text:
Driven by profit: How the West is allowing the Chinese government to silence athletes
Liam Frabetti
Pascal Swier via Unsplash
Increasingly, the future of sport seems firmly rooted in China – the most attractive market for sports clubs worldwide. Its population of 1.4 billion people coupled with its rapid yearly economic growth of about 6 percent has created a large middle class eager to spend money on entertainment. As sports associations scramble to profit as much as possible from this market, it follows that China's influence on world sport has increased dramatically in recent years.
This has led to some questionable decisions, such as when, in summer 2017, the German Football Association invited China's U20 team to play in one of Germany's fourth divisions, the Regionalliga Südwest. The Association ended up axing the plan after it was criticised for inviting the Chinese U20 team instead of one of the previous year's relegated teams. The decision made economic sense as lucrative TV and sponsorship rights were sure to have followed suit.
In recent years it has also become clear that access to China's lucrative market comes with a catch. As Simon Chadwick, professor of Sports Enterprise at the University of Salford, has put it: "If you choose to do business in China, China lays down the rules, not you". Sports clubs are expected to follow the country's laws and customs, without questioning its government. The latter condition has been a cause for concern among sports fans, considering many clubs and sports related controversies have been historically very political. For example, in 2018, the president of German football club Eintracht Frankfurt said there was no place in his club's stadium for members of the far-right political party Alternative for Germany, whom he labelled as 'Nazis'. Some sport leagues also have a history of getting involved in the politics of other countries. For example, in 2018, the NBA staged a game in South Africa with the aim of honouring Nelson Mandela's legacy.
Athletes themselves have been taking increasingly political stances. This year English footballer Marcus Rashford kickstarted a campaign in June to extend the voucher scheme providing free meals to children from poorer families in the UK. His open letter to MPs led to a dramatic change of mind on Boris Johnson's part, who extended the voucher scheme, due to finish in June, throughout the summer months.
Therefore, with the rapid increase of sports associations' ties with China, it was inevitable that athletes would speak out against perceived political injustices in the country. But violation of the country's unwritten code of conduct has led Chinese authorities to go to extraordinary lengths to repress criticism. Recent incidents have highlighted their approach. In October of last year, Daryl Morey, the general manager of NBA side Houston Rockets, tweeted the following words: "Fight for freedom. Stand with Hong Kong." This reference to the ongoing struggle between the inhabitants of Hong Kong and state officials over the perceived threat to the city's special status unleashed a response from China which was swift and ruthless.
The NBA's 13 Chinese business partners (out of a total of 25) all publicly announced that they were either ending or suspending their relationships with the league. All Rockets' gear was pulled from several Nike stores in mainland China after store managers received a memo dictating the merchandise be removed. The NBA game scheduled to take place a few days later in Shanghai went ahead but The Chinese government did not allow players and coaches to talk with reporters before or after the game, which was also dropped from Chinese television by the country's state broadcaster. The government even cancelled an "NBA Cares" charity event to benefit the Special Olympics in Shanghai.
Unsurprisingly, with the league's business in China being worth more than $4 billion, the NBA scrambled to handle the situation. A CNN reporter was shut down when she tried to ask two Rockets stars about the fallout from the tweet, with a team official telling her to ask, "basketball questions only". NBA star athlete LeBron James tried to downplay the remarks, stating about Daryl Morey that "I believe he wasn't educated on the situation at hand". James's comments were jarring to many, considering his strong record on standing up for social issues.
Finally, the owner of the Rockets, Tilman Fertitta, insisted on the apolitical nature of the game. "We're here to play basketball and not to offend anybody". This statement is particularly relevant as no NBA club previously felt the need to distance themselves from the political statements of their members. For example, no comment was made when several players, including Lebron James, wore "I Can't Breathe" shirts to combat police brutality in America in 2014.
Premier League Club Arsenal has also felt the need to distance itself from a member of the club in response to comments made about political issues in China. Last December, Arsenal player Mesut Özil released an Instagram post to try and raise awareness about the alleged detention of more than one million members of the Uighur population in the western province of Xinjiang: "The men are forced into camps and their families are forced to live with Chinese men… but Muslims are silent… don't they know that giving consent for persecution is persecution itself?".
The statement brought out a wave of anger in a country where Arsenal is hugely popular. The state broadcaster CCTV and leading streaming service PPTV cancelled a broadcast of Arsenal's Premier League game against Manchester City. Chinese state media warned that Mesut Özil's criticism would have "serious implications" for Arsenal while the Chinese Football Association told local media it was "outraged and disappointed". The publisher of the PES videogame franchise in China, NetEase, said the German had "violated the sport's spirit of love and peace" and proceeded to remove him from the PES games. The fallback was still ongoing in mid-January, when Özil's name had still not been mentioned by commentators during Arsenal matches.
The club immediately sought to limit the damage caused to its business in China, where it has numerous commercial interests tied to a large lucrative fanbase, by stating: "The content published is Özil's personal opinion. As a football club, Arsenal has always adhered to the principle of not involving itself in politics." This statement seems pretty innocuous, but it marks the first time Arsenal felt the need to apologise for the political conviction of its players.
For example, the club chose not to react when, the day before Özil's post, Arsenal defender Héctor Bellerín urged people to vote in the UK elections, adding a derogatory hashtag aimed at prime minister Boris Johnson. "#FuckBoris #GoVote." Even more conspicuously, back in 2018, the club's official website ran an interview with Bellerín in which the right-back outlined his reasoning for being socially and politically engaged. Every year on Armistice Day, Arsenal, along with all other Premier league clubs, involve themselves in politics by wearing poppies on their shirts as a sign of respect for the British army.
In recent months it has become clearer than ever that the division between sports and politics is not as rigid as once thought. In the wake of the Black Lives Matter Movement and its increasing momentum during the summer, sports leagues have implemented measures to demonstrate their support for the Movement. The Premier League took the decision that players should take the knee before match kick-offs while the NBA added the Black Lives Matter Logo to a game court in Orlando, where the first match of the NBA restart was taking place. Moreover, on the 26th August the NBA, WNBA (Women's National Basketball Association), MLS (Major League Soccer) and the MLB (Major League Baseball) were only some of the American sports leagues to announce the postponement of games in response to the shooting of Jacob Blake in Wisconsin on the 23rd August.
Not only have these measures been extremely welcome, but they have also had a massive impact on spreading the movements' message. Nielsen Sports conducted a study at the end of July showing that American sports fans are more likely to support the Black Lives Matter Movement when compared to other Americans. Yet, the sports worlds' support for this movement makes the silence imposed on athletes towards alleged human rights abuses in China all the more disconcerting.
As Demba Ba, an ex-Premier League player, pointed out to the BBC last month, Arsenal's support for the Black Lives Matter movement stands in contrast with its stance on other political matters: "Arsenal talked about Black Lives Matter but when it was about Uighur lives Arsenal didn't want to talk about it because of the pressure and economic impact… When there are financial benefits, some people close their eyes. Money has more value than real values". Contradictions of this nature are becoming more and more widespread as China's grip on the sporting world tightens. This is a direct result of sports clubs' revenues depending increasingly on sponsorship deals with rich multinationals and the selling of television rights in countries with large audiences, making external influence harder to combat.
Generally, China has provided itself with a shield blocking out negative comments thanks to the increasing reliance of businesses and countries around the world on its investment and sport is no exception. If sports leagues are willing to counter the country's influence, they must try to diversify their income and avoid relying heavily on the Chinese market. Otherwise it is likely censorship of this nature may continue until athletes learn that when it comes to Chinese politics, silence is indeed a virtue.
Liam is an Irish/Italian undergraduate student at Trinity College Dublin.


