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Paintball pioneers
They work with paint and wood and reused materials, and they get a kick out of showing off their creative ingenuity. They also won't hesitate to lead you out into the woods and shoot you in the neck.
The people at Paintball Sports NY in Plattekill may not be artists in the traditional sense, but they're in creative overdrive working on stories, missions and new paint-spraying weapons as they gear up for their big scenario game, the Battle For Heartbreak Ridge on Oct. 24 and 25.
"It's the Woodstock for paintball," Chris Masi, the field manager and co-owner of Paintball Sports NY, said of the event. Masi, who has played paintball since he was 9 years old, said the sport has grown in popularity despite the challenges of marketing the sport to parents who might consider it dangerous or promoting belligerent behavior.
"People don't want to see their kids running around the woods with camo gear and weapons," Masi said. At the Plattekill field, Masi emphasizes the fact that people of all shapes, sizes and skills levels play paintball, including men, women, old and young. He downplays the more jingoistic aspects of the game, disapproving of paintball guns that look like real weapons, and referring to the airguns as "markers" instead of "guns." He also emphasizes safety, enforcing a masks-on policy in areas where the markers may be fired.
"These things get hot, they get sweaty, they get nasty," Masi said of the masks, "but this is what keeps you safe for the day."
The Paintball Sports NY field is 300 acres, and includes 20 courses, Masi said.
"It's probably the oldest existing paintball field in the world," said Jerry Braun, the co-owner of the Plattekill property. "A lot of firsts happened on that field."
Braun, who Masi called the "grandfather of the sport," is in a position to know.
"I think I played the third game (of paintball) ever," in the woods of New Hampshire, Braun said. He and his friends wore shop goggles and used oil-based paint guns that were designed for marking cattle and trees that were slated to be felled. They had to use paint thinner to get the paint out of their clothes, a problem that was solved after the introduction of water-soluble paintball ammo in the 1980s.
Shortly after his first game, in 1982, Braun opened the field in Plattekill and organized the first paintball tournament, with $25,000 in prizes, in 1987. Braun also organized the first paintball magazine and the first annual Paintball World Cup, which was held in Plattekill. This year, the World Cup will begin today and will be played in Orlando, Fla.
"We basically developed tournament paintball as it now exists," said Braun, who sold his stake in the World Cup games in 2005. "The sport grew from being operated out of the back of a van to a multi-million dollar industry. It went from its embryonic stage to maturity in less than a generation."
Although traditional, informal "pickup" or "woodsball" games are still the mainstay of the game, paintball has evolved into two separate directions, Braun said.
"There's a difference between the sport and the game," he said. Competitive tournament paintball, like the World Cup competitions, is a fast-paced game played on a smaller field with smaller teams and less cover. On the other end of the spectrum, are large-scale scenario games, like the Battle For Heartbreak Ridge, with hundreds of participants, lots of different missions and scenarios and some roleplaying.
"It's almost like Dungeons and Dragons in the woods," Braun said. "Chris and the group at the field are very adept at those kinds of games."
"I like the scenario games for the roleplaying parts of it," said Frank Coppola, who works at the field and goes by the nickname "Colonel Ernie" during the games. It's almost like two games, he said, one focused on roleplaying and intelligence-gathering and the other on tactical and physical competition.
"You've got a lot of different things going on at the same time, so nobody's bored," he said. "We keep everyone involved."
Coppola said he often plays the role of a spy.
"You get to go out and play tricks on people. It's fun," he said.
The informal rules of competition also let players try out new weapons and booby traps, like a "flamethrower" that spews yellow ink at a short range and variations on land mines, and mortars. Masi and his team are working on a tank for the big October battle, based on a truck with turret-mounted paintball guns. Masi, who has a degree in computer science and used to work for IBM, is making an interface using a laptop and a wireless Xbox controller that allows the front seat passenger to rotate and fire the weapons.
The event will also feature "celebrity mercenaries," current and former professional players who can be hired to help one side or the other. Paintball fans might recognize former pro player Greg Hastings, who has released two paintball video games.
Besides running the on-field operations, Masi also coaches the local amateur team that will participate in Division Two of the Paintball World Cup. At 30, Masi said he's not as physically able to compete, but he hopes to help some of his team move on to become salaried players for a professional paintball team. Paintball Sports Promotions (PSP), which grew out of Braun's initial efforts and now manages the World Cup and sometimes is featured on the television station ESPN2, has 11 professional teams across the U.S. There are several other pro and semi-pro leagues. A salaried player on a PSP team makes $25,000 to $100,000 annually, Masi said.
"It's a dream for these kids," Masi said.
His team, the New York Diesel, practices every weekend in Plattekill. The team includes Bobby Choniuk, 27, of Hopewell Junction; Anderson German, 32, of Middletown; A.J. Bowen, 21, of New Paltz; Kyle Smith, 18, of Monroe; and Anthony Bishop, 18, of New Paltz. Bishop doesn't compete in matches, but acts as the "pit team," maintaining equipment and helping players reload their markers during games.
Smith, who got hooked on the game after a birthday party at Paintball Sports NY, said that the team practices as often as they can. "Our weekends are pretty much paintball," he said.
During a tournament like the World Cup, Bowen said that each player will go through three or four cases of paint. Each case contains 2,000 rounds of ammunition.
"That's enough to paint a house," he said.
"It's a mental game. It's almost like chess." Choniuk said. "You have to think fast."
Communication and coordination are among the persistent challenges, the team said. They've developed personal codes to communicate during a match.
"Our team bonds well, on and off the field," Bowen said.
Keeping teammates motivated and picking each other up is also important.
"You push yourself for your brothers on the team," said German, who called himself the "old man" of the group.
Competitive paintball is on the rise and is bidding to become an Olympic sport, Masi said. One of the chief obstacles remains visibility for spectators, adapting the game so that it can be enjoyably watched on a television screen. Moving the games out of the woods and onto more open fields was a necessary step in that evolution.
Despite Olympic ambitions, Masi said that less formal games are still the bulk of his business. On weekends, the field is open for walk-in competitions, in which the staff organizes visitors into teams and referees the games. Prices for admission vary depending on how much equipment is rented and how much ammunition is purchased. A day at the field that includes rental of a protective vest, mask, marker, free air refills and 1,000 rounds of ammunition will cost $69.99. The field also opens for private events during weekdays, provided that at least 10 participants show up.
Some celebrities who have showed up to try their hands at paintball include Conan O'Brien, Harrison Ford and Ron Howard, Masi said. The field also hosts corporate and training events, and frequently runs leadership and team-building games for sports teams, including several National Hockey League teams, among them, the New York Rangers, the New York Islanders, the Florida Panthers and the Pittsburgh Penguins. They've also had football teams, including the New York Giants, but the hockey players seemed to be more into it, Masi said.
"Compared with the football players, these guys enjoy it and get dirty."
Masi said that paintball can be fun for people of all careers and ages.
"The lawyer to the guy who flips burgers at McDonald's, they all come here. It's kind of a neutral ground."
"There's not a lot of sports you can play with your kids," Masi said, "the first time the son saves his dad, you'll never hear the end of it."
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the family. I certainly want to be totally open and honest with her.
Oh man, barry's not going to like this one.
That was amazing. AWESOME joke!!
"And shepherds we shall be, for thee my lord, for thee..."
TheNakedGun returns today which means it's fitting to top this thread EIGHT years later.
Ok I know the rules....I have said that to myself 10 times. Its really killing me you know but wow wow wow 2007 to 2017 what a difference a decade makes.


Level 5 is for those with some HR experience who are looking for a mid-level HR role. It's also suitable if you're new to HR but have a degree and want to begin your learning at a higher level.
Your assignments will include written answer papers, research proposals, and reports, and will each be between 2,600 and 3,900 words.
Hello, I would like to enquire about CIPD Level 5 Certificate Human Resource Management. Can you please provide me with some more information?


In 1788, the congregation of Ebenezer Associated Reformed Presbyterian Church hand-molded bricks and cut timber for the woodwork for the construction of their church. This is one of the few remaining 18th century meeting house churches in the state. During the Civil War, "The Old Brick Church" was stripped of its pews and floors by Union soldiers in order to rebuild a bridge over nearby Little River. A written apology for this act is still visible on the church's inside wall. In the adjacent cemetery are the graves of many of the congregation who died in the Civil War.
On S.C. Highway 213, Approx. 13 miles West of Winnsboro.
Open by request, inquire at the Fairfield Chamber of Commerce (803) 635-4242.
Hawg Heaven is an all you can eat barbecue and country buffet. Along with their BBQ, they offer fried chicken, chicken livers, green beans, macaroni and cheese and fried okra, just to name a few, as well as a salad bar and ice cream and desserts.


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Please Be The Mothership: Astronomers Discover Previously Unheard-Of Type Of Space Object
These are two pictures taken from the Hubble Space Telescope showing what astronomers believe to be a previously unseen kind of space object. It's described as 'a rotating asteroid with six comet-like tails'. I describe it as a spaceship. One that's going to come rescue me then blow up the planet. "Take me too?" Sorry, but they said I could only bring one guest and I plan on stretching out across both seats (it might be a long ride).
According to lead investigator David Jewitt of the University of California at Los Angeles, "we were literally dumbfounded when we saw it [in the solar system's asteroid belt] We were completely knocked out."
NASA says that "unlike all other known asteroids, which appear simply as tiny points of light, this asteroid, designated P/2013 P5, resembles a rotating lawn sprinkler. Astronomers are puzzled over the asteroid's unusual appearance."
Damn, why can't it be a spaceship? Wouldn't it be cool if a spaceship really did appear in the sky? Then, for a brief moment, the whole world would stop squabbling about all the bullshit that we do and unite with a common cause: to blast that f***er out of the sky then fight and kill each other over all the alien technology that rains down to earth.
Thanks to TheAmberAmazon and Paul, who haven't given up hope that in our lifetime we will make alien contact, and they will forgive us for being such a shitty species.
Pew Pew Pew!: Star Wars Character Shooting Targets
Shoot Me In The Legs!: The First 3-D Printed Metal Gun
\n\nThese are two pictures taken from the Hubble Space Telescope showing what astronomers believe to be a previously unseen kind of space object. It's described as 'a rotating asteroid with six comet-like tails'. I describe it as a spaceship. One that's going to come rescue me then blow up the planet. \"Take me too?\" Sorry, but they said I could only bring one guest and I plan on stretching out across both seats (it might be a long ride).\n\n
According to lead investigator David Jewitt of the University of California at Los Angeles, \"we were literally dumbfounded when we saw it [in the solar system's asteroid belt] We were completely knocked out.\"\n\n\nNASA says that \"unlike all other known asteroids, which appear simply as tiny points of light, this asteroid, designated P/2013 P5, resembles a rotating lawn sprinkler. Astronomers are puzzled over the asteroid's unusual appearance.\"
\n\nDamn, why can't it be a spaceship? Wouldn't it be cool if a spaceship really did appear in the sky? Then, for a brief moment, the whole world would stop squabbling about all the bullshit that we do and unite with a common cause: to blast that f***er out of the sky then fight and kill each other over all the alien technology that rains down to earth.\n\nThanks to TheAmberAmazon and Paul, who haven't given up hope that in our lifetime we will make alien contact, and they will forgive us for being such a shitty species.
Read More: aliens, asteroid, astronomy, but is it made of diamonds?, comet, discovering things, hubble, let's shoot a laser at it and see what happens (that's my go to for most things), nuke it!, outerspace, solid lawn sprinkler reference by the way, space, spinning, telescope, the universe is a giant place, twinkle twinkle little star how i wish i was where you are
The First Glimpse Of An Actual Alien Planet
'Farout': Astronomers Discover New Furthest Known Thing In The Solar System
Aliens: There Are 10-20X More Galaxies In the Universe Than Previously Estimated

