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New Music Matters
New Music to Listen to by JaneJS - follow on Spotify @newmusicmatters
Favorite Holiday Tunes Playlist I (2011)
Happy Holidays! Here's a playlist of not-so new faves that I actually love hearing every year, beyond the usual standards playing everywhere you go. Happy to revisit the many Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby songs plus the offering of each Beatle: Ringo's fun party of "White Christmas," Paul always the happy family man with "Wonderful Christmastime," John's emotionally-charged political statement of "Happy Christmas (War is Over)," and George's voice giving out though still such a gift of the soul in "Ding Dong, Ding Dong." Plus I find the 1972 duet of "Little Drummer Boy" by Bing Crosby and David Bowie intriguing, moving and odd all at the same time. And I can't help but sing along to Wham's 80s hit "Last Christmas."
This curated listen is culled from my CD collection (!) when a compilation disc from MTV or various record labels was the greatest gift of all -- keeping me sane through many seasons of overindulgence. Back then you couldn't Google a band discovery and even to this day I have no idea who/where/what Local H is but I'm thankful for their track that starts things off. It also made for many a fun jam in the basement with me on drums...
Link to listen here, enjoy!
1. "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" -- Local H
2. "I Wish It Was Christmas Today" -- Julian Casablancas
3. "Merry Christmas (I Don't Want to Fight Tonight)" -- The Ramones
4. "Winter Wonderland" -- Phantom Planet
5. "Merry Christmas Baby" -- Hanson
6. "Christmas Wrapping" -- The Waitresses
7. "Little Drummer Boy" -- The Dandy Warhols
8. "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" -- Weezer
9. "The Christmas Song" -- Weezer
10. "Snowball" -- Jimmy Fallon
11. "Father Christmas" -- The Kinks
12. "Happy Xmas (War is Over)" -- The Polyphonic Spree
13. "Frosty the Snowman" -- The Jackson 5
14. "Hey Guys! It's Christmas Time!" -- Sufjan Stevens
15. "It's Christmas! Let's Be Glad!" -- Sufjan Stevens
Posted by JaneJS at 10:19 AM
Labels: Hanson, Julian Casablancas, Phantom Planet, Sufjan Stevens, The Dandy Warhols, The Kinks, The Polyphonic Spree, The Ramones, The Waitresses, Weezer
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Top Ten Releases of 2020 Playlist
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FAVE ONLINE RADIO SHOWS FEATURING NEW MUSIC
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& Post About New Music Sources
Band Recommendations
MY ESSENTIAL MUSIC
RECENT FAVE BANDS
FAVE BANDS 80s, 90s, 2000+
New Music Sources – Looking For Love At First Listen
Starbucks Sounds of Summer Compilation 2013
Gorillaz Live Session on KCRW
2009 Concert Memory #1 - Moby @ Irving Plaza NYC September 21
Theme Song for HBO's Last Week Tonight with John Oliver - "Go" By Valley Lodge
Top 20 Songs of 2011
New LCD Soundsystem Video for "Live Alone"
Top Ten Releases of 2011 With Video Highlights
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YACHT @ Santos Party House, NYC December 3rd
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Reading: Jim Ross Claims Vince McMahon Enjoyed Firing Him
WrestlingMob.com > Pro Wrestling News > Other Wrestling News > Jim Ross Claims Vince McMahon Enjoyed Firing Him
Other Wrestling NewsPro Wrestling News
Jim Ross Claims Vince McMahon Enjoyed Firing Him
Brandon Published September 7, 2022
Legendary commentator Jim Ross worked in WWE for decades before finding his way to AEW. JR recently spoke about former CEO Vince McMahon's departure from the company and how he constantly terminated him.
"He will never be replaced. He will always be at the top of the mountain. Look what he built. And he built it from s**t, those little arenas, smoky … and having to deal with commissions and all that stuff. He's an amazing human being."
"He's fired me three or four times. I don't give a st. When he found out I didn't give a st, it made it more fun for him and he just kept firing me. But here's the good news: He hired me back. He never hired me back for less money than I was making before I exited. So, he's always been fair to me that respect."
Jim Ross officially announced his retirement from WWE on September 11, 2013. He'd later sign a two-year deal with the company, which ended in the spring of 2019.
Brandon September 7, 2022

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Red wine with Denominación de Origen Málaga made in Ronda from Tempranillo (60%) and Syrah (40%) grapes. Bodegas Doña Felisa, founded in 1999, is located in an area called "Chinchilla", formerly known as "Tierra de Vino" - or land of wine - during Roman times, as this is where wine was produced and exported to all of the Roman Empire.
Tempranillo and Syrah grapes are selected, handpicked and left to macerate at 14ºC for 24 hours. A second maceration takes place in stainless-steel vats for 3 to 4 days. Malolactic fermentation in carried out at a controlled temperature with selected yeasts. The wine ages in French oak casks for 9 months.
Bright and clean cherry-red colour. Aromas of blueberry, woodland fruits with hints of spices, liquorice and oak. On the palate it is intense and balanced, with a pleasant entry and a long and elegant finish. Perfect with fish, grilled meat and pasta. Best served at a temperature of 16º - 17º C.


The Crowne Plaza New Orleans Airport features a 7,000 sq. ft. Grand Ballroom. Our event space will provide the perfect setting for your special event. Our ballroom comes with state-of-the-art lighting, audio and video systems and staging arrangements. Dress it up, make a statement or keep it clean-lined, elegant and enchanting – it's all up to you. Our venue offers plenty of complimentary on-site parking for your guests.
Whether it's an unforgettable Quinceañera birthday bash or a grand Indian wedding in our Grand Ballroom, our experienced catering professionals will help you with all the details to create the perfect party. Special packages are available for the ceremony, rehearsal dinner or reception. Need accommodations for your out of town guests? We offer special discounted rates.
The Landing Restaurant - an excellent venue to host your rehearsal dinner, post wedding brunch or bridal luncheon. Open daily for breakfast and lunch.
Concierge services - To make your wedding experience with us extra special, we will be glad to arrange for additional services that are either complimentary or offered at special rates. These include special room rates for your guests, dining vouchers, local sightseeing for out-of-town guests, branded wedding favors, specially created ice sculptures etc. Talk to your Crowne Weddings Director to find out more.
Complimentary airport shuttle - Give us a call and our shuttle brings you and your wedding guests to and from the New Orleans Airport and our hotel.
Discounted rates for your guests - We offer special hotel rates to your guests as they come in town for your wedding.
Complimentary room stay - After a busy day, every newlywed couple deserves some pampering. At Crowne Plaza, every wedding package includes a one-night complimentary stay and amenity.
The Crowne Plaza New Orleans Airport offers 292 well appointed guestrooms and suites that feature 42″ flat panel TVs, wireless high speed Internet access in all rooms and public spaces and three 600 sq. ft. suites with refrigerator, microwave and wet bar.


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Doctor Who Cuttings Archive
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From The Doctor Who Cuttings Archive
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'''The Doctor Who Cuttings Archive''' - dedicated to chronicling the story of the BBC TV series Doctor Who in the press and media. The original site contained over 1500 scans of newspaper and listings magazine articles covering Doctor Who from 1963 to 2009. The original archive was created in July 1998 by '''Roger Anderson''', who maintained it up through 2009, after which it went offline for personal reasons. A much loved and much missed resource, the Cuttings Archive is being brought back now, perhaps not as pretty but even more useful than ever, thanks to '''John Lavalie''' of [http://epguides.com epguides.com] and [http://broadwcast.org BroaDWcast], '''Nick Seidler''' of [http://homepages.bw.edu/~jcurtis/home.htm Earthbound Timelords], '''Steven Warren Hill''' of [http://gallifreybase.com Gallifrey Base] (who also created the site logo), and '''Dennis Kytasaari''' of [http://epguides.com epguides.com], and with the full cooperation and encouragement of original webmaster and editor Roger Anderson. The original Cuttings Archive content has been incorporated here. How are we making it more useful? Wherever possible, articles are being presented in both image format AND text format, so ''content is searchable''. This website is intended as a resource for researchers and fans of the BBC programme '''Doctor Who''' and as such it is run on a not for profit basis. If you are a publisher and would like any of your material removed, please contact us. Articles are generally embargoed for at least one year. '''Editor-in-chief''': John Lavalie {{email}}
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A City Council hearing for the Northwest Parking Update Project has been scheduled for July 6, 2016, at 2 p.m. Please check the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability calendar for additional details and to confirm hearing time prior to the hearing.
A Recommended Draft to City Council of the Northwest Parking Update Project will be published in mid-June 2016, and the public will be invited to submit testimony in writing or in person. Check this website regarding the Recommended Draft and when and where to submit testimony.
Commissioners passed on minimum parking standards for new multi-dwelling construction but voted to recommend "shared parking" in the district.
Zoning Code changes would require new minimum parking standards for apartments over 30 units and provide new flexibility for shared parking.
On-street parking can be hard to find for customers, residents and employees in the Northwest District. As the popular shopping and dining area along NW 21st and 23rd Avenues continues to develop and more apartments are built in the area, concerns about managing and developing parking options also grow.
To help address the problem, the City of Portland adopted the Northwest Parking Management Plan in 2013 to manage and improve access to the on-street parking supply in the district. Parking meters are now being installed and an expanded area parking permit program was launched last year.
But what about off-street parking?
Establishing minimum parking requirements for residential development with more than 30 units. This would bring the NW Plan District more in alignment with multi-family parking requirements established for much of the city in 2013.
Expanding opportunities for accessory parking lots to rent out excess off-hour spaces. Parking garages in the NW are sometimes vacant during parts of the day or on the weekend. Allowing these garages to rent space to visitors during off-hours will help ease parking congestion in the area.
Come to an Open House to answer questions about the project on Wednesday March 2, 2016, 5 – 6: 30 pm, at Friendly House (1737 NW 26th at NW Thurman).
How can I provide feedback to decision-makers?
The PSC will consider and take public testimony on the Proposed Draft of the NW Parking Update Project on March 8, 2016. The Commission may amend the proposal before they vote to recommend the draft proposal to Portland City Council. That draft of the proposal is called the Recommended Draft.
City Council will hold additional public hearings and take formal public testimony on the Recommended Draft. Council may amend the Recommended Draft before they vote to adopt the proposal. This will likely occur in April or May 2016.
For more information, visit the project website or contact Joan Frederiksen at joan.frederiksen@portlandoregon.gov or call 503-823-3111.