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The Safety Match
27 sivua
LukijaGesine
FormaattiÄänikirja, E-kirja
RomaanitKaunokirjallisuusNovellitEnglishFiction
The Safety Match is a short story by Anton Chekhov first published in English in 1922 as part of the collection The Cook's Wedding and Other Stories.
The Safety Match is a true locked room mystery with a surprise ending. A retired police officer is missing from his room and believed to have been murdered, but the body cannot be found. It appears the killer entered the room through a window and that the dead man was taken from the room through the same window.
Suspects are his sister, his mistress, his butler, and his manager who reported the murder. As usual Chekhov will sursprise us with an unexpected ending.
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860-1904) was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics.
Chekhov had at first written stories only for financial gain, but as his artistic ambition grew, he made formal innovations which have influenced the evolution of the modern short story. His originality consists in an early use of the stream-of-consciousness technique, later adopted by James Joyce and other modernists, combined with a disavowal of the moral finality of traditional story structure. He made no apologies for the difficulties this posed to readers, insisting that the role of an artist was to ask questions, not to answer them.
Julkaistu10.12.2015
Kustantaja ÄänikirjaAnncona Media
ISBN Äänikirja9789176056189
Kustantaja E-kirjaAnncona Media
ISBN E-kirja9789176056196
© Anncona Media (Äänikirja)
© Anncona Media (E-kirja)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Set in the Village of East Dorset on a wooded lot. One level easy living. Enter into the living room and feel the warmth of the Vermont Casting woodstove and pine floors. Efficient kitchen with a view to the backyard. Sliding glass door from the dining area access the deck overlooking the back yard with perennials flower gardens. Three bedrooms and full bath. Walking distance to the post office, town hall, country store and hiking trails.
Room 3 Dimensions11'2" x 11'5"
Room 4 Dimensions11'3" x 11'7"


– Worsted Weight Yarn. I used Lion Brand Vanna's Choice in Duckie (yellow), White, and Honey (brown) with a bit of red, black, and turquoise for the eyes, cheeks, mouth, and tie.
Earflaps should be centered over side seams/folds. Start with the place where you fastened off. Count 5 stitches over to the right and attach yarn. Do the same on the other side, using the place where the hat folds as your center marker. SEE pictures from Robot Hat if you are having trouble.
Row 9: SC decrease and continue to SC around the entire bottom edge of the hat (including earflaps). Fasten off and weave in ends. Cut 6 long strands of the same color brown, pull yarn halfway through last loop of the earflaps (you now have 12 strands). Knot, braid and knot again at the end of your braid. Trim ends of braided tails so yarn is even. Do this for both earflaps.
Row 11: SC decrease and continue to SC around the entire bottom edge of the hat (including earflaps). Fasten off and weave in ends. Cut 6 long strands of the same color brown, pull yarn halfway through last loop of the earflaps (you now have 12 strands). Knot, braid and knot again at the end of your braid. Trim ends of braided tails so yarn is even. Do this for both earflaps.
Fasten off leaving a long tail with white to sew onto hat. Weave in other color ends.
Magic ring, chain 1, make 4 SC + 2 HDC + 4 DC + 2 HDC, join, fasten off leaving long tail to sew onto hat.
Fasten off leaving long tail to sew onto hat below mouth.
Row 8: SC Decrease one last time, fast off leaving long tail to sew tie onto hat.
Now you can begin to stitch on the other elements using your tapestry needle. Stitch on the belt, mouth, cheeks, and eyelashes. I also stitched a border of black around each eye as I was making the eyelashes. Remember to watch the video above or you can watch my video on how to sew on a puppy nose and mouth (below) for more help.
It is so cute !!!!! Thank you , Sarah !!!!!!!
Could I use only one photo of the hat in a post and give the link to your blog ????
Well, I won't be making this one (we're anti-Spongebob in my house) but I wanted to comment anyway and say how well done this is. Very true to the inspiration. Nice work :).
YES! My granddaughter is addicted to the sponge! She won't keep hats on in this frigid weather. Hoping this will change her mind. Thank you!!
Wheres the link for the eyelash video?????
You have a wonderful blog….
I'm from Australia and worsted weight yarn isn't that popular here – can I just increment the foundation chain by multiples of two as you have between sizes until I get it to the right size? Thanks!
This is such a cute hat. So making it for my son. Thanks for sharing.
I've just made it for my 3 year old and he loves it!!


Are you interested in having an original painted to your specifications?
My clients include celebrities, businesses, film & TV, individuals, couples and families.
Please send an email with your inquiry for a quote. Feel free to include any photo references of any topic that interests you.


Prolube's Petrol Engine Oil range are manufactured to meet the required passenger vehicle OEM specification. At Prolube, we believe there is no higher level of protection for your car. We use the latest additive technology to provide significant performance and protection. You can find a premium grade engine oil to suit your particular car right here, no matter what Make, Model or year.


text:
Anne Johansson
Anne Johansson grew up in Danville and was a student in the first class at The Children's Ballet in 1987. Anne danced with the school through high school, and appeared in the Indianapolis Ballet Theatre's 1989 Midwest tour of "The Nutcracker."
Anne founded an event planning firm in 2010 and has organized weddings, corporate and social events across central Indiana. She lives in Danville with her husband and two young daughters, both students at The Children's Ballet.
Emily Miser
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR + SENIOR INSTRUCTOR
Miss Emily started dancing at The Children's Ballet where she studied ballet and pointe under Deni Jacks, Robyn Wenrich, Edward Moffat, and Heidi Eads Jones. During her study at The Children's Ballet, she discovered her love of teaching by working as a teaching assistant and student teacher.
She continued dancing at Anderson University, graduating summa cum laude with departmental awards and honors with a BA in dance business. While at Anderson she studied a variety of styles under Oybek Tashpulatov, George Salinas, Debra Silveus, Shauna Steele, Doug King, and Kenny Shepard. Emily has worked with Lynn Peterson (Syren Modern Dance), Sharon Wong (Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater), Jillian Godwin (Dance Kaleidoscope), and Mocha Dance Project.
Her choreographic works have been awarded and featured: "Forever Night" received an Allen Choreography Award, "Compter Sur" was presented at the American College Dance Festival in 2014, and "Lux et Gravitas," "This Tea/This Chair/This Place," "Civil Blood, Sweet Sorrow," and "Amber Waves" were performed at Indy Fringe 2016, 2017, 2018, & 2019. Emily was a member of Phoenix Rising Dance Company in 2016-17. She co-founded Crossroads Dance Indy in 2015 and currently serves as the Executive Director, as well as being the Artistic Director of The Children's Ballet.
Emily is certified in Progressing Ballet Technique junior, senior, and advanced programs. She shares her passion for dance, storytelling, and the arts through dancing, choreographing, and teaching.
Vanessa Schuldt
ASSISTANT ARTISTIC DIRECTOR + INSTRUCTOR
Miss Vanessa began her dance training in 2007 at The Children's Ballet where she trained in ballet, pointe, and modern dance. While there, she was a student teacher, and choreographed for the end of the year shows. This inspired her to continue her dance journey by attending Anderson University after her high school graduation. Her technique expanded to include tap, jazz, dance composition, and improvisation.
While at Anderson, she has participated in numerous shows and worked with fantastic teachers like Christine Thacker, Debra Silveus, Doug King and others.
She also had the opportunity to dance with Gregory Hancock Dance Theater in the premiere of "EXODUS" and danced as an intern in their recent production of "Violin Under the Bed." She will graduate in December 2019 with a Bachelors of Arts in Dance Business.
Hadassah Burk
DIRECTOR OF POINTE + INSTRUCTOR
Miss Hadassah, originally from Michigan City, Indiana has been dancing for 18 years and is trained in Vaganova ballet, pointe, lyrical, modern, character, and jazz. Her extensive training includes studios such as Southold Dance Theatre (South Bend, Indiana), Works in Motion Dance Company (La Porte, Indiana), Ballet Chicago, Ruth Paige Foundation, Boitsov Classical Ballet (Chicago, Illinois) and summer intensives at the Grand Rapids Ballet and Ballet Magnificat.
Hadassah began her teaching career at the age of 16, receiving her teaching certification with Dance & Gym USA. As part of her professional career she has taken various classes led by dancers such as Travis and Denise Wall, Ray Leeper, Mark Meismer, and Kim McSwain among others. Hadassah has also participated in master classes led by cast members of the Broadway Touring Productions including "Beauty And The Beast," "Wicked," and "Chicago," and was chosen as Broadway Bound student by cast members of "Beauty And The Beast" and "Wicked."
Haley Altman-Cipot
Miss Haley began her dance training with ballet, tap, and jazz classes at the age of five. She continued studying at various dance schools throughout Connecticut, narrowing her focus to classical ballet. In 2009, Haley joined the New England Ballet School's student company to perform corps, soloist, and principal roles. She has attended summer ballet intensives with the Bolshoi Ballet, The Rock School, and American Ballet Theater in New York.
Haley placed in the top 12 for her classical variation in the 2012 Connecticut Classic Ballet Scholarship Competition, and was awarded a full scholarship to the Burklyn Ballet Theater summer intensive. In May 2016, Haley graduated from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts with a BFA in ballet, where she trained under Susan Jaffe, Laura Martin, and Jennet Zerbe with the American Ballet Theater National Training Curriculum. Haley is joining Ballet Theater of Indiana for her second season with the company, where she has performed leading soloist roles in "La Bayadere" and "Beauty And The Beast."
Miss Sarah began her dance training in 2002, studying classical ballet with Donna Martelli before continuing with The Children's Ballet in 2005. From there, she trained in classical ballet, pointe, modern, and character under Deni Jacks, Robyn Wenrich, Heidi Eads-Jones, Melanie Schreiber, and Mandy Milligan. Since her high school graduation, Miss Sarah has begun ballroom dance training and teaching with Five Star Dance Studios, where she has been an instructor for one year. She started her teaching career with one season as an assistant teacher for Emily Miser with The Children's Ballet, and has since taught for two additional seasons.
2019/20 Board of Directors
Our Board of Directors includes individuals with a passion for the arts and experience in business development and arts organizations. Most of them are also parents of ballet students. Our board helps us navigate the challenges of growth while remaining true to our mission.
Lauren Thomas President
Julie Wilmot Vice President
Hannah Swogger Secretary
Joe Johansson Treasurer
Valeri Abbott
Jerry Vornholt
Terina Widner
Tierney Dininger