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Horoscopes » Virgo
Virgo for June 2017
Virgo (August 23-September 23)
by Eric Francis Coppolino
It's time to take the bold step out into the open, where people can see you. The Sun's transit across Gemini is a study in doing things right, doing them well, and being respected by those who are aware of you. That's helpful, even if you have to tap into the competitive side of your nature. Then the next necessary step is meeting your audience. That's the real challenge: the difference (for example) between writing a dissertation for an audience of three, and a book that could get into anyone's hands. You're ready for prime time. You're ready to face the wider public, which also means to serve a larger audience. This may be professional; it may be social; it's likely to be some degree of both. The thing to remember is that this is not "all about you." It's about a relationship between you and your human environment, which becomes the equivalent of a family. While Virgo is considered one of the quieter and more retreating signs of the zodiac, the cosmic map of your sign describes you as someone who thrives in any role where you're relating to a group in an intimate way. This might include running the camp kitchen, organizing childcare for an activist movement, or figuring out how to host 25 visitors. However, the real subject matter is more likely to involve your ideas.
Virgo Virgo Astrology
Speaking of Astrology
January 2021 Astrology Forecast
Taurus Horoscope | January 2021
Gemini Horoscope | January 2021
Latest in Horoscopes
In Search of a New Normal
By Lorelai Kude
Aries Horoscope | January 2021
The personal growth you've developed will now be like money in the bank as you begin to rebuild your relationship to your personal resources.
2021 will be a year of abrupt changes for you, which will help align with your real-time, relevant priorities.


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News: Italy
Works of art from the Vatican at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
In an exhibition on fashion and Christianity
The Vatican will loan around 40 works of ecclesiastical art to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (Met), as part of the forthcoming exhibition on the relation between fashion and Catholic religion, to be admired by the public from May 10 to October 8, announced the American museum.
Some of these works originating from the sacristy of the Capella Sistina "have never left the Vatican". Among them are rings and tiaras worn by Primates of the Roman Catholic Church and robes that, according to the organizers, cover a period of 15 pontificates, between the 18th and early 19th century.
A press conference on the exhibition held in Rome, was attended by, among others, the fashion designer Donatella Versace, the legendary figure of Vogue magazine Anne Wintour and Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture.
"Fashion and religion have always had a close, mutual relationship, the one being a source of inspiration and influence for the other" said Andrew Bolton, curator of the Costume Institute of the Met.
The forthcoming exhibition "Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination" is thought to be among the most anticipated of 2018. It presents creations by Balenciaga, Dolce & Gabbana, Valentino and many others, so as to narrate the history of fashion through the codes and dogmas of Christianity which are inexhaustible sources of inspiration for designers of yesterday and today.
Valuable dresses inspired from Byzantium by Chanel and Dolce & Gabbana, the Garden of Eden in a couture version by Valentino, a cardinal's cloak in an evening version by Balenciaga … The icons, stories and symbols of Christianity inspire fashion designers, who do not hesitate to draw inspiration from the Old and the New Testament for their collections.
A new app provides information on artworks
Antiquity looted in Cambodia
The Album of the World Emperor: Cosmopolitan Collecting at the Ottoman Court of the Seventeenth-Century
A "Tree of Life" depiction on a LG amphora
A proposal for the enhancement and ideal administration of monuments in the town of Trikala (Part 1)


How did you prepare the garlic? Can explain the process you used?
Couldn't find anything called garlic oil at Walmart. Don't know what garlic gel is either.
you can find garlic oil-also just called garlic, in capsule form almost anywhere like walgreens ask the pharmicist if you are having trouble finding it. Kyolic brand is a good brand and I think most pharmacies carry it with the vitamins I usually order mine from vitacost.com which has cheap shipping-4.99 flat rate. I buy the vitacost brand which is about 100 soft gels for about $4. I usually get it in about 3-4 days and I live in rural Idaho. I order all my supplements from them---I have for probably 6 years now and they have not let me down.
come on people, have some money saved, get to your dentist.


Complete your Cliff Martinez collection. Shop Vinyl and CDs. Catherine Deneuve - La cagna (Liza) dir by Marco Ferreri Find this Pin and more on. [FULL] Marco Ferreri Liza (()) zip - semtaril. [FULL] MARCO FERRERI LIZA (()) ZIP · Download link: [FULL] Marco Ferreri Liza (()) zip. Download zip, rar. THOUGHT] There are at least two ways in which Browning's work differs from that of other dramatists. Squills, [full] marco ferreri liza (()).
Download zip, rar. He had a childish fear of darkness and hobgoblins; he worked largely "on his nerves"; he had an abnormal interest in graves, ghouls and the. Directed by Marco Ferreri. Liza slowly replaces Melampo, Giorgio's dog. Marcello Mastroianni and Catherine Deneuve in Liza () Catherine Deneuve in Liza . companion Melampo, in complete disregard of his new-found friend, Lisa. La Cagna () Mastroianni, Deneuve - By Film&Clips aka Liza Un film diretto da Marco Ferreri, con Marcello Mastroianni, Catherine.
J town ft shatta wale · Htc wildfire driver install · After all these years arnel pineda · Bengoro album · FULL Marco Ferreri Liza (()).zip · Asap ferg work remix. Marco Ferreri. As the relationship between Giorgio and Liza blossoms into love , she becomes Theatrical Release Year, See full item description.


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https://www.ncadvertiser.com/al-drive/article/Test-Drive-Land-Rover-Discovery-deftly-handles-13860437.php
Test Drive: Land Rover Discovery deftly handles wintery roads
Steven Macoy
Published 3:01 pm EST, Sunday, November 25, 2018
Driving home from work during the Nov. 15 snowstorm, rarely exceeding 15 mph in heavy, slow-moving traffic, we found ourselves wishing fervently for two things.
First, we wished Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy had ordered tractor-trailers off the road in advance of the storm, as he sometimes has done in the past, to good effect. Most of the difficulties we encountered on Interstate 84, between Waterbury and Bethel, involved trucks that couldn't mount some of the highway's longer hills.
Second, we wished everyone had the same car we had that day — a 2018 Land Rover Discovery. Utterly unfazed by the weather, the Discovery neither slipped nor skidded through the 22-mile, two-hour commute.
The big Discovery's performance reminded us that Americans may want high fuel economy or sporty handling, but what really turns their heads is potential — their vehicle's ability to remain composed and capable under the worst imaginable conditions. The Discovery is that kind of vehicle.
Of course, that isn't all this British-built sport-utility vehicle has going for it.
Our Discovery, equipped with a V-6 diesel engine packing 254 horsepower, was rated at 21 mpg in the city, 26 highway. Its 11.1-inch ground clearance promises capable performance off road, and it can tow everything most people could imagine they might need — 7,716 pounds' worth. It also has seating for as many as seven passengers, though most of them had better be fairly small in stature and girth. Land Rover has yet to master the principles of efficient use of interior space.
Land Rover slapped the name "Luxury" on the Discovery's model name, and it lives up to its billing. Here's the short list: leather upholstery, heated and ventilated front and second-row seats, heated third-row seat, power liftgate, power sunroof in front with rear panoramic roof, power front seats with massage, satellite radio and navigation system. Optional equipment — all standard in the "Luxury" edition — included adaptive cruise control, blind spot and reverse-traffic warning system, roof rails, surround camera and head-up display.
In HSE Luxury trim, the Discovery comes with Land Rover's Terrain Response 2, which enables the car to respond to conditions such as snow, sand, rocks, mud and gravel. The response can be automatic or directed by the driver.
It all adds up to a sticker price of $68,485. For the 2019 model year, the base Discovery starts at $52,300.
The Discovery, previously known as the LR4, can be equipped with a 340-horsepower turbocharged V-6 or the diesel. Land Rover offers three trim levels: SE, HSE and HSE Luxury.
Compared with earlier Discovery models and the LR4, the new Discovery is far more composed, efficient and maneuverable. It's also much more powerful and handles more competently.
Major competitors include the Audi Q5, BMW X3, Mercedes-Benz GLC and Volvo XC90. Japanese premium models, such as the Lexus RX350 and Infiniti QX50, offer high levels of luxury but cannot keep up with the Discovery off-road ... or in awful New England weather.
2018 Land Rover Discovery HSE Luxury
Engine: 3.0-liter V-6 diesel, 254 horsepower, 443 lb.-ft. torque
Drive: all-wheel
Weight: 4,916 lb.
Suspension: 4-wheel independent
Wheels: 21-in. 10-split-spoke style alloy
Luggage capacity: 9.1 cu. ft.
Maximum cargo capacity: 85 cu. ft.
Maximum towing capacity: 7,716 lb.
Fuel economy: 21 mpg city, 26 mpg highway
Steven Macoy (semacoy@gmail.com) is a longtime car enthusiast and full-time editor who lives in Bethel, Conn.