Over the past few months we have had a lot of ideas of where the brewery should be located, how big it should be, what it should look like inside and out and everything in between.
As far as the space we are renting goes we have chosen to build out 720 square feet for our taproom. The taproom will seat about 45 people and will have a bar and hopefully a spot for some games, movies or music. We want to ensure that it is casual and as nice as we can afford, which isn't much! The bar will feature as many of our beers as we can get on tap, hopefully 6+, local wine and a few select beverages that we enjoy.
We will have windows viewing into the brewing area and hope to be able to demonstrate brewing up close and personal and hopefully we can work with home brewers to get ideas on new flavors and beers they would like to see in our taproom.
For the rest of brewery we will be busy building out a small office, a cold room for kegs, digging out trench floor drains, bathroom plumbing, new electrical, glycol chilling for our fermenters, a milling area and whatever else regulations require! It is a much bigger project than we ever could have anticipated, hopefully soon we will get to brew!
Here are a couple of pictures of the brewery in its current state. It doesn't look like much now, but it will look great when it is done!


What the world needs is a good $5 million dollar jet powered flying car. One that cruises at 550 mph and soars to 38,000 feet. Yeah, that's the ticket. Need to be in LA by 5 but you overslept? No problem. Just grab a latte and hit the skies with your GF7 flying car.
The GF7 is the brainchild of designer Greg Brown and engineer Dave Fawcett of Napa, California. They work at Airboss Aerospace, an outfit that builds custom aircraft for people with really deep pockets. So for just a little more than 4 times the cost of a McLaren P1 Hybrid, you could own an actual GF7 of your own. Brown and Fawcett figure any flying car is outrageously expensive, so if you must have one, why not go for the whole enchilada?
The concept is a four passenger luxury car powered by an electric motor. Driving about town, it has a range of 100 miles, but an optional on board range extender engine pushes that out to several hundred miles. If you find the idea of paying for options on a $5 million dollar car troubling, perhaps you should consider something more mundane – like the Terrafugia flying car, which starts at a more pedestrian $250,000.
The 50 kW electric motor used to drive the GF7 while on the ground helps it accelerate down the runway for shorter takeoffs. While in flight. a turbine engine developing 3,500 lbs of thrust also recharges the battery. Shorter take offs and landings mean the GF7 can use smaller airports as well…you know, like the kind on a private island. In theory, the GF7 flying car is the essence of convenience and practicality.
Skeptics scoff that if you need a flying car that can drive long distances on the road, you may not fully comprehend the reason to have a flying car in the first place. They also snicker about those folding wings fitting under highway overpasses or into underground parking garages. But let them scoff and snicker as you soar overhead, sipping fine wine and snacking on caviar laden crackers.
Living well is always the best revenge!


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view Bell's match-by-match record
Amari'i BELL
Town signed Bell on loan from Birmingham City for the first half of the 2014/15 season to compete with fellow loanee Brad Smith for Town�s left wing back berth.
Starting the season behind Smith in the pecking order, Bell�s chance came when Smith was called up for international duty at the end of September, and he started the next eight games. He seemed to struggle with fitness and was substituted in five consecutive matches before being dropped after a loss away at MK Dons in November, and was restricted only to three substitute appearances thereafter, as replacement Harry Toffolo proved a hit with Town fans and management alike.
Bell went on to become an established football league player at Fleetwood Town before joining Championship side Blackburn in 2018.
PLAYING RECORD:
'14/'15 7 (+3) - - - - - 1 - 8 (+3) -
7 (+3) - - - - - 1 -
TRANSFER INFORMATION:
TRANSFER DETAIL
28 SEP 2014 IN Birmingham City
2 JAN 2015 OUT Birmingham City
Amari'i Kyren Bell
usual positions
left wing back
senior career
Nuneaton Town (loan)
Kidderminster Harriers (loan)
Mansfield Town (loan)
SWINDON TOWN (loan)
Gillingham (loan)


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Features, Film, Review | by Loose Lips — October 18, 2014
Tags: BFI LFF, BFI London Film Festival, James Gandolfini, LFF, London Film Festival, Michaël R. Roskam, Noomi Rapace, The Drop, Tom Hardy
Directed by Michaël R. Roskam
Starring Tom Hardy, Noomi Rapace and James Gandolfini
In UK cinemas November 14th, 2014
by Joanna Orland
Tom Hardy has a chameleonic voice. From playing the English that he is to Ivan's Welsh in Locke to nonsense as Bane in Batman, Hardy has mastered the art of voice acting. In The Drop Hardy morphs his voice yet again, this time into the form of a Brooklyn accent. A classic mob story, Bob (Hardy) is a bartender and "just a bartender" as he works for his Cousin Marv (Gandolfini) at his bar, a business that is used to launder money for the mob.
Marv gets greedy and arranges the robbery of his own bar in order to defy the mob. Meanwhile, Bob finds a puppy in a garbage can and falls for the woman Nadia (Rapace) whose trash can it is. Nadia eventually warms to Bob's charms, but their budding romance and pet ownership is disrupted by Eric Deeds, the dog's owner and Nadia's ex-boyfriend.
Watching Hardy snuggling with a puppy is probably one of the best things about this movie. Plot twists become absurd, and very little empathy is felt towards any of the characters. The performances while mostly high calibre sometimes wane into laughable territory, some intentional, some most definitely not.
While not a terrible film, The Drop may do just that off of our film radar.
This entry was posted on Saturday, October 18th, 2014 at 2:55 am	and is filed under Features, Film, Review.


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Beyoncé And Jay-Z's Surprise Album Is Here: Listen To 'Everything Is Love'
By Rodney Carmichael
Published June 16, 2018 at 6:23 PM EDT
Beyoncé and Jay-Z, seen here performing "Drunk In Love" at the Grammy Awards in 2014, released a joint album called Everything Is Love on Saturday.
Please note: The album below contains explicit language.
Just when it seemed June couldn't get any hotter for lovers of rap and R&B, the inevitable has finally happened: After a collaboration built on musical legacy and love for the past 15 years, Beyonce and Jay-Z have released a joint album as The Carters.
The surprise LP, Everything Is Love, premiered Saturday afternoon exclusively on Tidal, the digital streaming platform owned in part by Jay-Z, but appeared on Spotify on Monday morning. The nine-song album, which features Bey and Jay on every track, comes in the middle of a month chock full of chart-topping releases from some of the biggest names in hip-hop and R&B. Less than 24 hours earlier, Nas released his 11th solo album, Nasir, which was executive produced by longtime Jay-Z collaborator Kanye West. And West, of course, is in the middle of a run of five releases which he's executive produced, including his own album, ye, Pusha T's Daytona, West and Kid Cudi's Kids See Ghosts and an album by Teyana Taylor that's due next Friday.
The credits to Everything Is Love appeared online soon after its Tidal premiere, and the producer list is (obviously) impressive. Here's a rundown of the album's tracks with each song's producers and singers.
1. "Summer"
Produced by Cool and Dre, with additional vocals by Rory from Stone Love
2. "Apes**t"
Produced by Pharrell, with additional vocals by Migos' Offset and Quavo
3. "Boss"
Produced by Mike Dean, Melo-X, Derek Dixie and D'Mile, with additional vocals by Ty Dolla $ign
4. "Nice"
Produced by Pharrell, with additional vocals by Pharrell
5. "713"
Produced by Boi1da and Jahaan Sweet
6. "Friends"
7. "Heard About Us"
Produced by Vinylz, Boi1da, Jahaan Sweet, !llmind
8. "Black Effect"
Produced by Cool and Dre
9. "Lovehappy"
Produced by Dave Sitek of TV On The Radio
Meanwhile, Beyoncé and Jay-Z continue their international On The Run II tour through the fall.
Rodney Carmichael
Rodney Carmichael is NPR Music's hip-hop staff writer. An Atlanta-bred cultural critic, he helped document the city's rise as rap's reigning capital for a decade while serving on staff as music editor, culture writer and senior writer for the defunct alt-weekly Creative Loafing.
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Welcome home GTG for Melanie Stout.
This Sunday at Steak and Shake in Hiram on 278. Be there at 2:00pm. Be there if you can.
Re: Welcome home GTG for Melanie Stout.
I gotta work until 3:30, but will head up there when I'm done. I'll call you when I am heading that way.
Yeap I'll be there! !
Supposed to be bad weather on Sunday. Hope yall can still make it.
Need a wash anyways lol!!
With my bus in the rain, it gets a wash and a flush.


