You can now sneak any FOBs with high security without alerting any guard and triggering any alarm. This Ultimate FOB Guide will provide you with a detailed walkthrough on how to infiltrate 4/4 or high-level security FOBs in MGS V: The Phantom Pain. There will be the guide in two sections one will cover Infiltration of the whole Platform and second will be The Strut or Deck.
When you try to infiltrate there is about 99% chance that a guard will see you and reflex mode will be triggered, so you need a weapon that takes them out during the slo-mo. The Weapons like any shotgun of level 5 AIR-S can knock a guy(fully armored body) out with 2 shots whereas the UN-ARC NL will knock a guy out with just 1 shot(when the face is hit). So we prefer to use Slot one: UN-ARC NL (STN Rifle) or S1000 AIR-S (STN Shotgun) and both should be SILENCED.
As you shot by any STN Weapons, the guard will scream and alert those around him. Whereas Lethal weapons don't alert, but you'll lose heroism for every kill and also a no-kill bonus for not killing any(Obviously). Any silenced DMG rifle or shotgun should do the trick if you don't mind losing them(heroism/bonus). So we prefer to use Slot two: SERVAL AMR-7 (DMG Sniper) or ALM 48 (DMG Log) and both should be SILENCED.
For the Secondary weapons, I prefer Slot one: WU S. PISTOL or BURKOV TB as these don't make any noise and they knock out guys for longer periods. Having said that these pistols don't even stagger guys and they have a lower fire rate, so it's risky to use in reflex mode. Also not loading Arm because we won't be using Snake in this Raid strategy.
Magazines and Decoys are the only things you need, as you need to distract the guards while you sneak past them.
NVG and Noctocyanin pill are the much-needed items for a successful Raid. Start using the NVG and mark guards while in the chopper. Once you're on the ground use the Noctoyanin pills to mark all the guards around, to avoid guards sudden surprise.
You need to trust me on this and do not involve Snake in this strategy. Instead, use a Combat Staff Unit, particularly the one with the Gunman perk as it gives you additional time in reflex mode and it definitely makes a huge difference. We also recommend using a lower ranked soldier as you don't have to worry about him dying.
Just Go with the Sneaking Suit or Camo Suit and explanation is given in the sections below. Just make sure you equip on of the two only.
The FOB guards have eagle eyes, but only when you're not crawling. Crawling makes you very much less visible than while standing or crouching. So we prefer to crawl 80% of the time, rest 20% should be you crouching just to climb the stairs. AVOID standing, running or sprinting.
While you're climbing a pipe or a ladder, these UAV drones can easily spot you. Hence, it is very important to hunt these pesky drones down. Don't hesitate to use your DMG weapon to shoot them out of the sky, but just make sure you move away quickly as the guards will be alerted to the explosion.
Can I be a little Loud?
The Main strategy of this Guide is that you raid in highest possible security so just remove it from your head that you're going to complete the mission(4/4 FOBs) without shooting anything. As long as you quickly move away from the noise you can shoot guards with STN guns, shooting UAVs, Claymores, Cameras or even worst leaving bodies around. Guards always know that someone is going down so it's better to make it quick and avoid being spotted as these will make the guards stand down.
While in the chopper, make use of the NVG and make the possible marking dudes as you'll have a sense(on the ground) of where the guards are and in return improving your chances of sneaking in undetected.
After the Loadout and Tactics of the Gameplay here we need to decide a proper Route to land so that tall the above tricks work in the right place. So Talking about the Platform Layout, they are all the same and the route that suits best is the one nearest to the bridge connecting to the next strut.
Now once your one the ground, climb the stairs nearby and realize that between you and the bridge is an open area filled with a few guards. To avoid them you need to crawl your way to the bridge, particular to the ladder which you can drop down, but if you see the guards are nearby then you need to distract them with magazines or decoys and then start crawling.
Once you climb up to the underside of the bridge, you'll have 2 path choices, either you take left or right. Both will end up with a little difference but still I recommend the right path.
IT will take you to an open area that's near the bridge. Use the same tactic as before(Distract & Crawl) and you'll immediately reach the next bridge already. Or if you end up reaching a ladder instead then it will lead you to an a narrower path which is slightly harder to sneak past. Crawl your way to the right and you'll see an it's the same route as before.
The Left Path is not a bad idea either as walking along the catwalk you'll usually see some sensors, a camera and a guard there. If you're planning to take out the guard then make sure he is near the first sensor right underneath the camera, to avoid the camera detection. Keep crawling until you see a big pipe for you to climb and then left until you see the ladder to the bridge.
In the End, you can now easily penetrate and raid any high-level FOB. If any doubt or want to add something just post them below in the comments.


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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