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Auctions April 14, 2020 <April 17, 2020
Sotheby's and Porsche will auction a rare 911 to fund Covid-19 relief
Porsche North America has decided to play its part in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic by partnering with RM Sotheby's to auction the last remaining serially-produced 991-generation 911. The proceeds from the sale will be donated to the United Way Worldwide's COVID-19 Community Response and Recovery Fund. If you're a Porsche fan like me, you'll know the importance and collectability value of the last 991-generation 911. However, it's no standard 911 Porsche is sending to the auction block; in fact, it's the final one of seventh-generation Porsche 911 Speedsters ever made. The fact that only 1948 examples of the limited edition sports car were built and the demand for it borders on absolute madness, the last remaining example is that much more special.
According to Porsche, the final 911 Speedster rolled off Porsche's assembly line in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen, Germany last year in December and was the last 991-gen 911 ever built. The limited-edition sports car is finished in GT Silver Metallic and features the Heritage Design package – an optional extra that pays tribute to the automaker's 70 years of racing heritage. The car has never been registered and only has 20 miles on the odometer. The 911 Speedster is essentially a GT3 without a roof and the massive wing at the back. It is powered by Porsche's glorious naturally aspirated 4.0-liter flat-six engine mated to a six-speed manual transmission, making it every Porsche enthusiast's dream machine. We expect the car to sell well above its original base price of $275,750.
[Via: Hypebeast]
Coronavirus, Porsche, Porsche-911, Sotheby's
Just 11 remain in the world – An ultra-rare first edition copy of the US constitution could fetch $20 million in auction.
2023 Porsche 911 Sport Classic is a retro-themed driver-focused sports car with 543 horsepower, RWD, and 7-speed manual transmission
Stranded in a $750 a night luxury resort in the Maldivies these Honeymooners are pertified of the rising bills
2022 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS is a no-compromise track monster powered by the new GT3's 9000rpm engine
Limited edition Porsche 911 GTS Club Coupe celebrates Porsche Club of America's 60th anniversary
Sotheby's Hong Kong lines up scintillating range for Magnificent Jewels and Jadeite Autumn Sale
Video – Tesla has made a prototype ventilator to fight coronavirus crisis built out of Model 3 parts
A new employee at the Lamborghini factory has singlehandedly caused a recall for 26 Aventador SVJs
Porsche Design introduces the Book One – A plush 2 in 1 Windows laptop
Previous articleTake a look at the exquisite Easter egg created by Rolls Royce and Russian jeweler Faberge
Next articleOn the first day of its reopening this single Hermès store in China clocked in $2.7 million in sales


If you catch an Exception (not a Throwable or Error), then re-throw after wrapping in some other exception (whose constructor takes Exception rather than Throwable), IG erroneously reports the error "'throw' inside 'catch' block which ignores the caught exception".
Sure, the JDK 1.4+ exception classes have wrapping ctors which take Throwable, but in practice one almost invariably catches checked exceptions (not Throwables), and wraps them in some application-specific runtime or checked exception. It is therefore natural to design such application-level exceptions to wrap other exceptions rather than throwables.
Good catch. I'll put in a fix in the next version.


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Inside Arts
Inside People
Under the looking glass
Antiques Roadshow to film at the Stanley Hotel this summer
Guest opinion: County-town joint planning
Jan. 10, 2020 editorial – Let's grow with new leadership
Guest editorial: Continue the IGA
Free Showing at Reel Mountain Theater of "Flight of the Butterflies"
Northern Colorado Economic Forecast
Glass slides featured at the Park Theatre will illustrate the presentation.
Kate Dahl will present about Hollywood in the 1920s.
This glass slide film advertisement is a part of the Estes Park Museum s permanent collection.
By Alicia Mittelman and Special to Trail Gazette |
This Saturday, Oct. 22, Kate Dahl, who served as the Estes Park Museum assistant over the summer, will speak about Hollywood and the American film industry in the 1920s. Dahl will illustrate her research using glass slide advertisements that are part of the museum's permanent collection. The free program at the museum begins at 7 p.m. No reservations are necessary.
Dahl will also discuss the early history of the Park Theatre in downtown Estes Park and its original owner, Walter Ralph Gwynn. The slides highlighted in the presentation were originally used in the 1920s to promote upcoming films at the Park Theatre and were obtained by the Estes Park Museum in 2001 by a family member of Gwynn. Following the lecture, guests are invited to stay for a free screening of the classic, 1925 silent film, "The Phantom of the Opera," starring Lon Chaney and Mary Philbin.
Dahl, of Des Moines, Iowa, joined the museum staff as a seasonal assistant in May, 2011. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in history, cum laude with honors from Drake University in Des Moines. She gained practical experience in the museum field at the Iowa State Historical Museum, also in Des Moines. Her family repeatedly visited the museums and historic sites in Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park during the summers when she was growing up. At the museum, she assisted with exhibit installation, scanned photographs and cataloged objects. Dahl completed her term in September but continues to volunteer and conduct research at the museum.
Through the month of October, the Estes Park Museum is open Monday through Saturday, from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m., and Sunday, from 1 until 5 p.m. Beginning on Nov. 1, the galleries will be open to the public Friday and Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m. The mission of the Estes Park Museum is to collect, interpret and preserve local history, as well as to present exhibits, programs and events for the education and benefit of residents and visitors of all ages. For more information, call the Estes Park Museum at (970) 586-6256 or visit the museum's website at estes.org/museum. Admission is free.
FDA gives Clovis' flagship drug priority review for prostate cancer tests
Inside Arts: Highland Music and Gifts
Final candidate presents in search for new Estes Park Health CEO
Book-a-Librarian: learn about eBooks and more
Wellness Guide 2019
Alicia Mittelman
Special to Trail Gazette
Video of the Week – Above the Clouds
Larimer County Clerk to speak to Rotary Club
Exhibición gratuita en el Teatro Reel Mountain de "Vuelo de las Mariposas" 12 de Enero a la 2 p.m.
Free Showing at Reel Mountain Theater of "Flight of the Butterflies" Jan. 12 at 1 p.m.
Prairie Mountain Media
Buffzone.com


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Many Service Workers Earn High Wages With High Skills
By James L. Tyson Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
The United States economy is creating a huge number of new service industry jobs, prompting many to see America slouching into the Information Age behind low-wage legions of burger flippers and mop pushers.
But the jarring image is illusory. Today, many new service jobs are well-paying and white collar.
In May, the service industry ballooned by 181,000 jobs, fueling 52 percent of a large rise in the nation's nonfarm payroll, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. Many new jobs are in engineering, finance, accounting, and computers and data processing, paying above average wages. Companies are creating the high-wage, high-skill jobs even as they aggressively downsize and cut traditional lesser-skill positions.
Since January 1993, the Clinton administration likes to note, jobs have risen in both quantity (9.7 million) and quality. Between February 1994 and February 1996, two-thirds of the net growth in full-time employment was in industries paying more than the median wage, according to an April report by the Council of Economic Advisers.
The trend has caught many analysts by surprise. "This is not at all what people think of when they see employment reports," says Daniel Bachman, a forecaster with the WEFA Group, a consulting group in Eddystone, Penn.
"Wall Street looks at employment by industry rather than by occupation. So when they see a big jump in service sector jobs, they say those are hamburger-flipper jobs. But they're not," says Mr. Bachman. "Service sector employment includes a lot of professional employment, and that is where the job growth is."
The 5.6 percent May unemployment rate is good election year news for President Clinton. Despite signs of greater consumer spending, there is little indication of a sustained rise in inflationary pressures, according to many economists. Unemployment will have to linger well below 5.5 percent before it exerts an upward pressure on wages, WEFA estimates.
Consequently, the "misery index," or the sum of the inflation and unemployment rates, is the lowest in more than two decades. It should remain flat at least until after the November elections, say economists.
Still, features of the job market stir some public discontent. Among large firms, employment is very volatile and getting more so. Corporations continue to downsize even as they step up hiring. At many firms job "churning" - the proportion of workers coming in and going out - is the highest on record, say job market analysts.
Companies belonging to the National Federation of Independent Businesses last month went on a hiring binge. A record high percentage of the firms indicated in a poll released Friday they were unable to fill at least one opening.
Companies are sloughing off old sluggard divisions tied to passe technology and traditional management techniques, and launching divisions attuned to new technology and trendy board room buzzwords like empowerment, core competency, and flexible management.
For example, Xerox Corp. has shown 12,400 employees the door since 1993, especially targeting middle managers. During just the first quarter of this year, however, the company hired 1,200 workers while laying off 400 others, says Judd Everhart, spokesman for Xerox in Stamford, Conn.
"The amount of concurrent hiring in companies that are cutting jobs is becoming stronger and stronger," says Eric Rolfe Greenberg, director of management studies at the American Management Association in New York.
"Four of the top six companies in terms of layoffs in the 1990s came out with significant new hiring plans in 1996 ... hiring in new growth areas," says John Challenger, executive vice president of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, an outplacement firm in Chicago. "At the same time, downsizing is not diminishing and so overall job churning has intensified."
Still, job opportunities today differ widely across skill and income levels. The national job market resembles an hourglass: broad opportunities for the well-educated and highly skilled; comparatively few openings for semiskilled workers in traditional industry; and ample jobs for lesser skilled, low- or minimum-wage workers.
"There is a little bit of tightness at the lower part of the income scale, then a lot of slack in the middle, then as you get up toward the professional occupations you have some real tightness in many areas," says Bachman.
Sears, Roebuck and Co., the grande dame of retailing, epitomizes the shifts. In a desperate effort to stem decline, Sears in 1993 shut down 113 stores and wiped out 50,000 jobs, including the entire 20,000 member staff in its old signature catalogue business.
Retail profits in 1995 swelled almost 20 percent to more than $1 billion. And this year Sears has begun to hire in a big way. It plans to build from 275 to 325 new "off-the-mall" stores, including those specializing in hardware and home furniture and "dealer" stores in small towns selling hardware, appliances, and electronics. Sears will hire thousands of low-paid sales people, but also many workers that are highly skilled and highly paid.
Could a $15 minimum wage make sense for Oregon?
Federal Reserve: better wages, low unemployment fueling US economic growth
Portland gave its minimum wage workers a raise. Here's what happened next.