Great work as usual but I am undecided if it is either the Tardis or Monolith I know Ryan refers to 2001 but ????
"Everything is going extremely well"
I was rather pleased to spot the Monolith just in front and to the left of the Great Red Spot.
That is a perfect rendition of Europa. And another monolith never hurt anybody either!
Saw the title, knew what it meant immediately and went to further check the image.
"This one sucked me right back in"
When I saw this image, I knew it was time to re-subscribe. 10/10, beautiful.
It's as if you're in your spacesuit gazing upon this scene....it's that lifelike. Either that, or you're a Transformer. Once again, a beautiful job, Sir Bliss. This one's definitely a ten. Wow!
Makes me want to get in my Tardis and hang out around the great red storm for a few days.
Really like this one, especially the Monolith in the background.
Came back looking for a new background to try out. Knew I had found what I was looking for when I came across this. Stunning piece of work.
This is why I love DB!
I've always loved your work for it's creativity and detail. What an image!
This image gives a sense of scale to what the Hubble has confirmed while reminding us of a great Sci-fi story. Stunning, and well done.
Space Odyssey was a bit before my time. Nevertheless this is still a really cool scene. Enjoyable even if you don't get the reference.
All these worlds are yours except Europa. Attempt no landing there Use them together us them in peace. Cold war then, now? I like like it!
Fantastic work. I do most enjoy your space/planet scenes, and this is one of the best you've done.
I love your planet work, they always turn out awesome.
I love the colours of the terrain and although they do work well with Jupiter, I actually don't like the colour of the planet very much. However I think it's because I'm not very fond of rust brown colours.
Apart from that, it is a very spectacular piece and I shall look forward to seeing what else you will come up with using that software.
I always liked Clarke, and I always liked the Space Odyssey series, but... shouldn't Europa be somewhat flatter? And the monolith on Europa was enormous and lying on its side. Yeah, I'm picky.
Awesome on my 4k, looking forward to seeing dual screens!
Pretty hard to find a good spot to make a landing on Europa. But maybe the HAL 9000 computer will find a way!
Very exciting, beautiful, and creative.
"All these worlds are yours-- except Europa.
I've always loved your space scenes and this one does not disappoint. Gazing at Jupiter I can feel the chill and the energy from the monolith that was missed in the movie adaptations. Fantastic work!
The quote "Attempt No Landing" was from the end of the 2010 movie and book, and the appearance of the monolith on Europa was first revealed in 2061 (I think), but both of those events occurred after Jupiter was transformed into "Lucifer", a small sun-like planet.
All that aside, this is still a beautiful image and a great tribute.
"Love the Idea -- BUT..."
Needs to be cleaned up some. On the dark side of Jupiter, about 25% of the way in from the left side, there's a swath of star field visible. Obviously, that shouldn't be there! It's a bit hard to see, unless you're zoomed in on it, but even fairly muted down, it really detracts from the overall merit of the piece. Cleaned up some, this has the potential to be one of your best images. Thanks for keeping them coming!
This is just spectacular. The level of detail combined with the realism of Jupiter in the background... just breathtaking. Europa has always been a favored moon for me, since it has water, and possibly life. Excellently done.
On my 2560 by 1600 monitor this looks eerily real and bizarre at the same time.
"I feel as if I'm..."
...standing there, wow. What a great piece! I have no criticism, at all. Perfect, incredible actually.
I'm not to happy about this render. It looks like something me at 13 would create. Frankly, it looks lazily pieced together.
I must say, this is one of your finest works so far. Kudos!
This is a Great render for a Great, and my favorite author, This is a fitting render for a great science fiction story and film. Awesome job Ryan.
I just want to say thanks! Million times would not be enough. And not needed. Thanks Ryan! For all you do so many years for all of us out there.
...before I read your hint of the obelisk.
It's an impressive rendering and the obelisk helps give perspective to the picture. I am going to download the image and see who notices.
Great stuff. One of your best space images. Really like it.
Fabulous - I can feel the cold emanating off the ice.
Love this...fun to imagine walking around the ice and taking in Jupiter's splendor. Love the "2001 Space Odyssey" reference. Thank you.
What a brilliant concept!!!! The title is just icing on the clever cake (for those who get it). It's beautiful, and very well done!
This is awesome! Nearly impossible (or impossible) to tell that it's not a photo (even with the Monolith! :-).
A render on Europa could be interesting, too... considering liquid water under ice, and the possibility of life (an indie movie to watch: "Europa Report").
I mapped a sphere with a (enhanced) photographic texture and rendered it in Lightwave.
I viewed the largest version to see the detail. I really like the texture and color variation on the glacier ice. Also the planet is impressively realistic. How did you do the planet? With the same program as the terrain or another?
Great job with this one! I especially like the obelisk standing sentinel on Europa.
I don't normally comment on your work, but I love this one. The Odyssey books are some of my favourites.
This render is awesome. Love the nod to such a sci-fi classic.
"All these worlds are yours except Europa. Attempt no landing there."
The entire Space Odyssey series is a favorite of mine, though "3001: The Final Odyssey" was a little weak. "2010" is a favorite film of mine; it took some liberties with the original story (notably the complete absence of the China subplot), but any film with Roy Scheider is gonna be good. Awesome render, Ryan!


The signs of Conde Nast's empire cracking have been leaking out for months now. The five percent cuts. The lack of a Web strategy. The shuttering of Flip.com and Domino. Layoffs. Struggles at The New Yorker. And so on.
But in today's New York Post, Keith Kelly takes a hard look at the reality of publishing's most glamorous house and the picture isn't pretty.
Ad pages at many of the titles are down over 30 percent, with Portfolio down 60 percent and Wired 57 percent behind last year. Expect more closings before the end of the year.
Our take: Conde had this coming. It's been a wildly mismanaged business — outsized salaries, huge expense accounts, no ability to adjust the Internet, — that could only survive in boom times. We'll miss Wired as much as the next person, but it's hard to feel bad if the company fails to make any money.


With the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge announcing the birth of their son last night, the first round of brands released their ads through Twitter late last night and early this morning. Throughout the day more and more brands have been joining the celebrations, here are some more of the best Royal Baby campaigns to come out of the last 24 hours.
Game suggests you don't need to be royal to own a kingdom.
The Early Learning Centre has added 50,000 limited edition Happyland Royal baby sets to its toy range.
Did Ryanair know something we didn't? If the baby had been a girl they'd have had to let infants go free for two days, instead of just the one a Royal son gets us.
From one Mumm to another.
Play-Doh have recreated Wills, Kate and their baby on the balcony of Buckingham Palace out of their iconic putty.
Delta's ad says its looking forward to showing the Royal heir the world, pretty sure his family own its own airforce though.
East Midlands is offering four first class tickets to London as part of a celebratory competition.
Sony Pictures congratulated the Duke and Duchess on their new arrival and promoted their upcoming release Smurfs 2 in one fell swoop.
Across the pond Hostess Snacks tweeted this image with the accompanying text "This summer, a precious little bundle of sweetness was born. And Will and Kate also had their baby."
Blinkbox spoofed classic 80s movie 'Look Who's Talking' to send its congratulations to Wills, Kate and the baby.
Celebrating the Royal birth and promoting its Joyville proposition all at the same time for Cadbury.
Yeovil Town FC decided to follow in the footsteps of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge making its announcements by easel.
Tesco advertised a promotion on Moet to help the nation raise a toast to the new Prince.
B&Q put its 'Unloved Rooms' campaign front and centre for this ad suggesting products Wills and Kate may need to baby proof the palace.
Biscuiteers has released a special Royal Baby themed box of biscuits featuring silver spoons, regal rattles and the celebratory fizz-shaped iced vanilla biscuits.
Nandos sent well wishes to Wills and Kate using billboards outside its branches.
British Airways used a little wooden airplane to send its message of congratulations to the new parents.