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text:
Yes Men (movie review)
A testament to the power and effectiveness of satire. Not that all satirists are effective, but these guys are. Last night's theater audience at The Laurelhurst was obviously quite amused. This is how to make dreary, dismal, dreadful economics come alive in terms people will understanding.
Let's hear some more about The Future of Textiles (like, where can I get one of those suits?).
Hard to imagine that the WTO still takes itself so seriously after this successful propaganda offensive. Hats off to Herb Alpert and his Foundation.
Archeology Project: The Media in Iraq
USA movie-goers saw a lot of archived video clips in the months leading up to the November election. Lots of documentaries. Mostly these clips were drawn from domestic media. A little Al Jazeera came through in Control Room.
What we haven't seen a lot of is Iraqi television under the Bremer and Allawi administrations. I'm told many average Iraqis are fed up with the propaganda they've been seeing. That spikes my curiosity. So where are my DVDs of recent Iraqi TV programming, with English subtitles, rentable through Netflix? We in the USA would like to see what's been going out over the air waves, especially during this time of coalition control over the media.
For example, have Iraqis seen any of the vast anti-war demonstrations on their TVs? Do they even know what Manhatten looked like on the eve of the GOP convention? Have there been any human interest stories about the history of Islam within the United States? Sufism has quite a following. Many African Americans discovered Islam a couple generations ago, through such leaders as Malcolm X. Such stories might be of interest to viewers in Baghdad.
How often does Iraqi television show images of mosques inside the UK or USA?
How the upcoming elections are treated will be of special interest. Do anti-occupation candidates or parties ever get air time? Are political ads allowed, even if they don't originate in the Allawi camp? If not, how democratic is that?
I bet the CIA has a lot of raw footage, recorded off embassy equipment -- all we need is some slick editing (not censorship -- we just need to get the highlights, representative samples) and a distributor like Miramax.
I encourage my fellow bloggers to spread the word that there's likely a niche market for this stuff. We want to see what the Iraqis have been seeing on their TV sets (including commercials). This isn't a FOIA thing -- the material in question has already been publicly broadcast. Maybe an enterprising Iraqi business could lend a hand.
Show us the candidates (Sept 23 2004)
Kinsey (movie review)
Well acted, charming, and for the most part tasteful, although some scenes are about as appetizing as that guy in Super Size Me tossing his burger (another science project that made it to the big screen).
I'd never tuned in the Kinsey story nor read his books (we had plenty of psychology books on our shelves, but mostly of 1960s vintage, plus I'd look up sex words in the Britannica). I'm left wondering at the seeming mismatch between his desire to relieve human suffering, and the approach. Like, the guy is in serious boddhisatva mode. However, I personally don't think randomly sampling people's sex communications is going to unravel the mysteries any more successfully than eavesdropping on their random telephone conversations. The cross-section is too arbitrary, even if the common denominators (bed, nudity -- telephone?) appear strong.
That being said, he clearly did relieve a lot of suffering. Even today, when the clock is ticking counter-clockwise, and people fear the ghost of Joe McCarthy under every bed, youth culture stands to gain a healthy dose of antibodies from viewing this movie (I saw lots of teenagers in our audience at Fox Tower -- they seemed quietly respectful, if a tad shocked).
Anyway, I think he worked too hard. That funding fizzled on what would have been even harder work on ahead appeared merciful in retrospect. I hope I don't get that obsessed. Remind me to stop and smell the sequoias.
Great to see Tim Curry again. Those few who are unfamiliar with his performance in Rocky Horror will miss that he's here playing the perfect foil to himself -- a brilliant casting decision.
Quaker Politics
One story Quaker parents love to tell their kids is about this time when some native Americans (so-called Indians) barged into a Quaker meeting, tomahawks drawn, looks to kill. The navams were there to rumble, to get rough with the pale faced occupiers who were turning their lives inside out. Well, the story goes, the Quakers just sat there in silent worship, per standard practice, radiating a sense of peace and spiritual depth (OK, some were scared witless, let's be honest). The Injuns "got it" immediately; yeah, Spirit, cool. They sat down amidst the Quakers and together they had a gathered meeting. One imagines a potluck ensued, but the story basically fades out at this point.
Now, the point of this story is not that Quakers were skillfull at converting heathen to Christianity. On the contrary, the point is that Quakers are very clear that humans have this power to attend to the Spirit -- this is part of the generic design. This power is strongly expressed in many traditions, and certainly in pre-colonial North America. What happened, when anglos and natives worshipped together, was mutual recognition of that Inner Light within each individual. Buddhism calls it the Dharma, or Teaching. Personified, one might name it the Christ, or Inner Teacher (cite St. Augustine). In any case, all theology aside, the point of this story is my brand of Quaker considers the Spirit to be essentially innocent of religion and denomination, and all the attending claptrap. Humans (sometimes very gifted) invent these various brands, as much in the religious sphere as in the commercial (and yes, Quaker Oats was our idea: Floyd Schmoe's grandmother gets the credit -- see Lives That Speak, ISBN 2-888305-32-0, pg. 116).
Consequent to all of the above, I'm starting a denomination of Quaker that abandons "membership" as a category and recognizes only the various species of attender, as in "attending to Spirit." The word "Friend" in "Religious Society of Friends" (the more formal name for the Quakers), traces to a Biblical passage (John 15:15) wherein Jesus says he wants friends, not servants, i.e. peers, colleagues, people willing to do hard work without always begging him to boss them around (he's busy enough as it is). But friendship doesn't commensurate with the clubby aesthetics of a membership organization. One may fall out of friendship, stop attending to Spirit.
Yet some Quakers think they're Friends for life, just by virtue of membership in some Society. I say not. Jesus was friendly with all sorts of characters, outside his immediate circle of disciples (they gave him flak for it -- tax collectors? Roman soldiers?). Whether you're a friend of Jesus or not is really up to him, not some clearness committee or business meeting minute. Having served on Oversight for like seven years or something, I'm confidant in saying that Friends spend entirely too much time worrying about membership (who is, who isn't, who might become one, who should no longer be one). It's obsessive-compulsive at this point in history. I'd rather not bother. Attenders only, end of story. And I recognize that my brand of Quaker is taking the minority view here -- a fact which bothers me not one whit.
A side-benefit of tossing out membership is I'm free to export Quaker technology to others without suggesting that I'm seeking their membership in my religion. For example, the Quaker Meeting for Worship for Business is a good invention, has helped many a Quaker company steer its way safely forward through high risk conditions. It's a cybernetic system with Spirit in the loop. Go ahead and study our ways, use the technology, and don't worry that in doing so you'll be trading away Islam for Christianity (for instance). That's not the point. The point is to keep Spirit in the loop, or Allah, or Great Spirit -- use your favorite terminology, and see where it takes you.
Regarding Native Americans, I've suggested we go back to joint venturing, like in the old days. One vehicle I've proposed we evolve together is my Global Data Corporation. I've run this by the US Congress a few times over the years, lobbying for a special loophole that would allow tribal nations to serve in and manage corporate structures not strictly grounded in anglo jurisprudence. Like, we're imitating some of the branding techniques (logo, letterhead, commercials), but we're not an Inc. or LLC in the traditional whiteman sense. Making money for stakeholders is not our primary responsibility (long term sustainability is a goal). Also, we don't buy the doctrine of corporate personhood, a programming error (bug) which lacks realism, seems rooted in superstition.
I don't think my loophole is unreasonable: not everyone should have to master whiteman law before being allowed to do business in this world. Other traditions have their own sense of self-governance, fairness. Furthermore the whiteman model of corporate governance is manifestly broken in so many ways, is so deficient in the role model department.
Bottom line: whiteman legalese is already obsolete in large degree, although the anglos are slow to admit it. The Global Data Corporation is more into using engineering-savvy general systems theory instead. Economists, MBAs, corporate lawyers, may not have the necessary training and background to access our top management positions. That's why we'll need to start a lot of new schools. I'll post more about that some other day (plus there's already a lot on file).
My letter to Friends re becoming an attender (July 24, 2000)
Thanksgiving (continued)
The story of how America's anglo colonists were assisted by Native Americans (the Wampanoag to be more precise) through their first winter is standard fare in grade school. These colonists came to America with the aim of establishing what in their minds was a purer form of Christianity. Their landmark, and now hallmark, is Plymouth Rock (Cape Cod area in New England).
Around Thanksgiving 2004, the Anglos (UK) and the Americans (USA) launched Operation Plymouth Rock inside of Iraq, an undertaking so named in recognition of the timing. After the fighting, mass quantities of turkey were consumed. Some of the soldiers wore cowboy hats while they ate, which is appropriate, because the United States military developed much of its esprit de corps during the Indian Wars, a time when immigration pressures were pushing Europeans all the way to the Pacific Ocean in search of a brighter future.
That same religious fervor and sense of destiny which helped fuel the Indian Wars is evident in Iraq today. Iraqis are often regarded as heathens, a term referring to those who have not yet converted to Christianity (of course, many Iraqis do practice Christianity -- not a big topic on USA TV, too confusing). Many Christians look at the Middle East as a backdrop for momentous, even apocalyptic events, as they read their Book of Revelation and try to see which of its many cryptic prophecies might be coming true. There's always the hope that Jesus himself will reincarnate (that is, if he hasn't already, like in Korea or some place). This fascination with the Middle East dates back to the crusades and before.
Religious fervor has always been a potent recruiting tool for the various armies. Jews and Muslims use it too. The US military is theoretically neutral in the religious wars and open to members of any faith or practice. However, there's a huge temptation to fall back on religious themes when the killing of one's fellow human is the order of the day. Patriotism minus a strongly gung-ho, flag-waving deity just doesn't galvanize to the same extent.
Although the history of Anglo-Indian relations still resonantes in 2004, adult consciousness does little to perpetuate these memories. Thanksgiving has become a time for parades, usually with civilian and commercial themes, such as characters from children's television: Spongebob Squarepants for example. And of course it's a time for creatively stuffing oneself (see below) and watching football (more like rugby than soccer).
Native Americans currently have no real presence in TV land, except in old Hollywood movies about cowboys and their brave, romantic ways (a genre that doesn't attract large audiences any more; many of these films were grayscale instead of RGB).
The Friday following Thanksgiving still resonates with a sense of "the harvest" and the wealth of the land. USAers go shopping en masse on that day. Merchants count on mob psychology to more than make up for the lower prices; a buying spree mentality moves a lot of merchandize off the shelves that'd otherwise just sit there through the holidays. Some call this Black Friday, because it puts corporations "in the black." Corporations like black. Red, on the other hand, means you're losing money, which is like bleeding to death (not good).
Thanksgiving for Dummies
