paper in the same issue of Nature Genetics, led by researchers from the University of Leicester and University of Nottingham. In this large study of lung function in the UK population, they almost doubled the number of genetic variants associated with lung function levels, and found a strong association between this combined genetic risk score and COPD.
This research was conducted by the International COPD Genetics Consortium, a collaborative research effort established in 2010 at a conference at BWH. Marike Boezen, PhD, of the University of Groningen, co-led the study with Cho. The consortium now involves more than 20 studies around the world.
"This work is representative of the importance of global collaboration and the shared goal of improving care for patients everywhere," said Cho. "We're grateful for the efforts of all of the authors, each of whom played a valuable role in this discovery."
"These findings would only be possible with the kind of large collaborative efforts that supports this study. Not only do the results build on our knowledge of COPD, but also reveal potential links with other lung diseases, like pulmonary fibrosis and asthma and can form the underpinnings of a precision medicine strategy for the treatment of more than one lung disease," said Dr. James Kiley, Director of the Division of Lung Diseases of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
This research was funded by: NHLBI R01 HL084323, R01 HL113264, R01 HL089856, and P01 HL105339; K08 HL097029 and R01 HL113264, R01 HL089897 and P01 HL114501; the Alpha-1 Foundation and a VA Research Career Scientist award.
Article: Genetic loci associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease overlap with loci for lung function and pulmonary fibrosis, Brian D Hobbs et al., Nature Genetics, doi: 10.1038/ng.3752, published online 6 February 2017.
New psychosis treatment targets genetic mutation instead of symptoms New research describes the case study of two people with psychotic conditions who benefited from an innovative treatment for psychosis. Read now
Are mental health diagnoses 'scientifically meaningless'? After finding many inconsistencies and contradictions in the DSM-5 diagnostic handbook, a study questions the scientific value of psychiatric diagnoses. Read now
Osteoporosis: Does poor social life impact bone health? New research suggests that we should pay more attention to a surprising link: that between poor social bonds and the presence of bone loss in older women. Read now
Through my eyes: Weight loss surgery My name is Jenny Marshall. This is the story of my lifelong struggle with obesity, and how weight loss surgery changed my life forever. Read now
Pulmonary System Respiratory Genetics
Source: Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH)
Additional source: EurekAlert!, the online, global news service operated by AAAS, the science society
Visit our COPD category page for the latest news on this subject, or sign up to our newsletter to receive the latest updates on COPD.
Brigham and Women's Hospital. "New genetic markers for COPD discovered." Medical News Today. MediLexicon, Intl., 8 Feb. 2017. Web.
Brigham and Women's Hospital. (2017, February 8). "New genetic markers for COPD discovered." Medical News Today. Retrieved from
Popular in: COPD
Natural home remedies for COPD
Is there a link between marijuana and COPD?
What are the complications of COPD?
Can people with COPD get better?
What are the early signs of COPD?


Why Do You Need a MP4 Codec for QuickTime?
QuickTime can handle different video, sound and picture formats on Mac devices. It contains some of the popular codecs such as JPEG, DV, and MPEG4. However, you may find that it does not play some formats of MP4. This is because QuickTime only supports some of the MP4 video and audio codecs. Therefore, you may find that if you have MP4 files that QuickTime does not support, they will not play. This means that to play MP4 files that are not supported by QuickTime, there is a requirement to convert them to a supported format. You will need an MP4 codec for QuickTime.
iSkysoft Video Converter Ultimate is the best MP4 codec that can enable playing of MP4 videos on Mac devices. The converter is a tool used to convert videos and audio from one format to another. In this case, it can convert the MP4 files on your Mac device to a format that is recognized by the media player. Other than converting, the software can also be used for editing videos, burning DVDs and downloading audio and video files from various sharing sites.
Convert MP4 videos to QuickTime compatible format with only three steps.
It converts videos at 90 times faster while maintaining the original quality and it supports different input and output formats.
Download online videos: It can download videos from various video sharing sites such as Hulu, Youtube and Facebook as well as convert them directly for use on the desired device.
Burn MP4 videos to DVD, or copy your DVD file as a backup as needed.
Edit your MP4 videos before conversion.
Keep the original video quality after conversion.
Perfectly compatible with macOS 10.7 or later, macOS 10.12 Sierra included.
There are two ways you can import videos that you want to be converted to the program. You can drag the files to be converted to the window. You should note that if you add a folder, all the files inside will be included for conversion. You can also hit the "Files" button and then choose "Load Media Files" to do this.
Choose the output format you prefer and that can be played by QuickTime. The program supports more than 150 formats that are in six categories. Go to the right category and chose the format. Here, we recommend you to choose "MOV".
Convert your file by clicking the "Convert" button. You will now get videos or audio that can be played using QuickTime. When the conversion is complete, you will get a message prompting if to open the folder.
Convert Videos/Audios You can convert MP4 to various formats. Formats supported include AVI, MP4, MOV, NUT, NSV, WebM, MKV, M2TS, TS, VOB, MPEG-2, MPEG-1, MP3, AIFF, WAV, and so on.
Download Online Videos Feel free to download your videos from websites such as Facebook and YouTube. You can directly download them within the program and then directly convert them into formats that you need.
Video Editing The program provides you with various editing tools. You can crop, trim or rotate your videos freely. Moreover, you can also add watermark and subtitles to your videos.
Burn to DVD You can burn your MP4 files onto DVD so as to enjoy them on big-screen TV. You can also convert your downloaded videos and then directly burn them to DVD.


text:
Q: RestSharp conectado com Firebase mas não mostra resultado Fiz um serviço em C# e agora preciso conectar esse serviço com meu banco no FireBase. A seguir encontra-se o método no Library para conexão com o FireBase:
public static void restAPI()
    {
        var client = new RestClient("https://teste.firebaseio.com/");
        var request = new RestRequest("users.json", Method.GET);
        var queryResult = client.Execute<List<Items>>(request).Data;

        Library.WriteErrorLog("RESTAPI: " + queryResult);
    }

Função no Shceduler para inicializar o serviço e chamar o método:
protected override void OnStart(string[] args)
    {
        Library.restAPI();
        if (Library.IsConnected())
        {
            Library.WriteErrorLog("////// Com conexão! //////");
            timer1 = new Timer();
            this.timer1.Interval = 3000;
            this.timer1.Elapsed += new System.Timers.ElapsedEventHandler(this.timer1_Tick);
            Library.WriteErrorLog(">> Test Window Service iniciado! <<");
            if (!File.Exists(docBase))
            {
                File.Copy(pricetabLocal, docBase);
                listaBase = Library.MontarListaBase(docBase, ref copiado);
                Library.WriteErrorLog("<< FIM! >>" + copiado);
            }
            else
            {
                Library.WriteErrorLog("Ja existe um arquivo com este nome!");
                listaBase = Library.MontarListaBase(docBase, ref copiado);
                Library.WriteErrorLog("<< FIM! >>" + copiado);
            }
            timer1.Enabled = true;
        }
        else
        {
            Library.WriteErrorLog("////// Sem conexão! //////");
        }
    }

Classe publica Items:
public class Items
    {
        public string usuarios { get; set; }
    }

ACHO que consegui fazer a conexão porém não consigo visualizar o conteúdo correto, a resposta que retorna é a seguinte:

RESTAPI: System.Collections.Generic.List`1[TestWindowsService.Library+Items]

ps: essa resposta eu escrevo em um bloco de notas.
Essa resposta quer dizer o que?
Se conectei como faço para "garimpar" essa resposta para formata-la?