text:
Advice To The Players
About Our Name
The Arts Center
The Concerts Series
The Studio Series
Open Mic Nights
In-School Workshops
Opera fan? After you catch our production of Shakespeare's Macbeth this weekend, consider attending a showing of a filmed performance of Verdi's operatic adaptation, at the Arts Center at 12 Main, Wednesday, March 29th, 6:30pm. Details.
Witches. Prophecy. Ambition. Murder. Madness. Death.
Since 1606 William Shakespeare's tragedy of political ambition gone disastrously wrong has proved relevant to each successive generation. What reward is worth committing the darkest of deeds & endangering one's own humanity?
This production will explore this question while giving free reign to the magical & terrible elements of the most famous supernatural play in the English language. Our stripped-down, minimalist aesthetic will bring the powerful language to the fore, and allow the true magic of theatre to transport you into the play, without the necessity for illusion.
This production will run approximately 90 minutes with a 15 minute intermission. Refreshments will be made available for a donation.
March 24-26, March 31, April 1-2
at the Sandwich Town Hall Theatre
8 Maple Street, Center Sandwich NH
April 7-9
at M&D Playhouse, 1857 White Mountain Hwy
North Conway, NH 03860
Fridays & Saturday, 7:30pm, Sundays, 2:00pm
School matinees also available for booking —
email jessie@advicetotheplayers.org for details!
Support Shakespeare in nh
As a non-profit, we rely on the generous support of our patrons in order to offer and expand our award-winning programs, including classes, workshops, and Summer camps, as well as full-scale professional productions of Shakespeare's plays.
Please consider a donation, or join our organization as a volunteer!
©2017 Advice To The Players. All Photography by DFD Photography, Monika O'Clair Photography, and Diana Evans.
Advice To The Players is a unique company of theater professionals, enthusiastic community members and energetic teens that has been performing Shakespeare and offering workshops in New Hampshire's Lakes and Mountains Region since 1999.
Advice To The Players is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit committed to arts, education and community engagement.
contact@advicetotheplayers.org
PO Box 38, Center Sandwich, NH 03227


Almost twenty years after the accident, the 1981 Royal Commission of Inquiry Report in to the flight TE901 was finally accepted and recognised as an official report into the disaster. The Mahon Report was tabled in the NZ Parliament on August 25, 1999.
NZ Herald, 28 August 1999.


Having faced and often successfully overcome environmental, economic and social crises, industrial legacy cities are experts in creating their own resurgence and turning challenges into opportunities. The Urban Transitions Forum will feature experiences and best practices from the Urban Transitions Alliance member cities.
On Wednesday 20 June 2018, from 11am to 12:30, a high-level forum saw the Mayors of the Alliance cities officially open the Urban Transitions Forum at the ICLEI World Congress. They demonstrated the power of industrial legacy cities as drivers of ambitious local action with a joint declaration to collaborate and make the Sustainable Development Goals the guiding principle for their transition to sustainability.
Throughout the Congress, dedicated Implementers' sessions discussed strategies and new pathways towards a sustainable future focusing on the topics of energy, mobility, infrastructure and social transitions.