Many of my readers are outside the USA, even outside North America, and don't have all the insights I do, into the customs, rituals, practices, norms, predelictions, of the local folk. Not that the USA is defined by any one culture. It's a synergetic stew.
Apropos of today, Thanksgiving, do a google search on turducken (or follow my link), to get some appreciation for the science and topology of "stuffing." In this example, we stuff a bird inside a bird inside a bird, plus some put a ham at the core.
Another aspect of Thanksgiving, or Turkey Day as some call it (Ben Franklin speculated this could become the national bird -- and he was right on many levels), is traveling long distances. For example, I've put over 300 miles on my Subaru since yesterday, and have a lot more to go.
Thanksgiving is a lot about Anglo-Americans feeling grateful for the hospitality they received from the Native Americans, before the immigration pressures became enormous and tribal lands were extensively re-zoned at gun point.
Native Americans had many strong, proud, and already well-established cultures in this age, shortly after the so-called New World became popularly known to landlubbers. The Europeans romanticized them, even learned from them; at first, basic survival skills, and later some ideas about self-government. By the time we get to Mark Twain's unflattering portrayal, some centuries later, the stereotype is scarcely recognizable.
Today, many in North America are discovering more about their heritage, are learning that native cultures have twisted many strands into our rope. The health of the tribes, though improving thanks to casinos, is still in a precarious state and continues to suffer from neglect.
Yes, Anglo-Americans have been slow on the uptake (among the last to "get it" about living ecologically for example), which is why Thanksgiving continues to be one of our most important national holidays. We're reminded of who we really are, and might therefore become, as Americans: proud and strong, more like our ancestors.
Posted by Kirby Urner at 11:28 AM
I think CBS should offer to buy him a well-appointed BizMo, like Charles Kuralt had, but higher tech (decades have passed, after all). That wouldn't preclude doing non-BizMo work of course.
I bet small town America would be thrilled to have an exAnchor of Dan's reputation show up, dish antenna ready to uplink whatever's of interest. He might make it to our Project Earthala someday -- a high tech community in the hinterlands (provided our site is road-accessible -- if not, there's the helicopter or small jet option).
Anyway, I think Dan should have a lot to look forward to, even though he's had one of the most interesting jobs in the world (he's right about that -- right about a lot of stuff).
King Lear (mentions BizMo)
Canadian Tech: SpringDance
Waterman Polyhedron in SpringDance
(click for larger view)
SpringDance by Alan Ferguson is a Delphi-based implementation of Gerald de Jong's Struck concept. Above is a Waterman Polyhedron (#2002), defined by all vertices in an isotropic vector matrix out to some maximum radius, and including those of lesser radius which preserve convexity. Their volumes are always whole numbers, vis-a-vis the standard of unit volume: an IVM tetrahedron.
Archived copy of Karl Erickson's SpringSpace
Record of Alan's AWStruck -- an educational ActiveWorld
Background re Elastic Interval Geometry (EIG) on a Squeak list
Blast from the Past (re more Fuller School graduates)
Gerald de Jong re his Fluidiom engine
DoD Claims Victory in Fallujah
Yeah, I caught that segment on CBS, 22 Nov 2004 too. The carnage of Fallujah is actually this giant torture chamber wherein American hostages were held, now exposed. A hollow find, given said hostages were already dead. News flash: police find empty torture rooms, destroy city in process, kill untold numbers of anonymous bystanders.
Of course the point of such video is to boil the blood and remind viewers why Fallujah deserved to die. The neighbors just didn't know this was going on, heard unexplained screams, "but now it all makes sense, and yes, of course you needed to destroy our city," say our ever-patient Iraqi friends. "I mean, yeah, torture chambers, can't allow 'em" (blood spattered refrigerator, corpses everywhere). "Now we hope those insurgents don't come back -- but they probably will, damn them."
Some viewers eat it up, nod to the music, raise their glass to a job well done. Others drop their forks (clatter), and stare, shaking their heads: since when was CBS just a DoD spin toy? Well, for quite awhile now, if you really want to know.
One way the civilians are fighting back is to say: gee, wouldn't it be nice if they'd reform the goddamn intelligence system as promised so we didn't have to air this kind of stuff at gun point? But, we learn, Rumsfeld is worried about being "handcuffed" (wasn't that the word?). It's a chain of command issue (this was the top story on CBS, same date).
Kinda funny that it's a chain of command issue, given that GWB is lobbying for the new intelligence system (Cheney too), and he's theoretically at the top of this very same chain (commander in chief, right?). Yet members of congress in his own party are blocking the reform, because the DoD (supposedly under the president) says its chain is unhappy with the new prospectus. Curious ("fascinating captain" -- Spock with raised eyebrow).
The problem with torture chambers is all you need is four walls, and lots of cities have those. Michael Kinsley is like flipping out in the LA Times. Like, this is fucking crazy, and yet even John Kerry wasn't promising he'd end it any time soon, reflecting the conflicted state of the voters -- like surely we still have some reason for getting our kids killed over there, beyond capturing Saddam and verifying compliance (couldn't trust Blix with that job, right?).
Invade to liberate, then start razing entire cities, because control must be complete. Resistence is futile. We are borg. You will have elections in January. You will be assimilated.
It's entirely understandable why so many Americans are on their knees right now, praying for intelligence reform.
Pentagon: Public or Private?
Memo to Pundits
The Geek Channel
This could be big. Here's a short description from edu-sig, a Python elist:
Imagine a new Geek Channel on cable or via satellite, where kids can tune in to see vid clips of their heroes in the open source community, talking kernel design, futurism, hardware. Slashdot for television. OSCON 24/7 (repetitive, like Sesame Street -- segments for different ages, different shows). Twist in elements from scifi. Get some authors on, like Vonnegut. Radical OK. Clowning around OK. Both Python *and* Monty Python. Plenty to bliss out on, and for both boyz & girlz. Synchronized websites. Blogs.
Damian's lecture on thermodynamics, the game of life, and programming using a Klingon version of perl -- there's an audience for this kind of thing.
I know c|net did TV for awhile (do they still?), but there was little attempt to communicate much computer science. Marketing trends and gizmo lust shouldn't be the focus. This isn't InfoWorld and button-down IT culture. We'd rather watch Donald Knuth (or a puppet double) share about MMIX than hear Steve Ballmer trash some technology he doesn't like.
Ala the Sesame Street model, I envision a growing data base of video shorts recycling thematic content, punctuated with longer episodes, ongoing serials, perhaps with their own niche-market sponsors.
A DVD aftermarket might develop based on student demand (e.g. one DVD distills segments on TCP/IP, subnets, routing, DNS, wifi, ethernet...). Good example of a video short: Warriors of the Net (many would be shorter). I've shared it with 10-to-18 year-olds, and received lots of positive feedback.
Some segments and shows would help geeks learn Python, Perl, PHP, and so on. Tutorials with high production values. Lots of animated exploding diagrams of gizmo internals (not just PCs), lots of retro stuff, museum technologies (Enigma, ENIAC, John Logie Baird).
The content may be, should be, over your head half the time, and yet entertaining nonetheless. How little I know! How big my world! These experiences aren't turn-offs -- the kind of viewer we want to attract will keep coming back for more.
We must not let this become another home shopping channel. Advertisers (IBM?) should often showcase technologies that are too expensive for individuals at home i.e. lots of B2B messages, piggy-backing on the content, earning good will for sponsors.
Parents won't feel like their kids are being brainwashed to always want the latest gizmo. We won't indulge so much in fetishizing expensive "sharper image" accoutrements, ala Wired. For example, we'll often screen role models using free software on recycled computers. The emphasis is on what works, not on glitz for the sake of glitz. We're bridging the digital divide by spreading knowledge and literacy. Skills and a willingness to always learn more, not loads of cash, is what gains you access to this vibrant community of innovators and developers.
As Arthur Siegel put it on edu-sig, citing Bucky Fuller, this is all about doing more with less (ephemeralization).
Follow up threads:
math-teach in December 2004
classes list @ Free Geek in December 2004
Protestant Fundamentalism
If PBS Frontline ever does a documentary on the televangelists and their flocks (700 Club and like that), I hope they'll use Karen Armstrong as a talking head. Her Battle for God makes some interesting points, plus I've heard her live, and she's a good speaker. On the other hand, maybe Frontline has already done this story, and I missed it.
What interests me especially is the Darwinism angle. Superficially, it looks like they're against Darwinism, and some of the faith academy videos I've seen do a lot to link Darwinism to Marxism -- two corrupting influences we must avoid at all costs. But I wonder if they've succeeded, really.
Social Darwinism, which translates to an industrial age ethic (usually laced with racism, a holdover from slavery days), still informs a goodly portion of middle management in the USA (so-called "main street"). I seriously wonder whether the Christian Right has broken free of Darwinism in this form, even as it rushes, on paper at least, to embrace Intelligent Design (the latest and most sophisticated challenge to secular materialism).
Were Fundamentalists truly free of Darwinian influence, I'd think they'd be very receptive to Fritjof Capra, for example, who talks about the web of life, but with a strong emphasis on cooperation and networking, versus combat operations. The "every man for himself" ethic of the dog-eat-dog crowd is effectively countered in his rap. It's brains over brawn from here on, and the brainy thing to do is build networks (e.g. his new civil society, using ecodesign principles to supplant a moribund form of capitalism).
You'd think anyone trully serious about brainstorming faith-based initiatives would be paying close attention to such talk, as the denominations which most concertedly organize (especially on chaordic principles, ala Visa/Mastercard) are going to reap their reward in heaven, while those continuing to plant seeds in flood plains won't necessarily get bailed out (last I checked, God wasn't selling insurance).
In sum, if Social Darwinism is your game, and you're mired in dog-eat-dog, you might wake up one morning to discover that your televangelist leaders are losing the ratings war big time. That translates into fewer donations and mass defections, as the flock suffers a brain drain (what every church fears: no new recruits of any real caliber).
The moral of this story is replete with irony: the churches most into countering Darwinism may be the ones most likely to be done in by it, simply because they're not taking their own alternatives (e.g. Intelligent Design) as seriously as they could be. In allowing Social Darwinism to linger between the lines (with all the racism this entails), they're cutting themselves off from future funding and followers.
Open Source Voting
Of course an open source solution is what makes the most sense. As I posted to a Quaker list recently:
As a data base programmer for many years (tip of hat to colleagues I've seen posting), the open source focus overlaps with the voting infrastructure focus. It's a no-brainer that vote counting and tabulating should be done using open source software and designs IF it's to be computerized at all.
Contrary to uninformed opinion, making the designs open does *not* make them easier to hack. On the contrary, transparency and transparency alone is what protects us from fraud. Too little attention is given to the fact that some of Diebold's top employees came to their jobs with a resume of coding back doors for embezzlement and other nefarious purposes.
Small NGOs with open source savvy should start prototyping, with R&D infusions from wannabee commercial vendors of tomorrow's voting technologies. On a small town scale, we could start using the stuff. And in the schools, we need more practice with voting and counting votes, so that when kids grow up to be precinct captains, or whatever we call them, they don't get panicky and run the same cards twice, or whatever some did in Ohio (yes, mistakes happen too, over and above whatever organized crime is up to).