text:
Governor Schwarzenegger Applauds Creation of the Gold Star Family License Plate
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today highlighted California's creation of the Gold Star Family License Plate. The Governor signed SB 1455 by Senator Dave Cogdill (R-Modesto), which enables family members who have lost an active duty member of the U.S. Armed Forces in current and prior wars to obtain a Gold Star Family License Plate honoring the sacrifices their families have endured.
"We owe Gold Star Families a debt we can never repay – and enabling them to honor the memory of their sons and daughters, husbands and wives, mothers and fathers is the least we can do," said Governor Schwarzenegger. "When you see a Gold Star License Plate on the road, remember to think about those who have given their lives to defend our way of life, and keep their families and loved ones in your prayers."
Allowing the state to honor Gold Star Families without placing a burden on California taxpayers, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Motor Vehicles will fund the start up costs of the Gold Star Family License Plates using private donations. Additionally, as a token of the state's appreciation for their sacrifice, SB 1455 provides a special waiver of some fees for Gold Star Families obtaining the plate.
From left to right: Mike Anderson, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, California Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Tom Johnson, Senator Dave Cogdill (R-Modesto) and California Department of Motor Vehicles Director George Valverde
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger presents Angela and Mike Anderson with a commemorative copy of the Gold Star Family License Plate bill
Photo Credit: Joe McHugh, Office of the Governor
Transript of Presentation Ceremony Speaches:
GOVERNOR SCHWARZENEGGER: Well, thank you very much, Secretary Johnson, for the nice introduction and also for being such an outstanding Secretary. I mean, he's one of my favorites. That man really creates action, so let's give him a big hand for the great, great work that he is doing. (Applause)
I also want to thank Senator Dave Cogdill, who is here with us today, who is of course the author and he's going to talk about the Gold Star license plate, the bill, which is SB 1455, so we want to thank him also for the great work. And then, of course, General Ellsworth is with us here today with the California National Guard. And George Valverde from the DMV, we want to thank him also, like you already said, Tom, about the great work that he has done with this whole team and so on.
For me it's a great pleasure to be here today and to talk about this bill, because there were more than 400 bills that we were able to sign this fall. And this is one of my favorite bills, SB 1455, because Senator Cogdill and Senator Denham have worked on that bill now for the last two years and sometimes it takes a long time to get things done here for everyone, for the 120 legislators to go in the same direction here. And so we want to thank Senator Cogdill and Senator Denham for the great work that they have done, so let's give them a big hand. (Applause)
And I think that this bill is very important because so many of the families that have lost a loved one up until now have had their Gold Star displayed at their windows or at their door. But now, with this bill, they will be able to display this Gold Star on license plates all over the state of California. And I think this is really terrific, because the men and women, the brave men and women that we have that are fighting overseas and that are defending this country and fighting for keeping our democracy and our freedom here, have done such an extraordinary job and many times paid the ultimate price. And I think it is important for us to have a symbol like the Gold Star and to have this displayed on license plates.
And, of course, I always say that I think the world of these brave men and women because of what they have done for the last few centuries for this country. And I think that I would not be able to be here today as an immigrant and enjoy this great land of opportunities and for people who come from all around the world and also people that are born here to enjoy this great country, which is the greatest country in the world — even though now when we go through some very difficult times, it is, without any doubt, the greatest country in the world and I've been all over the world.
But it is that great because there were brave men and women throughout the history that have fought for this country and so this is why I think this is a very, very important bill. I have said many times also that in movies I have played an action hero many times. But those brave men and women in uniform are the true action heroes and this is why it is such a great pleasure for me later on, after Senator Cogdill gets through with his talk, to then go over to the table here and to sign these bills into action.
So thank you very much and now I would like to bring out Senator Cogdill to say a few words about this bill. Thank you very much. Senator Cogdill, please. (Applause)
SENATOR COGDILL: Thank you very much, Governor Schwarzenegger. I certainly want to acknowledge the hard work that your administration did working with us to get this bill to your desk and certainly for your signature. It means an awful lot to a lot of people and as you acknowledged earlier, Senator Denham is the one that really picked the ball up and started to run with it a couple of years ago and I'm just very pleased to have had the honor to be involved this year and to share with him — unfortunately, he can't be here today with us but I know he's here in spirit. This is a very important issue for him and I know he's very pleased that we've made it to this point.
I also want to acknowledge quickly Senator Alan Lowenthal, who was and is the chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee. Senator Lowenthal worked with us to amend this bill to the point where we could ultimately get it to the Governor's desk and I just want to acknowledge that.
And I certainly want to also acknowledge the great work that Secretary Johnson does. I know each and every one of you that are here that are a veteran or a member of a veteran's family know the hard work he's doing and the great progress that we've made, I think, in this state since he's been Secretary on Veterans Affairs and I just wanted to personally thank him for that.
You know, this bill, although it's been a long time coming, is something that, again, we're all very proud of. And just to have this opportunity to show our appreciation for the ultimate sacrifice that has been paid for each and every one of us and to allow these families to be able to display the Gold Star license plate and to be able to each and every day remind all of us of the sacrifices that are made really on an ongoing basis — and that's certainly been the case over the last five years or so in a big way — of families throughout this region as they have sent loved ones off to foreign wars and have unfortunately, again, had to pay the ultimate price for our freedoms. And to have this opportunity to acknowledge that is something, again, that we're obviously very proud of and something that I think is long overdue. And again, I certainly want to commend the Governor and the Secretary for all the hard work they did on that.
It's my pleasure now to introduce a couple who brought this idea to me and to Senator Denham early on as a result of this tragedy that took place in their life. Their son, Michael Anderson Jr., was killed December 14th, 2004, in the battle of Fallujah. He was a stellar marine that had an amazing record and definitely gave his life as a hero for this country. And the real testimony to Michael and the person he was, I think, are his parents and how much they have dedicated, not only to his memory but to the memory of all those that have paid this price to work as hard as they have to bring us to this day. So at this point it gives me great honor to introduce Michael Anderson and his lovely wife. Mike? (Applause)
MICHAEL ANDERSON: Good afternoon. I'm humbled and delighted to be here in Sacramento today. This is a very special day for California's Gold Star Families. This is an extremely momentous, however bittersweet occasion for the grieving family members, like myself and my wife and the ones behind us, to have our children, our loved ones, honored and recognized.
Many individuals have worked untold hours to see that this bill ahs come to fruition. I would like to personally thank Governor Schwarzenegger, Senator Dave Cogdill, Senator Jeff Denham and their staffs for taking on this goal of recognition. I would also like to thank California's Gold Star families, our veterans, the men and women in uniform that are currently serving, the Blue Star Moms and everyone that has supported us in this endeavor. I would also like to thank my family for being patient and understanding throughout this process.
Our hearts have been broken and a piece of us is missing. But acknowledgement, along with recognition, will always have a place in our forever shattered hearts. These Gold Star Family license plates will forever remind California's motoring public of the sacrifice and bloodshed is something that we Gold Star Families wake up with every day.
I would like to close with a quote from our late, great President Ronald Reagan: "We will always remember, we will always be proud, we will always be prepared so that we may always be free." Thank you. (Applause)
At this point I'd like to turn it back over to Governor Schwarzenegger. Thank you.
GOVERNOR: All right, now we're going to sign those bills and create some action.
SECRETARY JOHNSON: I'd like to thank everyone again for coming out to this wonderful occasion and taking those words of Mike Anderson to heart, we are all indebted and will never forget. So thank you, especially to those who are serving in uniform, all those hats that are behind me and to all of you who have supported our veterans and our active military, I appreciate it. Our department is there to serve you. Thank you for coming.
News 10 Coverage On Gold Star Family Plate SB1455
Victory, Along With History Achieved
These will be issued in numerical sequence based on applications. They are not available just yet. We have to go through an extensive design process, then production. I believe that we should be bolting them on our cars sometime after the first of the year?
My understanding is that each eligible party has to have a vehicle registered in their names, and of course, in California. Meaning, if you (3) vehicles registered in your name, you can apply for up to (3) plates (sets)… 1 set per vehicle.
These will be like Purple Heart Plates, once you have it, you keep it and put it vehicle to vehicle.
Below is my quote to the State for the Official Press Release:
"This is a bittersweet solemn occasion for the California Families of our Fallen. I am very pleased for the recognition of our heroes and the Gold Star Families that have lost a loved one to conflict abroad. I feel this is not a celebratory moment, however this bill is history making for our Golden State. I personally want to thank Governor Schwarzenegger, Senator Dave Cogdill, and Senator Jeff Denham for their unwavering commitment and support, in the acknowledgement of our sacrifice."
Michael Sr. and Angela Anderson
Gov. Schwarzenegger Signs Legislation to Create the Gold Star Family License Plate
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today announced he has signed SB 1455 by Senator Dave Cogdill (R-Modesto), authorizing the creation of the California Gold Star Family License Plate. The legislation paves the way for families who have lost loved ones in current and prior wars to obtain license plates honoring the sacrifices their families have endured.
"I am very pleased to sign this bill to honor the sacrifices made by our servicemen and women and their families," said Governor Schwarzenegger.
"When you see one of these license plates on the road, think about those who have given their lives to defend our way of life, and keep their families in your thoughts and prayers."
The Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Motor Vehicles will fund the start up costs of the Gold Star Family License Plates using private donations, allowing the state to honor Gold Star Families without placing any burden on California taxpayers. Also, as a token of the state's appreciation for their sacrifice, the bill provides a special waiver of fees for Gold Star Families.
SB 1455 authorizes the creation of the Gold Star Family License Plate and authorizes a family member of a member of the U.S. Armed Forces killed on active duty to apply for the plate containing a gold star and the words "Gold Star Family."
Video Courtesy of the California DOT Video Archives