A: Essa é a saída padrão pro tipo List<T>.
Se você quer especificar o que deve ser escrito no arquivo, faça isso
public static void restAPI()
{
    var client = new RestClient("https://segundo-chat.firebaseio.com/");
    var request = new RestRequest("users.json", Method.GET);
    var queryResult = client.Execute<List<Items>>(request).Data;

    foreach(Items item in queryResult)
    {
        Library.WriteErrorLog("Resultado: " + item.usuarios);
    }
}

A: < RESPOSTA >
Para obter o que está no banco de dados FireBase no formato JSON eu modifiquei apenas meu método:
public static void restAPI()
    {
        var client = new RestClient("https://teste.firebaseio.com/.json");
        var request = new RestRequest("", Method.GET);
        request.RequestFormat = DataFormat.Json;
        IRestResponse requestget = client.Execute(request);
        Library.WriteErrorLog("RESTAPI: " + requestget.Content);
    }

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
package jo.sm.factories.planet.comp;

import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.HashMap;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.Map;
import java.util.Random;

import jo.sm.data.SparseMatrix;
import jo.sm.data.StarMade;
import jo.sm.mods.IBlocksPlugin;
import jo.sm.mods.IPluginCallback;
import jo.sm.ship.data.Block;
import jo.vecmath.Point3i;

public class MaterialPlugin implements IBlocksPlugin
{
	private MaterialDefinition	mDef;
	private Random              mRND;
	private Map<Short,MaterialEntry>   mOldBlockMap;

	public MaterialPlugin(MaterialDefinition def)
	{
		mDef = def;
		mOldBlockMap = makeBlockMap(mDef.getOldBlocks());
        mRND = new Random();
	}

	private Map<Short,MaterialEntry> makeBlockMap(List<MaterialEntry> blocks)
	{
	    Map<Short,MaterialEntry> blockMap = new HashMap<Short, MaterialEntry>();
	    for (MaterialEntry entry : blocks)
	        blockMap.put(entry.getBlockID(), entry);
	    return blockMap;
	}

	@Override
	public String getName()
	{
		return mDef.getTitle();
	}

	@Override
	public String getDescription()
	{
		return mDef.getDescription();
	}

	@Override
	public String getAuthor()
	{
		return mDef.getAuthor();
	}

	@Override
	public Object newParameterBean()
	{
		return null;
	}
	@Override
	public void initParameterBean(SparseMatrix<Block> original, Object params,
			StarMade sm, IPluginCallback cb)
	{
	}

	@Override
	public int[][] getClassifications()
	{
		int[][] classifications = new int[][] {
        { TYPE_FLOATINGROCK, SUBTYPE_GENERATE, mDef.getPriority() },
        { TYPE_PLANET, SUBTYPE_GENERATE, mDef.getPriority() },
		};
		return classifications;
	}

	@Override
	public SparseMatrix<Block> modify(SparseMatrix<Block> original,
			Object params, StarMade sm, IPluginCallback cb)
	{
		SparseMatrix<Block> modified = new SparseMatrix<Block>(original);
		Point3i lower = new Point3i();
		Point3i upper = new Point3i();
		original.getBounds(lower, upper);
		cb.setStatus("Altering Composition");
		cb.startTask(upper.x - lower.x + 1);
		for (int x = lower.x; x <= upper.x; x++)
		{
		    for (int z = lower.z; z <= upper.z; z++)
		    {
		        int lowY = getLowY(original, x, z, lower.y, upper.y);
		        if (lowY < lower.y)
		            continue;
                int highY = getHighY(original, x, z, lower.y, upper.y);
                if (highY > upper.y)
                    continue;
                for (int y = lowY; y <= highY; y++)
                {
                    Block b = original.get(x, y, z);
                    if (b == null)
                        continue;
                    if (doWeReplace(y, lowY, highY, b))
                        modified.set(x, y, z, replaceWith(y, lowY, highY, b));
                }
            }
		    cb.workTask(1);
		}
		cb.endTask();
        return modified;
	}

    private int getLowY(SparseMatrix<Block> grid, int x, int z, int y1,
            int y2)
    {
        for (int y = y1; y <= y2; y++)
            if (grid.contains(x, y, z))
                return y;
        return y1-1;
    }

    private int getHighY(SparseMatrix<Block> grid, int x, int z, int y1,
            int y2)
    {
        for (int y = y2; y >= y1; y--)
            if (grid.contains(x, y, z))
                return y;
        return y2+1;
    }

    private boolean doWeReplace(int y, int lowY, int highY, Block b)
    {
        MaterialEntry oldEntry = mOldBlockMap.get(b.getBlockID());
        if (oldEntry == null)
        {
            oldEntry = mOldBlockMap.get((short)-1);
            if (oldEntry == null)
                return false;
        }
        if (!isWithinBounds(y, lowY, highY, oldEntry))
            return false;
        if (mRND.nextInt(100) > oldEntry.getPercent())
            return false;
        return true;
    }

    private Block replaceWith(int y, int lowY, int highY, Block b)
    {
        List<MaterialEntry> probs = new ArrayList<MaterialEntry>();
        int total = 0;
        for (MaterialEntry entry : mDef.getNewBlocks())
            if (isWithinBounds(y, lowY, highY, entry))
            {
                probs.add(entry);
                total += entry.getPercent();
            }
        if (total == 0)
            return null;
        int roll = mRND.nextInt(total);
        for (MaterialEntry entry : probs)
        {
            roll -= entry.getPercent();
            if (roll < 0)
                return new Block(entry.getBlockID());
        }
        throw new IllegalStateException("We fell off the bottom!");
    }

    private boolean isWithinBounds(int y, int lowY, int highY, MaterialEntry entry)
    {
        int lowLimit = getLimit(lowY, highY, entry.getLowStrategy(), entry.getLowValue());
        int highLimit = getLimit(lowY, highY, entry.getHighStrategy(), entry.getHighValue());
        return (y >= lowLimit) && (y <= highLimit);
    }

    private int getLimit(int lowY, int highY, int strategy, int value)
    {
        if (strategy == MaterialEntry.RELATIVE)
            if (value >= 0)
                return lowY + value;    // offset from top
            else
                return highY + value;   // offset from bottom
        else
        {
            int delta = highY - lowY;
            int abs = delta*value/100;
            return lowY + abs;
        }
    }
}