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The Southern Agenda: August/September 2019
Goings-on in the South and beyond
Tim Bower
Here's the Scoop
Don't ignore vanilla, says the renowned Savannah ice cream maker Stratton Leopold. "I like vanilla a lot because that's how you tell quality," he says, explaining how a plain-flavored scoop reveals much about the craftsmanship and ingredient integrity of the rest of a shop's flavors. Leopold's Ice Cream, celebrating its one hundredth birthday this year (Leopold's father and uncles opened the shop in 1919), sells plenty of its creamy, classic vanilla. That beloved basic recipe has been the foundation for Leopold's expansion over the decades, from the "probably ten or twelve flavors we had when I was a child," Leopold says. Now, more than a hundred rotating flavors are all made in-house—many with ingredients from the Peach State. The songwriter Johnny Mercer loved Tutti Frutti, a rum-based treat studded with candied fruit and roasted Georgia pecans, and other fan favorites include honey almond and cream (made with Savannah Bee Company honey) and chocolate Chewies and cream (incorporating cookies baked with the local Gottlieb's Bakery recipe). To mark the milestone, a Birthday Block Party (August 17) will take over downtown's Broughton Street with a marching band, perhaps a celebrity or two (Leopold, in his spare time, is a movie producer, with such credits as Mission: Impossible III and The Sum of All Fears), and plenty of one-dollar ice cream scoops. What will you find Leopold himself enjoying that day? "It depends," he says. "I like caramel swirl. I like butter pecan. I just like ice cream—and I eat it all." leopoldsicecream.com
Root of the Loom
Care is sewn into every shirt, dress, and scarf Natalie Chanin designs. The founder of the Florence clothing company Alabama Chanin employs locals to hand stitch each item—and she has recently been making a place for thoughtfully produced Southern food, too. Three to five times a year, Alabama Chanin hosts the Friends of the Café dinner series at the factory's café and invites Southern chefs to showcase their hometowns' cuisines. The dinners, which have been prepared by the likes of Chapel Hill's Bill Smith, Atlanta's Steven Satterfield, and New Orleans' Rebecca Wilcomb, benefit the Southern Foodways Alliance, the inspiration behind Chanin's own nonprofit, Project Threadways, which compiles oral histories from Southern textile-industry workers. "We're striving to elevate both textiles and food," she says. "These are living arts." On August 22, chef Cheetie Kumar steps up to the plate, feeding guests the Southern-tinged Indian food she serves at her Raleigh restaurant, Garland—tandoori chicken kabobs, lemongrass steak ssäm, and corn cakes with long-simmered greens. alabamachanin.com
Dinner for a Song
If your experience of music-festival food hasn't gotten much further than corn dogs and chicken fingers, the Fayetteville Roots Festival (August 22–25) wants to expand your tastes. Yes, the musical lineup is spectacular—Mavis Staples, St. Paul & the Broken Bones, and Rhiannon Giddens—but the culinary roster deserves a spotlight of its own. Start with a dinner at the Hive, the realm of chef Matthew McClure, James Beard Award semifinalist and local dining darling; chase it with a fifty-chef tasting spectacular that includes Atlanta's Asha Gomez where lamb prosciutto, black garlic salami, 'nduja, and other locally raised meats will be served alongside best-of-the-Ozarks produce. "It's so cool bringing in people like Asha Gomez and showing how she does Southern food with a Southern Indian palate," says Jerrmy Gawthrop, the festival's culinary director. "We're treating chefs like rock stars. We give them a culinary stage and let them perform." therootsfest.org
Best of all Worlds
It might surprise Southerners to know that the most magical place on earth can also sprinkle fairy dust on libations and haute cuisine. Walt Disney World's Epcot International Food & Wine Festival draws big-name culinary talent to Orlando each year, including Carla Hall, the Nashville native and television personality; Andrew Zimmern of Bizarre Foods; and the Food Network's first female Iron Chef, Cat Cora, who hails from Jackson, Mississippi. Specialty events based on the theme park's international pavilions include a six-course Tuscan wine luncheon at the Tutto Gusto Wine Cellar and a French Family Meal at Monsieur Paul, the celebrated French chef Paul Bocuse's Epcot restaurant. Hall will play host at the Sunday Brunch with a Chef series on September 8, when she'll serve butter croissant bread pudding with apples and salted citrus honey while answering questions about how to make the dish. Interacting with diners is her favorite part. "It lets me take the intimidation out of a recipe," she says. "I can focus on the guests and walk them through what they are enjoying." Eat, drink, and stick around for the Southern music—on September 16 and 17, the Eat to the Beat Concert Series features the Allman Betts Band. disneyworld.disney.go.com
A "railbird" is a spectator at a horse race so enthralled that he or she hangs on the railing to get as close as possible to the hoofbeats and the flying dust. Although Thoroughbreds won't be racing at Lexington's Keeneland on August 10 and 11, the facility expects plenty of crazed fans at the inaugural Railbird Festival, a celebration of all things music, equestrian, bluegrass, and bourbon. While it might be hard for festivalgoers to peel themselves away from sets by Brandi Carlile, Lucinda Williams, Robert Earl Keen, and Mandolin Orange, the Rickhouse bourbon tasting event in the Keene Barn is an enticing pull. There, single-barrels from Four Roses, Old Forester, Buffalo Trace, Old Weller Antique 107, Pinhook, and Blanton's will be served in cocktails or straight-up flights. "We're getting exclusive releases from great Kentucky distilleries and showing them off here first," says AJ Hochhalter, who is part of the team lining up the bourbon selection. railbirdfest.com
Kitchen Prep-School
"New Orleans has been a culinary leader for three hundred years, and we can't stop now," says Ti Martin, co-proprietor of Commander's Palace and a member of one of the greatest restaurant dynasties in America. "But we were a little like a gap-toothed kid. We were missing something." The brand-new New Orleans Culinary & Hospitality Institute (NOCHI), which she cofounded, aims to fill the void. Six years in the making, the ninety-three-thousand-square-foot facility just celebrated the graduation of its first nineteen students from a twenty-week curriculum designed to fast-track aspiring chefs and restaurateurs on the way to their food-and-bev-industry dreams. NOCHI's abbreviated course structure awards culinary and baking and pastry arts certificates for $15,000—a more approachable tuition than that of many two-year institutes. But even for home cooks, NOCHI is a wish granted. Enthusiast Courses let wanna-be Emerils in the door. "Locals were demanding access," Martin says. Not to mention tourists. "The number-one thing people want to do when they come to New Orleans is take a cooking class," she adds. Upcoming laymen's courses will cover proper seasoning techniques with Tory McPhail of Commander's Palace; breakfast with Turkey & the Wolf's Mason Hereford; and vegetable wisdom from Kristen Essig and Mike Stoltzfus of Coquette and the new restaurant Thalia. The best part, according to Martin: "We get to eat our homework." nochi.org
During Maryland's peach season, from late June through September, baker Al Meckel will sell nearly a thousand rectangular "slabs" of his peach cake a week. To meet the demand, he rises at 1:00 a.m. and walks down the block to his Fenwick Bakery in Baltimore. There, he slices peaches from some of the twenty crates of fruit he uses to bake each week. By the time he pulls the first sheet pan out of the oven, customers are already waiting outside, lined up for the yeasted cake topped with quartered peaches and sprinkled with brown sugar and lemon. "If you get to the bakery after three or four in the afternoon, we'll probably be sold out," Meckel says. Although the exact origin of the Baltimore staple is, shall we say, fuzzy, the Bavarian-style cake is rooted in the region's German population, and local bakeries have turned it out for more than a century—most famously Fenwick, which opened as E. Uebersax Bakery in 1913. There's something about the peach cakes that's both wonderfully nostalgic and still relevant, Meckel says. "I just wish you could can that sweet fruit-and-dough aroma to have as an air freshener all year long." fenwickbakery.com
Got You Covered
The familiar sight of a Waffle House is a welcome refuge for weary travelers. From its all-day hours to the top-as-you-please hash browns, the diner chain is synonymous with reliability. Now, a new generation of Waffle Houses takes that reputation a step further. Waffle House #2314, at 618 Beach Boulevard in coastal Biloxi, was built to a hurricane-resistant code and is the first-ever Waffle House perched atop flood-ready stilts. "It's a bit of an urban legend that we stay open during a hurricane, but we do work to reopen as quickly as possible," says Pat Warner, the company's director of external affairs. "If we can be there for our customers in the immediate aftermath of a storm, there's a feeling that the community made it through and is coming back." New structures in hurricane zones will be designed to local codes, most with elevated brick foundations and reinforced windows to withstand nature's harshest conditions. "We have folks who tell us Waffle House was the first place they could charge their phone after Katrina, or where they got their first hot meal after Hugo," Warner says. Regulars and out-of-town guests at the new outlet can savor their breakfasts with a bird's-eye view of the Gulf of Mexico, knowing that if waters rise, the glowing yellow box intends to remain a calm spot in the storm. wafflehouse.com
In traditional Appalachian cuisine, no two chowchow recipes are alike, but they all serve the same purpose: preserving summer produce in a tangy relish to brighten dishes come winter. With that Blue Ridge ritual in mind, the first Chow Chow festival (September 12–15), directed by a who's who of beloved local chefs including Cúrate's Katie Button and Rhubarb's John Fleer, proudly celebrates Asheville's burgeoning dining scene and the way it honors the Appalachian South. Standout events include a walking-and-eating tour of the historic African American neighborhood near the new Foundry Hotel, a behind-the-garden-gates frolic through the Biltmore Estate's farm and vineyard, and Forage + Feast, a tour on which participants gather mushrooms and sassafras from the lush woods around Warren Wilson College before chefs and guests prepare the bounty. True to Asheville's beloved arts scene, culinary excellence and craft are intertwined throughout the festival. On Saturday night, Meherwan Irani of the heralded Chai Pani and the artisans of East Fork Pottery serve a supper of dishes cooked in clay pots. "We're passionate about supporting local makers," says Peter Pollay, who serves on the festival's board of directors and owns the popular downtown restaurant Posana. "We want to showcase everything it takes to get food to the table—including the table itself." exploreasheville.com
RESTAURANT TOUR
Winner, Winner…
The sound of "Hello, chicken-fry!" shouted from the kitchen means you're in the right place: Nelson's Buffeteria in Tulsa, where cooks have been chicken-frying steaks for ninety years. To regulars, the phrase means one thing—a tenderized bottom round that's seasoned, breaded, and deep-fried to perfection and will set you back all of $10.69. In Oklahoma, chicken-fried steak is an art passed down from grandfather to grandson, mother to daughter. Melissa Clanton-Patrick, the fourth-generation owner of another popular spot, Clanton's Cafe in Vinita, learned her family's recipe as a child. Grant "Sweet Tater" Clanton, Melissa's great-grandfather, started the restaurant in 1927. According to family lore, Sweet Tater's advertising campaign involved banging a pot with a spoon to announce that lunch was ready. Today "we sell fifty thousand chicken-fried steaks a year," says Clanton-Patrick. "God knows how many cattle we've gone through." They're counting contestants, not cows, at Kendall's Restaurant in Noble, home of the Chicken Fry Challenge. Thirty-five bucks gets you a shot at notoriety if, in less than an hour, you can down a salad, mashed potatoes, green beans, a biscuit, three chicken-fried steaks, and a pair of cinnamon rolls. In nineteen years, fifty winners have earned a free meal and a commemorative T-shirt. Losers still come out ahead, though—they get a big meal, a to-go box, and a cup that reads "Quitter." travelok.com
Elevated Eats
On the last day of Greenville's Euphoria festival (September 19–22), four aspiring cooks between the ages of eight and eighteen will make dishes onstage with visiting Michelin-starred chefs serving as their assistants. The winning team's recipe earns a place in the Greenville County school system's lunch-menu rotation. That's just one of the ways Euphoria is making a lasting impression on the Piedmont town. "When Euphoria began fourteen years ago, Greenville wasn't even close to being considered a foodie city," says Morgan Allen, the festival's executive director. "Now we're finding our identity." The four-day celebration includes a barbecue brunch, a veggies-only
dinner, a class on making ice cream, a history lesson on whiskey old-fashioneds, a rosé tasting, and even a fais-dodo (a Cajun feast and dance party) with New Orleans chef Alex Harrell. In-the-know attendees will clear their schedules for the dinners from Michelle Rodriguez of Del Posto in Chicago and Teague Moriarty of San Francisco's Sons & Daughters. euphoriagreenville.com
Three to Get Ready
Chef Ford Fry's empire stretches over sixteen restaurants in three states, including JCT Kitchen in Atlanta, State of Grace in Houston, and four Superica spots spanning the South. And the busy chef isn't slowing down. In September, he'll plant his flag in Nashville's Germantown neighborhood, inside a twenty-thousand-square-foot former hammer mill along the Cumberland River. "What attracted me initially was preserving this old building," Fry says. "And to draw people over there, I thought having a few options would be nice." So he dreamed up three: Le Loup, an upscale cocktail bar with "loungy, leathery, funky vibes," Star Rover Sound, a taqueria and live-music venue designed to feel like an old recording studio, and the Optimist, a new version of his Atlanta seafood restaurant of the same name. While the Nashville Optimist will serve lobster rolls, crudo, and seafood gumbo as does the Atlanta iteration, the new space will be larger and sprawl across a dining room, a bar, and multiple patios. Fry also plans to open a fifth Superica, his Austin-style Tex-Mex restaurant, in Nashville's Gulch neighborhood this summer. Of all the Southern cities Fry could have chosen to make his next mark, Music City was a natural pick. "I love the combination of food and music, and all the chef friends of mine in Nashville are so cool and laid-back," he says. "I wanted any reason to go to Nashville more." fordfry.com
Fry-way to Heaven
When Jimmy James suggested to his boss, Christi Erpillo, that she deep-fry peaches for the State Fair of Texas's Big Tex Choice Awards in 2009, she had her doubts. Erpillo, the chief frying officer of the Fernie's Funnel Cakes concession stand that her mother owns, takes this annual food fight in Dallas seriously. The contest, which sees fifty entrants test the culinary and caloric limits of fairgoers, can result in a huge windfall when runners-up and winners serve their entries for the duration of the fair, which draws 2.3 million attendees annually (this year, September 27–October 20). Winning bites and drinks such as the Gulf Coast Fish Bowl—a punch drink filled with Nerds and Swedish Fish candies—and the unforgettable fried Jell-O have been blockbuster hits in years past. So it took some convincing to get Erpillo on board with a fresh fruit concoction. "I said, 'Jimmy, I've never fried a peach before, but I'll try it,'" she recalls. Erpillo and James coated peaches in a cinnamon, ginger, and coconut tempura batter, dipped them in panko and graham cracker crumbs, fried them, and won the Best Taste award. Coincidentally, that was the same year Oprah Winfrey paid a visit to the fair. "So Jimmy got a raise," Erpillo says, "and Jimmy got to meet Oprah." bigtex.com
Grape Timing
While her friends were spending summer days at the swimming pool, young Caitlin Horton was picking grapes and learning about vintages from her grandfather, the Virginia wine legend Dennis Horton. "It was definitely a different way to grow up," says Horton, who, alongside her mother and grandmother, runs Horton Vineyards in Gordonsville. The winery is celebrating thirty years of business, and this spring, Horton's 2016 Petit Manseng won the coveted Governor's Cup, the highest honor for Virginia wine. The family's success is built on the legacy of Dennis, who passed away last year. In the early nineties, he drew attention to Virginia wine by introducing grape varietals—Petit Manseng, Albarino, and Viognier, which went on to become the state's official and most sought-after white grape—that are now essential to the Commonwealth's nearly three hundred vineyards. Tucked away in the central Virginia hills, Horton is near other award-winning family-run vineyards such as Barboursville and Veritas. "The industry is growing exponentially, and we're in a pretty cool little pocket," Horton says. Now is the time for a tasting tour, as harvest season ramps up in early fall. "The leaves start to change, and people gravitate toward the mountains," she says. virginiawine.org
Smoke Scene
It looks like a hot dog, but don't be confused—a half-smoke is an entirely original tube of meat. The work of D.C.'s Ben Ali—a Trinidadian immigrant who opened Ben's Chili Bowl on U Street in 1958—the sausage quickly became a capital city staple, and in 2004, the James Beard Foundation recognized Ben's as an "America's Classic" restaurant. His recipe is an American standard with a twist: a half pork, half beef smoked sausage, and it's still the trademark dish of Washington, says Vida Ali, the wife of Ben's son Sage (the restaurant remains a family business). A half-smoke rests in a bun and comes topped with mustard, diced onions, and Ben's secret-recipe spicy homemade chili. And, of course, that's the way competitors are expected to eat the franks when they vie for the chance to be named Half-Smoke Champion at the H Street Festival, in front of the second location of Ben's, on September 21. Contestants must consume as many half-smokes as possible in two minutes—in the three years the challenge has been held, no one has inhaled more than six. benschilibowl.com
As Spam is to Hawaii, soft yeast rolls baked around pepperoni are to West Virginia. The pepperoni roll first appeared in the early twentieth century in coal country when Italian American miners' wives packed the calorie-loaded meal for their husbands' lunch breaks. They are still a favorite of West Virginians and are widely celebrated enough that when a Morgantown musician named R.J. Nestor wrote a musical about the state's history, he organized the Great Pepperoni Roll Cookoff to pay for it. "What better way to fund a show about West Virginia history than with a delicacy that's so West Virginia?" Nestor asks. Now Golden Horseshoe tours for two weeks each fall, showcasing Mountain State history for twenty thousand students. The daylong Cookoff (August 11) at the Morgantown Farmers Market continues to support the show. Vendors serve hundreds of hungry fans and compete for People's Choice, Most Original (one year a cook fried doughnuts with pepperoni-studded batter), Most Traditional (no sauce), and Best Overall awards. The ten-dollar entry fee covers samples from area restaurants, home cooks' kitchens, food stands, and other local spots. "A gas station five minutes from my house has won the competition twice," Nestor boasts. tourmorgantown.com
—Kinsey Gidick, Caroline Sanders, and Abigail Tierney
A Southern Small-Town Comeback
How one inventive boutique helped revive tiny St. Joseph, Louisiana
A Timeline of Modern Grits History
Grits are a mainstay in Southern cuisine, and over the decades, they've also been an important part of Southern pop culture. Here, eight great grits highlights
Meet "the Tiger," Clemson's Mascot
The Clemson mascot chats teams, tigers, and traditions


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Q: how to move a block or column of text I have the following text as a simple case:
...
abc xxx 123 456
wer xxx 345 678676
...

what I need to move a block of text xxx to another location:
...
abc 123 xxx 456
wer 345 xxx 678676
...