Quakers wouldn't be a good denomination to test the prototypes because we don't use secret ballot accounting. Everyone with a strong leading makes bold testimony, so it's no secret what the process was, by the time a new minute is recorded. And yes, when the spirit moves, positions change, sometimes drastically. That's what makes a Quaker Meeting for Business so exciting (sometimes -- dull as dishwater other days).
The senate and the house were designed to work more on a Quaker model. This "voice vote" thing is somewhat nefarious, in that it allows senate or house members to "pass by hubbub" -- a kind of mob psychology thing, where you don't get held accountable the next morning. Why should we let a low ranking rabble (i.e. mere voice voters) increase their own borrowing authority is beyond me.
As for this most recent election, it's bound to be studied for years to come. The universities have the means to burn DVDs with raw data. We do have source code for many of the proprietary models (some of which contains back doors or easily subverted controls -- especially if you designed these controls yourself). Computer science teachers are already rubbing their hands with glee, given all these real world examples of how not to code. So many object lessons. The police have a parallel curriculum.
Future generations will be amazed at the primitive, low quality, shoddy and downright ugly infrastructure we tried to run our vast democracy with in 2004. The beginning of this millenium was indeed a dark time in USA history. Only a few leaders stand out, for having worked hard to address the situation (thank you Bev Harris).
USA Veeps Debate
USA OS
We celebrated my boss's 30 years of service today. That's a long time. Lots of reminiscing. I joined this crew in the late 1980s, but in a different division, and across the street. Lots of different pizzas -- the good stuff, gourmet -- and salad, cookies, diet pop.
I didn't bring back the giant cancer basket because I was on the train today and didn't want to look like Little Red Riding Hood -- or the wolf who ate her.
On the floor: a box full of dolls (no barbies). A staff member had started a collection, having learned through her church that Marines were running out of toys for girls -- still plenty of soccer balls for boys apparently (girls can't play soccer?). Had we known, my daughter would have certainly donated some Beanie Babies, of which she has quite the collection.
Not everyone there knew me by sight, maybe just from paperwork, so I got introduced by my boss a few times as 4D Solutions, which was fun.
I forgot my digital camera, but others had them. Lots of pictures were taken. I hope to get copies.
I saw stuff about pCraft and MIRV on the whiteboard in the conference room, now being used for the pizza buffet. I'd intended to get some work done out there today, but that just wasn't practical, given we'd become such party animals.
No problem. Besides, I had a major shipment to take care of before 4:30 PM.
Fortunately for me, the trains were running on time.
A quiet purpose of weather reporting is to remind people what their country looks like, and to provide a sense of community. In this jet age, the concerns are likewise practical: a portion of those viewing will actually encounter weather on the opposite coast later that same day.
An interesting aspect of international travel are weather shows which encompass more of the globe. Sitting there in your waiting lounge, you see what's up in Dubai, Dhaka, Jakarta, as well as Paris, New York, Rio De Janeiro. CNN specializes in these kinds of weather reporting, and has a lot of market share in airports.
What's interesting about USA TV is how immersed one gets just in some meticulously devised parochial consensus reality. There's not much global data. USAers have to go to the movies (e.g. Bourne Supremacy) to see much in the way of major capitals. The isolationism and inward-focus of the USA psyche is extremely evident on the evening news. If you've just flown in from the UK, where the BBC is far more aggressively global in its coverage, the contrast is enlightening, and some would say frightening.
The promise of multi-channel cable and satellite was more exposure to the "big world out there." Ted Turner experimented with this, in the early days. But these experiments seem to have dried up of late, as more channels turn to home shopping, reruns of syndicated sitcoms or cop shows, and sports. And then, of course, there's the weather channel -- and the food channel.
Another venue through which USAers get some whiff of the outside world (beyond camera shots from embedded journalists, looking over the shoulders of US Marines), is so-called 'reality TV.' These are game shows, typically competitions, played out against the background of the world stage. The site scouts do a good job coming up with romantic or engaging backdrops.
A question I have is how long we'll be able to perpetuate the cognitive dissonance that comes from these two forms of 'reality programming': through the lens of the game player, and through the lens of the demolition engineer (aka soldier). The spectacle of USAers playing with fast cars, cavorting in luxurious resorts, doing "fun stuff," goofing off, "surviving" in a completely phony, made-for-TV set of circumstances, contrasts very sharply with the War on Terrorism programming (lots of swoopy graphics, battle maps, retired generals, sanitized death). These seem like two different planets: the inviting one we goof off in, and the one we demolish, because it scares us.
The rest of the world wonders: how do these USAers manage to play in the sun, cavort in phony realities, while at the same time they enjoy bloody rampages through Fallujah. Between these two extremes, they seem to consume very little programming about the rough politics and complex economics that might bring some realism to either genre. Are we looking at two sides of the same coin? Neither reality TV nor the War on Terrorism seem very grounded in rational thought. We see two basic currencies at work: longing for the good life, and fear.
I guess a question for TV executives right now is whether this kind of programming is going to have much of an aftermarket outside the USA. How tolerant of USA-style entertainment will the world be? Do they really care who "survives" in some romantic faux-Thailand, even as Fallujah burns? Perhaps executives in the UK might like to brainstorm a more grounded and intelligent hybrid that mixes heaven and hell using a different alchemy.
I propose more of a futuristic and hope-inspiring approach (I go with longing over fear, any day), wherein high tech industries show off their ability to enhance civilian life, including in difficult circumstances (shall we stage episode one in Southern Africa, near Cape Town perhaps?). This proposal might be something to meet about on my next trip to the UK.
If the USA is hell-bent on remaining parochial, and wants to push its schizoid mix of "fun in the sun" and "bloodbath in the sand," let it. I bet the UK television market could use this poor planning as an opportunity to signal its greater sense of realism -- an important signal to send, given the proximity of other European markets nowadays finding USA TV increasingly alien, bizarre, a horror show from another planet.
Followup:
Notable improvements in CBS News by mid-December, e.g. check Dec 14, 2004: note the more global perspective; the far healthier groove.
Some Political Swerves
There was a time when this school in Tehran had cloned much of my since-relocated teleport.com synergetics website for its engineering department. All traces of that seem to be gone by now, but 't'was fun while it lasted, and I thought a good sign. Thanks to the home-spun links, I learned that the Ayatollah Khomeini's tomb features an octet truss. I even traced some of the contractors (Iranians do geodesic domes too).
Fuller schoolers have already given us some blueprints for working on a joint jihad/crusade with Persia and environs, focusing on architectural synergies (mosques with geodesic domes for example).
For all his faults, I don't think Saddam Hussein's focus on building lots of palaces was necessarily one of them, ditto re King Idris of Libya (pre Qadafi). When you don't see a broad solution to the living standards plight, you concentrate on public works that stand out as a showcase of native talents. Sure, it looks avaricious. But it's also a way of leaving a positive legacy. Just leaving stockpiles of WMDs is nothing to boast about.
Sure, Saddam imported a lot of non-native furniture, art works and the like, but the basic architecture and construction were Iraqi and kept a lot of people employed, a lot of families fed. We've seen this pattern at work since the ancient Egyptians. One could argue that many of the USA's "defense industry" programs are no less wasteful (and no less a form of socialism, ala Newt Gingrich and company -- he talks about a "culture of ownership" but profitable shareholding in prime defense contracting depends heavily on tax subsidies, we shouldn't forget).
None of this is to mitigate Saddam's flaws as a dictator, but to the average Iraqi, those flaws are starting to look pretty OK in hindsight. Saddam never declared war on his own people to such an overt degree as Allawi has, to the point of leveling one of his own cities. Yes, there was awful retribution for the armed uprising in the south, and against the CIA-supported Kurds in the north (Kurds make up much of the fighting unit attacking Fallujah), but with nothing like this level of fire power, half-ton bombs and so on.
To have an occupying military use this level of technology against an indigenous para-military is really something new in Iraq, and it's quite apparent that the ranks of those overtly hostile to the corporate military have just multiplied, are on an exponential growth curve if present trends continue.
I call it the corporate military (with the corporate media transparently doing its PR) in concert with President Eisenhower, who clearly saw the possibility of a private sector takeover of the Pentagon ("military-industrial complex" was his coin -- the Vietnam War was the beginning of the wholesale privatization, which many WWII vintage career soldiers didn't like or trust). Fuller extrapolates through Critical Path (LAWCAP etc.), and we find contemporary write-ups of the phenomenon coming from the think tanks, even from within the beltway.
The community of top shareholders, newly advantaged by the GOP, and with tax and borrowing authority, has taken all branches of government and delegated foreign policy to a small, select few. Innocent Americans, completely out of the loop, are being set up to experience the consequences, given the scale of the blowback this foreign policy entails.
One may hope that profit-hungry CEOs will do the math, and realize there are wealth-producing alternative scenarios involving a more collaborative approach to world affairs, vs. these unilateral Fourth Reichian assertions of global dominance ala the New American Century. The so-called RINO's have made a deal with the devil, in signing away the soul of their party to the Apocalyptic Right.
A sign of sanity would be to talk openly and factually about the Israeli nuclear arsenal. Today's terrorists are terrified within reason too much of the time -- their worst fears keep being realized (why?), as the tanks keep rolling through their heartland. This "Axis of Evil" business is really childish cowboy stuff. Neither Iran nor Iraq needed to be transformed into mortal enemies (nor Syria). Moderates in the Islamic world are finding it ever harder to make their voices heard, as fanatics clash with fanatics preaching a gospel of violence and destruction.
There's still a chance of a new more stable equilibrium, but given how far this ship is listing, to the point of taking on water, it's a miracle that we're still afloat.
Hero (movie review)
Now this was an interesting film, beautifully choreographed in gorgeous settings. If a westerner made this film, she might be accused of over-simplifying in broad brush strokes. But the calligraphy is very Chinese, which speaks to the authenticity of the model.
As a user of the Fuller Projection, I'm of course plunged into the analogy 'Our Land' = 'Spaceship Earth.' We're faced with the same problem of too many warring states, each pushing an agenda, none feeling responsible for the whole. But of course I'm not interested in addressing this problem through the agencies of a warlord or tyrant, ala the King of Qin in the film.
For me, the answer lies in generalized principles, which key players in the movie access through calligraphy, to the point of bending natural law (or participating in its extension). The martial arts derive from these first principles.
A foe from Zhao, in a position to stop the king, comes to share this vision of 'Our Land' through his study of the living word. So ultimately, the creation of China (a concept) is owing to a shared vision, a communicated realization, not the private megalomania of one particular cult around some super-idol personality.
The final sacrifice in the film is by the king's co-equal (he too comes to comprehend the big picture) -- the network, in death as well as life, is peer-to-peer (democratic).