text:
Increasingly, the London I read about is not the London I experience.
We're told, for some years now, that we are in economic recovery. I look across the capital's roofs at dusk, into zone1 in the distance, and it looks more like an oil field than a city; a skyline dominated by cranes; a city building to the heaven. By all signs, London should be a happy, vibrant, employed, safe, booming place. And yet it is not. None of the glass and steel, none of the wealth those cranes carry, ever reaches the ground.
People seem to me grey, worried, more irritable than ever. Local Bermondsey folks are visibly angry at the gentrification pushing them out of the area in which they were born. I keep seeing glittering residential developments everywhere, but have never met anyone who lives there. I know nobody whose pay has kept up with inflation in the last five years. Any foray to the West End confirms that this entire city subsists on tourism.
In the Prime Minister's own constituency, the Tory council leader had to write to him to explain the impact of his own cuts. To explain that cuts to the local area are not of the magnitude of £200m, as the PM believes, but three times that at £600m. That a 37% drop in funding is not the "slight fall" the PM seems to think. That an asset sale as a solution is "neither legal nor sustainable in the long term."
My own local services have been slashed. Refuse collections are occasional and erratic. The roads are in a state of constant disrepair. The youth centre's hours have been reduced. Care home places are scarce. Local transport service is a shambles; half of the buses counting down on the display turn out to be phantoms. Public toilets have been sold. Local parks are full of people in ill mental health and quite some distress. I see increasing numbers of homeless and – disturbingly – many of them are elderly.
The local Tesco have had to change their policy on reduced-to-clear food, because arguments kept breaking out among customers. Two more businesses closed this month on my fairly small Southwark Park Road parade of shops. Several others are showing distinct signs of struggling. Even the local Co-op is quite obviously in trouble. This has been the pattern since the crisis. About half the high street is now boarded up. And that is only because betting shops and pawn shops have taken the place of some gone shops.
While all this goes on, the political agenda of most news outlets – print, radio or TV – is absolutely dominated by arguments over the angle of a bow or kneeling etiquette. For days and days. The only conclusion available to me is that either by convergence of interest or coercion, there is a clear and collaborative attempt between media and government at significant misdirection. A deliberate and organised campaign to mislead.
The bifurcation between what I experience as a citizen and what the news tells me was easy to miss. It grew very gradually, like hair growing long on someone you see every day. But it is now too wide to ignore. London is not a city in economic recovery. At least my bit of it ain't. It is in absolute decline. I needed to say that. The Emperor, so far as I can see, is completely naked.
I do not ask that you believe me. I ask that you look around and compare what you see with your own eyes, to the growth narrative being universally pushed down our throat, every hour on the hour like aspirin. That's all. Just look around.
And so it came to pass that Chatto & Windus – the publisher of H.G. Wells, Mark Twain, Virginia Woolf, Marcel Proust and Samuel Beckett – has secured the global English rights to my ramblings about food, memory, caring for a parent with dementia, and the financial crisis. It did so, in a competitive field, with a passion and enthusiasm which took my breath away and made me believe that, perhaps in time, I might grow into a writer.
The Magic Bay Leaf – a title which might mean something to regular followers – is not a cookbook, although it contains recipes. It is not a memoir, although it contains personal history. It is not an essay on the financial crisis, although it reflects on it. It is the story of my tempestuous love affair with Greece, with Mum, with Politics, with Food and how they weave into each other.
My editor Parisa Ebrahimi at C&W and my agent Rachel Mills at PFD have been the most doting literary parents and have introduced me to the Penguin/Random House family with affection and care. As for my culinary Fairy Godmother, the resplendent Nigella Lawson, who saw in me what I couldn't see in myself… Words shall never be sufficient to express my love and gratitude; but maybe the many, many meals we will continue to share will be more eloquent.
All that remains is the small matter of organising a suitcase full of garbled notes and cryptic recipes, and a head full of aching memories and filial love, into the story they demand to be.
Thank you for all the support
Here is the full announcement on The Bookseller.
Chatto & Windus has bought a "portrait of Greece as seen from the kitchen table" by Guardian and New Statesman writer, actor and cook, Alex Andreou.
Editor Parisa Ebrahimi acquired world English rights to The Magic Bay Leaf from Rachel Mills at PFD.
The Magic Bay Leaf is described as "blending memoir, food and travel writing to reveal the hidden art of real Greek food".
"It's also the story of a son returning home to Mykonos to look after, and cook for, his mother as she suffers from Alzheimer's related dementia," said Chatto. "In sumptuous prose, as enlightening as it is elegant, and featuring a selection of bold, adventurous recipes, this is the taste of Greece as a taste of home – reminding us of the importance of food – to a country, and family, in crisis."
Ebrahimi said: "We are overjoyed to bring Alex to Chatto – it's about time someone lifted the lid on Greek cuisine and he is the perfect person to do it. This is the story of real Greek food told through the prism of home and homeland, written out of passion and necessity, in prose that is as delectable as the food it describes. This is food writing meets memoir at its sparkling, sumptuous best."
Andreou said: "Food is memory. It carries the imprint of personal and national history. Real Greek food exists in painfully beautiful, primary colours: born in kitchens with two gas rings and no gadgets, with dull knives, threadbare cloths and superstitious rituals. It embodies the hospitality and hardship of an entire people. This is the story I want to share with you: of a woman losing pieces of her identity, in the midst of a country struggling to rediscover its own, of chopped parsley and generational shifts, of prickly pear and migration, of bay leaves and caring for a parent with dementia. A memoir of life and a manual of love, for those who never knew and those who forgot."
The Magic Bay Leaf will be published in 2017.
Are they all the same? Actually they couldn't be more different.
I started writing this piece almost ten days ago, but couldn't finish it. It changed constantly. Initially, I made a conscious decision not to react to the news of the snap election in Greece instantly. People were stunned, felt hurt; felt betrayed by Alexis Tsipras for signing an agreement for a third bail-out. They saw him as transforming into "the establishment". Others kept faith, hoped still. Wounds felt raw, moods volatile. Friends and family members fell out. And, to be honest, I wasn't sure what to make of it all.
So, I waited. I listened carefully to all sides. I listened to my instinct. I spoke to friends, family and colleagues back in Greece. And of course I listened to the party leaders. I was none the wiser. The only effect was I have utterly fed up of nautical similes. They're all captains. It's all ships and storms and safe ports, compasses and fog and wind, Cyclops and prophets and witches and many, many suitors. I know the poet says it is the journey that matters, but I just want to arrive. I need Ithaca.
READ THE REST OF MY COLUMN ON BYLINE – THE CROWD-FUNDED JOURNALISM SITE.
The crazy idea of a fairer society
A friend chose yesterday of all days, to bait me about Corbyn being a dangerous socialist and Thatcher's "you always run out of other people's money". This was my response.
Dearest C,
I don't really know where to start to reorient you. I suspect you don't wish to see another side to your argument, whatever the other side is. I don't know how to engage with this reduction of entire decades to cheap Murdoch headlines. All I can say is "the data simply does not support your position" and hope that facts can make a difference.
Poverty in Britain rose under Thatcher to levels not seen since the aftermath of World War II. Unemployment reached percentages not experienced since the great depression. The gini coefficient — economists' accepted method for measuring inequality — grew by 40%. The welfare culture that you so despise, is entirely her baby. It was simply cheaper to park people on benefits, in the mining and industrial towns that she decimated, than retrain them to a diversified industry. We are living the legacy of that. These are the facts of conservatism.
According to the economist Bernard Lietaer, author of The Future of Money, as recently as 1975 roughly 80% of foreign exchange transactions involved the real trading of a product or a service. The rest were mostly speculative; bets made on the value of currencies going up or down. By 1997 the percentage of foreign exchange which involved transactions in the real economy was only 2.5%. Today, according to the Global Policy Forum, only 0.6% of foreign exchange could be traced to genuine international trade in goods and services. More than a third of those happens daily in the City. Money has ceased to be the tool of trade and has become its object.
Thatcher simply wanted to make way for Britain becoming "financiers of the world", in her own words. Others, like Germany, chose a diversified production base. We became the world centre of usury. Britain's over-reliance on its finance industry is the reason we were particularly vulnerable to the global financial crisis. It is also the reason we have lived in perpetual boom and bust since her time. Because boom and bust is good for the finance industry.
Booms are when imaginary value is created and busts are when it is converted to real wealth, by buying assets (often, state assets for which generations have paid) on the cheap. Without the jagged peaks and troughs of the ups and downs, the finance industry simply makes less money. The trouble is, the booms are getting narrower and narrower in terms of whom they benefit and the busts deeper and deeper about whom they harm and how much.
The latest one in 2008, in which private, liberalised banks – the absolute symbol of free market capitalism – collapsed spectacularly and had to be bailed out with taxpayers' money, represents the absolute failure of capitalism, even by its own standards. It has created a mutated hybrid, a Frankenstein system, in which the very top now benefit directly from the state-collected proceeds of the many. A system under which not only do they avoid tax, but they get it pumped into them when in trouble. A system which has mutualised their losses, while protecting their privatised profits. It has rewarded market failure. Meanwhile, people like you bitch about the comparative drop in the budget ocean that is a mobility payment for someone disabled or a dialysis machine for someone ill or social care for someone old and alone.
An even bigger crisis is coming. The first shockwaves of it are being artificially kept at bay from China to the U.S. A system under which the richest 1% will control as much wealth as the remaining 99% by 2018 (according to Oxfam's global poverty report) is a creaking, unstable House of Cards. Even neoliberal voices are beginning to recognise this fact and express it explicitly (see the paper which resulted from the IMF's conference on inequality this year).
What pains me is to see people like you, who do not belong to that elite and never will, defend it. You are the middle class defence they have built around their wealth. You are the talking-out-of-your-arse, relatively well-to-do 5% moat which protects their enormous castle.
That 1% relies on you believing the nonsense you spout – and using your megaphone to spread it – in order to keep their ever-growing wealth safe, by irrationally hoping that this sort of megawealth is somehow possible for you too, somehow available. That, someday, you too might be invited to the enormous castle for dinner. You never will. You provide their dinner. You are the staff. You are the mug that keeps buying scratch cards from which nobody, ever, won a penny.
But that irrational hope makes your tongue unkind and your elbows sharp. In truth, you have much more in common with the people you do down, than with those you defend. I hope you never get to find out how close to penury you – and all the salariat – are. We are constantly encouraged to spend anticipated income. Mortgages, credit cards, speculative portfolios. If the income stops, for whatever reason, most of us are instantly bankrupt. I hope you never get to find out what real, state-sanctioned, Daily-Mail-sponsored unkindness feels like. I like you and would not wish it on you.
In your heart, you know all of this. You have chosen to silence at a societal level everything that you consider good on a personal level. You have chosen to fling mud at any attempt to discuss a fairer system that is based around people, rather than money. You know this is wrong, but you still do it, because you are self-interested. You mock those who are less so. You're doing all right at the moment – you're healthy, employed, secure – so you don't give a toss about those who are not. You simply want to pay less tax. That is what it boils down to. "Me" is the most important word in your Lexicon, the only word even, and you think that's dandy.
Well, it isn't. There are those who disagree with your bitter, jaded version of society. And you should thank heaven for us, because if yours became the only view, if the cruelty you long for became reality, the result would not be a society which you would enjoy. You demand respect and solidarity for your rights, but offer none in return.
I have resented typing every word of this, because your premise is absolutely disingenuous. You think people who fail are lazy or stupid and have said so on many occasions. You would never be tempted to vote for radical, progressive politics. You would find a way to intellectualise your rejection of them and stick to your voting habits. So your protestation of "oh, if only you were more sensible, Labour, I might vote for you" is bunkum.
I have typed it anyway, however. Just so you can tut and roll your eyes at my leftie nonsense and think of some irrelevant "but what about" sophistry to wheel out in reply. Knowing that I chip away at you on a deeper level than the shallow push and pull of soundbites. Because I'm right. Because my way is better and you know it. Because there must be a terrified part of your brain that gets what utter foolishness it is supporting a system and a world view, which daily makes us all less kind, less open, less caring, less civilised, less evolved and, ultimately, less human.
But you don't have to be that person. You have a choice. We all do. You can soothe those around you with word and action, rather than cut them with criticism. You can help those who are in a worse position, not step on their throat. I wish you would choose that.
Something serious has happened, but you don't know it yet
tags: RefugeeCrisis, RefugeesWelcome, Syria
Most of you will still be at work this time of day. Something serious has happened, but you don't know it yet.
When you get back this evening, you will find your home has been demolished. Just flattened. You have no idea why. Your family may or may not have been in it. Everything you own certainly was. Your neighbours have disappeared. You stand there looking at the remains, trying to process the scene. It's impossible. Then you start to dig frantically, but it's no use. It's just a mountain of rubble. You should call the police. You try your phone, but you've been cut off. You look for your car. It's gone. WHAT IS GOING ON?
You sit on the curb confused. You're tearful. You feel the whoosh of someone running past, behind you. When you turn your rucksack is gone. You look around, but the culprit is nowhere to be seen. But you realise all the shops are closed… except a little corner shop. You go in and ask the woman behind the counter for help; ask what happened. She doesn't understand. She talks back in a foreign language. Seems upset. Or angry. Your stomach rumbles. The shop's shelves are almost empty. You get a bottle of water and a chocolate bar. She asks for 200 $US. When you protest, she calls her husband and they throw you out.
You try to get money, but the cashpoint swallows your card. You wander aimlessly for a bit. The streets are empty. You're very hungry. You see a discarded, half-eaten chicken thigh. It's covered in muck. Something takes you over and you fall on hands and knees and grab it. You pat the dirt away and bite. You feel maggots wriggle in your mouth. You vomit. As you're trying to recover, out of the dark, A MAN EMERGES. His look is crazed. He's ranting. He's holding a machete. It's dripping with a dark red, viscous liquid. He's heading right for you.