I think I use visual mode to block a column of text, what are the other commands to move the block to another location?

A: *

*In VIM, press Ctrl+V to go in Visual Block mode

*Select the required columns with your arrow keys and press x to cut them in the buffer.

*Move cursor to row 1 column 9 and press P (thats capital P) in command mode.

*Press Ctrl+Shift+b to get in and out of it.
(source)

A: You should use blockwise visual mode (Ctrl+v).
Then d to delete block, p or P to paste block.

A: Try the link.

Marking text (visual mode)

*

*v - start visual mode, mark lines, then do command (such as y-yank)

*V - start Linewise visual mode

*o - move to other end of marked area

*Ctrl+v - start visual block mode

*O - move to Other corner of block

*aw - mark a word

*ab - a () block (with braces)

*aB - a {} block (with brackets)

*ib - inner () block

*iB - inner {} block

*Esc - exit visual mode

Visual commands

*

*> - shift right

*< - shift left

*y - yank (copy) marked text

*d - delete marked text

*~ - switch case

Cut and Paste

*

*yy - yank (copy) a line

*2yy - yank 2 lines

*yw - yank word

*y$ - yank to end of line

*p - put (paste) the clipboard after cursor

*P - put (paste) before cursor

*dd - delete (cut) a line

*dw - delete (cut) the current word

*x - delete (cut) current character

A: One of the few useful command I learned at the beginning of learning VIM is
:1,3 mo 5
This means move text line 1 through 3 to line 5.

A: Using an external command "awk".
%!awk '{print $1,$3,$2,$4}' test.txt

With pure vim
:%s,\v(\w+) (\w+) (\w+) (\w+),\1 \3 \2 \4,g

Another vim solution using global command
:g/./normal wdwwP

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


This is a special sculpture in rock and roll style where a music instrument player of a band is seem to be playing guitar. This statuette is made by our experienced artist and applied high quality baking paint on the surface so that paint won't fade nor peel off. Best suited for bedroom, study room, living room decoration etc.


text:
Labs urge HHS to back new regulatory regime for diagnostic tests
Courtesy of Quest Diagnostics
A trade group representing laboratories including LabCorp and Quest on Friday asked the Biden administration to support legislation to establish a new framework for regulating clinical laboratory diagnostics, including lab developed tests.
The request, from the American Clinical Laboratory Association, comes after U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) last week reintroduced a bill that would place authority over all aspects of laboratory developed testing procedures with HHS rather than FDA. ACLA did not endorse specific legislation.
In a letter to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, ACLA argued that laboratories are already subject to extensive regulation under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 as well as state laws and urged HHS to avoid implementing "inappropriate and counterproductive regulation of LDTs as medical devices."
The COVID-19 pandemic rekindled a long-running debate over whether FDA should regulate lab developed tests, which are designed, manufactured and performed within a single laboratory. HHS caught the industry off guard last summer when it announced that FDA would allow LDTs, including COVID-19 tests, to be distributed without first undergoing a premarket review.
The policy shift under the Trump administration drew widespread criticism, including from Scott Gottlieb, who served as FDA commissioner under the former president. FDA oversight of LDTs is an established policy reinforced by numerous guidance documents, Gottlieb said at the time. The agency has long held that the tests are devices under its authority granted by the Medical Devices Amendments of 1976.
In its letter to HHS, ACLA said the unexpected policy change by HHS in August created confusion and was disruptive for labs working around the clock to develop and perform COVID-19 tests in the emergency response to the pandemic. But ACLA reiterated its position that FDA does not have statutory authority to regulate LDTs as medical devices under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.
The group urged the Biden administration to consider the input and expertise of the laboratory community before potentially resetting regulatory expectations again, which it said could hurt efforts to provide accurate and reliable COVID-19 tests and undermine the role of LDTs in other areas such as precision medicine.
ACLA said it is looking to work with HHS to advance legislation specifically for the oversight of diagnostics. A new regulatory system for diagnostic tests should avoid application of the current medical devices framework, address differences between In vitro diagnostics and LDTs, and acknowledge that laboratories are already subject to extensive regulation under CLIA and state law, the group said.
"For several years, ACLA has been actively engaging with Congress, FDA and the stakeholder community to develop and improve legislative proposals for a new statutory framework for diagnostic regulation, including the VALID Act," states the group's letter to HHS.
Prior to the HHS policy change in August, Congress had been working on the regulation of LDTs. The Verifying Accurate, Leading-edge IVCT Development (VALID) Act introduced in March 2020 in both the House and Senate creates a new test product category — in vitro clinical tests, which includes lab developed tests — while giving FDA authority to review and approve IVCTs.
ACLA argues that the level of regulatory oversight should reflect the risk that a test may present, and the legislation should include transition and grandfathering provisions for existing diagnostic tests. The legislation also should require FDA to incorporate notices and comments when implementing the new system.
"With your support, we believe that a legislative solution will lead to regulatory certainty and help laboratories continue to meet the needs of our healthcare system before, during and after public health emergencies," the group stated.
In reintroducing the Verified Innovative Testing in American Laboratories (VITAL) Act, Paul said his bill aims to remove unnecessary barriers that have "drastically slowed" the response to the pandemic. "When we face a health emergency, government should trust academic, community and public health labs to do what they are already trained and certified to do," said Paul.
The bill is supported by the Association for Molecular Pathology and the Association of Pathology Chairs.
Regulatory Disruption of the Year: HHS lab developed test policy By Greg Slabodkin • Dec. 9, 2020
Filed Under: Policy & Regulation, Diagnostics