Jutting out at the start of the Corniche is Qatar's extraordinary, new national museum. It is symbolically placed as the starting point of your journey into the heartbeat of downtown Doha and as the previous historic home to the son of the founder of Qatar, Sheikh Abdullah bin Jassim Al Thani in the early 20th century. The museum opened its doors to the public on March 28 and we've taken a tour through one of Qatar's most exquisite creations yet to bring you the essential ins and outs.
A portion of the site of the new museum is dedicated to the extensive restoration of the former palace of Jassim Al Thani. Built in the early 1900s, it is a national symbol and was part of the former national museum that existed on the same site from 1975 to 1996. Former residences and a mosque can be viewed and going forward the space will host a number of special programmes and events.
The interior of the new national museum tells the story of Qatar in three distinct chapters: Beginnings, Life in Qatar and Building the Nation. Presented across 11 galleries, the visitor's chronological journey, which extends more than 1.5km starts in the geological period, long before the peninsula was inhabited by humans, and continues to the present day.
The Beginnings take us back to 700 million years ago to explore the biological and geological evolution of the Qatar peninsula. Fossils of long extinct plants and animals are delicately exhibited on display, along with a display of an ancient meteorite that crash-landed in the desert long ago. Life size models of indigenous plants and animals, from the oryx, sandcat and the rather friendly sounding deathstalker scorpion can be seen. A breath-taking film by Jacques Perrin envelopes you into the desert and the sea. Five years in the making, it is unique to the museum and this gallery.
A treasure trove of archaeological artefacts also shows the day-to-day life of Qatar's inhabitants thousands of years ago in the thriving towns and settlements during the 1500s.
At the heart of Qatar's story is its people. The history and traditions of Qatar's nomadic past is illustrated beautifully through rare archived images showing Qataris trading, searching for water, hunting and diving for pearls. Rare artefacts from the shipwreck of the Cirebon show the kind of merchandise that was traded and sought after more than 1,000 years ago.
Expect to find everything from a stunning recreation of a sandstorm to a beautifully shot film enacting the life of a traditional family in their desert home. The gallery is a multi-sensory experience, with displays of traditional sadu weaving, the image and sound (but thankfully not the smell) of herding camels, cooking utensils, the sound and harmony of poetry and the aroma of coffee brewing that transports you to a different era. This particular gallery was the result of a two-year consultation and workshops with the local community to create as authentic an experience as possible.
Qatar's rich history also includes coastal tribes. The life by the sea exhibit includes a scale model of Al Zubarah Fort and a short film by Abderrahmane Sissako that captures the hustle and bustle of life there in the 18th and 19th centuries. Alongside this gallery is a jaw-dropping visual projection of the dangerous, exhilarating experience of pearl diving.
The pearling industry was so prominent as Qatar's trading link to the rest of the world that it takes centre stage in this area. A unique national treasure made in 1865, the pearl carpet of Baroda, with its 1.5 million pearls adorned with emeralds, diamonds and sapphires, is a must-see.
The final set of galleries share the story of Qatar's society from the 1500s to the present day. The tales of historic figures from Qatar's past history from Rahmah Bin Jaber and Isa Bin Tarif to the Al Thani founders of modern Qatar are shared for the new generation. Archived documents and historical maps enrich the visitor experience.
A second space shares the transition of Qatar from its reliance on the pearling industry to the discovery of oil. A stunning sculpture by renowned Chinese artist Ai Weiwei symbolises the discovery of oil in 1939.
In the adjacent gallery, John Sanborn's alchemy is projected onto 30 high resolution monitors, displaying the significance of Qatar's discovery of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and its significance to the urban boom and prosperity of modern day Qatar.
Careful thought has been put into the experience for visitors with disabilities. As well as the multi-sensory nature of the galleries, exhibits also have detailed descriptions in braille. The buildings are absent of any staircases, with gentle, sloping floors that guide you fluidly from one end to the other.
Multimedia work-stations are found at various points in the galleries, offering a chance for intergenerational learning. Both children and adults can explore key themes from the galleries and experience the subject matter in a tactile way. The museum has worked closely with the Supreme Education Council to ensure that learning spaces have activities tailored to the Qatar history aspect of the national curriculum.
The National Museum also hosts artwork from a number of emerging talents in the Qatari art scene. We speak to Bouthayna Al Muftah whose work Kan Ya Ma Kaan is located in the café with the same name. "My work is all about reconstructing past experiences into a contemporary setting. The name 875 refers to 'Thahab', the 875 gold (21 karat) that is crafted for traditional ceremonies in Qatar. The movement and sound of the jewellery is incorporated into the artwork," she says.
Adorning the walls in the café area are phrases in the local Khaleeji dialect that mimic snapshots of everyday conversations. The café is a testament to Qatari-inspired cuisine in a contemporary setting.
Artistic detail is abundant in the museum, from the curved wooden free-flow of the gift shop to where geometry meets geology in the black-circled ceilings in the Beginnings gallery.
The museum is an exemplary demonstration of the latest cutting-edge technology. Images and videos create an aesthetic that enrich your experience. You will also notice there is no music in the museum but natural sounds fill the spaces and immerse you. The interior of the blades become curved screens with incredible tailor-made projections which fill the wall spaces from top to bottom.
As well as Café 875, the museum hosts the Desert Rose café and Jiwan restaurant on the upper levels with beautiful panoramic views of the sea.
The museum is well-stocked with gift shops with plenty of educational items for parents and teachers including souvenirs, activity books and games. For grown-ups, there is a selection of exclusive merchandise by several Qatari designers.
Surrounding the main building is a gorgeous park with concrete dunes, planted areas for children and a 900 metre-long lagoon. Over a hundred fountains are surrounded by Arabic calligraphy in Jean-Michel Othoniel's ALFA art installation.


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Q: How to port scipy.signal.fftconvolve into swift using accelerate framework? I am working on a voice pitch identification problem in iOS, For analysis purpose i was using python it gave me appropriate results.... But when I tried to recreate the same thing in iOS using accelerate framework it is giving incorrect or weird results. Can somebody please help me on this.
I want to perform autocorrelation using FFT convolution, which happens very well in python using scipy.signal.fftconvolve. but when I am trying to do the same using vDSP_conv it is giving incorrect results.
It will be a great help if somebody with experience or knowledge on this can guide me on this or explain how fftconvolve works.
Thanks in advance.

A: I would need to see your code to fully answer this question but based on the Accelerate documentation for vDSP_conv, are you sure you're passing in parameters correctly? vDSP_conv will perform correlation if IF is positive, and convolution if IF is negative.  You also need to be careful about pointing correctly to the vector you're trying to perform the convolution on.  When I've brought translated Python code into Swift/ObjC and used the Accelerate framework I've needed to try out the Accelerate functions on simple small vectors to start out to make sure I understand how the functions are working.
https://developer.apple.com/documentation/accelerate/1450516-vdsp_conv?language=objc

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


The field of candidates considering a run for the 15th District seat in the Michigan House of Representatives is expanding.
The Capitol building in Lansing.
We reported here earlier this week that Dearborn Councilman George Darany and Linda Tafelski, a retired Dearborn schoolteacher, were the only two who had officially declared their candidacy for the seat of state Rep. Gino Polidori, D-Dearborn, who cannot seek re-election because of term limits.
Well, the list of candidates officially running has grown and now includes the following on the Democratic ticket: Hope Buxton, a Dearborn business owner, and Alex Shami, a former Dearborn school board member.
It now appears that Dearborn Councilwoman Suzanne Sareini,who finished as the second top voter getter in the last election and now serves as council pro-tem, is being urged by Republican party leaders to run for the position. The same is true for Bill Runco, a Dearborn lawyer and former district court judge, who has had a bumpy political history in Dearborn.
Other Democrats considering running for the position include Mike Berry, a Dearborn business owner who previously ran for Dearborn City Council; Fay Beydoun, active in Dearborn politics who works for American Arab Chamber of Commerce and Stephen Dobkowski Jr., who previously ran for Dearborn City Council.
This should be an interesting August primary.
Award winning documentary filmmaker and Dearborn native Tom McPhee will share his latest film, An American Opera, with Dearborn High School students in the school's auditorium on March 2.
McPhee, who grew up on Long Boulevard and attended Dearborn High School (DHS), has won numerous awards for his documentary work. He also owns two production companies and is executive director of the World Animal Awareness Society.
His latest work, An American Opera: The Greatest Pet Rescue Ever, tells the story of the vets, owners, officials, and rescuers who worked through the chaos during the days that followed hurricane Katrina to save and reunite thousands of pets with their owners. The work was not easy and there were others who had a different plan to deal with all the abandoned animals.
McPhee will begin his visit at 11:00 a.m. when he sits down for a special discussion with students in the Advanced Video class. From there, he and the video class will join about 300 other students in the school's auditorium for a private screening of the film. McPhee will follow up the movie with a question and answer period.
"This is going to be an exciting event that will provide our students with multiple opportunities for learning," said Sousen Dobbs, a teacher at Dearborn High and event organizer.