Instinct kicks in. You run. He runs. You turn a corner and duck into a dark doorway. You hold your breath. He runs past. With a creeping terror in the pit of your stomach, you realise, you're not alone in the dark. A neighbour of yours is there. She tells you that there are thousands like Machete-Man. Millions. Some sort of mass hysteria. Or a virus. Nobody knows. They have been on a rampage all day. "Where the fuck have you been?" she hisses.
She tells you, that your other half is dead. As is your son. You ask about the town where your extended family lives. Lived. Obliterated. "Sorry", she offers limply, "but your little daughter is alive". Taken in by the police. Neighbour doesn't know where to. She tells you there's not enough room in this doorway. "You have to leave". She brandishes a kitchen knife. She shoves you out. Machete-Man hears the commotion. He's about 100 yards away and he is coming for you. You walk the other way. You hear a scream behind, as he dispatches your neighbour with one blow. You plead with passers-by for help. Some ignore you. Most run away. One spits at you and screams abuse. Another takes out a piece of wood, with long rusty nails through it, and joins Machete-Man. You start to run. And you keep running.
You've been a REFUGEE for barely an hour.
by @sturdyalex
Can we stop tearing strips out of each other over Corbyn?
tags: Andy Burnham, Centre, Electability, Infighting, Jeremy Corbyn, Labour, Leadership, Left, Liz Kendall, Radicalism, Yvette Cooper
The most frightening aspect of Corbyn's ascendancy has been watching self-described rational, progressive, enlightened people behave like the very lowest, smearing, opportunistic tabloid hacks. On all sides. Truly shocking. Then, presumably, when the same tabloids do it to whomever is Labour Party leader before the 2020 election, most of the same people will be incandescent with rage, saying "how dare they take things out of context and twist them to suit their agenda?"
There is nothing Corbyn could do or say to convince the majority of people who are opposed to his choice, because emotionally they have decided that he is far too radical or unelectable or whatever. Just as I decided that he will be an effective tool for shaking up a rotten system and revitalising the Labour Party. And that is that.
I don't have a problem with their assessment. I respect it. There is nothing wrong with it. It's as (il)logical as mine. It's just how they intuit the situation and it is different to how I do. I don't understand why people see it as a huge threat to their "leftie" identity. Like, somehow, there is only room for one good leftie in the world and it is EITHER YOU OR JEREMY CORBYN, THE BASTARD.
So, I wish we could dispense with the whole cod "I like many of his policies, BUT" or "I would have voted for Cooper, but she is too close to the previous cabinet" facade and the faux-evidentiary approach. It's bollocks. We are all playing out our confirmation bias in the worst possible way, having decided instinctively within days, hours or minutes. Let's just speak plainly and honestly.
For a huge slate of complex reasons many people like Corbyn and are inspired by him. Many feel strongly the opposite. Many feel that way about other candidates. Most shall never convince each other. MOST HAVE ALREADY VOTED FFS. All they can hope to achieve is make each other feel like shit by going "you're a Tory, if you voted for Kendall" or "you're an antisemite if you voted for Corbyn".
Why should we choose to inflict these wounds on each other? They will be slow to heal.
What seems to be lacking is any big picture view, holistic assessment or, indeed, sense of fairness and solidarity to people who are, after all, on the same broad side. It is a case of "let's look at everything someone has said in four decades or four years or four months of politics and see if we can find four individual sentences, which we can then unforgivably misrepresent as objectionable". Shock-horror: those sentences are there! For every candidate, by every candidate and against every candidate.
With the same breath, we all complain about how grey, samey and faceless our politicians are and how they never give a straight answer and are always ruled by spin. In short, we would like someone direct, who has strong views on all matters great and small, willing to say exactly what they think, but who has never said a single thing with which we disagree.
Good luck to us all.
On Labour being taken over by Lefties
It really has been quite extraordinary declaring myself as a Jeremy Corbyn supporter. I have been subjected to what I can only describe as a consistent, concerted and aggressive campaign of intimidation.
Everything from people just swearing at me, to supporters of other candidates trawling through my past tweets and blogs in order to misinterpret some criticism of the Labour Party as "treason" and alert HQ to it, to MPs sending me private message calling me disgusting for saying that ad hominem attacks are counterproductive.
This hysteria boils down to three basic issues:
1. The fervent belief that moving the party to the left will mean electoral oblivion.
2. The notion that the only thing worth being is "in power", regardless of what you do to get there.
3. A narrow view of the Labour grassroots movement as some private members-only club.
Does Labour moving to the left equal electoral oblivion?
Central to this claim is the juxtaposition of Tony Blair's "golden years" versus Ed Miliband "move to the left" costing Labour the last election. Both elements of this argument are simply fictitious.
Tony Blair's victory was as much a product of the previous few elections as it was of the 1997 campaign. Labour had consistently improved its position since its low point in 1983 (27.6% to 30.8% to 34.4% to 43.2%). Remember that before John Smith's untimely death, Labour was widely predicted to win the election, having established an ostensibly unassailable 23 point lead over the Tories. A week before he passed away, the Conservatives suffered a spectacular defeat in Council elections.
From the point of Blair's election onwards Labour's share of the vote began to steadily decline (43.2% to 40.7% to 35.2% to 29%) and actually rallied a little under Miliband to 30.4%, despite being obliterated in Scotland. You can see all the figures here. The facts, then, are that Labour was a party ascendant since 1983 and declining since 1997. You may not like it, but that is the only cogent conclusion.
It is also worth noting that Ed Miliband's peaks in the polls coincided with the moments in which he stood up to the Murdoch press, committed to price regulation and reform of the energy market and promised to control rents and abolish the nondom tax status. And it was moments during which this message was confused with pink vans, immigration mugs, Sun photo ops and Edstones that his popularity dipped.
I'm not saying that Blair's policies did not help him to get initially elected. They did. But they were also deeply unpopular while in government – the decision to go to war with Iraq saw the biggest exodus of Labour Party members, seeing membership dip to levels not recorded since the 1930s. It is also worth noting that Blair was not just positioning himself in order to win. He genuinely believed in his programme and could orate on it with authenticity and passion.
Personalities and style are important, too. There is little doubt in my mind that Miliband offering precisely the programme Blair did in 1997 may not have been elected and a young unknown Blair, offering Miliband's policies in 2010 may have. Although, this is clearly imponderable.
It is also bizarre to exclude from the equation the demise of Thatcher, Black Wednesday and allegations of sleaze from the 1997 election result. As bizarre as it is to exclude allowing Tories free rein to establish a narrative of Labour being responsible for the global financial crisis from the result in 2010.
In short, Blair's success as much as Miliband's failure are down to an immensely complex nexus of circumstances. To reduce them to "move to the right = winning" versus "move to the left = losing" is a profoundly cynical move by those who want the party to move to the right regardless.
We can't do any good, unless we're in power
The political landscape is shaped by all political forces. Labour are currently ignoring their role as Opposition in a maniacal dash to calibrate and triangulate their position aiming for electoral victory in 2020. Not only is this unbelievably daft, because it is far too soon and there will be immense, game-changing events in between, some of which we know about (Referendum on European membership) and most of which we don't, but also because it ignores a distinct, tangible and inexorable panEuropean shift of popular movements towards anti-austerity politics.
Absconding from the job of Opposition is an unforgivable snub to the nine million people who voted for Labour and gave it the second most important position in British politics. It is being observed, it will be prominent in voters' minds and it will further weaken Labour's voting base (the main challengers in the North will be UKIP, who will be able to say "look, they're all the same", mark my words).
One only needs to look at how the SNP has progressed or how Nigel Farage has forced a referendum to understand the long term value of having a clear, unwavering message in a landscape of shifting values and disenfranchisement. The apter question, in my mind, is this: If Labour shift their policies to the extent of not offering a clear alternative to the Conservatives, (a) what good are they to working people, whether in power or not; and (b) why would anyone vote for them instead of the real Tories?
The Labour Party as a private members' club
It is indicative that in the last few days I have been attacked as a "three quid socialist", a Marxist entryist, a clicktivist, a hipster fair-weather fan etc. etc. It is indicative of the mindset within established Labour circles. Three quid for someone like me – and millions of others – means food for as much as a couple of days. It is not an insignificant amount.
Any other party would cheer hundreds of thousands of people suddenly becoming inspired by one of the leadership candidates and joining the movement. They would instantly think "Maybe this guy has something that is attractive to voters". But no, not Labour. Labour is proving itself to be the ultimate authoritarian, establishment structure in which seniority and rank are the only things which render one's opinion worthwhile.
Consumed by conspiracy theories, this is a party membership unable to argue for any of "their" candidates' policies. I have genuinely not had a single tweet clearly stating "I am voting for X, because A, B, and C policy will be great for the country". It is a party looking inwards and to the past. Asking only "What is good for the party?", instead of "What is good for the country?" They still think Blairism – now over twenty years old – is a modernising concept; not the thing that was tried and didn't work. The gap between rich and poor has widened consistently for the last thirty years. They think that they can rerun the 1997 election and win, as if nothing has changed in the intervening years. Everything has changed.
"You voted for the Greens at the Euro elections", accuses one. Yes, I did so specifically and publicly for the first time in my life, because I felt that Labour had drifted too much to the right. I now see an opportunity to reclaim my place in the party. Hundreds of thousands see the same to a sufficient extent to part with money – even if only three quid. I note that, when I campaigned vocally for my local Labour candidate in May, nobody asked me to show them a membership card. Anyone can join, it seems, as long as they toe the line. If you don't, it doesn't matter if you've been a Labour voter all your life, the "worthy" will find a way to discredit you as disloyal to the party.
This is why Labour lost the last election. And why it will probably lose the next one and the one after that. Because it sees anyone not voting for it as either cruel or stupid, anyone critical of its policies as disloyal, and feels absolutely entitled to electoral success. The Pasokification of the party will continue apace unless it understands that this is not so.
By all means, continue accusing progressive people from the left political space of being infiltrators, while lifting your skirts to show your neoliberal ankle to a handful of voters in Tory marginals and shouting "Oranges! Oranges!" The result of sharing the "austerity platform" with your opponents will be as inevitable as sharing the "No platform" was in Scotland: complete obliteration.
It is just very, very sad for those of us who understand what is happening to watch.
Did Labour lose the election because Ed Miliband was too far to the Left?
The Pantomime of the Greek Deal
A bad deal is what Greece wanted. A bad deal is what Greece got. Tsipras neither saved nor doomed the country.
This is my initial reaction to the deal proposal by Greece: it is more austerity -harsh austerity at that – and many of the measures are recessionary. Distribution of the burden seems to me fairer than before. If the upside is access to a significant stimulus package (front-loaded), a smoothing of the measures (back-loaded) and substantial restructuring of debt, to make it definitively viable, it will probably be seen as worth it. It is certainly capable of being sold as worth it.
Essentially, everyone managing to keep their position/perks/income in the context of an economy which is in the middle of a death spiral, is meaningless. If the economy begins to recover, then things which were unbearable, become bearable. Austerity becomes a background noise, rather than a preoccupation and a progressive government will be able to offset the damage. It is a delicate balance.
Market confidence is a strange creature. There is a lot of money sloshing around at the moment, taken out of China which is in free-fall. Money which is bulging to be invested. All it takes is an intangible notion that Greece has hit the low point, for investment to return. Whether this package achieves that balance or not, will have to be assessed over time, as the detail of each measure becomes known and away from the adrenaline and hysteria of negotiation fever.
Instant, dramatic, pantomime reactions of the type "Tsipras just destroyed Greece" and "Tsipras just saved Europe" are numerous and deeply unhelpful. He has done neither. This isn't a booing or cheering moment…
You can read the rest of this article here on BYLINE – a crowd-funded alternative news platform, on which writers can express their opinions with no fear, favour or editorial control. It is completely free and has no advertisements or spam. All we ask is that you consider funding us, if you have the capacity to do so.
WHATEVER THE RESULT, "OXI" HAS WON
Like the independence referendum in Scotland, Greece has entered a process which is unstoppable
OXI, the "no" to the unconditional surrender demanded of Greece, has already won. We just don't know how big the victory is yet. It may seem a bold prediction, but I'm not talking about the result of today's referendum, monumental though that is, but about something much more profound.
All week the parallels between the Scottish referendum on Independence last year and what is happening in Greece, have been unavoidable. The fearmongering and predictions of doom have been hundred-fold, of course, and the situation much more extreme, but the way in which the representatives of the corrupt status quo have lined up, one by one, behind the "yes" camp, the way in which they have chosen to frighten, rather than convince, has been unmistakeable.
In June 2011, in my very first piece about the Greek crisis, I wrote about the occupation of Syntagma Square. I wrote that what was happening there was beautiful; filled with hope; gloriously democratic. About how the crowd of thousands shared what little food and drink there was. About a microphone which stood in the middle, through which anyone could speak and make proposals, which were then voted on by a show of hands. I talked about the beginnings of Citizenship and predicted that hope for Greece existed within that movement.
Four years later, Alexis Tsipras, the man who emerged as a leader from that movement, stood in the same square in front of a million people, this time as Prime Minister, and made a speech filled with both generosity and defiance. He stood alone, with no security, no fear, nothing between him and the crowd, other than a white shirt, unbuttoned at the collar. "Democracy is life", he said. "Democracy is strength and joy." The crowd…
Yesterday morning, Rosindell was doing media rounds, accusing Labour of being obsessed with superficial stuff (like… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 28 minutes ago
RT @CliveWismayer: Prince Andrew - a solicitor's view 🧵 I was a civil litigation solicitor, which means my job involved legal analysis, c… 51 minutes ago
RT @davidallengreen: Oh well done, Labour Opposition are considering a 'humble address' motion to compel disclosure of the Sue Gray report… 3 hours ago