This is not a collection of subjective, theoretical essays on the science of interpretation; rather, these essays target issues of practical--and sometimes critical--concern to Evangelicals, Pentecostals, and anyone interested in letting the Bible speak to today's situation. Fee brings to the task what he himself advocates: common sense and dedication to Scripture. Readers already familiar with some of these essays, like "Hermeneutics and Common Sense: An Exploratory Essay on the Hermeneutics of the Epistles," will welcome its reappearance. Others will appreciate the challenge of essays such as "The Great Watershed--Intentionality and Particularity/Eternality: 1 Timothy 2:8-15 as a Test Case"--an essay defending the role of women in ministry--or "Hermeneutics and Historical Precedent--A Major Issue in Pentecostal Hermeneutics." Anyone wanting to wrestle with key issues in New Testament interpretation will want to read this book.
Although my professional labors have primarily been in New Testament textual criticism and exegesis, hermeneutics has been my life-long passion. By hermeneutics I refer to the questions of the application of biblical texts—theologically and practically—to the life of the church and the individual. Since all hermeneutics is done within some frame of reference (see chapter 5), it is only fitting that I should herewith set forth the frame of reference and therefore the urgencies (even the casual reader will recognize that certain issues predominate) that both called forth these various essays in the first place and bring me now to gather them for publication in a single volume.
The twin focus in the title of this book indicates the context from within which these various essays emerged. As a New Testament scholar, born and raised in the Pentecostal tradition, I have spent nearly my whole adult life teaching and writing in the larger context of North American evangelicalism.
Although these two traditions have much in common, they also have some crucial points of differentiation. Therefore, even though I have lived through the years as a happy member of both traditions, at the same time it has been a situation not without tensions—in three directions.
First, there are the tensions that exist for me within my own historic tradition, the Assemblies of God (US). Here the tension—from my youth—has been between heart and head. My own experience of church and Spirit convinced me of the basic rightness of Pentecostalism's emphasis on the experienced, empowering work of the Spirit, including the ongoing manifestations of the various spiritual gifts. I am a member of this tradition first by birth and experience, and now by choice.
But as a New Testament scholar, even though convinced of the basic rightness of Pentecostalism's historic concerns, I realized our articulation of those concerns left much to be desired hermeneutically. We tended to argue on the basis of historical precedent what we disallowed to others on the same basis. Indeed, I think it is fair to say that this tradition has lacked both hermeneutical sophistication and consistency. On the one hand, we adopted a hermeneutical stance that seemed perfectly evident to us—and therefore should be to others; hence, one can find very little in the early literature of this movement that either articulates or defends its particular kind of restorationist hermeneutics. But the basic problem with all such restorationist hermeneutics, of course, is consistency. Based on all kinds of cultural and experiential factors, various restorationists pick and choose on the basis of their own sets of concerns.
So for me, one of the abiding hermeneutical issues has been to find ways to articulate the validity of Pentecostal experience, but to do so in a way that seems to me more consistently biblical. Thus, I am partly concerned in these essays to articulate a hermeneutics of the Pentecostal experience for Pentecostals themselves in terms that are more consonant with the biblical documents, but I hope to do this in ways that will also be more viable hermeneutically in the larger Christian community. These urgencies find their expression in the three essays in chapters 6–8 of the present volume. Chapter 6 was originally prepared for the 1972 annual meeting of the Society for Pentecostal Studies. This was my initial probe at trying to find a better way to deal with the question of historical precedent. In revised form, much of this material became part of chapter 6 in How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth (with Douglas Stuart; Zondervan, 1982). Likewise, chapter 7 was prepared for the 1984 meeting of the SPS. The program committee that year, of which I was a member, chose to solicit papers on various issues surrounding the Pentecostal understanding of the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Since I had already hinted at some things on the issue of separability and subsequence, I volunteered to read a paper on that issue. Since these papers in particular invited dialogue within the tradition, I have taken the opportunity of this publication to continue that dialogue—in the form of a postscript to chapter 6.
I should also add here, that although chapter 8 was not written within the context of Pentecostal concerns, I have included it here partly because the urgencies of the original essay were so clearly hermeneutical, but partly also because here is an area where I am convinced the present generation of Pentecostals has almost altogether abandoned its historic roots. Both by experience and by disposition the earliest Pentecostals were a lay movement, where there was little interest in clergy and all were called brother and sister. At the same time, there were a large number of women who had been ordained for ministry. But in three generations of the Assemblies of God, I have watched all of that change. When the Pentecostals joined the National Association of Evangelicals, an erosion took place in the area of church and ministry that is bidding fair to destroy the very thing that God the Holy Spirit created in the first place. Despite protests to the contrary, we are now de facto a denomination of clerics, second only to Roman Catholicism; and, unfortunately, we have become a denomination of white, male clerics. Although I have little hope that one voice can stem this overwhelming tide, I include this essay because it expresses the convictions not only of a New Testament scholar, but of a Pentecostal who bemoans the dissolution of the restoration on this very crucial theological issue. For some, this essay may seem to have a dimension of clergy bashing to it; if so, it probably gives expression to my own deeply populist roots, which I am convinced in this case are also the roots of the New Testament church.
Second, being a Pentecostal within the larger framework of North American evangelicalism has also brought tensions from this side as well. Whereas for the most part there has been a genuine, if not at times wondering, acceptance of this strange oxymoron among us —a Pentecostal New Testament scholar is considered by many a contradiction in terms—there are others for whom such a person is something of an anathema. This has been especially true of many within the Dispensationalist and Reformed traditions. Since I find the hermeneutics of these traditions on the matters of Spirit and women in ministry to be particularly full of inconsistencies—not to mention resulting in some less than satisfactory exegesis—it will not take long for those reading these essays to recognize that I am wont to address these inconsistencies on a regular basis. Although these urgencies find their moments throughout, they are addressed more particularly in chapters 3, 4, and 5.
Finally, as a member of the teaching faculty at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary for twelve years (1974–1986), I found myself thrown into a set of controversies for which as a Pentecostal I had felt no special passion, namely, the issues of inerrancy and women in ministry. It did not take long, however, to recognize that in the minds of many these were related issues, i.e., for some inerrancy carried with it a kind of hermeneutics that disallowed women to minister—or at least to hold office —in the church. Since theologically and experientially I was an outsider to these controversies, yet since it became abundantly clear that they bid fair to tamper with my own Pentecostal tradition—negatively from my point of view—I found myself driven with great urgency to give expression to an evangelical hermeneutics that was both faithful to a deep conviction as to the revelatory character of God's word and at the same time consistent with my own understanding of the gospel and life in the Spirit. It seems to me that evangelicalism has a particularly difficult task hermeneutically—to steer between the Scylla and Charybdis of fundamentalism and liberalism, which are not so much pejorative terms as terms descriptive of positions on either side relative to Scripture from which evangelicals are self-consciously distinct. The results of these concerns are found in chapters 1–5.
Since chapters 2–5 formed part of a series of lectures (noted below), a further word of explanation about chapter 1 might be useful. This essay arose out of an internal struggle at Gordon-Conwell over the appearance of Harold Lindsell's The Battle for the Bible (Zondervan, 1976). Although Lindsell was chair of the Board of Trustees of Gordon-Conwell at the time, the faculty, to a person, took considerable exception to much of that book, and so expressed itself in a long, book-discussion evening. A challenge to respond in writing resulted in a book of essays entitled Inerrancy and Common Sense (Baker, 1980), which latter item (common sense) is what most of us thought Lindsell's volume lacked. Hence the title of my essay, since I was convinced—and still am—that the battle was not over the Bible at all, but over a certain view of inerrancy whose ultimate issue was hermeneutics—what was allowable hermeneutically within the framework of this shibboleth. Much of this essay had already had an earlier history in a lecture on hermeneutics and the Epistles, which I adapted to speak especially to some of the hermeneutical issues raised by Lindsell's book. Much of that material appears in considerably expanded form as chapters 3 and 4 of How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth.
These essays have all had an earlier publication history. I hereby acknowledge appreciation to the following for permission to reproduce them in their present form: (a) Baker Book House for chapters 1 and 6, which first appeared respectively as chapter 7 in Inerrancy and Common Sense (eds. R. R. Nicole and J. R. Michaels, 1980), and as chapter 8 in Perspectives on the New Pentecostalism (ed. R. P. Spittler, 1976); (b) Cecil M. Robeck, editor of Pneuma, for chapter 7, which appeared in volume 7:2 (1985) 87–99; (c) Don Lewis, editor of Crux, for chapters 2–5, 8, which appeared respectively in volumes 26 (June 1990; September 1990; December 1990), volume 27 (March 1991), and volume 25 (December 1989).
As is usual for such materials, all of the essays also had a prior history as public lectures. The basic materials in chapters 2–4 were first given as the Day-Higginbotham Lectures at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in February, 1984, under the ambitious title, On Finding an Evangelical Hermeneutics. They then metamorphosed in various stages in lectures given at Southern California College (1985), Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (1988), the Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary (1989), and the Canadian Theological Seminary (1990), with the essay in chapter 5 being added in the latter two instances. I hereby express gratitude for the splendid reception and hospitality at each of these institutions.
Although I have gone over all the essays and touched them up some for publication in this format, I have, nonetheless, kept their basically oral format. To have done otherwise would have required a considerable—and for me, a difficult—rewriting; it would also have caused them to lose some of their flavor, which for good or ill is part of my own oral style. The reader will also need to pardon a certain amount of repetition between/among some of the essays. I have added a considerable number of updating footnotes that do not appear in the original publications; these are enclosed in square brackets [ ] to distinguish them from the original material. If these papers have any further usefulness to the church in their present form, I shall be grateful to the Lord, for whose sake these various strugglings have ultimately been carried on.
It has long been my conviction that the battle for inerrancy must be settled in the arena of hermeneutics. The basic differences that have emerged among evangelicals, for example, between those who believe in limited or unlimited inerrancy are not textual, but exegetical and hermeneutical. Unfortunately, a good deal of name-calling and mud-slinging has gone on over theological definitions of inerrancy, while exegetical and hermeneutical imprecision abounds.
This conviction has been supported most recently—unwittingly to be sure—by Harold Lindsell's The Battle for the Bible. Early on he inveighs against those who would destroy the idea of biblical infallibility neatly by providing interpretations of Scripture at variance with the plain reading of the texts.  Yet when he himself tries to resolve the case of the missing thousand (Num 25:9; 1 Cor 10:8), he does so with precisely the same kind of hermeneutical stance, that is, by abandoning the plain reading of the texts and inveighing against those who read Paul's account superficially (pp. 167–69).
The burden of this present essay is not necessarily to resolve the hermeneutical tensions highlighted by the battle for inerrancy. Nor does it aim to spell out the hermeneutical principles required by a belief in biblical inerrancy. Rather, the essay intends to be more foundational and to offer some suggestions in the area of common sense. The plea is for greater hermeneutical precision in order to answer the thorny question of how to move from the first to the twentieth century without abandoning the plain sense of the texts, on the one hand, and yet without canonizing first-century culture, on the other.
I have chosen to limit my remarks in this essay to the New Testament Epistles. The reason for this is twofold: (1) the problem of cultural relativity and its relationship to inerrancy is most often raised here. (2) Many of the battle lines in the current debate have been drawn over the issues of women's role in the twentieth-century church. Here especially, hermeneutical precision—or at least consistency—has been lacking on both sides. Unfortunately, in an area where hermeneutics is in fact the key issue, some have taken such a rigid stance on the basis of their own hermeneutics that they have accused others of believing in an errant Bible because they do not hold to the same interpretation.
In his now famous article on Biblical Theology in the Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible, Krister Stendahl suggested the core of the hermeneutical problem today to be the contrast between What did Scripture mean when it was written? (the aim of historical exegesis) and What does it mean to us today? Historical exegesis, of course, is the culprit. By insisting that we go back to the then and there, many exegetes seemed less concerned with the here and now. Exegesis became a historical discipline, pure and simple; and the Bible seemed less a book for all seasons—an eternal word from God—and more like a book of antiquity, full of the culture and religious idiosyncrasies of another day. A new way of hearing Scripture was forced upon us. How is a statement spoken to a given historical context, in response to a specific historical problem, the word of God for us, whose context is so different? How, or when, does something that is culturally conditioned become transcultural?
These problems are especially acute for us in the evangelical tradition, where a real bifurcation has taken place. On the one hand, there are those who read the Epistles without a sense of the then and there. It is the eternal word, which is therefore always here and now. Yet in practice it works out a little differently. For example, many evangelicals consider the imperative to Timothy, Use a little wine for the sake of your stomach (1 Tim 5:23, RSV), to be culturally and specifically bound. Water was unsafe to drink, we are told, so Timothy was to take wine for medicinal reasons. All of this might be true, but many of the same Christians insist that men today should not have long hair, because nature itself teaches us this (although it is seldom recognized that short hair is natural only as the result of a non-natural means—a haircut!). And we are never told how one arrives at such neat distinctions.
On the other hand, some of us who engage in historical exegesis do so at times with an uneasy conscience. We see a scholar like Ernst Käsemann engage in the same discipline with great expertise, but we are ill at ease with his canon within the canon (who decides on that inner canon?), which allows him to call the Gospel of John heterodox and say of Paul: Being an apostle is no excuse for bad theology! What is to keep us from the charge of picking and choosing when historical exegesis brings us face to face with statements and ideas that jar us in our twentieth-century ethos? How does the word spoken then and there, to which we are theologically committed, become a word to us today?


The method of semantic tableaux (or simply tableaux) is arguably one of the most elegant proof systems. Unfortunately, it hasn't received much attention in the proof complexity literature, mainly due to early negative results, concerning the complexity of cut-free tableaux. We bring tableaux to the fore, introducing the measures of tableau depth and width. Equipped with these, we show in an elegant, uniform way several known results spanning proof complexity, from a tableau viewpoint.