text:
import pytest
import pytz
import datetime
from addons.wiki.exceptions import NameMaximumLengthError

from addons.wiki.models import WikiPage
from addons.wiki.tests.factories import WikiFactory, WikiVersionFactory
from osf_tests.factories import NodeFactory, UserFactory, ProjectFactory
from tests.base import OsfTestCase

pytestmark = pytest.mark.django_db

# from website/addons/wiki/tests/test_wiki.py
class TestWikiPageModel:

    def test_page_name_cannot_be_greater_than_100_characters(self):
        bad_name = 'a' * 101
        page = WikiPage(page_name=bad_name)
        with pytest.raises(NameMaximumLengthError):
            page.save()

    def test_is_current_with_single_version(self):
        user = UserFactory()
        node = NodeFactory()
        page = WikiPage(page_name='foo', node=node)
        page.save()
        version = page.create_version(user=user, content='hello')
        assert version.is_current is True

    def test_is_current_with_multiple_versions(self):
        user = UserFactory()
        node = NodeFactory()
        page = WikiPage(page_name='foo', node=node)
        page.save()
        ver1 = page.create_version(user=user, content='draft1')
        ver2 = page.create_version(user=user, content='draft2')
        assert ver1.is_current is False
        assert ver2.is_current is True

    def test_is_current_deleted_page(self):
        user = UserFactory()
        node = NodeFactory()
        page = WikiPage(page_name='foo', node=node)
        page.save()
        ver1 = page.create_version(user=user, content='draft1')
        page.deleted = datetime.datetime(2017, 1, 1, 1, 00, tzinfo=pytz.utc)
        page.save()
        assert ver1.is_current is False

class TestWikiPage(OsfTestCase):

    def setUp(self):
        super(TestWikiPage, self).setUp()
        self.user = UserFactory()
        self.project = ProjectFactory(creator=self.user)
        self.wiki = WikiFactory(user=self.user, node=self.project)

    def test_wiki_factory(self):
        wiki = WikiFactory()
        assert wiki.page_name == 'home'
        assert bool(wiki.user)
        assert bool(wiki.node)

    def test_wiki_version_factory(self):
        version = WikiVersionFactory()
        assert version.identifier == 1
        assert version.content == 'First draft of wiki'
        assert bool(version.user)
        assert bool(version.wiki_page)

    def test_url(self):
        assert self.wiki.url == '{project_url}wiki/home/'.format(project_url=self.project.url)

    def test_url_for_wiki_page_name_with_spaces(self):
        wiki = WikiFactory(user=self.user, node=self.project, page_name='Test Wiki')
        url = '{}wiki/{}/'.format(self.project.url, wiki.page_name)
        assert wiki.url == url

    def test_url_for_wiki_page_name_with_special_characters(self):
        wiki = WikiFactory(user=self.user, node=self.project)
        wiki.page_name = 'Wiki!@#$%^&*()+'
        wiki.save()
        url = '{}wiki/{}/'.format(self.project.url, wiki.page_name)
        assert wiki.url == url