Health Minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne has ordered the Deputy Director General (Medical Services 11) Dr. Amal Harsha De Silva to transfer all doctors attached to the Prison Hospital, a Health Ministry spokesman said.According to the Spokesman, Minister Dr. Senaratne had given this order to Dr. De Silva during the meeting of Institutional Heads held at the Health ministry on Monday.
Earlier one doctor attached to the Prison hospital was transferred due to various complaints received against him in connecting with the support given by him to certain politicians to get admitted to the Prison Hospital. But the officials informed Minister Dr. Senaratne that the said doctor is still in the hospital without accepting the transfer given to him, he said.
Considering all facts Minister Dr. Senaratne gave the new order and also instructed Dr. De Silva to take disciplinary action against the doctor who ignored the transfer given to him, he added.


Is a Damaged Screen Affecting the Look of Your Residential or Commercial Property?
Are your window screens torn, missing or otherwise damaged? Don't let a damaged screen change the look of your home or commercial property. Enjoy fresh breezes again with the services of Sunco Window Cleaning LLC.
We can give your windows a completely new look with crystal-clear glass and a fresh screen that has either been repaired or replaced by our experts.
We'll fix your damaged screens or install something brand new so you can open up those windows and feel the fresh air once again. Our staff is trained and certified by industry standards; we are ready to answer any questions you have for us!
See if we can save you money. Before you think about replacing your windows, talk to Sunco about remeshing or replacing those damaged window screens, then restoring your views with crystal-clear glass.
At Sunco Window Cleaning LLC, we believe you should be able to enjoy the little things about your home. No matter the case, if window screens are bothering you, then it is time to get them fixed or replaced. Open up those windows and feel the fresh air again. Contact Sunco Window Cleaning LLC online or call our office today at (253) 242-7350.