Описание: As far as Bliss Edwards can tell, she`s the last virgin standing, certainly amongst her friends. And she`s determined to deal with the `problem` as quickly and simply as possible. Especially when she arrives for her first class and recognises her hot new British professor.
Описание: Every girl likes a bad boy... And Max`s current boyfriend is as bad as they come. She knows her family would freak if they saw his tattoos and piercings. So when her parents turn up unannounced Max grabs the most wholesome guy she can to play her boyfriend. But Cade Winston is so perfect that Max needs him to keep playing the part.
Описание: Kelsey Summers is looking for love in all the wrong places. Spending a few months travelling around Europe - with no parents, no responsibilities and a no limit credit card - Kelsey`s having the time of her life. But when she embarrasses herself in front of the hottest guy she`s ever seen, she realises there`s more to life than the next party.
Описание: In this second book in New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Cora Carmack`s New Adult, Texas-set Rusk University series, which began with All Lined Up, a young woman discovers that you can`t only fight for what you believe in . sometimes you have to fight for what you loveDylan fights for lost causes.
Kate Haywood, the young queen's personal musician, has been keeping busy playing for a merry round of summer parties where famed astrologer Dr. John Dee and his fantastic horoscopes are all the rage. However, Elizabeth's favorite stargazer fails to predict the discovery of a skeleton in the queen's garden--and that the victim's identity will call his own innocence into question.
When the doctor's pupil is the victim of a second murder, the concerned queen enlists her trusted Kate to clear the accused killer of wrongdoing. But will the stars align to light Kate's path through a tangled thicket of treachery to save Elizabeth's prized astrologer and protect the queen from those who threaten her reign?
Описание: The acclaimed author of Murder in the Queen's Garden returns to Tudor England with amateur sleuth Kate Haywood embroiled in court intrigue and a devastating scandal.
Despite evenings of banquets and dancing, the European delegates attending Her Majesty's holiday festivities are less interested in peace on earth than they are in fostering mistrust. Kate, the queen's personal musician, hopes she can keep the royal guests entertained.
Описание: Aurora Pavan comes from one of the oldest Stormling families in existence. Long ago, the ungifted pledged fealty and service to her family in exchange for safe haven, and a kingdom was carved out from the wildlands and sustained by magic capable of repelling the world`s deadliest foes.Aurora has been groomed to be the perfect queen.
Описание: In the third book in New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Cora Carmack`s Rusk University series, a good girl is about to find out what happens when she creates the ultimate college bucket list and she sets her sights on a jock.First person in her family to go to college?
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Cora Carmack follows up her trio of hits--Losing It, Faking It, and Finding It--with this thrilling first novel in an explosive series bursting with the Texas flavor, edge, and steamy romance of Friday Night Lights.
When your dad is a coaching legend in Texas high school football, your life isn't your own. That's why Dallas Cole can't wait to get to Rusk University and finally get out of her father's shadow. But when he makes the jump to college ball--at her school no less--it's deja vu all over again.
Now, half the team (and all their groupies) avoid her like the plague, convinced she'll tattle to her notoriously hardass father about a frat party or a bent curfew. The other half just wants to use her to get closer to the coach.
And then there's Carson McClain, the supremely hot, newly transferred second-string quarterback. Oblivious of her identity, he approaches her at a party, and for once in her life Dallas decides to kiss first and ask questions later.
While the heat between them is undeniable, Dallas and Carson have more than a few issues to tackle. He's a football player with a lot to prove. She's the coach's daughter who just wants a life of her own. How can they possibly win when they've both got so much to lose?


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Business in Brief: I'm Eddie Cano delay; Laliguras x2
September 24, 2018 by FHC Leave a Comment
by Katherine Saltzman
Food lovers and local business supporters have a lot to be excited for as local restaurateurs open new locations across Northwest DC.
Van Ness/Forest Hills
Can't say "pleased to meet you" yet to I'm Eddie Cano
We reported last week that I'm Eddie Cano's proprietors plan a September 27th opening. Then, they were hoping to open to customers the night of Friday, September 28th. This was the second time the opening date was pushed back by the DC inspection process.
I'm Eddie Cano is posting updates regularly on its Kickstarter page. The latest opening date, as of September 26th: Tuesday, October 2nd. They're getting there!
These things take time, and restaurateurs rarely get to open as planned. But they press on…
Laliguras opening second location
The second Laliguras location is in Glover Park.
Dawa Tamang, the main chef and owner of Laliguras Indian and Nepali Bistro (4221 Connecticut Avenue) is expected to open a second location in Glover Park at the end of September or the beginning of October.
It's a homecoming of sorts for Tamang. He served as the main curry chef at Heritage India between 2006 and 2012, when the restaurant was still in Glover Park at 2400 Wisconsin Avenue. (It relocated to Wisconsin Avenue and Macomb in 2017). During that time, the restaurant owner held cooking classes for interested participants, and as the head chef, Tamang led the classes and developed relationships with customers, he said.
"I had the idea to open another restaurant, located in Glover Park. It's my favorite place. I have had very good experiences there, and good relationships with Glover park residents. My owner at the time made very good business," Tamang said.
He opened Laliguras in Van Ness in 2014. The second location will be at 2334 Wisconsin Avenue, in what used to be a Bruegger's Bagels.
After delays, Little Beast to open at the end of September
Little Beast in Chevy Chase is opening soon.
Did we mention that these things take time? It has for Little Beast (5600 Connecticut), which had initially expected to open in June. More recently, it announced on Facebook an end-of-September/early October opening.
The restaurant, owned and operated by Chevy Chase residents Robert Gordon and his son Aaron, will be open daily from 7 a.m. to midnight. The morning menu will include breakfast pastries and sandwiches, as well Red Velvet Cupcakes (also owned by Gordon) and coffee from DC's Vigilante Coffee. In the evening, there will be "shareable dishes" and wood-fired pizzas.
Guapo's expands to Georgetown
Guapo's Tenleytown
Guapo's Restaurant, which originally started 30 years ago in Tenleytown, opened a location at 3050 K Street in Georgetown at the end of August.
The Georgetown location is the ninth Guapo's in the greater Washington area. In addition to the expansive Tex-Mex menu options, the restaurant serves weekend brunch and offers happy hour specials.
"The interior of the new Guapo's is a more upscale version that seems to cater to Georgetown clientele… a little different then the atmosphere in the Guapo's in Tenleytown," said Hannah Ross, a customer and American University graduate who visited the Tenleytown location as a student. The food was really delicious and staff was great."
Burka's Wine and Spirits moves… across the street
The former Burka's location.
Burka's Wine and Spirits at Wisconsin and Idaho Avenues (3500 Wisconsin, part of Vaughan Place ) has moved to 3414 Wisconsin Avenue in the Cathedral Commons Building.
The new location's previous tenant, The Cookery, was "a culinary marketplace" which offered small batch ingredients as well as cookware and kitchen accessories. It closed in August after only two years there. The original store in the Village of Shirlington in Arlington will remain open.
Burka's former 1,928 square feet location at 3500 Wisconsin Avenue is now available for lease through KLNB Commercial Real Estate Services.
Filed Under: Business, Business in Brief, Food, News


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The Last of the Furious Marathon
The Fast & Furious marathon concludes as Chris and Marty take on the biggest and silliest movies of the Fast franchise so far, Furious 7 and Fate of the Furious, where cars jump through buildings, baddies hack into nuclear submarines and none of this matters because Kurt Russell! In other news, Porsche's excellent Road to Le Mans series continues and we get excited by A Massive Hunt.
Michael Fassbender's Road to Le Mans continues, and we think it's one of the best documentary series we've seen this year. Also Pistonhead's Sam Sheehan has done a great video driving the 991 RSR GTE.
We already covered Bad Obsession Motorsport's series racing a C1, but the end of season review has a great ending, and is recommended.
We've had the first trailer for The Grand Tour's special A Massive Hunt, which looks ace. Also a new series called Sorted has started, which could be great but has a fairly major flaw.
Chris Harris has had a busy month for content. First doing a very revealing 2 part interview with Jonny Smith on The Late Brake Show. Then a good discussion with Remove Before Race talking about the influencer approach and where AMG is going wrong. He's also started doing longer form interviews on the Top Gear YouTube channel, the best of which so far is Chris Harris talks EVs with Graeme Cooper from the National Grid.
For the last part of the current Fast and Furious marathon, Chris talks Fast and Furious 7 while Marty rounds out the series with The Fate of the Furious. Thank God we're done, let's move on.
In this episode's 'What has Henry Catchpole been up to this week?', The gloriously bonkers Nomad R gets an outing in the hills and beautifully moody introduction.
Chris's YouTube pick this week is not Carfection's The Greatest F1 Cars Ever - All In One AMAZING Place: Williams Heritage (Yes, he's cheating again), but instead Chris Harris doing what he does so well on YouTube which is making content for us. Chris Harris Let Loose on Audience Cars. For his channel pick... He's also cheated. We've talked about Tavarish's channel before, but he did a project rebuilding one of the Fate of the Furious's hero cars. An orange Lamborghini Murcielago.
Martin picked up on Top Gear's new series call Stig Drifts, where gratuitous drifting shots meet a video game aesthetic. The channel pick is the brilliant land speed record channel Scarf & Goggles. Well worth a look!