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


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Chosen in February 2009 as Obama's "Car Czar," Steve Rattner could almost taste it: the Treasury-secretary job he'd been chasing was closer than ever. He left the Quadrangle Group private-equity firm he co-founded, and bought a $4.35 million D.C. mansion. Then scandal hit, with an investigation into whether officials were bribed to get pension-fund investments. William D. Cohan explains how one of the most nimble guys in New York ended up both defiant and in denial, with his back against the wall.
When Steve Rattner was appointed to the Presidential Task Force on the Auto Industry, in February 2009, he hit the ground running. There was much to do and time was short, as the Bush administration had imposed a March 31 deadline on the auto companies to "meet a hodgepodge of conditions," to avoid a free-fall bankruptcy, Rattner later wrote in Fortune. "And by coincidence, both [Chrysler and G.M.] would probably run out of money around the same time. That gave us only about five weeks to learn the auto industry, study the two companies' restructuring plans, develop a plan of action, and sell it to our superiors, including the President." On March 9, Rattner, Ron Bloom, and other members of the task force were in Detroit, a "check-the-box visit," as one auto executive described it, to see a Chrysler truck plant and to test-drive a Chevy Volt, an electric car on which G.M. was pinning a part of its future.
The media swamped them on their visit, and pictures of Rattner and Bloom in Detroit were soon everywhere. "Throngs of reporters awaited us at every stop while a news helicopter buzzed overhead," Rattner wrote. Awkward as it must have been for a Wall Street titan to be traipsing through auto-manufacturing facilities, that day turned out to be the height of Rattner's tenure as the leader of "Team Auto," as the Obama administration called it.
By most accounts Rattner, who had spent the better part of his career as an investment banker and private-equity investor, did an excellent job with the auto task force, so much so that he might some day have been appointed Treasury secretary, a job he had long coveted. How ironic, then, that his great public unraveling had already begun in, of all places, a car—at an E-ZPass booth on the Throgs Neck Bridge, in the Bronx, at 6:50 on a Friday evening, 10 days before the 2008 presidential election.
Into his custody, it turned out.
Gray smelled "a strong odor of alcoholic beverage" on her breath and noticed White was "disoriented and confused" and "unable to follow directions." She had difficulty walking. Officers gave White a field sobriety test. She reportedly blew a 0.17 blood-alcohol level, more than twice the legal limit, and was taken to the 45th Precinct on Barkley Avenue in the Bronx, and asked to take another sobriety test. She refused, and the next day she was arraigned at the Bronx Criminal Court, charged with operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, and was "R.O.R.," or released on her own recognizance, without posting bail. She pleaded guilty to the charge, paid a fine, and had her license suspended for 90 days.
There was little chance the incident would remain private, given the Rattners' prominence in New York and Washington. Rattner, a former New York Times reporter and successful media investment banker, is a co-founder of Quadrangle Group, a multi-billion-dollar private-equity firm. Quadrangle also managed about $5 billion for Mike Bloomberg, New York City's mayor and wealthiest man (as well as Rattner's friend and Westchester neighbor). Rattner has served on the boards of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Brown University (his alma mater), and the Brookings Institution, and was chairman of the board of the Educational Broadcasting Corporation, the parent of New York City's two public-television stations. White, meanwhile, had devoted herself to international humanitarian issues, and was the finance chair of the Democratic National Committee and also finance co-chair of the Hillary Clinton for President campaign.
The embarrassing news of White's drunken driving would have been unwelcome under any circumstances, but on the eve of the presidential election it must have been particularly painful for Rattner. Even though he and White had been outspoken supporters of Hillary Clinton's, Rattner's level of "involvement" in the Democratic Party and his open wallet had nonetheless entitled him to special consideration by Obama when it came time to fill his Cabinet and his administration. Although Rattner, according to insiders, had pointedly told Quadrangle's investors and those considering whether to invest in a new fund (that never got raised) that he would stay at the firm, one of the biggest open secrets in New York's social and financial circles was his desire to make the move to Washington as Treasury secretary.
While many people could imagine wanting something written about them online to be purged magically, few among us think such a thing can actually be accomplished. But Steve Rattner is widely considered to be a man of action, especially when it comes to matters not of his liking.
For example, lawsuits seem to be very much a part of Rattner's lifestyle. At the time of White's arrest, the couple was embroiled in a lawsuit with Duncan Dayton, their neighbor in Westchester and the owner of a racecar team that competes in the American Le Mans Series, in order to try to force him to follow through on selling them his home, barn, and acreage for $16.1 million, after he backed out of what Rattner believed was an agreement. (Dayton declined to comment.) He also sued his neighbors on Martha's Vineyard to prevent them from selling an 81-acre parcel of land near his property to a developer who wanted to build a few houses on it. (In the end, Rattner reportedly arranged for his friend Brian Roberts, C.E.O. of Comcast, to buy the land.) He filed a complaint against a planning board on Martha's Vineyard when it wouldn't let him build a pier into the ocean. "Our beach has become quite rocky, and particularly when there is any surf, bringing our boats into shore to load or unload our four small children can be a tricky and potentially dangerous exercise," he said at the time. Rattner and his siblings, as co-executors of their father's estate, successfully sued to obtain by so-called squatters' rights land adjacent to his father's home in King's Point, Long Island.
Rattner's absolute confidence springs from a deep well of intelligence and financial success. He is self-made in the way that many Wall Street deal-makers of the last generation were able to become in the era of easy money and highly inflated compensation.
Yet, Rattner is also capable of great charm and can be a fine dinner companion. He can completely shut down, too—especially to underlings—and one can feel a robot has suddenly taken the place of a living, breathing human being.
During his years as a senior banker, Rattner amassed a fortune that he has estimated at between $188 million and $608 million—a chasm born of the nature of the financial-disclosure statements consulted—and that includes not only his jet, his real estate, and his interests in Quadrangle, but also a securities portfolio that once contained millions of dollars of credit-default swaps, and bets that media-company stocks would fall.
Leslie Leighton, who was a classmate of Rattner's in public high school in Great Neck, remembers, "He was very smart, very well-liked, very social, very likable. He was one of the elite at the school." After graduation Rattner was off to Brown, where he became editor of The Brown Daily Herald.
Peter Bernstein, the paper's editor before Rattner and now a New York literary agent, recalls, "Even then he got a lot done and never seemed to break a sweat." After graduating with a degree in economics, in 1974, he served a brief stint in Washington as a clerk for James Reston, the celebrated New York Times columnist. Rattner parlayed that into a full-time job as an economics reporter, based in Washington, and into a lifelong friendship with his colleague Arthur Sulzberger Jr., the New York Times family scion who was then working his way up the masthead to become the paper's publisher.
During his years at the Times, Rattner covered senior officials in the Carter administration, including Treasury Secretary G. William Miller and Roger Altman, the assistant Treasury secretary. He dated his colleague Judith Miller before reluctantly moving to London, in 1981, to be a foreign correspondent. While there, Rattner came to admire the reporting, writing, and drinking skills of legendary Timesman R. W. "Johnny" Apple Jr. and realized that Apple had a genius others could only dream about. In London, Sulzberger introduced Rattner to Maureen White, then working for a Japanese TV agency. They would marry in June 1986 and have four children: Rebecca, twins David and Daniel, and recent high-school graduate Izzy.
Rattner stayed at Lehman for two years before moving to Morgan Stanley's mergers- and-acquisitions group as a vice president. In April 1989, he went to Lazard as a partner and to head its media-and-telecommunications business. He had a hand in bringing to Lazard several high-profile pieces of M&A business, including the US West–Continental Cablevision, Paramount-Viacom, and McCaw Cellular–AT&T deals. In September 1992, he was named co-head of investment banking at the firm, with Kim Fennebresque.
There were stories about Rattner and his growing banking prowess in, among other places, The Wall Street Journal, Vanity Fair, and New York magazine. He was increasingly adept at getting glowing national press coverage, much to the consternation of many of his Lazard partners, especially senior partner Felix Rohatyn, who preferred that the press focus on him alone.
Rattner's involvement in politics began around this time. He and his wife became close to both Clintons and even stayed in the Lincoln Bedroom, then an infamous perk for high-rolling donors. At the start of the second Clinton administration, the president offered Rattner a "reasonably interesting job," Rattner has said, although he wouldn't say exactly which one. "I wasn't going to be secretary of the Treasury," he added, making clear where his aspirations lay. (In April 2009, The Wall Street Journal reported that Clinton had offered him a "senior policy job" at Treasury.) Rattner turned down the offer, preferring to remain as a highly compensated partner at Lazard, where he was slowly but steadily working his way up to the top rungs of the firm's leadership, through deft maneuvering and business acumen. Indeed, in May 1997, soon after besting Rohatyn in a battle for supremacy, Rattner was named to the newly created (and plenty awkward) position of deputy C.E.O. of the New York partnership, reporting to the firm's longtime senior partner and controlling shareholder, Michel David-Weill.
Rattner seemed content to hang out at Lazard, where he was making around $10 million a year, and to gamble that he might get the government post he really wanted—secretary of the Treasury—in a Gore administration. The Supreme Court ended that bet in mid-December 2000, when it terminated the Florida-vote recount in favor of George Bush. Rattner struck out again when Senator John Kerry turned out to be a less formidable opponent than many Democrats had hoped.
Then, of course, the job was not the one he wanted. Still, it was that or nothing. The position also had the virtue of being appointive, meaning that a Senate confirmation was not necessary—the importance of which would soon become apparent.
On January 14, 2009, The New York Times reported Rattner's appointment as Car Czar was imminent. Rattner later wrote, in Fortune magazine, that he had been "vacillating" about taking the job and that his "vetting" process was taking longer than expected, but that "since early January I had been helping out, including on the key matter of hiring." In the end, he wrote, it was an e-mail from Larry Summers, the former Harvard president and new director of the National Economic Council, that persuaded him to take the job. "Life will work out for you either way, though America will be better off if you do this," Summers wrote.
On February 16, the Times reported that Obama had dropped the idea of naming Rattner the Car Czar, with its implications of absolute authority, in favor of having the process of re-structuring G.M. and Chrysler run by Geithner and Summers. By then, G.M. and Chrysler had asked the Obama administration for another $21.6 billion, on top of the $17.4 billion provided by the Bush administration.
On February 23, Rattner was named the "lead adviser" to Geithner and Summers on the task force as well as a "counselor" to Geith ner. Rattner sent an e-mail (some news, read the subject line) to Quadrangle's investors "that after 26 fulfilling years on Wall Street—capped by the opportunity to help form Quadrangle Group with so many talented colleagues—I have begun a new phase of my life, in the public sector." Rattner later wrote, "I closed my eyes and jumped," and he and his team started "beavering away in the basement" of the Treasury, in a spacious office from which he could see Geithner's parked car. He intended to be in Washington for years, and hoped his auto-industry re-structuring job would lead to something even more substantive.
Rattner lived during the week "in a sterile sublet condo in Washington," he later wrote in and commuted home on the weekends to New York City. Eventually, he bought a five-bedroom, $4.35 million Georgian mansion in the wealthy Kalorama neighborhood, and he and his wife tidied up some loose ends, including White's guilty plea for drunken driving and their case against Duncan Dayton, abandoning their effort to get his property.
On March 19, New York State attorney general Andrew Cuomo dropped a bomb that even Rattner would have trouble defusing: a 128-page, 123-count criminal indictment of Henry "Hank" Morris, who had been chief political adviser to Alan Hevesi, the former New York State comptroller, and David Lo gli sci, the former chief investment officer of the $140 billion New York State Common Retirement Fund for police, firemen, and other government workers. The two were accused of running a fraudulent scheme to extract kickbacks from private-equity and other firms hoping to get their hands on some of the retirement-fund money. Cuomo said Morris and Loglisci had traded access for cash. Morris was said to have received $30 million in return for doling out billions from the fund to private-equity firms. "The indictment charges crimes that go beyond the grossest manifestation of pay to play," Cuomo said.
Page 33 of the indictment included the criminal charge that, between April 2003 and November 2007, Morris and Loglisci "intentionally engaged in fraud," and a lot of other bad things, involving the retirement fund's $100 million investment in Quadrangle's second buyout fund. Cuomo's charge was vague regarding Quadrangle but mentioned "a placement agent agreement" and "fees" paid.
But the Hollywood ending the articles predicted took a turn for the worse a week or so later. On April 15, the S.E.C. filed an "amended complaint" against Morris and Loglisci, in which it fleshed out some of the details of their interactions with Quadrangle. According to the new S.E.C. filing, starting in October 2004, as Quadrangle was in the process of raising its second fund—which was not going all that well, given the negligible returns investors had received from the first fund—a "senior executive" of the firm met with Loglisci "to solicit an investment for Quadrangle from the Retirement Fund." Loglisci "reacted favorably" to the "senior executive's" request. In December 2004, Morris met with the Quadrangle executive and "solicited a finder fee arrangement," even though Quadrangle already had a placement agent for the new fund. On January 10, 2005, a Quadrangle affiliate agreed to pay to Morris's firm a fee equal to 1.1 percent of the retirement fund's investment in the second Quadrangle fund.
Shortly thereafter, a firm in which Quadrangle had invested $92 million, GoodTimes Entertainment, agreed to acquire for $88,841 the distribution rights to Chooch—a lowbrow, low-budget comedy caper that David Loglisci's brother Steve was trying to distribute. The Quadrangle "senior executive" then informed Morris about the deal and "the connection to Loglisci." Three weeks later, David Loglisci informed "the Quadrangle executive" that the retirement fund would invest $100 million in Quadrangle's second fund. Quadrangle then paid Morris's firm $1.125 million, 95 percent of which Morris kept by prior arrangement. "Neither Loglisci nor anyone else ever disclosed the Chooch DVD distribution agreement with the Quadrangle affiliate—and the conflict of interest that it created," the S.E.C. claimed.
Two days later, The New York Times reported that Rattner was the Quadrangle "senior executive" involved in the meetings with Morris.
In fact, Rattner and a colleague first met with David Loglisci on July 8, 2003, "in an effort to build a relationship and pre- market" for Quadrangle's second fund, according to a summary released by Cuomo's office. In November 2003, Rattner got a call from Morris, "a political consultant he had known for years," asking for a meeting. On December 2, Morris let Rattner know that he was then helping private-equity firms raise money from pension funds "he was close to" and that he wanted Rattner "to help" Steve Loglisci arrange for Chooch to be aired on the Independent Film Channel, a subsidiary of Cablevision, in which Quadrangle then had a $75 million investment. Rattner was also on the board of Cablevision. Rattner met with Steve Loglisci twice in December 2003 and introduced him to Independent Film Channel executives, but "these efforts did not bear fruit," according to Cuomo.
As Rattner's fund-raising efforts for the second Quadrangle fund intensified, during the fall of 2004, he urged Kerry Hatch, the C.E.O. of GoodTimes Entertainment, to offer Steve Loglisci a distribution deal for Chooch, according to the S.E.C. complaint. Hatch and Steve Loglisci had an initial meeting, and Hatch reported to Rattner that he was "very unrealistic and naïve." The next day Steve Loglisci complained about Hatch to Rattner, who then "warned" her to "treat" him "carefully," because Quadrangle was trying to get money from the retirement fund through his brother. "As for Steve Loglisci, I would appreciate it if you could dance along with this for another couple of weeks while I try to figure out what we need to do," Rattner wrote Hatch in an e-mail. On November 29, according to the S.E.C. complaint, Rattner spoke with Morris and asked him "whether GT needs to distribute [Steve Loglisci's] video." Morris said he would "nose around" by asking David Loglisci how important the Chooch distribution deal was to Quadrangle's getting money from the retirement fund.
The next day, according to the investigation by the New York attorney general's office, Hatch let Rattner know she had negotiated a "below-market distribution deal" with Steve Loglisci for Chooch. Rattner approved the terms of the deal "including the discount." The deal was signed on February 24, 2005, right before GoodTimes filed for bankruptcy, and Quadrangle lost most of the $92 million it had invested in the company.
Two weeks after Rattner notified Morris of the Chooch distribution deal, the retirement fund decided to invest $100 million in Quadrangle's second fund, one of the five largest direct investments the fund made in 2005. The investment triggered Morris's roughly $1 million placement fee.
Morris also had a hand in Quadrangle's receiving $85 million from the New York City pension funds and received a fee of $1.275 million for that from Quadrangle—some of which Morris paid to a third party. According to the attorney general's report, Quadrangle failed to disclose that it had paid a fee to Morris.
A Treasury official said on April 17, 2009, that, "during the transition [to the Obama administration], Mr. Rattner made us aware of the pending investigation." But perhaps not the full extent of his involvement in the scandal. On the same day, Obama's press secretary said that the president had full confidence in Rattner.
Full as it was, such confidence didn't last. On July 13, "someone in the White House," says a person close to the situation, "fired Rattner." Not so, Summers explains. "He was never relieved of his duties," he says. "He came to me and said he thought it would be best if he went back to New York. It was his decision." Others in Washington and New York believed the overhang of his issues with Cuomo and the S.E.C. would have made it hard for him to take on a new responsibility that required Senate approval.
Most people involved with the task force were shocked. "Rattner had been here two or three days before and hadn't mentioned one word of it, so I could only conclude that something changed," explains a former G.M. executive. Treasury Secretary Geithner said he was "extremely grateful" to Rattner for his five months of service and "I hope that he takes another opportunity to bring his unique skills to government service in the future." Rattner did a "superb job in a very important role," Summers says.
Since the news broke of his involvement in the "pay to play" scandal, Rattner has been going about the business of trumpeting his success as the leader of the auto task force. He seems to think that he will soon be exonerated and that it is just a matter of time before he returns to Washington, as Geithner suggested, to live in his Georgian mansion.
As part of the S.E.C.'s ongoing investigation of Rattner, the agency took his deposition, in 2009. According to two insiders, he pleaded the Fifth Amendment to many of the questions agency lawyers asked him.
Rattner did not settle with either Cuomo or the S.E.C. He continues to fight them both, perhaps hoping that Cuomo will focus on his race for the governor's mansion, in Albany, and that the S.E.C. has bigger fish to fry than Steve Rattner. On June 2, the Times reported on its front page that he refused to agree to a settlement with the S.E.C. that would have forced him to pay a large fine and barred him from the securities industry for three years.
In response to the audience's hostility, Rattner wrote a Wall Street Journal piece, entitled "Wall Street Still Doesn't Get It," describing the incident. Not surprisingly, it only made a bad situation worse. What had been confined to a small group of wealthy hedge-fund managers in a small auditorium on the West Side of Manhattan went viral. Everyone from private-equity kingpins to the Wall Street rank and file to the autoworkers in Detroit were left dumbfounded that someone who was worth hundreds of millions of dollars and who had allegedly bribed a state official could be playing the holier-than-thou card. The incredulous e-mails circulated fast and furiously on Wall Street.