Package otp implements both HOTP and TOTP based one time passcodes in a Google Authenticator compatible manner.
When adding a TOTP for a user, you must store the "secret" value persistently. It is recommend to store the secret in an encrypted field in your datastore. Due to how TOTP works, it is not possible to store a hash for the secret value like you would a password.
// Convert TOTP key into a QR code encoded as a PNG image.
// display the QR code to the user.
// Now Validate that the user's successfully added the passcode.
// User successfully used their TOTP, save it to your backend!
Validating a TOTP passcode is very easy, just prompt the user for a passcode and retrieve the associated user's previously stored secret.
// Success! continue login process.
When generating a Key, the Account Name must be set.
When generating a Key, the Issuer must be set.
The user provided passcode length was not expected.
Error when attempting to convert the secret from base32 to raw bytes.
Algorithm represents the hashing function to use in the HMAC operation needed for OTPs.
Digits represents the number of digits present in the user's OTP passcode. Six and Eight are the most common values.
Format converts an integer into the zero-filled size for this Digits.
Length returns the number of characters for this Digits.
Key represents an TOTP or HTOP key.
NewKeyFromURL creates a new Key from an TOTP or HOTP url.
AccountName returns the name of the user's account.
Image returns an QR-Code image of the specified width and height, suitable for use by many clients like Google-Authenricator to enroll a user's TOTP/HOTP key.
Issuer returns the name of the issuing organization.
Secret returns the opaque secret for this Key.
Type returns "hotp" or "totp".
Package otp imports 12 packages (graph) and is imported by 81 packages. Updated 2018-08-14. Refresh now. Tools for package owners.