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Experts Our Experts
Based at Toronto Office
As Vice President of Burns & Wilcox Canada, Director of Property & Casualty, Tyson is responsible for contract management, product development and underwriting strategy for the company. He has 17 years of experience in the industry and currently manages 7 teams with 10 direct reports and 2 analysts to support the team. Tyson brings with him deep knowledge of personal lines products, as well as environmental and inland marine experience.
Tyson is best known for product development, strategic planning and underwriting. He was an IBC Underwriter of the Year finalist in 2019. He received a B.Sc – Biological Science from The University of Guelph in 2003.
Tyson Featured Intel
Navigating the Commercial Property Market
Our experts met for a discussion on Commercial Property, including the current trends impacting the property market across the U.S. and Canada. https://vimeo.com/580897816/ad93c6b121
Commercial Property Insurance Market Overview
The Commercial Property Insurance market in the U.S. and Canada is continuing to experience tightening of capacity and rising premiums, although rates are not increasing at the rate of Summer/Fall…
Property & Casualty 2021 Q2 Market Overview & Q3 Forecast
By Paul G. Smith, Corporate Senior Vice President, Carrier Relations, H.W. Kaufman Group As the world begins to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, it is abundantly clear, the "new normal"…
Police Report Restaurants Served Alcohol to Teens Before Crash
Two restaurants in North Carolina are being investigated after allegedly serving alcohol to multiple underage patrons on Nov. 27, including one 18-year-old who later crashed their vehicle into a ditch…
Property & Casualty Report: Q4 2021 Market Overview & Q1 2022 Forecast
The last two years have been among the most uncertain the world has ever experienced by any standard. The Excess and Surplus (E&S) Lines insurance marketplace has stepped up to…
QVC, Amazon Warehouse Disasters Underscore Risks at Large Facilities
A massive fire at a QVC warehouse in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, on Dec. 19 destroyed 75% of the 1.5 million-square-foot facility and killed one worker, according to news reports.…
Tyson In the News
Determining the future of Canada's hospitality businesses
Hard market + global pandemic = sucker punch for hospitality industry
Retailers exposed to new and old challenges during pandemic
No more New articles available
Lalita Mohabir has in excess of 25 years of experience working with Lloyd's of London MGAs in Canada. She has been underwriting Accidental Death & Dismemberment (AD&D), Kidnap & Ransom…
Paula has over 25 years of specialty insurance experience. Her current responsibilities at Burns & Wilcox include managing renewals in all professional lines business (E&O, D&O, Cyber, etc.) with brokers…
Steve has spent 20 years in the industry, 5 of which have been with Burns & Wilcox. Prior to joining the company, he headed up the Construction Program at Premier…
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Regional Recap, April 21, 2011
EOA Staff | April 21, 2011, 09:05 AM	| 0 Comments
Authorities To Gather Where Former Teacher Died. Police and local leaders plan to gather at the site where a former Anne Arundel County teacher was shot to death three months ago to try to collect more information.Myra Cason, 63, was found shot to death inside her vehicle in the 7300 block of Ritchie Highway on Jan. 28.Police said they believe Cason was the victim of a robbery.On Monday, members of the NAACP will gather in the parking lot where her body was found. Detectives will also be on hand to give out informational fliers.
Local Vets Work To Save Endangered African Gorillas. Two local veterinarians are making regular trips to Africa with the goal of boosting the population of endangered mountain gorillas.Dr. Mike Cranfield and Dr. Kim Hammond have been spending a lot of time in Africa to do that. Cranfield is the leader of the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project, which began in 1998 at the request of the late anthropologist Dr. Dian Fossey, who studied the behavior of mountain gorillas in Rwanda's Volcanoes National Park for 18 years.The project's mission is to save the endangered species, whose numbers were down to 240 not long ago.
Man Dies After Being Found Outside UMD Stadium. Authorities said a man in running clothing who was found unresponsive in a roadway outside the University of Maryland's Byrd Stadium has died.He has been identified as 21-year-old student Adewunmi Adepegba.Prince George's County fire department spokesman Mark Brady said Adepegba was found just before 10 p.m. Tuesday.University of Maryland campus police said he was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Men Walk A Mile In Women's Shoes–Literally. A group of men is trying to reduce the number of people sexually assaulted in the U.S. every year by walking in women's shoes — literally — to bring attention to the problem.Someone in the United States is sexually assaulted every two minutes, according to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network.Some of the men on the Towson campus literally walked a mile in women's shoes to bring awareness to the issue during Sexual Assault Prevention Month.
Tags: Regional Recap, WBAL
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Sungai Klah hot spring is easily accessible either through the North-South Expressway between Kuala Lumpur and Ipoh exiting from Sungkai Toll. Once you exit from this toll, turn left and travel about 1 km. You will notice sign board directions to turn left and for another 9km to the park.
Our group comprising of 58 participants from toddler to grandma planned a camping trip. The cost of the packages including overnight stay (own tent $10 ground charges, rented tent $30 for 2-3 persons), 1 tea break, 1 dinner, 1 breakfast, 1 morning tea break and lunch for only $59 per person.
We have friends from Kajang and Klang and we plan to meet in Sungkai for lunch. Sungkai is a small town located of the main trunk road from Slim River to Bidor. From the toll exit turn right about 1 km to Sungkai town. One of the famous local food is the Salted Chicken or 'yim cook kai' in cantonese only available on Saturdays and Sundays at Restaurant Sun Kee. Once you see Sungkai Police Station turn left and follow road until a junction then turn left you will notice S.J.K. (c) Khai Meng Sungai primary school just few meters away is the Restaurant Sun Kee. From the outside it looks like any ordinary restaurant but it serves delicious dishes as well. That afternoon it was particularly hot and luckily 'ice kacang' was available to cool us down.
After lunch we proceeded to Sungai Klah Hot Spring which takes about 12-15 minutes and we call up to inform Mr. Azizi (Sales & Marketing Department) of our arrival. It so happen the park was having a family day function organized by a large corporation and parking was filled to the brim. With a further of 15 vehicles from our group we had to park haphazardly until the group left at around 4.00 pm.
As it was such a hot afternoon it was not advisable to dip in the hot pool and instead the cold mountain spring pool. The Sungai Klah mountain spring pool is such a big pool divided for the children and adult. One of the parks' officers told me that the water is piped from a small dam up in the mountains about 2-3 km away and is cold hence the name Sungai Klah mountain spring pool. It strictly opens from 10.00 am to 7.00 pm. While the hot spring pool opens from 8.00 am to 10.00 pm.
Egg Boiling Pools (7 mins for Hard Boil) . Splashing Time Beneath Water Fall.
As the members were beginning to settle down after exploring the place, tea was served at 4.15 pm. The local cakes were delicious but the hot tea served was too sweet and ice was added to dilute it. After tea break members continue to enjoy the mountain spring pool till 7pm and went to enjoy hot pool till dinner served at 8.00pm. After dinner our family went for another round of dipping in hot pool. At night the children went to make hard boiled eggs at the 'egg boiling pool' and they were good at it. The place is well lighted and children can roam around safely.
Sungai Klah Hot Spring has another natural uniqueness is that its windy due to the geographical position with the hills on one side and flat land on the other. It is windy throughout the night making it cool and breezy and free of mosquitoes.
The next morning after breakfast, some members went for the boardwalk and enjoy the natural sauna. Today no more hard boiled eggs because the night before they had have too much of them. Most of them went for a dip in the hot pool while waiting for the mountain spring pool to open at 10.00 am. There is also The Family SPA which was not included in our package. It cost RM75 per hour. After the morning tea, most of the members were ready for the mountain spring pool. After lunch we left Sg. Klah Hot Spring around 1.30pm for home with fun memories.


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Q: CoreData - insertNewObjectForEntityForName can't set attribute I'm using CoreData with one entity and two attributes for that entity.
Entity: Binder
Attributes: Name, lastOpened,br>
I'm able to insert a new object of the entity with no problem, and I can also set it's name, but I can not set it's lastOpened attribute.
Here is my code:
Binder *newBinder = [NSEntityDescription insertNewObjectForEntityForName:@"Binder" inManagedObjectContext:context];
[newBinder setName:@"Binder"];
[newBinder setLastOpened:[NSDate date]]; //Tried this first
newBinder.lastOpened = [NSDate date]; //No compiler warning either

However, when I run the app, I get an error of -[Binder setLastOpened:]: unrecognized selector sent to instance 0x9688870
I can verify that the memory address shown is actually the correct Binder object. Any idea as to why I can set one attribute but not another one? Thanks.
Binder.h:
#import <Foundation/Foundation.h>
#import <CoreData/CoreData.h>

@class Cards;

@interface Binder : NSManagedObject

@property (nonatomic, retain) NSString * name;
@property (nonatomic, retain) NSDate * lastOpened;
@property (nonatomic, retain) NSSet *cards;
@end

@interface Binder (CoreDataGeneratedAccessors)

- (void)addCardsObject:(Cards *)value;
- (void)removeCardsObject:(Cards *)value;
- (void)addCards:(NSSet *)values;
- (void)removeCards:(NSSet *)values;

@end

Binder.m:
#import "Binder.h"
#import "Cards.h"

@implementation Binder

@dynamic name;
@dynamic lastOpened;
@dynamic cards;

@end

A: Xcode occasionally goofs up rebuilding changes to xcdatamodel. Next time, try doing a clean build.
Also, you should not hard core the class-name string because it will break refactor.
[NSEntityDescription insertNewObjectForEntityForName:NSStringFromClass([Binder class]) inManagedObjectContext:context]

Also, add a prefix to class names and managed objects. (e.g. prefer XYZBinder to just Binder). You will avoid future grief of namespace collisions.

A: You may have already loaded another class named Binder in your project. Try setting your CoreData entity's class name to something like BinderMO in XCode and re-create the class files.