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text:
Events • Pramod • REVELATIO
Revelatio 2021: Where Their Imagination Flew High
by Pramod Dilshan
"Wake Me Up When September Ends" was a popular rock song back in the 2000s, but for the literature enthusiasts, September is the exact month they would want to stay awake throughout, for it's the Literacy Month to celebrate nothing but literature.
Revelatio is the annual blogging competition, organized by FOS Media, the Official Media Unit of the Faculty of Science, University of Colombo, to coincide with the much-awaited Literacy month. This year it was preceded by 'Readathon', a series of posts that shed the limelight on some of the most outstanding and celebrated works of Sri Lankan authors, as well as a Puzzle Competition, which put the literacy knowledge of the FOS Media members into a rigorous test.
Eight Sri Lankan novels, namely, Appachchi Awith, The English Patient, Apoyiyaawa, Chinaman: The Legend of Pradeep Mathew, Prabuddha, A Passage North, Kaanthaaraye Kusuma, and Sam's Story were recognized and acknowledged in 'Readathon', where a brief description about the book and its author was also provided along with the post.
The Puzzle Competition was held via the social media platform Instagram and comprised four puzzles, two each from Sinhala and English, that went on to test the knowledge of bibliophiles on various literary techniques such as onomatopoeia and alliteration, along with their prowess on general literature.
The main event, Revelatio 2021 blogging competition, was spread across two whole months of November and December, and saw a total of 41 compelling articles from 31 enthusiastic authors, competing for only a handful of awards.
This time the competition was held under four categories, as, Poems, Short stores, Science Fiction, and Reviews, where each of which had entries from both Sinhala and English.
The themes of the poems varied from the evergreen unrequited love to devastating Easter Attacks of 2019, whereas short stories and Sci-fi dealt with their own subject matter ranging from time travel to zombies.
Reviews were done not only on classics of literature such as Pride and Prejudice but also on contemporary movies such as Premum.
With the amount of talent the FOS Media possesses, it was almost certain that the judging panel would have a hard time selecting the winners. Despite that, the following outstanding individuals emerged as winners, showing excellent skills in their respective categories.
Finally, immense credit must be given to all those who worked hard to make this event a success, and sincere gratitude must be bestowed to the distinguished judge panel that comprised Ms. Ramalka Kasige, Ms. Nadeeshani Ekanayake, Ms. Vinushayini Ravichandran, and Ms. Nipuni Perera.
Panel Of Judges
And, as George R. R. Martin mentions in his book 'A Dance with Dragons',
So congratulations and well done to all those who inked the flight to their imagination. You have made us all live a thousand lives before the inevitable happens.
Tagged : FOS Blog / REVELATIO
வரவேற்போம் மலரும் புத்தாண்டை
සීගිරි ළඳකගේ නොලී කවිය