Coming of age. Learning to accept oneself. Fighting injustice. Surviving in a dangerous world. Finding love. Losing love, and finding it again. Making a family. These are themes to which pretty much anyone can relate, regardless of the genders of the people they see facing them on screen.
That universality is a hallmark of the annual ImageOut film festival — offically titled "ImageOut: The Rochester Lesbian & Gay Film & Video Festival" — now in its 19th year. It runs Oct. 7-16, with screenings at three Rochester theatres: Little Theatre, 240 East Ave.; Cinema Theatre, 957 S. Clinton Ave.; and the Dryden Theatre at the George Eastman House, 900 E. Main St.
Click here for gay travel resources in the Finger Lakes Region, New York.


text:
Suicide Isn't About YOU
People feel really strongly about suicide. They think of it as one of the worst sins and one of the biggest betrayals of love and society and friendship. People routinely describe it as "selfish" and "cowardly" without truly understanding what it feels like to be a person facing the kind of desperation and pain that people feel who are struggling with a desire to kill themselves. It's an alien action, it goes against the animal instinct of survival, it's something people who have never wanted to die can't even imagine feeling because that's how deep the narrative of survival against all strife goes. It's so alien to our ingrained instincts that there have been a few thousand years of not really talking about it or even trying to understand it.
If we measure the length of time people have been killing themselves by the level of taboo suicide has maintained all that time – I have to ask you:
IF NOT TALKING ABOUT SUICIDE AND NOT ADDRESSING THE UNDERLYING PROBLEM AND TELLING SUICIDAL PEOPLE HOW SELFISH AND COWARDLY COMMITTING SUICIDE IS HASN'T CHANGED THE RATE OF SUCCESSFUL SUICIDES IN THE WORLD, IS THAT TACTIC WORTH HOLDING ONTO?
AND IF YOU'RE HOLDING ONTO A TACTIC THAT DOESN'T MAKE ANYTHING BETTER – DO YOU ACTUALLY CARE THAT MUCH ABOUT IT AT ALL?
MAYBE YOU'RE JUST A SELFISH FUCKER WHO DOESN'T LIKE TO BE INCONVENIENCED BY OTHER PEOPLE'S PAIN.
Maybe it's time people stopped doing what doesn't work and focus on discovering what the underlying problems are and figure out ways to address it. This requires open conversations in which people who don't know what it feels like to want to die/kill themselves endeavor to find out from people who do, and in which people who do want to die/kill themselves are willing to open up to people who genuinely want to learn what that feels like and help and support them.
People are so smug accusing successful suicides as cowardly and selfish. But what about all the billions of people across the world who make unhealthy choices even thought it puts them directly at risk of death. Driving cars, eating shit food, drinking to excess, having sex without protection, taking drugs, eating puffer fish… as a world society we seem to accept that people are constantly taking their lives into their own hands to engage in activities that are dangerous to their health and might kill them but this is okay as long as we're not positive it will kill us because then we can claim to not really know?
More people die every year in car crashes than by suicide and yet we never blame people for continuing to drive cars. In fact, if you choose not to drive a car people will think less of you and badger you for being a burden to them any time you ask for a ride. I know because I still don't drive a car and I've heard it all. Every time you get into your car you are literally risking death or gambling against killing other people with your vehicle. We see no dishonor in this as long as you're not drunk or on drugs when you die or kill someone else in your car. We don't tell people they're selfish for risking their life every time they get in their car.
People who kill themselves come from all walks of life and there's a rainbow of desperate reasons they do it so there's no way I can be a voice for all of us, and I don't want to try. I want people outside of us to make a better effort to understand what it's like to have serious depression and to wrestle with such low self esteem and self loathing that dying feels like the only option that makes sense. Talk to one person with suicidal ideation and you know more than you did before but you need to listen to a lot of us to understand what feelings are universal and which are individual.
You think suicide is selfish and cowardly? I think it's cowardly and selfish to keep making those of us who struggle with depression feel worse about ourselves when we're already hanging onto a thread of self worth against an ocean of self loathing that threatens to eat us alive. You have a right to your opinions but I think if you go around being angry and disdainful about people killing themselves without making an honest effort to understand why they do it and what you might do to help people hang on longer – then you really don't give a shit about anyone but yourself. You really don't care about anything but what YOU have to lose or what pain a person might inflict on YOU.
And what is the definition of selfish if not that?
If the only contribution you have to make to the suicides of the world is to denigrate them then you're no better than the mental illness that tortured them to death. You're the worst kind of selfish and cowardly. I would also posit that you're lazy – pronouncing poor character on people you know nothing about and don't intend to spend any time to understand.
What are you so afraid of? Are you afraid that you can catch our illness? Are you afraid suicide will rub off on you?
It's natural to be angry when someone you love dies, and especially when they take their own life. I'm not making light of how hard it is for the people who lost their loved ones to suicide. All I'm saying here, boiled down to the simplest plea I can make is this:
Please try to understand the level of internal pain and struggle it takes for a person to over-ride their animal instinct to survive in order to kill themselves. Please do your best to learn about the mental struggles that tend to lead to suicide and do your best to be a support rather than another cog in the gear that propels people to the end of the known universe to free-fall into the great wide nothing.
Here are some things I think it's important to understand:
Suicide isn't inevitable for people with mood disorders. This means that with good support and people around us who don't judge us or freak the fuck out about our ups and downs we can stabilize and manage our mental illness in such a way that we're at significantly less risk of suicide.
Suicide is rarely an act of selfishness. More often than not the people who successfully kill themselves believe they're doing the world a favor by leaving it.
It takes a great deal of resolve to kill yourself. Having a great deal of resolve isn't a quality of cowardice. If you knew how many people have planned and obsessed over their own suicide but didn't do it or succeed at it you would see that of all the people who struggle with the desire to die, only a few manage to follow through. I'm not saying you need to see them as brave, but I'm saying that cowardice is the suicidal person's friend and not the other way around.
People who struggle with suicide often have an overabundance of empathy and love for this world we all share to the point where they can't shut out other people's pain and seeing abused animals rips them to shreds. So in some respects they're dying because of your pain and everyone else's pain in addition to their own.
Suicide isn't about YOU, it's about unbearable pain in the spirit and love that can't be reconciled with pain.
So stop being so selfish with your empathy.
UPDATE: I would like to acknowledge the comment a twitter acquaintance of mine made on this post (you can read it in the comments) which I think is good perspective and something I actually know to be true but which I didn't give credence to in this post: it's generally not true selfishness on the part of those who have a hard time dealing with suicide – it's fear. They feel fear and it's worth having empathy for how frightening suicide is to most people outside of it. I agree with Jonathan. If I can ask others to have more empathy for people who struggle with suicidal ideation and depression, it's also important for me to have more empathy for how scary this subject is to people who don't experience it directly.
myths of suicide
The Weight of Everyone
But Not Like This
I'm someone who understands what it's like to feel like that because I did for more than a decade, almost every day. So I understand the frustration we can have with people who call it selfish or cowardly.
But I also think that the reason people resort to that stance in the face of suicide isn't mainly selfishness or self-righteousness, but fear. The fear of death pervades society, and so the possibility that someone may actually wish for it is terrifying for millions of people. It opens the door to a world of chaos in their minds, to the risk that their own inner struggle to find value in their existence might in fact be on shaky ground.
I know how it feels when people say those things, but, because we understand the sense of helplessness we have felt as depressed people, we can understand how frightened and helpless they must feel, too. And because we can, we should. Because often they just can't.
It's taken me a long time to come around to this point of view, so there's no judgment here from me. I was just moved by your post and wanted to share. Thanks. 🙂
angelina says:
I think that's a fair point. I understand their feelings of fear but I wish they'd go ahead and dive into what scares them because when people declare that suicide is "selfish" or "cowardly" it exacerbates the problem rather than helps it. I think if I came at this from a less fiercely protective place for people I consider my tribe (you included) I could express my understanding and empathy for how scary it is for people who haven't experienced suicidal ideation to deal with it. I would rather people be honest and say "this is outside anything I know and it scares the hell out of me" rather than shouting out how cowardly and selfish people who commit suicide are.
I think it's time for reaching from both sides to meet somewhere where understanding can actually produce useful bridges and supports. Talking openly about suicide and the depression that leads to it is fairly new in human history even though these experiences have existed for a very long time.
I'm working on a book about depression and suicide that endeavors to offer peer support to people who struggle with it (Suicide for Beginners) – your comments are a good reminder for me to temper my personal feelings and experiences with what I know is hard for people outside of this experience to deal with. I really appreciate your thoughts on this.