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Egares Olive Press Museum
Naxos Egares Olive Press Museum
Guide to Naxos
Best Hotels in Naxos
What to do in Naxos?
Location: Egares
The olive tree is an inextricable part of the Greek culture, gastronomy, and history. In Naxos, the production of olive oil and its by-products was a major part of the economy and everyday life, and "liotrivia" (olive press houses) were numerous. The Olive Press Museum is hosted in a renovated olive press building in Eggares village, which is located at the western part of the island, under 8 kilometers from Chora. The original building dates back to the mid 19th century and was operating until 1960, while now it has been fully restored and transfers the visitor to an authentic, traditional era. Guests will have the opportunity to learn about the history of the olive tree, olive press techniques as well as soap making and other uses of olive oil and its by-products.
✔ DISCOVER THE OLIVE PRESS MUSEUM WITH US!
Discover the Available Tours or get there with your own Car rental, starting at 14€ per day.
The Museum has a free entrance as well as provides guided tours and it is open to the audience on a yearly basis from the 1st of April to the 30th of September, from 9:00 to 18:00. For more info, please visit www.olivemuseum.com.
The Egares Olive Press Museum is located in Egares village.
Private transfers: We recommend using an online pre-booked Naxos transfer service, which provides transfer by taxi, minibus or private VIP car and arranging a pickup directly from the port, airport or your hotel. Alternatively, there's the option of arranging a pickup by a local driver directly at the following numbers: 0030 22850 25835, 0030 22850 24829 or book your taxi online.
Car rental: Τhere's the option of renting a car in Naxos with as little as 15 euros per day and pick it up directly from the airport, port or your hotel. Using a car rental allows visitors to discover the Egares Olive Press Museum and many other places of interest in Naxos at their own pace.
Public transfers: The central bus station of the island is located at the port of Naxos. There are few buses from Chora to Egares. Consider that time schedules might change according to the season. Check the official timetables here.
Tip: Since buses don't always stop in every scheduled stop of their itinerary, our advice to visitors is to inform the driver about their final destination, so that he makes a stop there.
Photos Of Egares Olive Press Museum
Map Of Egares Olive Press Museum
Reviews of Egares Olive Press Museum
DISCOVER MORE SIGHTSEEINGS IN NAXOS
Portara
Melanes Kouros Statue
Temple of Demeter
Apollonas Kouros Statue
Panagia Drossiani
View all Naxos sightseeing


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Karman Healthcare products are designed and manufactured to be durable, comfortable, and affordable. Our main focus is to provide the best mobility products on the market to allow users to live their lifestyle and to suit their needs. Mobility is our goal and success is our inspiration.


text:
Q: Delphi convert doc to pdf using Word ActiveX Did anyone already wrote code for converting doc or docx to pdf using Word 2007 or Word 2010 pdf export capabilities?

A: I haven't so far, but it shouldn't be difficult:

*

*Create a Word COM server object using CreateOLEObject('Word.Application')

*Open the document using Documents.Open

*Export the document to PDF using ExportAsFixedFormat
Here's a basic skeleton:
uses
  ComObj;
const
  wdExportFormatPDF = 17;
var
  Word, Doc: OleVariant;
begin
  Word := CreateOLEObject('Word.Application');
  Doc := Word.Documents.Open('C:\Document.docx');
  Doc.ExportAsFixedFormat('C:\Document.pdf', wdExportFormatPDF);
end;

Note that I've declare both the Word and Doc variables as OleVariants, so as to be version-indepent (i.e. this code will work whether you're using Word 2007 or 2010).  You could also use the VCL Office component libraries if you wanted.  If you were to do a lot of processing in the document itself, that would definitely be faster.

A: I do it with the following .vbs script. If you need it in Delphi code then it would be easy enough to convert:
Const wdDoNotSaveChanges = 0
Const wdRevisionsViewFinal = 0
Const wdFormatPDF = 17

Dim arguments
Set arguments = WScript.Arguments

Function DOC2PDF(sDocFile)

  Dim fso ' As FileSystemObject
  Dim wdo ' As Word.Application
  Dim wdoc ' As Word.Document
  Dim wdocs ' As Word.Documents

  Set fso = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
  sDocFile = fso.GetAbsolutePathName(sDocFile)
  sPdfFile = fso.GetParentFolderName(sDocFile) + "\" + fso.GetBaseName(sDocFile) + ".pdf"

  Set wdo = CreateObject("Word.Application")
  Set wdocs = wdo.Documents
  WScript.Echo "Opening: " + sDocFile
  Set wdoc = wdocs.Open(sDocFile)
  if fso.FileExists(sPdfFile) Then
    fso.DeleteFile sPdfFile, True
  End If
  WScript.Echo "Converting to PDF: " + sPdfFile
  Set wview = wdoc.ActiveWindow.View
  wview.ShowRevisionsAndComments = False
  wview.RevisionsView = wdRevisionsViewFinal
  wdoc.SaveAs sPdfFile, wdFormatPDF
  WScript.Echo "Conversion completed"
  wdo.Quit wdDoNotSaveChanges

  Set fso = Nothing
  Set wdo = Nothing

End Function

If arguments.Count=1 Then
  Call DOC2PDF(arguments.Unnamed.Item(0))
Else
  WScript.Echo "Generates a PDF file from a Word document using Word PDF export."
  WScript.Echo ""
  WScript.Echo "Usage: doc2pdf.vbs <doc-file>"
  WScript.Echo ""
End If


text:
This Sheriff tells Obama Exactly what He thinks about His Illegal Executive Amnesty
Tim Brown
Barack Obama's address on Thursday has brought a plethora of responses from various political pundits, including yours truly. Sheriffs from across the country preemptively determined to gather together on December 10 to urge representatives to stand against Obama's illegal and unconstitutional disregard for the law. However, Sacramento County Sheriff Scott R. Jones had some straight forward words for Obama concerning what he thinks of Obama's criminal actions to ignore the law and fail to secure the border while helping those who are violating the law. Specifically, Jones pointed to one of his deputies who was killed by an illegal alien.
Sheriff Jones represents over 1.4 million people in his county. He is not anti-immigration, but is rather very supportive of immigration. "My relatives, like many other Americans, were immigrants and I truly believe that everyone should have the opportunity to realize and live the America Dream," he said.
"Two weeks ago today, I had the unfortunate distinction of burying one of my deputies," said Jones. "His name was Danny Oliver and he was shot a single time in the head during a casual encounter with a suspect."
Jones added that another deputy in a nearby county was also shot and killed by the suspect during an ensuing manhunt. The suspect also engaged in several car hijackings and shot at many other peace officers, as well as other people, including an innocent civilian in the face.
Sheriff Jones said that he was informing Barack Obama of this particular person and the subsequent deaths and criminal activity because the suspect was in the United States illegally from Mexico with a significant criminal history. Additionally, the suspect had been removed four times without any consequences for his actions.
He laid into Mr. Obama concerning his policies that have led to the deaths of many Americans. Though he didn't blame him for those deaths, he did take the opportunity to point out what happens when the law is not enforced properly.
"Only you are singularly responsible for the hands-off policy that exists within Homeland Security and its subsidiaries, including the Customs and Border Protection," Sheriff Jones said. "They don't need a raise to improve morale and organization, they need to be allowed to do their jobs and carry out their mission to keep America safe."
Clearly, he was pointing to how both Border Patrol has had their hands tied by this administration and how Immigration and Customs Enforcement, who also operate under Homeland Security, have been kept from doing their jobs as well.
Jones also said that it was singularly Obama's fault that there has been no meaningful immigration reform, in spite of the fact that current immigration laws are just fine if they are enforced.
The Sacramento Sheriff said that many illegal aliens in the country were productive, while there was a large number of illegal aliens who engaged in criminal activity, even against other illegals. In those circumstances, the victims were fearful of calling for help because of being in the US illegally.
"The problem I have is I can't tell which ones are evil and which ones are good," Jones said. "And neither can you. By their very definition they are undocumented, untracked, untraced and unaccounted for."
While the sheriff expressed a desire to "track" illegals, which I disagree with because it would entail tracking US citizens, I do think there should be a simple way of dealing with those who are here illegally.
Sheriff Jones says that though California has started to provide driver's licenses to illegals, he says that is not identification because they are often predicated on forged birth certificates or inadequate documentation. While I agree, I have would have to ask the Sheriff if he would accept my driver's license as identification if I was pulled over in his county. I'm guessing he would accept that.
"This is not about racism," he added. "It is about an increasingly violent and uncertain world in which we are inadequately protected."
He also warned Obama not to blame the states for their actions as they are "just trying to get by as best they can."
"It is not the state's responsibility, nor within their province to address immigration," said Jones. "But you allow them to do so because you are unwilling to."
"It is squarely the policy makers in Washington's failure, including your own that has left us in this crisis," Jones told Obama. "This crisis falls squarely in the jurisdiction of only the federal government."
Jones then called on Obama to make immigration reform a priority, pointing out that he doesn't have a political reason for not doing so nor a moral or ethical one. Jones said he didn't care which avenue he took, but said, "Deferred action, or amnesty, is deferring this crisis. It is not reform. It is simply giving up and it does nothing to make America and the undocumented population safer."
Sheriff Jones also said he would be on a plane to Washington if he could be of service in that regard, but he also said that there was no excuse for not securing the borders. Whatever else takes place, Jones said that the borders must be secure in order for reforms to work. "So what possible reason could there be for not starting on this immediately?" he asked.
Well, I can tell Sheriff Jones. You are dealing with a criminal Marxist, who wants our borders unsecure, wants our system overwhelmed to the point of collapse and wants to provide settlement for the enemies of America. The way to settle this issue and all others that are a part of this criminal administration is to bring justice upon them, and so far, all we've heard from anyone is how we should not bring justice upon them. Until that is dealt with, don't expect actual immigration reform to take place.
Previous articleBarack Hussein Obama's Unchallenged Criminality Guarantees America's Demise
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Q: How to Pass params without specifying their index with Picocli I'm trying to create a cli program with Picocli that accepts optional options and params. I want the parameters to be always at the end of the passed arguements, however I do not know how to set that.
When I try the following, the options are parsed as filenames too. Is there a way to fix it?

public class WordCount implements Runnable{

@Parameters(index="*", arity = "1..*", description= "The file to count")
public List<String> filenames;

@Option(names = {"-c", "--countBytes"}, description = "Count the number of Bytes in the file")
private Boolean countBytes= false;

@Option(names= {"-w", "countWords"}, description = "Count the number of Words in the file")
private Boolean countWords = false;

@Option(names = {"-l", "--countLines"}, description = "Count the number of lines in the file")
private Boolean countLines =false;

@Option(names = {"-m", "--countCharacters"}, description = "Count the number of characters in the file")
private Boolean countCharacters =false;

A: I fixed this by adding the arity attribute to the options. Like:
@Option(names = {"-c", "--countBytes"},arity="1" description = "Count the number of Bytes in the file")
private Boolean countBytes= false;