A: I'm not sure what the problem was, but I deleted my Binder.h/.m files and recreated them and now it works. The only difference between the old ones and the new ones are that 'name' and 'lastOpened' switched places. Thanks for the help.
New Binder.h:
#import <Foundation/Foundation.h>
#import <CoreData/CoreData.h>

@class Cards;

@interface Binder : NSManagedObject

@property (nonatomic, retain) NSDate * lastOpened;
@property (nonatomic, retain) NSString * name;
@property (nonatomic, retain) NSSet *cards;
@end

@interface Binder (CoreDataGeneratedAccessors)

- (void)addCardsObject:(Cards *)value;
- (void)removeCardsObject:(Cards *)value;
- (void)addCards:(NSSet *)values;
- (void)removeCards:(NSSet *)values;

@end

New Binder.m:
#import "Binder.h"
#import "Cards.h"

@implementation Binder

@dynamic lastOpened;
@dynamic name;
@dynamic cards;

@end


text:
Christmas Card campaign launch
Progress on partnerships January 1, 2010
Four bands in Glenamaddy! January 1, 2010
The Christmas Card campaign being run by the Roscommon town branch of the West of Ireland Alzheimers Foundation was formally launched by the Editor of the Roscommon People, Paul Healy, on Friday morning last. A huge crowd attended a fund-raising Coffee Morning in Roscommon Golf Club, where the launch took place. Amongst those present was Mr. John Grant, CEO, Western Alzheimers Foundation, who praised the local committee for their initiative and applauded the local artists who were responsible for the design of the Christmas cards. Mr. Eddie Flanagan, chairperson of the Roscommon town branch of the West of Ireland Alzheimers Foundation, added his congratulations to the artists involved. He also thanked the 'ladies on our committee' who had worked so hard over recent months on the project. Mr. Paul Healy, Editor of the Roscommon People, said that he was delighted to formally launch the Christmas card fund-raising campaign. He praised the work of the Alzheimers Foundation both 'regionally and here in Roscommon town' and said that the Foundation had a high profile and he was confident that the campaign would be very well supported in Roscommon. Acknowledging that more people are being diagnosed with Alzheimers than in the past, Mr. Healy said that the great work of all involved in the Foundation was much appreciated by the general public. He concluded by commending the artists and the Roscommon town committee and expressed the hope that the campaign would be the resounding success it deserved to be.


text:
You are here: Parliament home page > Parliamentary business > Publications and Records > Committee Publications > All Select Committee Publications > Commons Select Committees > Work and Pensions > Work and Pensions
The role of incapacity benefit reassessment in helping claimants into employment - Work and Pensions Committee Contents
Written evidence submitted by Oxford Welfare Rights
Oxford Community Work Agency (OCWA) is a local charity which has been providing specialist advice on social security benefits for over 20 years. OCWA is funded by Oxfordshire County Council and Oxford City Council. OCWA's services are provided through:
Oxfordshire Welfare Rights (OWR) - which provides "second tier" advice in social security law including tribunal representation, a telephone consultancy service to other statutory and non-statutory agencies and training courses. The service covers Oxfordshire (and under separate funding a telephone consultancy service for Hampshire Citizens Advice Bureaux).
Barton Advice Centre (BAC) - which provides a "front line" advice service primarily for residents of Oxford City and surrounding area. This service includes specialist welfare benefits and debt advice work.
— The Work Capability Assessment (WCA) process including the statutory test is not fit for purpose.
— The migration process should be suspended until such time as there has been a quantifiable improvement in the application of the WCA.
— There is considerable scope to reduce the cost to the public purse of poor decision making and the consequent volume of appeals.
— The "limited capability for work related activity" criteria should be further revised to take account of claimants with severe limitations including those previously "exempt" from the Personal Capability Assessment (PCA).
— The WCA does not effectively identify those claimants whose condition is such that they are unable to undertake work or work related activity.
— Claimants should not be treated as not having limited capability for work and benefit stopped immediately following an initial failure to attend a WCA examination.
— The WCA must include a process by which appropriate evidence from the health professionals treating the claimant is obtained.
— Healthcare Professionals and decision makers should receive additional training on the proper application of the statutory criteria and case law.
— The DWP and the Tribunals Service should be required to produce a submission and list a case for hearing within a statutory time limit.
— There is significant scope for the DWP to improve the process of revision and the quality of such decisions.
— Monitoring of the appeals process and appeal outcomes is required.
— The permitted work higher limit rule should be amended to make provision for claimants who do not have the capacity to undertake "full time" work.
1. In our submission the WCA process, including the statutory test itself, is not fit for purpose and the migration process should be suspended until such time as there has been a quantifiable improvement in its application.
2. There is considerable scope to reduce the cost to the public purse of poor decision making and the consequent volume of appeals.
3. It is our experience that the most significant problem with the application of the WCA is the limited accuracy and appropriateness of the medical opinion provided by Healthcare Professionals (HCP) on form ESA85.
REPRESENTATION AT WCA HEARINGS
4. In the period from August 2009 (first hearing) to 31 March 2011 we have represented 157 claimants at a first tier tribunal hearing[21] following a decision that they were "fit for work". 94% of those appeals have been successful. This reflects our previous experience under the PCA from its introduction. We believe this demonstrates that there are significant problems with the application of the WCA.
The Department's communications to customers going through the migration process.
5. We welcome the more proactive approach to the WCA process the department intend to apply during the migration process.
6. We are concerned that in practice:
— The process will not be sufficiently responsive to individual claimant's needs and circumstances, for example, those with a significant mental health condition.
— Staff may be constrained by following a question and answer style script during telephone or face to face contact.
— Staff may not have sufficient understanding of the statutory and administrative processes.
— Staff may not have sufficient awareness of incapacity and disability issues, be sensitive to individual claimants needs or have the necessary skills to enable them to "tease out" relevant information.
— How claimants who were previously accepted as exempt from the PCA will be dealt with, as many will have had no prior experience of the PCA process and will have significant limitations on their capacity to engage in the migration process or work related activity.
— Following a decision that a claimant does not have limited capability for work the emphasis may be unduly placed on claiming alternative benefits and work seeking.
— Claimants may not be given clear and accurate information about their right of appeal, the appeal process or entitlement to receive benefits as "incapable of work" pending a tribunal hearing.
7. Following a decision that a claimant is "fit for work" it is our experience that claimants are often given inaccurate information by staff at local Jobcentre Plus offices. For example, that the claimant cannot continue to receive ESA pending an appeal hearing and must claim JSA instead (or vica versa).
8. Similarly claimants who have been found fit for work but have made an appeal are being advised by staff at the JSA new claims contact centre that they cannot claim JSA because they have an outstanding ESA appeal. What is absent in each scenario is a clear and accurate explanation of a claimants options and what action they need to take.
Migration of claimants exempt from the Personal Capability Assessment (PCA)
9. Particular difficulties may arise for claimants who are currently exempt from the PCA.[22] Only a limited number of such claimants are likely to be found to have limited capability for work related activity (the Support Group) because of the more restrictive criteria. However, they are unlikely to attain a capacity to work in the foreseeable future.
Case example:
Mr H had a diagnosis of schizophrenia. He lived in supported accommodation. He was previously accepted as exempt from the PCA. At his most recent PCA examination the HCP's opinion was an award of zero points under the physical criteria and eight points under the mental health criteria which was confirmed by a decision maker. A tribunal found that he remained exempt from the PCA due to a "severe mental illness".
A complaint was made to Atos Healthcare about the failure of the HCP to explore his symptoms and the impact of the condition. The complaint was upheld at the Independent Tier of Atos Healthcare's complaints procedure.
10. If significant numbers of claimants who were previously exempt from the PCA are found only to have limited capability for work this may lead to a perception that the process of migration is unfair and will bring the WCA process into further disrepute.
11. Recommendation: The "limited capability for work related activity" criteria should be further revised to take account of claimants with severe conditions (including those exempt from the PCA) who are unlikely in practice to be capable of engaging in work related activity, and who have little prospect of obtaining and maintaining work in the foreseeable future.
FAILURE TO ATTEND
12. It is appropriate that claimants should ultimately suffer sanction if they fail to attend a WCA examination when directed. However, the current provision is harsh. It is unlikely that significant numbers of claimants wilfully fail to attend. Reasons for failing to attend are varied but are often linked to the claimant's health condition, a misunderstanding of the process or administrative problems at DWP or Atos Healthcare.
13. Whilst there is some protection within the "good cause" provision,[23] in practice there are long delays in the determination of good cause by decision makers. This means claimants are left without benefit for considerable periods. If good cause is not accepted there will be a further delay while a new claim for ESA (or JSA) is made and processed and a new date for a WCA is set. Frequently claimants in this situation are left reliant on Crisis Loans for income.
14. There is significant scope for DWP to be proactive and establish why a claimant has failure to attend, and where appropriate offer a further appointment, before they are treated as not having limited capability for work. A claimant should only be treated as not having limited capability for work where their failure to attend is wilful.
15. Recommendation: Claimants should not be treated as not having limited capability for work and benefit stopped immediately following an initial failure to attend a WCA.
THE WORK CAPABILITY ASSESSMENT
Changes to the WCA criteria
16. Migration will commence at the same time that significant changes to the WCA criteria are introduced. Whilst we note that the Government has agreed to implement the recommendations of Professor Harrington's first review of the WCA[24] there will not have been time to implement many of the recommendations or for them to have "bedded down".
17. We suggest that the forthcoming changes to the statutory test will not lead to a significant improvement in the quality and accuracy of WCA assessments until issues of its inadequate application are addressed.
Revised ESA50 questionairre
18. We note that a revised version of the questionnaire ESA50 will be introduced alongside the revised WCA. The new version repeats the shortcomings of previous versions including a failure to include questions which relate to all of the points scoring criteria within an activity (for example, activity 2(b) - "standing & walking" - nine points). This means that at the earliest stage appropriate information to address the statutory test may not be gathered.
Additional medical evidence
19. The WCA process repeatedly fails to obtain evidence that properly addresses the WCA criteria.
20. GPs and other healthcare professionals are likely to be best placed to provide detailed evidence regarding a claimant's capabilities. The form ESA113 is inadequate for this purpose as the questions are neither specific to the claimant or the WCA criteria.
21. Recommendation: a process by which appropriate evidence from the Health Professionals advising the claimant is obtained must be introduced into the WCA process.
Application of the WCA
22. The WCA is not designed to be a "snap shot" test. It should be applied with reference to a claimant's ability to carry out an activity with "reasonable regularity".[25] Similarly the effects of, for example, pain, discomfort, fatigue, side effects of medication etc. should be taken into account.
23. Recommendation: HCP's and decision makers should receive additional training on the proper application of the statutory criteria and case law.
Claimants' perceptions of WCA examinations
24. The majority of our clients comment, both to us and before a tribunal, on the way in which the HCP conducted the PCA or WCA examination. Their comments can be summarised to include:
— HCP did not listen to what I had to say/did not allow me to fully answer the questions.
— Spent the whole of the interview looking at a PC screen and using the keyboard.
— Asked leading questions and would only accept a yes/no answer - for example, "you don't have a problem with this do you?"
— Asked only general questions about daily life and did not explain or ask questions about the specific activities in the statutory test.
— Concentrated on physical health (clients with conditions affecting mental, cognitive or intellectual functions).
— General perceptions that the HCP was disinterested in the individual, dismissive of the effects of their condition and were rushing through the assessment.
25. It is our experience that the considerable delays that had developed since the introduction of ESA with the processing of WCA and PCA appeals by both Jobcentre Plus and the Tribunals Service have recently begun to reduce.
26. In our experience during 2010 PCA/WCA appeals took on average in excess of six months to reach a hearing with the length of delay being similar at both the Jobcentre Plus and Tribunals Service stage.
27. There must be concern that delays will increase again as a substantial numbers of claimants migrating from IB/IS enter the appeals process later in 2011.
28. We note and commend the recommendations of the Administrative Justice and Tribunals Council (AJTC) recent report - Time for Action - A report on the absence of a time limit for decision makers to respond to social security appeals.
29. Recommendation: DWP and the Tribunals Service should be required to produce a submission and list a case for hearing within a statutory time limit.
Revision of a WCA decision by a decision maker
30. In our experience only very rarely will a decision be revised by a decision maker following submission of a revision application which includes further medical evidence. There appears to be a culture within DWP that "the appeal has been made, let the tribunal decide". This means that many claimants unnecessarily endure the stress and delay of the appeals procedure.
31. Recommendation: There is significant scope for the DWP to improve the process of revision and the quality of such decisions.
Repeat WCAs, failure and appeal - the "revolving door"
32. We are currently assisting claimants who had "failed" their first WCA assessment, had been successful on appeal and have now been found "fit for work" under a subsequent WCA. Accepting that some claimants' conditions and capabilities may change, there would appear to be no procedure within the WCA process that takes account of the outcome of a previous WCA decision or appeal.
33. We have assisted many individuals through the cycle of failed PCA and success at appeal on numerous occasions over a period of years.
34. Whilst it is appropriate that claimants are re-assessed periodically under the WCA the period between assessments must be sensitive to their medical condition. Proper account must be taken of possible improvement in a claimants ability to undertake the prescribed activities and the extent to which undertaking work related activity is likely to have any impact on their move toward being "work ready" and therefore the frequency at which the WCA should be applied.
35. The repeated "cycling" of claimants through the WCA and appeal process will bring the WCA into further disrepute.
36. Recommendation: detailed monitoring of the appeals process and outcomes is required including:
— Delays;
— Revision of decisions subject to appeal; and
— Reasons why original decisions are overturned on revision or appeal.
— Outcomes for claimants previously within the PCA exempt categories.
Case example
Mr B has a visual impairment. He was scored nine points (activity 9D) by a HCP confirmed by a decision maker. He appealed against this decision. Medical evidence from his consultant confirmed his loss of visual fields was 75% and that the condition was degenerative. The appeal was allowed on this evidence without Mr B having to attend.
Within weeks of the tribunal's decision he was again assessed under the WCA and only awarded six points (9E). He again appealed. DWP refused to revise the decision stating that it preferred the opinion of the HCP to that of his consultant. His second appeal was allowed without him being required to attend.
PERMITTED WORK
37. The therapeutic value of work, paid or unpaid, is well understood. However, the permitted work rules are structured on the assumption that claimants who are receiving benefit but undertake some part time paid employment will progress from "out of work" benefits to "full time" work within a relatively short period.
38. Claimants undertaking paid work within the Permitted Work Higher Limit (PWHL) rule are currently faced with a "cliff edge" after 52 weeks. At that point they either have to be both capable of and able to obtain an increase in their working hours or give up permitted work.
39. Many claimants undertaking PWHL are not capable of increasing their working hours because of their condition. However they do not require support within the Supported Permitted Work (SPW) rule in order to maintain that work. Having to give up the work after 52 weeks in order to retain benefit entitlement can be detrimental to their health and undermine their long term prospects of increasing their working hours.
40. Recommendation: The Permitted Work Higher Limit rule should be amended (in advance of the introduction of Universal Credit) to make provision for claimants who are not ready to undertake work in excess of 16 hours per week.
The following case illustrates issues outlined above for claimants who are exempt from the PCA and/or are undertaking permitted work.
Mr B (age 42) was employed as a motor technician. He had a brain haemorrhage (aneurysm) in 1998. He was awarded Incapacity Benefit and Income Support. He was able to return to some very limited paid work with his employer under the then "therapeutic earnings" rule. The work he undertook was being provided by an extremely supportive employer and was of very limited "commercial" benefit to them.
He continued with this work following the introduction of the permitted work rules. Following maladministration of the permitted work rules by DWP his awards of IB & IS were terminated in May 2010.
As a result of this termination he made a claim for ESA. He attended a WCA medical examination in June 2010 and the opinion of the HCP was an award of six points under the physical activities. This was confirmed by a decision maker. Mr B appealed against this WCA decision.
It was not possible to establish from DWP whether he had previously been treated as exempt from the PCA although he had never been required to attend a PCA examination. Medical evidence confirmed that he would have met the exempt criteria throughout the period of his IB/IS award but that he did not meet any criteria to be placed in the ESA Support Group (limited capability for work related activity).
His appeal was allowed by a tribunal and he was placed in the Work Related Activity Group.
As a result Mr B is required to attend Work Focused Interviews and will be faced with giving up his higher rate permitted work after 52 weeks. Medical evidence confirms that his condition will not improve and he will not be able to undertake work in excess of 16 hours per week. He is working for a very supportive employer and does not require additional support from an outside agency to enable him to continue in this work.
To enable him to continue with permitted work (which is clearly of significant therapeutic value to him) after the 52 week period it is necessary to find an organisation to support his work so he fits within the "supported permitted work rule" even thought such support is not required in practice.
21 Excluding hearings which did not reach a decision. Back
22 Social Security (Incapacity for Work)(General) Regulations 1995. Reg.10. Back
23 ESA Reg 38(2). Back
24 An Independent Review of the Work Capability Assessment, Prof. Malcolm Harrington. Nov 2010 Back
25 ESA Reg. 34, C1/95(IB), CSIB/17/96, CIB/14587/96 etc. Back
Prepared 26 July 2011