Fuller's vision of a bloodless transition to a more supranational psyche, wherein pre-existing nation-states become the provinces, is likewise democratic, a result of massively parallel networking, by humans and their machines combined.
There's no emperor per se (or posit God if you want a monotheistic model), only a shared science shining up through the calligraphy, informing the arts (including the martial ones).
Hero is also good at implying that the martial arts have a big pscyhological component (Fuller's "psychoguerilla warfare" -- cite Critical Path). One sees this in the black and white takes near the beginning: the battle rages, but the principals are really just standing still, with their eyes closed, meditating.
A B2B code we're using, signifying a shared philosophical commitment, involves recycling imagery derived from what Bucky called his 4D matrix, or IVM.
Clever rebranding aside, it's a well known framework in crystallography and architecture: just pack spheres together ala Kepler and you've got it (the CCP, the FCC) on your screen. The underlying computer graphics likely use the well-known 3D matrix libraries, which is not a problem. 3D embeds seamlessly in 4D.
Note that 4D as used above is what today's thinkers'd call a "meme" -- a take-off on "gene" but "of thought" instead of "of DNA" -- meaning it transmits much more quickly, and takes part in a more kinetic and mutable economy, that of language and culture.
In Bucky's youth, 4D had been recently coined and resonated with many thinkers, including Einstein of course, but also P.D. Ouspensky, a Russian, and many cutting edge artists (Linda Dalrymple Henderson has a good book on this). Bucky grabbed onto 4D (the meme) and combined it with architecture: newfangled and futuristic ideas about assembly line housing. Turns out Alexander Graham Bell was into using it as a space frame as well.
In hindsight, the once-volatile 4D meme appears to have settled into three stable compounds:
In Einstein's domain, it meant 3D plus Time. "Time the fourth dimension" became the pop culture hallmark of relativity, both general and special, and from this meme complex we inherit the lingo of "three spatial dimensions" (before Einstein, you wouldn't need to say "spatial" because "temporal" hadn't been set off as a fourth dimension).
In Euclid's domain the 3D coordinate system (also known as XYZ) has become extensible to n-dimensions (nD), e.g. you might have a 9D sphere with a center at (0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0), and a bunch of other spheres touching it, each with a 9-tuple address of its own. In this meme-pool, 4D does not connote Time. All the dimensions are "space-like" and get the same treatment. The great Canadian geometer H.S.M. Coxeter operated in this domain, the realm of nD Polytopes (e.g. the tesseract or hypercube).
Fuller's 4D is neither Euclid's nor Einstein's. He went from hanging houses (houses and skyscrapers suspended from central utility masts) to geodesic domes by way of sphere packing investigations, similar to Kepler's in many ways (the rhombic dodecahedron is key). For Bucky, the tetrahedron, with its four faces, became tightly bonded with 4D. The tetrahedron is the simplest cage or container, made from the fewest bars (only six, compared to the cube's 12). Despite all this talk of ants crawling around spheres or donuts, with limited degrees of freedom, we're still thinking in volume. Flatland is unimaginable. Conceptuality is volumetric at its Kantian core. Rather than characterize space as "3D" based on "height, width and breadth," Fuller, ever the contrarian, labeled it "4D" -- because of the tetrahedron's having four corners and four faces. "Height, width and breadth" never really come apart as isolate or atomic, are more codependent than independent.
So there you have it. Three meme complexes, each fairly stable, exchanging message traffic back and forth. The B2B communications define interfaces or APIs.
Signalling you're "4D" still connotes futuristic, high tech, long term, invested in over-the-horizon possibilities. Fuller's meme complex is especially easy to translate into attractive eye candy -- it's been good for that for years. So watch for it, and maybe you'll see what had previously been invisible to you, because you didn't know what to look for.
A Catholic Economy
I've heard people complain that devouring the host upon transubstantiation is cannibalistic: "this is my body" and like that. But that's the point: it is (cite Love's Body, one of my favorites -- thank you NOB). And now more than ever.
When you fill'erup with gas, think of the innocents going to feed your exoskeleton, babies included, ground up and gone. This was my body. If you feel some guilt over that -- well, if the shoe fits, ya know.
It's trully a sinful world order, I think you'll agree. Doesn't need to be this way (our error is willful). The fate of your eternal soul hinges on what you plan/intend/will to do about that (yes, I'll sermonize -- we Quakers call it testimony and yes, we lay people have been authorized to stand and deliver, not just the clerics).
And I wouldn't pretend decrying abortion gets you off the hook, if I were you. Oil into Blood. That's not just a tiger in your tank. That's some fresh squeezed from Fallujah, some Body of Christ, at only $2.89 a gallon.
The Forgotten (movie review)
Not such a good flick. One of those in which the psychosis turns out to be the reality, but with too many loose ends. The cool thing about reality (and science exults in this) is that it cross-checks to a high degree. The Pythagorean theorem holds: know a few things about a triangle, figure out the rest. Detective work, police work, works. Fuller's omnitriangulation. But The Forgotten spares itself the hard work of omnitriangulating the alien reality revealed by the NSA. Let's itself off the hook, delivers cheap goods. That doesn't mean it's not entertaining. Just not 'great art'.
The Pentagon: Public or Private?
To what extent is the Pentagon privately owned and operated? USA taxpayers don't manage to cover expenses (cite deficit). A lot of the management is outsourced.
This move to electronic voting without even the possibility of audits is further eroding the sense that the American people have any real say with regard to ongoing military adventures.
Big media will be tasked to glue these two together (a national will with a military force), but then, big media is likewise privately owned and operated -- with some of the same Pentagon players waving the flag on television. The War on Terror remains essential programming.
What's kept it together in the past was a set of principles. The claim that bombing Fullajah is part of a principled campaign to bring freedom and self-determination to the people in Iraq commits big media to some very thin ice. People increasingly call it "corporate media" with good reason. Our legal contrivance called "the corporation" has outstripped government institutions, in terms of global influence and command over assets. The private sector rules.
"More than two centuries of law have been enacted to protect Americans against Big Government. These laws begin with the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and include ethics and transparency laws, restrictions on the political conduct of officials, limits on official pay, and the uniform military code of justice. These laws apply to officials, not contractors, on the presumption that officials are in control. The rules do not apply—or protect the public—when, as is increasingly the case, contractors are doing the basic work of government, and government lacks the expertise and experience to control the contractor workforce." Commentary by Dan Guttman, The Shadow Pentagon: Private contractors play a huge role in basic government work—mostly out of public view.
Of course, it all comes back to private individuals at the end of the day (no one here but us chickens). Fortunately, many of us, including those with businesses, and of various political and religious persuasions, still have faith in those same principles which guided the USA's original founders. We should not be expected to follow blindly, when other enterprises and schools of thought, including much bigger ones, decide on a course for disaster. Computations show some reason for hope, even yet.
Won't You Join Us?
I invite disaffected USA dems to join our global jihad/crusade against hunger and dire poverty. We're planning to use high tech, sophisticated media, new civilian prototypes, per the Project Renaissance and World Game models.
This is strong moral high ground and there's certainly plenty of limelight to go around. So don't despair. You too may choose to play a starring role in fulfilling this divine plan to render humanity a lasting success aboard Spaceship Earth. Audition today!
Campaign Begins: Recruiting Talent Now
Excerpt from my post of today to math-teach:
What I think the world needs are more venues for people to audition. They go to temp agencies, do a typing and 10-key test, maybe a personality profile, then get sent to a cube to do some clerical stuff. The Hollywood and TV venues are cram packed with aspirants, many of them quite talented. Theater languishes (I just saw a guy play all parts in King Lear, and do it well, with only about six people in the audience)....
I'm hungry to employ all the natural talent I can get, and I really don't have time to provide a lot of compensatory training. The situation is too urgent, too ugly. The kind of fairness you're talking about is just unaffordable right now, in light of all those global university students who get no opportunity to audition whatsoever. Their situation takes priority.
The curriculum is broken (witness Sudan). Let's recruit the most creative, imaginative, and talented people we can to fix it (and just because you're already a college professor doesn't necessarily mean you have the most aptitude for this work (but you should have ample opportunities to audition, certainly)).
Here's a link to the complete text -- part of a couple much longer threads.
Theme song for this campaign: On The Turning Away, Pink Floyd
Relevant link: GST Global U
Great Pirates
No word yet on if/when the radio interview re Great Pirates will become accessible. Not my decision. I suppose we could have mixed in some actual audio clips from Bucky (fair use), citing his Everything I Know as our source. Here's a link to some printed transcripts wherein Fuller mentions pirates (lots more in Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth). Perhaps it's not too late for this. James?
Einar's CD (Introducing the FANG) came in the mail. Cool! I'm always scanning such works for toy and puzzle possibilities, which at least in times gone by I'd raise with Stu Quimby of Design Science Toys. He has limited resources to commit of course, so most toy ideas end at the one-of-a-kind curiousity phase (he has a great collection).
Nowadays, with the big box stores taking over the toy market, there's precious little room for speciality items, esoterica of all kinds. Thanks to the web, however, there's still some possibility for parents to find these rare gifts for their kids. Yes, that's a commercial (or call it product placement, whatever).
So tomorrow is election day in the USA. I voted days ago, by mail, thanks to Oregon's enlightened way of doing things. Of course I'll be interested in the results, even though I don't consider contemporary USA presidents to be among the great pirates, usually.
Like, even Winston Churchill didn't feel he'd penetrated the inner sanctum. To quote Prouty:
"There is, in Lord Denning's book, The Family Story, a most pertinent reference to the words of Winston Churchill during a heavy bomber attack on Rotterdam during World War II. Denning reports that Churchill, during a conversation among friends, made reference to a High Cabal that has made us what we are. In that sense, Churchill's High Cabal equates with Fuller's Invisible power structure... For a man in Churchill's position, and at the war-time peak of his public career, to make reference to a high, or higher, cabal defines the subject. We live under the influence of such a cabal today, whether we realize it or not."
OK, so that sounds like a conspiracy theory. When the topic is great pirates, that's somewhat inevitable, no?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Some industrial electrical users in Independence may get a significant rate reductions.
The Independence City Council is approved a rate reduction - the first in several years - to help retain and attract large industrial users.
The rate reduction is prompted, in part, to retain Unilever - the city's largest industrial customer - which announced plans to expand its Independence manufacturing plant.
Independence Power & Light (IPL) currently has some of the highest electrical rates in the region for all classes - residential, commercial and industrial.
New customers that meet annual load factor requirements are eligible for a discount on their electric bills: year 1 (35% discount); year 2 (30% discount); year 3 (25% discount); year 4 (20% discount); and year 5 (10% discount). The discount ends after year five.