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If you are not sure about the status of your warranty, give us a call and we will try our best to help!
When you deal with Manny's Appliance, you're putting your faith in the area's very best appliance repair specialists. We've been in this business for years and have full confidence in our ability to take care of whatever is ailing your appliances. Our repair guarantee stands as a reminder that we will do the job the right way, every time.


Essentials meets in North Campus, room 202 and is a class for those who have recently started following Jesus and are wondering where to go from here. Essentials lays the foundation of who Jesus is, what it means to be saved, and how to practically live in relationship with Him. We will also explore the need for community with other believers and the importance of loving the world and living on mission.


Rush Escape Game Pty Ltd; trading as Rush Escape Game (referred to here as "Rush Escape Game", "our", "us", "we") is a supplier of amusement game services and facilities, including but not limited to all customer "escape game" entertainment, and associated activities, provision of amusement game facilities (the facilities). All dealings with Rush Escape Game will be on these terms of trade (Terms) unless otherwise agreed in writing by Rush Escape Game. By making a booking or using the facilities at the Rush Escape Game venue it is deemed that you understand and accept the Terms.
CONDITION OF ENTRY: You read, accept, and comply with, the Terms and Conditions of Rush Escape Game and sign a waiver prior to using our facilities.
GAME SERVICE: You understand that the amusement game service is intended to be an intellectual challenge for your entertainment, and is not intended to test your physical abilities in any way. You understand that you may interact with your environment, but the game does not require or involve any physical challenges, and therefore excludes the use of excessive force and activities such as running, jumping, climbing or striking, or any other physical activity that may cause damage or harm to people or property.
LIABILITY: You agree not to abuse, or use excessive force to handle items in the facility. You accept liability for the cost of any damage to the facility caused by you as a participant (for example but not limited to damaging, misplacing or modifying passwords on pad locks) or caused by you to another person's property. Rush Escape Game is not responsible for loss or damage to your property.
INDEMNITY: Rush Escape Game, its employees, directors and agents are not liable to you, your dependents, or your legal representatives for personal injury suffered by you due to the amusement game services and facilities not being supplied with due care and skill or not being reasonably fit for their purpose or because of negligence, breach of contract, statute or statutory duty by Rush Escape Game. Subject to the above you accept all risks and hereby waive the right to sue Rush Escape Game, and you release, discharge, and indemnify Rush Escape Game, its employees, directors and agents from any claim, action, demand or proceeding which may be made by you or on your behalf or by other parties for, or in respect of, or arising out of any injuries, loss, or damage caused as a consequence of your attendance at Rush Escape Game or by the use of our amusement game facilities.
CONFIDENTIALITY: Without the permission of Rush Escape Game you agree not to disclose any videos, photos or any other business or technical information that Rush Escape Game considers to be confidential, for example but not limited to the game flow, elements used, disclosed to you directly or indirectly, in writing, orally or visually.
COPYRIGHT: You may not use, copy, reproduce, modify, adapt, translate, create derivative works, publish, transfer, distribute, or sell information that Rush Escape Game considers confidential (in whole or part) without prior consent from Rush Escape Game.
REFUSE ENTRY: Rush Escape Game reserves the right to refuse entry to use our facilities to you, if it is deemed that you are a danger to yourself, the Rush Escape Game staff or other customers.
HEALTH CONDITION: If you are in poor health or impaired by medical conditions that could be worsened by the use of the Rush Escape Game facilities, you will not be allowed to use our facilities as matter of precaution. You are also responsible for managing your own safety and if in doubt, should consult a Rush Escape Game team member or medical professional.
MEDICAL TREATMENT: You authorise Rush Escape Game to take all steps that are reasonably necessary in the event of personal injury and you agree to cover any costs of emergency medical treatment and ambulance transportation.
REFUNDS: No refund on confirmed bookings, or purchased vouchers, or in case of no-show.
BOOKING ON OTHERS' BEHALF: When booking on behalf of another person, you agree that you make that purchase as the authorised agent of that person so that person shall be bound by the same Terms as you.
UNDER 16: An authorised guardian must supervise children under the age of 16 at all times during the use of any of the facilities at the Rush Escape Game venue. The guardian responsible for any child is bound by the Terms on the child's behalf.
SAFETY SIGNS: You must adhere at all times to all safety signs displayed, or other directions of Rush Escape Game, through the Rush Escape Game facility.
VIDEO SURVEILLANCE: You give Rush Escape Game consent to use video surveillance to assist with the game flow when necessary, and claim if necessary for damages caused to the property or the facilities of Rush Escape Game.
TEAM PHOTOS: When you allow Rush Escape Game to take team photos, for example at the end of the game, you consent for us to use these photos for promotional purposes, for example but not limited to uploading it to social media websites.
ALCOHOL AND DRUGS: You will not be allowed to participate in any escape game activities if reasonably considered, by Rush Escape Game, to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
FOOD AND DRINK: Food or drink must not be consumed whist engaging in the amusement game activities.
MOBILE PHONES: Mobile phones must not be used whilst engaged in the escape game activities.
DANGEROUS ITEMS: No dangerous items, sharp objects, lighters or matches are permitted into game facilities.
SMOKING: Strictly no smoking at the Rush Escape Game facilities.
© 2014-2019 RUSH ESCAPE GAME PTY LTD.
Rush Escape Game is rated 5/5 stars based on 1327 tripadvisor, facebook, and google reviews.