It's another dream realized to be going back to New Zealand & Australia. I will be leaving for New Zealand at the end of January 2018 and after a few days in Auckland taking a ten day cruise. We will sail to various parts of New Zealand then after cruising Milford Sound two days at sea before sailing into Sydney Harbor. I am so excited to be returning to Sydney where I feel such a connection. I have ten days in Sydney to look forward to catching up with friends, returning to special places and enjoying just being there. How fortunate and blessed!


text:
This article was published on March 18, 2013
EA CEO John Riccitiello steps down as company forecasts weak earnings in the wake of SimCity meltdown
Alex Wilhelm
Alex Wilhelm is a San Francisco-based writer. You can find Alex on Twitter, and on Facebook. You can reach Alex via email at [email protected] (show all) Alex Wilhelm is a San Francisco-based writer. You can find Alex on Twitter, and on Facebook. You can reach Alex via email at [email protected]
Today Electronic Arts (EA) announced that its CEO John Riccitiello is stepping down as CEO, and will leave its board. In his stead, Larry Probst will run the company as Executive Chairman.
Probst has been on EA's board some 1994, and was the company's CEO between 1991 and 2007. The company also stated that its current quarter's earnings will be weak, landing "at the low end of, or slightly below previously issued guidance."
The company's share price is up more than 7% in after-hours trading, indicating that investors are content with the change.
EA as a company has been under intense fire for the botched rollout of the new title SimCity, which had been under massive hype and expectation. The game, sporting controversial 'always on' DRM suffered from bouts of downtime at launch, problems that have continue to plague it since birth.
As TNW reported, many said "we told you so" when the launch flopped. EA as a company can withstand a weak game launch, but for the company to so badly miss a key franchise release such as SimCity is beyond acceptable.
According to its own verbiage, "[EA and Riccitiello] have mutually agreed that this is the right time for a leadership transition." TNW isn't so sure.
For more on the Sim City crisis, head here.
Update: The Wall Street Journal has secured Riccitiello's letter to EA concerning his resignation. We've pasted it below [Bolding: TNW]:
To Everyone at EA –
I am writing with some tough news. I have resigned my position as EA's CEO. I will be around for a couple of weeks, and I hope to have the chance to say goodbye to many of you. Larry Probst will be stepping in as Executive Chairman to help smooth the transition. Larry first hired me at EA in 1997 and he was an incredible leader for the company during the 16 years he served as CEO. While he will continue to be the Chairman of the US Olympic Committee, he will also provide leadership for EA until a permanent CEO is appointed.
My decision to leave EA is really all about my accountability for the shortcomings in our financial results this year. It currently looks like we will come in at the low end of, or slightly below, the financial guidance we issued to the Street, and we have fallen short of the internal operating plan we set one year ago. And for that, I am 100 percent accountable.
Personally, I think we've never been in a better position as a company. You have made enormous progress in improving product quality. You are now generating more revenue on fewer titles by making EA's games better and bigger. You've navigated a rapidly transforming industry to create a digital business that is now approximately $1.5 billion and growing fast. The big investments you've made in creating EA's own platform are now showing solid returns. I believe EA is alone in mastering the challenges of building a platform for our games and services – a platform that will provide a more direct relationship with our consumers. You are number one in the fastest growing segment, mobile, with incredible games like The Simpsons: Tapped Out, Real Racing 3, Bejeweled, SCRABBLE and Plants v. Zombies. You have worked to put EA in a position to capture industry leadership on the next generation of consoles; and I believe two of our titles – Battlefield and FIFA – will be among the top few franchises in the entire industry. And the industry's most talented management team – Frank, Rajat, Peter, Gaby, Andrew, Patrick, Blake, Joel and Jeff — are certain to lead the company to a successful future.
I remain an incredible fan of EA and everyone who works in our world – from Stockholm to Seoul, Orlando to Edmonton, Guildford, Geneva, Cologne, Lyon, Bucharest, Montreal, Austin, Salt Lake, LA and, of course, EARS. My hope is that my travels and yours allow us the opportunity to talk more in the months and years to come.
In a few weeks, I will be leaving EA physically. But I will never leave emotionally. I am so incredibly proud of all the great things you have done, and it has been my honor to lead this team these past six years. After March, I will be cheering wildly for EA from the sidelines.
Top Image Credit: herval
Published March 18, 2013 - 9:17 pm UTC
AI translation firm unveils 'world-first' timeline to singularity
Privacy advocates are aghast at UK's anti-encryption plans