text:
"""Application environment."""

import abc
import logging
import os

import six

from treadmill import fs
from treadmill import watchdog

_LOGGER = logging.getLogger(__name__)

@six.add_metaclass(abc.ABCMeta)
class AppEnvironment(object):
    """Treadmill application environment.

    :param root:
        Path to the root directory of the Treadmill environment
    :type root:
        `str`
    """

    __slots__ = (
        'app_types',
        'apps_dir',
        'archives_dir',
        'cache_dir',
        'cleanup_dir',
        'configs_dir',
        'init_dir',
        'metrics_dir',
        'pending_cleanup_dir',
        'root',
        'running_dir',
        'app_events_dir',
        'watchdogs',
        'watchdog_dir',
        'images_dir'
    )

    APPS_DIR = 'apps'
    ARCHIVES_DIR = 'archives'
    CACHE_DIR = 'cache'
    CLEANUP_DIR = 'cleanup'
    CONFIG_DIR = 'configs'
    INIT_DIR = 'init'
    PENDING_CLEANUP_DIR = 'pending_cleanup'
    RUNNING_DIR = 'running'
    METRICS_DIR = 'metrics'
    WATCHDOG_DIR = 'watchdogs'
    APP_EVENTS_DIR = 'appevents'
    IMAGES_DIR = 'images'

    def __init__(self, root):
        self.root = root

        self.apps_dir = os.path.join(self.root, self.APPS_DIR)
        self.watchdog_dir = os.path.join(self.root, self.WATCHDOG_DIR)
        self.running_dir = os.path.join(self.root, self.RUNNING_DIR)
        self.cache_dir = os.path.join(self.root, self.CACHE_DIR)
        self.cleanup_dir = os.path.join(self.root, self.CLEANUP_DIR)
        self.configs_dir = os.path.join(self.root, self.CONFIG_DIR)
        self.app_events_dir = os.path.join(self.root, self.APP_EVENTS_DIR)
        self.metrics_dir = os.path.join(self.root, self.METRICS_DIR)
        self.archives_dir = os.path.join(self.root, self.ARCHIVES_DIR)
        self.images_dir = os.path.join(self.root, self.IMAGES_DIR)
        self.init_dir = os.path.join(self.root, self.INIT_DIR)
        self.pending_cleanup_dir = os.path.join(self.root,
                                                self.PENDING_CLEANUP_DIR)

        self.watchdogs = watchdog.Watchdog(self.watchdog_dir)

        fs.mkdir_safe(self.apps_dir)
        fs.mkdir_safe(self.watchdog_dir)
        fs.mkdir_safe(self.running_dir)
        fs.mkdir_safe(self.cache_dir)
        fs.mkdir_safe(self.cleanup_dir)
        fs.mkdir_safe(self.configs_dir)
        fs.mkdir_safe(self.app_events_dir)
        fs.mkdir_safe(self.metrics_dir)
        fs.mkdir_safe(self.archives_dir)
        fs.mkdir_safe(self.init_dir)

    @abc.abstractmethod
    def initialize(self, params):
        """One time initialization of the Treadmill environment.

        :params ``dict`` params:
            dictionary of parameters passed to the OS specific
            `meth:initialize` implementation.
        """
        pass


text:
The orange-headed tanager (Thlypopsis sordida) is a species of bird in the family Thraupidae. Native to South America, it is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, and Venezuela, where it inhabits successional vegetation, cerrado, riparian forest, shrub, brush, and open woodland. Males of the species have sandy-gray , cinnamon to buff , white on the center of the lower breast, belly, and tail, and rufous-orange and yellow heads. Females are similar but duller.

The orange-headed tanager is omnivorous, feeding on insects, spiders, fruit, and seeds. It forages in an active manner, gleaning prey while hopping or, more infrequently, catching it in flight. Nesting has been recorded in December, and clutches contain two bluish-white eggs with brown markings. The species is listed as being of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) on the IUCN Red List due to its large range and stable population.

Taxonomy and systematics
The orange-headed tanager was originally described in 1837 as Nemosia sordida by the French ornithologists Frédéric de Lafresnaye and Alcide d'Orbigny on the basis of specimens from Bolivia. It was then moved to the genus Thlypopsis, of which it is the type species, by the German ornithologist Jean Cabanis in 1851. The name of the genus, Thlypopsis, is from the Ancient Greek thlupis, a word for an unknown species of small bird, and opsis, meaning appearance. The specific name sordida is from the Latin sordidus, meaning dirty or shabby. Orange-headed tanager is the official common name designated by the International Ornithologists' Union.

Subspecies
There are three recognized subspecies of the orange-headed tanager:

 T. s. sordida (Lafresnaye and d'Orbigny, 1837): The nominate subspecies, it is found from eastern Bolivia to Brazil, south to Paraguay and northern Argentina.
 T. s. chrysopis (Sclater and Salvin, 1880): Originally described as a separate species, it is found in southern Colombia, eastern Ecuador and Peru, and western Brazil. It differs from the nominate in having pure gray  and light grayish-brown sides and breasts.
 T. s. orinocensis Friedmann, 1942: It is found in central Venezuela. It has pale gray upperparts tinged grayish-cinnamon.

Description

The orange-headed tanager is a small, thin-billed tanager that has an average length of  and a weight of . Its proportions are similar to those of a New World warbler. Males of the nominate subspecies have rufous-orange  and sides of the head, becoming bright yellow on the lores, ocular region (area surrounding eye), and throat. The upperparts are sandy-gray, with dusky  and flight feathers, the latter of which are edged with gray. The underparts are buff to cinnamon and turn whitish on the center of the lower breast, belly, and . The bill is dark, the iris is dark brown, and the legs are gray.

Females have duller upperparts than males, less extensive yellow on the head, and duller yellow on the face and throat. Immatures are similar to females, but are even duller, with grayish-olive upperparts and paler underparts.

Vocalizations
The orange-headed tanager's calls include a high-pitched tseet, seet, or sit, often given rapidly multiple times, a quick high-pitched chittering sit-it-t-t-t-t-t-t, and a slower seet-a. The solo song varies geographically: in northern Peru and Ecuador, it is a high-pitched, rising and falling, and spasmodic pits'a, see-a, pits'a, see-ee, while it is a seet, sit, a see-fits-za in northwestern Argentina. In Bolivia and northern Peru, a high-pitched seet seet t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-d-dit has been recorded in flight or while perched, which may be either a duet or chatter. In eastern Brazil, the year-round song has several song types, with the most common one being a thin, high-pitched tsap-tsip, tsip, tsip-tsop-tswit. A high-pitched, trilled tsi . . . . tsrrrri has also been recorded from Brazil.

Distribution and habitat
The orange-headed tanager is native to South America, where it is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, and Venezuela. It is the only member of its genus that is found in the lowlands of the Amazon rainforest. In Venezuela and the western Amazon, it inhabits successional vegetation like tall Gynerium grasses, willows, Tessaria and Cecropia shrubbery, and young secondary growth near rivers and on river islands. In the southern Amazon, it inhabits dry to semi-humid cerrado, open woodland canopies, shrub, parks, and thinner riparian forest (forest next to waterbodies). In northwestern Argentina, it inhabits scrub, brush, and the edges of drier open woodland, and is seldom observed in uninterrupted forest.

The orange-headed tanager generally inhabits elevations up to , but is only found up to  in Venezuela and  in Colombia. Local populations in Bolivia can inhabit elevations as high as . In Brazil and Argentina, the species has been recorded seasonally migrating from the Andes to lowlands during the austral winter.

Behavior and ecology
The orange-headed tanager is found in pairs or groups of 3–4 individuals, occasionally in mixed-species foraging flocks.

Diet

The orange-headed tanager is an omnivorous species, having been recorded feeding on orthopterans (grasshoppers, crickets, and locusts), beetles, flies, spiders, fruit, and seeds. It forages in an active, New World warbler-like manner, gleaning insects from foliage with rapid hops, or less commonly hovering or sallying to catch prey in the air.

Breeding
The orange-headed tanager has been recorded nesting in December, building a cup-shaped nest about  above the ground. Eggs are laid in clutches of two, and are bluish-white with brown markings. The shiny cowbird has been recorded as a brood parasite of the orange-headed tanager.

Status
The orange-headed tanager is listed as being of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) on the IUCN Red List due to its large range and stable population. It is threatened in parts of its range due to land conversion, but occurs in a number of protected areas and is locally common on river islands and in river floodplains.