#6. Black Moon - "Buck 'Em Down (Remix)"
In some ways, the Boot Camp was the forbear of the weeded pilot rap of Curren$y and Wiz Khalifa. Sure, Buck and 5 were more concerned with guns and blunts than streetwear brands and bongs, and their albums were far more consistent, but the intent and construction is strikingly similar: laid-back stoner rhymes over deep and spacious boom-bap. It's all smoke-something music. One could even draw a more direct line with the "Buck 'Em Down (Remix)," as Buckshot works his own airplane analogies on the intro.


text:
Do Not Use world news
UN responds to PM Modi's criticm by defending its stance against terrorism
UN responds to PM Modi's criticm by defending its stance against terrorism
"We certainly are trying to take a responsible attitude in terms of dealing with terrorism and the spectre of terrorism worldwide," said Ban Ki-moon.
By: PTI | United Nations |
April 6, 2016 10:14:43 am
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Reuters photo
The UN has defended its stance against terrorism saying it is certainly trying to take a responsible attitude in dealing with the menace, days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi criticised the world body
over the issue.
"We certainly are trying to take a responsible attitude in terms of dealing with terrorism and the spectre of
terrorism worldwide. The UN encourages international solidarity against terrorism in all its aspects, whether it is terrorist bombings or terrorist financing," Deputy Spokesman for Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Farhan Haq told PTI.
[Related-Post]
Haq was asked about the UN Chief's response to Modi's sharp criticism in Brussels last week when the Indian leader had said the world body does not know what terrorism is and how to deal with it.
Haq said in the next few days, the UN will hold a meeting in Geneva on the need to prevent and to counter violent extremism. "And the Secretary-General will be speaking at that — in terms of the specific measures that we've been talking about, in terms of handling violent extremism and its spread throughout the world," he said.
Modi's visit to Brussels came just days after terror group ISIS carried out attacks that ripped through the
departure area of the international airport and a subway station in the busy morning hours in the Belgian capital.
The attack left over 30 people dead and many more injured.
Addressing a gathering of Indian diaspora in Brussels, Modi had said that the UN has all means and mechanism to deal with war but does not know what the definition of terrorism is and how to address it.
He also warned that the UN will become irrelevant if it does not come up with appropriate response to deal with the scourge.
He pointed out that India has been pleading with the UN for years to define terrorism, a terrorist and who helps terrorists.
"I don't know when the UN will do so and how it will do so but given the emerging situation, if solutions are not found to this problem, then it does not take time for an institution to become irrelevant," he had said.


Dawesville Bridge Swing is back & running over three days this summer!
30 November 1st December $ 2nd December 2018.
This will be the second year is a row for the Dawesville Bridge Swing after last year being very successful with only great comments from participants we are very excited to be running this yet again for the community to be apart of!
Don't miss out on the chance to swing off the Dawesville Bridge whilst raising the much-needed funds for charity!
Register today & let's achieve the unthinkable!!
8th to the 10th of December.


Has anyone had their teeth professionally whitened? What brand did you use(zoom, etc) ? Was it worth the money?
Professional whitening treatments are mostly out-of-the-box systems that dentists can easily implement. These packages already contain the needed materials and dental equipment as well as the end-user training for operating the machine and following the procedure.


text:
Q: Expressing integers as the sum of the squares of two Gaussian integers I proved that it is possible to express any integer as the sum of the squares of two Gaussian integers (see proof below).  My question is whether or not there are other simpler proofs.
My proof:
For any integer n,
$\quad (n+0i)^2 + (0+[n-1]i)^2 =$
$n^2 - (n^2-2n+1) =$
$2n-1$
(1)   Therefore, all odd integers can be written as the sum of the squares of two Gaussian integers.
For any integer n,
$\quad ([n+1]+0i)^2 + (0+[n-1]i)^2 =$
$(n^2+2n+1) - (n^2-2n+1) =$
$4n$
(2)   Therefore, all integers $\equiv 0\pmod 4$ can be written as the sum of the squares of two Gaussian integers.
For any integer n,
$\quad(n+[n-1]i)^2 + (n-[n-1]i)^2 =$
$\quad(n^2+2n[n-1]i-[n-1]^2) + (n^2-2n[n-1]i-[n-1]^2) =$
$\quad 2(n^2-[n-1]^2) =$
$\quad 2(n^2-[n^2-2n+1]) =$
$\quad 2(2n-1) =$
$\quad 4n-2$
(3)   Therefore, all integers $\equiv 2\pmod 4$  can be written as the sum of the squares of two Gaussian integers.
Combining results (1), (2) and (3), we have shown that every integer can be expressed as the sum of the squares of two Gaussian integers.
Q. E. D.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


These delicious, gooey, healthy brownies can be enjoyed warm from the oven or straight from the fridge or freezer.
They are paleo, vegan, refined sugar-free, dairy free and extra nutritious due to the beets.
They are super easy to make and make a wonderful desert with a dollop of coconut icecream or a great treat for the kids.
We love Kefir! Sign up and receive my FREE home brew kefir guide!


Do you ever look in your child's closet and wonder what you should do with your daughter's old 1st communion dress and shoes or your son's suit? Well…. We are excited to announce that we are opening up a new section of the SJS Uniform Closet for 1st communion attire and we are now accepting donations! Most of these outfits end the day still being like new, and we love the idea of sharing them!
Given the importance of this day, please be sure to carefully look over your dress before donation to ensure that it is free from stains and/or rips. Thank you all so much, we are excited to add this to our closet!


Discover more about CNAME records, when they're needed and in what ways they can fit within the DNS system.
Creating a CNAME record for any of the domain names or subdomains that you've got within a hosting account will allow you to point it to a different domain/subdomain. The forwarded domain will lose all its records - A, MX etc, and will take the records of the domain address it's being directed to. In this light, you can't set up a CNAME record to point your domain to a third-party provider and retain a working e-mail service with the first hosting company. It is also essential to know that a CNAME record is always a string of words and not a number as it's generally mistaken for the A record of the domain name being forwarded. One of the main uses of a CNAME record is to point a domain name you own through one company to the servers of another provider assuming you have set up a website with the latter. This way, the Internet site will appear under your own domain address, not under some subdomain provided by the third-party company.
You can effortlessly set up CNAME records if you have a Linux cloud hosting through our company. We'll supply you with an easy-to-use CP that enables you to see all DNS records for the domain addresses and subdomains that are hosted within the account. Setting up a CNAME record includes a number of simple steps - select the domain/subdomain, choose CNAME as the type, enter the hostname you are pointing to, after that just click the Save button. The process is as basic as that and the new record is going to be active almost right away. That way, you are going to have more control over your domains and subdomains and over the content they open, you could set up a private URL for company e-mails, and a lot more. If you feel unsure about how to create a new record or you have never done such a task, you will find a short video tutorial where you can see the whole process first-hand. If you decide to change or delete an existing CNAME record created for a domain/subdomain hosted on our end, it'll take you literally simply a mouse click to get it done.
The Hepsia hosting CP, which comes with every single one of our semi-dedicated server accounts, will enable you to set up a CNAME record effortlessly. Whether you want to create a private URL for your e-mails, to redirect a domain name to a subdomain inside the account or to forward a domain name to another provider and use some third-party service which they provide, it will not take you more than 3 clicks to create this type of record. All DNS records for the domain names and subdomains hosted in the semi-dedicated account are going to be listed in a separate section in the CP, so once you are there, all that you will have to do will be to choose the type of the record that you want to set up and the hostname for which you are creating it, and then input the actual record text. For your benefit, you can watch a short video within the Control Panel concerning how to set up a CNAME record or you can follow the instructions in the help article, which is available in the DNS records section.


text:
Q: Does \end command issue a \vfill Does \end command issue a \vfill command? I notice that in plain TeX, you have a \bye that issues it but after some experimentation I think \end also issues a \vfill, which is rather confusing.
Example:
Case 1:
Hello World\vfil
Hello World\end

Case 2:
Hello World\vfill
Hello World\end

Comparing the above two cases, we note that Case 1 place both lines of texts normally while in Case 2 TeX placed the second line of text in the middle. Now, if \end did not come with a \vfill, the first case would have also place the second line of text in the middle. This is where I am confused.

A: in tex.web you find
@<Declare act...@>=
function its_all_over:boolean; {do this when \.{\\end} or \.{\\dump} occurs}
label exit;
begin if privileged then
  begin if (page_head=page_tail)and(head=tail)and(dead_cycles=0) then
    begin its_all_over:=true; return;
    end;
  back_input; {we will try to end again after ejecting residual material}
  tail_append(new_null_box);
  width(tail):=hsize;
  tail_append(new_glue(fill_glue));
  tail_append(new_penalty(-@'10000000000));@/
  build_page; {append \.{\\hbox to \\hsize\{\}\\vfill\\penalty-'10000000000}}
  end;
its_all_over:=false;
exit:end;

where
      tail_append(new_glue(fill_glue));

implies, as you suspected, that fill glue is added by the primitive.

A: Here's David Carlisle's answer in Don knuth words (The TeXbook, page 264)

When TeX sees an \end command, it terminates the job only if the main
  vertical list has been entirely output and if \deadcycles=0. Otherwise
  it inserts the equivalent of
              \line{} \vfill \penalty-'10000000000

into the main vertical list, and prepares to read the `\end' token again. This has
  the effect of invoking the output routine repeatedly until everything
  has been shipped out. In particular, the last column of two-column
  format will not be lost.