References

orange-headed tanager
Birds of Brazil
Birds of South America
orange-headed tanager
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
New or Changed Borders
Programmatic Documents
The Peace Treaty
World War I in 1918
The evacuation of Budapest: The withdrawal of the Romanian army (IV)
by Laurentiu Dologa | May 22, 2020 | Hungary, Romania | 0 comments
General Holban, the military governor of the capital, appeared before the generals of the Inter-Allied Military Mission with the evidence of a military conspiracy directed against the Romanian army, involving even prime minister Friedrich Istvan.
General Bandholtz had the following to say about this meeting: "… Holban began digging in the mountain of documents for evidence of an Hungarian conspiracy, which I endured for half an hour and then told the Mission that I did not see a reason to waste our time".During that meeting, Diamandi also pointed out that Prime Minister Friedrich was involved. In order to avoid other unpleasant situations through a possible arrest, he only asked for his better surveillance.However, not long after the meeting something odd occurred. Friedrich was allegedly pursued by Romanians who wanted to arrest him, and ran to General Bandholtz's home for refuge.Coincidentally or not, one could speculate that taking advantage of this moment, the prime minister staged the event in order to further discredit Romanian authorities.
In fact, the tactics used to gain the sympathy of the representatives of the Great Powers proved fruitful, the Hungarian officials managing to impress them with luxury and sophistication. Bandholtz wrote admirably in his diary: "Our offices in the royal palace are tremendously beautiful. This magnificent building must have cost millions and no effort or expense was spared. The walls of each room are covered with the same material as the room furniture, apart from the magnificent ballrooms, whose walls are made of marble and whose details are beyond any description".He continues: "Tonight Colonel Loree, Captain Gore, Lieutenant Hamilton and I have moved into our new residence, the residence of the Earl of Edelsheim, where we have the most spacious and almost palatial rooms".
He became a supporter of the Hungarian cause, writing indignantly that: "The surrender of parts of Hungary with its civilized and refined population would be like the surrender of Texas and Florida to the Mexicans. The Great Allied Powers should bow their heads in shame for what they let happen this country after the armistice".When it came strictly to Romanians, he finds no room for compliments and erupts angrily: "It is impossible to conceive of such a national depravity as that shown by those miserable Latins".
Beyond these personal attitudes and opinions, harassment continued in connection with war spoils consisting of more than 60.000 rifles, revolvers and machine guns, 348 cannons, 332 machine guns, 87 airplanes and large quantities of ammunition. The fact that Romania kept them for itself created strong dissatisfaction, the Allies considering them common war spoils and therefore had to be shared with the rest of the members of the Entente.
In Hungary the anti-Jewish sentiment was on the rise. Bela Kun's Jewish roots and of those he surrounded himself with, and the rumours that the Jews were giving money to the Romanian authorities for various favours certainly did not help.Because the prefect of Budapest did not bother to put a stop to the acts of violence committed against them, General Holban personally admonished him for his negligence. In fact, several anti-Jewish actions in the capital had to be thwarted several times.
In the meantime, Horthy's white guard promoted fierce anti-Semitism, especially in territories he controlled in western Hungary. This is why the news that the Romanian troops were about to leave was so disconcerting for the Jewish population.
The evacuation of occupied territories
In November, the Romanian army begins its withdrawal, after long negotiations and pressures. After more than ninety days, the occupation of Hungary ends.On November 14th, Romanian troops leave Budapest, and on the same day Admiral Horthy entered the capital.
However, since October 11th, knowing that the withdrawal was imminent, various ministers started criticising the Romanian army.Minister Schnetzer declared: "If the Romanians do not voluntarily leave Budapest, we will force them out, with the help of our Serbian brothers. I'm allowing three days of terror for the white troops to thank the Jews for the good protection they had received from the Romanians".
On November 3rd, a meeting was held in Szekesfehervar in which Gyula Rubinek, the Minister of Public Works, praised Prime Minister Friedrich and his government.Szabo Istvan, the Minister of Agriculture, demanded that all the gunowners enlist in the army, in order to fight against the Romanians.Not only politicians but also newspapers commented on the evacuation. The publication "Esztergom es Videko" informs that the Romanians had to evacuate the territory between the Danube and the Tisza and that in Szolnok the railway is full of wagons loaded with goods stolen by the Romanians.
The Hungarian delegation to the Paris Peace Conference begins handing out notes to the representatives of the Great Allied Powers showing that the Romanians wanted nothing more than the plunder of Budapest and Hungary.The "League for the Integrity of Hungary" formed shortly after the withdrawal of the Romanians from the most influential people in the government, started anti-Romanian propaganda actions. Brochures began to appear in which the Romanians were made responsible for the plundering of Hungary, with caricatures of Romanian soldiers with their hands full of plundered goods, with Jews pushing them from behind.
In fact, violence against Jews began immediately after the evacuation of Hungary. In the city of Kecsemet alone, 64 Jews are killed.Less than two months after the departure of Romanian troops, in January 1920, more than 100.000 Jews signed a petition calling on the Peace Conference to have the Romanians return to Budapest because of the atrocities of the Horthy regime.Amid worsening diplomatic relations, Romanian freight transports with essential supplies to Hungary were stopped.
Ineffective governance, focused on the needs of the army more than on the needs of the people, created a new food crisis in the country. The Romanians are blamed again for their requisitions and criticized for not resuming freight transport.
In a departure from official Hungarian policy, the weekly newspaper "The world" published in Budapest on February 12th, 1920 the article "Short objections": "The Romanian army evacuated Budapest a few months ago. Its conduct in Hungary was generous and correct and it is a pity that its honest deeds are confused with some local misunderstandings. As for the requisitions that have been made, they are far inferior to those made by the Hungarians in Romania … We are sure that Romania remains faithful to its old loyal and human traditions and will restore the consequences of the requisitions. We bond ourselves with love for Romania and we cannot confuse its attitude as an occupier with that of Hungary".
Feelings shared by a large number of Hungarians who were honest witnesses of those undertaken by the Romanian army.We should not be surprised then, that for a while the union of Hungary with Romania was considered in the highest political circles of both countries, but was denounced by those factions that eventually took power by force in Hungary and that, in the following years, continued to promote Hungarian irredentism.
Jurnal de Operațiuni al Comandamentului Trupelor din Transilvania (1918-1921), [Operations Log of the Troop Command in Transylvania (1918-1921)], vol. I and II, Viorel Ciubota, Gheorghe Nicolescu și Cornel Tuca, Satmar Museum Publishing House, Satmar, 1998.
Radu Cosmin, Românii la Budapesta [Romanians in Budapest], "Moise Nicoară" Foundation Publishing House, Arad, 2007.
Constantin Kirițescu, Istoria războiului pentru Întregirea României: 1916-1919 [The history of the war for the unification of Romania: 1916-1919], Scientific and Encyclopedic Publishing House, Bucharest, 1989.
Harry Hill Bandholtz, Major General Harry Hill Bandholtz: An Undiplomatic Diary, edited by Andrew L. Simon, Columbia University, 1933.
Charles Upson Clark, United Roumania, Dodd Publishing House, Mead and Company, New York, 1932.
Gheorghe Mărdărescu, Campania pentru desrobirea Ardealului și ocuparea Budapestei [The campaign for the liberation of Transylvania and the occupation of Budapest], Cartea Românească Publishing House, Bucharest, 1922.
Translated by Laurențiu Dumitru Dologa
How World War-I shaped India's fight for freedom
The peace treaty of Trianon
The Great Powers and Hungary at the Paris Peace Conference
Romania, the Republic of Councils in Hungary and the Great Powers
February 1919: The discussion of the union of Transylvania with Romania at the Paris Peace Conference
University of Bucharest (Romania)
ArhivaIstorica
Contact Detalis
Email: contact@europecentenary.eu
© Europe Centenary powered by Turism Istoric Association (NGO, Romania)


Apeldoorn has the largest theatre outside the Randstad and one of the busiest shopping streets in the Netherlands. A city with a lively centre, with a diverse cultural life, with attractive events. A city that is worth to (learn to) know. Apeldoorn has everything. Well, almost!
The beautiful city icons adorn prominent front of this version of Monopoly. In the game itself, the famous Long Legs, Kalverstraat and Our Village are replaced by well-known streets of Apeldoorn, sights and companies with their logos. This allows it to immortalize the famous Apeldoorn to a famous and widely played game!
Year: 2016 - Code: ???


Cathedral Square Senior Living (CSSL) community offers the benefits of independent and assisted living at a choice location overlooking Lake Champlain in downtown Burlington. Conveniently located near the University of Vermont and the UVM Medical Center, the community offers 80 independent-living apartments, as well as 28 assisted-living homes. All apartments are designed to be affordable to households with a variety of incomes.
Constructed in 1979 with funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)'s 202 Program, the independent living apartments are designed for people who are age 62 or older. The assisted-living homes are available to residents who require assistance with personal care activities and offers supportive services including daily meals, housekeeping services, and recreational and social activities. The assisted-living program offers a continuum of care to all residents.
CSSL is located at 3 Cathedral Square, at the corner of Cherry and Battery streets and directly across from Hotel Vermont. There is an active Residents Association comprised of artists and community-minded people who enjoy all the area has to offer and strive to live life to the fullest.
From I-89 take Exit 14W and follow signs for downtown Burlington, continuing on Main Street towards Lake Champlain. Turn right on Battery Street, continue up past the Hilton Hotel and take an immediate right onto Cherry Street. Then make an immediate left into Three Cathedral Square.
Resident must be 62 or older OR disabled. Applicants must have annual household incomes below $35,280 for one person). All units have rental assistance through HUD. This assistance allows the resident to make rental payments based on 30% of their income.


Clever Gangster Coloring Pages 14 Characters Printable Page Girl Cartoon. Beautifully Idea Gangster Coloring Pages 12 Characters Printable Page Girl Cartoon. Dazzling Design Inspiration Gangster Coloring Pages Gangsta Rap Colouring. Smartness Design Gangster Coloring Pages Gangsta How To Draw Step By Cartoons Colouring. Fresh Inspiration Gangster Coloring Pages Spongebob Printable Girl For. Pleasurable Ideas Gangster Coloring Pages Gangsta Printable Family Guy For Kids Girl. Fascinating Gangster Coloring Pages 10 Characters Printable Page Girl Cartoon For. Incredible Ideas Gangster Coloring Pages Free Printable Boondocks Gangsta X. Stunning Design Gangster Coloring Pages Of Google Search Printable Girl Cartoon For. Peaceful Ideas Gangster Coloring Pages Printable Metello Girl Cartoon.


Even regular programmable controls can make a big difference to the amount of energy you can save. There are a few different types of electric boilers. Maybe you know that all new boilers are pretty energy efficient in fact, any boiler sold on the market today should legally be a-rated however, you may be pleasantly surprised at the fact that.
Are you dissatisfied with the operating data of your boiler system? we can gladly help. See the vaillant installers in your local area. We specialise in the installation of condensing boilers and renewable energy products from worcester using the latest technology available modern condensing boilers improve efficiency to over 90% which could save you up to 30% per year on your home heating bills, which represents a big saving over.


text:
[![Chat on Slack](https://img.shields.io/badge/chat-on%20slack-7A5979.svg)](https://openmined.slack.com/)

> Homomorphically Encrypted Deep Learning Library

The goal of this library is to give the user the ability to efficiently train Deep Learning models in a homomorphically encrypted state without needing to be an expert in either. Furthermore, by understanding the characteristics of both Deep Learning and Homomorphic Encryption, we hope to find very performant combinations of the two.  See [notebooks](./notebooks) folder for tutorials on how to use the library.

## Installation

You need to install this library locally before running any of the notebooks this repository or the [main demonstration](https://github.com/OpenMined/sonar):

```sh
# Get dependencies ready
pip install -r requirements.txt
# install the lib locally
python setup.py install
```

### For Anaconda Users:

```
bash install_for_anaconda_users.sh
```
**Windows**
```sh
conda install -c conda-forge gmpy2
pip install -r requirements.txt
python setup.py install
```

### For Docker Users

Install Docker from https://www.docker.com/
For macOS users with [Homebrew](https://brew.sh/) installed, use `brew cask install docker`

Then, run:

```sh
git clone https://github.com/OpenMined/PySyft.git
cd PySyft
make run
```

## For Contributors

If you are interested in contributing to Syft, first check out our [Contributor Quickstart Guide](https://github.com/OpenMined/Docs/blob/master/contributing/quickstart.md) and then checkout our [Project Roadmap](https://github.com/OpenMined/Syft/blob/master/ROADMAP.md) and sign into our Slack Team channel #syft to let us know which projects sound interesting to you! (or propose your own!).

## Running tests

```sh
cd PySyft
make test
```

## Relevant Literature

As both Homomorphic Encryption and Deep Learning are still somewhat sparsely known, below is a curated list of relevant reading materials to bring you up to speed with the major concepts and themes of these exciting fields.

### Encrypted Deep Learning - Recommended Reading:
- How to build a fully encrypted AI model (trained on unencrypted data):
  - http://iamtrask.github.io/2017/03/17/safe-ai/
- Simple secure protocol for federated machine learning (using a python-paillier library):
  - https://blog.n1analytics.com/distributed-machine-learning-and-partially-homomorphic-encryption-1/
- Prototype for using encrypted AI to preserve user privacy (in python):
  - http://iamtrask.github.io/2017/06/05/homomorphic-surveillance/
- Manual for Using Homomorphic Encryption for Bioinformatics (paper):
  - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/ManualHE-3.pdf

### Homomorphic Encryption - Recommended Reading:
- https://eprint.iacr.org/2014/062.pdf
- http://heat-h2020-project.blogspot.co.uk/2017/02/homomorphic-encryption-api-software.html
- http://heat-h2020-project.blogspot.co.uk/2017/

### Relevant Papers:
- http://proceedings.mlr.press/v54/esperanca17a/esperanca17a.pdf
- https://sites.google.com/view/psml/program/abstracts
- https://arxiv.org/pdf/1508.06845.pdf
- https://arxiv.org/pdf/1508.06574.pdf
- https://eprint.iacr.org/2016/892
- https://www1.cs.fau.de/filepool/publications/octavian_securescm/secfp-fc10.pdf

### Related Libraries:
- http://www.louisaslett.com/HomomorphicEncryption/#details
- https://github.com/iamtrask/linreg-mpc
- https://github.com/dask/dask-tutorial

### Related Blogs:
- https://mortendahl.github.io/2017/04/17/private-deep-learning-with-mpc/
- https://mortendahl.github.io/2017/06/04/secret-sharing-part1/
- https://mortendahl.github.io/2017/06/24/secret-sharing-part2/
- https://blog.n1analytics.com/distributed-machine-learning-and-partially-homomorphic-encryption-1/
- https://blog.mturk.com/tutorial-how-to-verify-crowdsourced-training-data-using-a-known-answer-review-policy-85596fb55ed


GP Herning - DENIM Cup 1. afd.
An old reinstated Italian stage race: Giro di Sicilia or Tour of Sicily. First race was held in 1907 but has only been ridden 23 times, last one in 1977. This year's resurrected race will be the 24th edition of a race that can boast of having Roger de Vlaeminck as a victor in 1974.
"We're going into the race with confidence from last week's racing in Coppi e Bartali - there's no reason not to", says directeur sportif Michael Skelde. "We're looking forward to new challenges. The hills are a bit longer than in Coppi e Bartali and so we have to see where we stand and how the teams are approaching it."
"Hopefully Sindre Lunke can go for a GC result where the Etna-stage will be defining - a spot in the top 20 would be a good result for us."
"Besides that, we're going to seek our chances in the breakaways. The stages are hard, and they seem to be quite uncontrollable - so we'll try to approach the race with an offensive mindset and ride some good races showing that we want to be there and participate. The greatest for us would be to take home a stage win", ends Michael Skelde.
The race was last ridden in 1977 where Giuseppe Saronni won.


text:
People Are Not Happy With Trump's Visit to Louis Vuitton's New Factory in Texas
"I am not here to judge his types of policies. I have no political role," says LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault.
President Donald Trump visited a new Louis Vuitton workshop near Forth Worth, Texas, to cut the ribbon with LVMH Moët Hennessy CEO Bernard Arnault, who owns Louis Vuitton and a host of other luxury brands.
The president started off his visit by giving a speech about the new factory, the influx of jobs it created, and Arnault himself, calling the LVMH charmain a "visionary" and a "great businessman." He then continued to talk about the workshop itself and stumbled on the pronunciation of "Vuitton."
"Today we continue the extraordinary revival of American manufacturing," the president said. "And we proudly celebrate the opening of the brand-new Louis Vuitton. A name I know very well...it's cost me a lot of money over the years. It's a workshop right here in Johnson County, Texas." Instead of pronouncing it correctly, as "Lou-wee Vwee-to(ng)," the president pronounced it, "Louis Voo-ton."
Twitter took aim at both Trump's mispronunciation and the brand itself, with some users saying Vuitton and LVMH's alignment with Trump meant they'd boycott the brand. "No authentically fashionable person carries LV. And I felt that way before the Trump pic," wrote one user. "Soooooo, will the prices go down?! I'm so sure the average American can afford to pay over 1,000 for a purse!! Cant you bring other factories back here instead....like cars, or other businesses that got shipped out of the USA, costing Americans their jobs instead!?!? A thought," added another. Fashion Instagram account Diet Prada poked fun at the President, pairing his snafu with a clip of Miranda Priestly from The Devil Wears Prada.
As LVMH is a major player in the fashion world and owns many important brands, including Sephora, Marc Jacobs, and Rihanna's fashion and beauty lines, Trump's divisive presence not just in the U.S. but globally could potentially be a major risk for the company. According to New York Times, in regards to the occasion, Arnault said, "We are very honored to have the president of the United States coming for the opening. I am not here to judge his types of policies. I have no political role. I am a business person. I try to tell him what I think for the success of the economy of the country, and the success of what we are doing." The Texas factory joins two more American Vuitton workshops; there are two locations in California, and the Times reports that about half the Vuitton bags purchased in the United States are made in the U.S.
Teen Vogue reached out to Louis Vuitton for comment but the company declined.
https://twitter.com/VVFriedman/status/1184961780344410117?s=20
https://twitter.com/CurtisIP1/status/1185175868651589633?s=20
https://twitter.com/tammylwelch/status/1185172577821569027?s=20
https://twitter.com/FUCCl/status/1185173668000948225?s=20
Keywordstrumplouis vuitton
Attacks on Greta Thunberg Keep Coming — Now from the Owner of LVMH
He called her views "demoralising for young people."
By Rebecca Dancer
Some Major Fashion Brands Have Pledged To Stop Working With Models Under the Age of 18
Gucci, Alexander McQueen, Saint Laurent, and more announced the change.
By Lauren Rearick