Is there anyone who has Moon Huntress? Surely they are not all gone!! I have cards to trade.....no Mr Right [not tradeable].
Thanks everyone.....I received one from Michele.
I can trade you one if you have a little red?!


text:
Hezbollah rocket launcher
Hezbollah moves into south Lebanon villages
Analysis: Terror group storing rockets in private homes it sold to poor Shiite families at bargain prices
Ron Ben-Yishai |Published: 02.10.13 , 23:42
Part one of analysis by Ron Ben-Yishai
During a cold winter's day in late January on the Biranit mountain range, which overlooks south Lebanon, I noticed that dozens, if not hundreds of new buildings had been built in Bint Jbeil, Maroun al-Ras, Aita al-Shaab and Barmish. There is almost no remnant of the devastation the region sustained during the Second Lebanon War, and even without binoculars it was evident that the Shiite communities have expanded significantly compared with the few Christian-Maronite villages in the area, which remained the same size, more or less. This expansion was made possible in part by funds allocated by Iran and the Arab states towards the rehabilitation of the Shiite villages in the aftermath of the 2006 war with Israel, but it was mainly the result of Hezbollah's decision to revolutionize its preparedness for a conflict with Israel and move its forces from the open areas to the villages.
Hassan Nasrallah's organization has found that it is more difficult to deal with IDF soldiers and their superior firepower in open areas. Moreover, UN Resolution 1701 from 2006 forbids Hezbollah gunmen from carrying weapons in open areas. Therefore, Hezbollah has moved from bases in "nature preserves" to designated areas within the villages from which it can launch rocket or other attacks against Israel. The evacuated nature reserves no longer serve as permanent bases, and instead are meant to be used as bases for launching raids on Israeli communities in the Galilee.
Israel's red line
Analysis: Israel won't hesitate to attack should Syrian chemical weapons reach Hezbollah
At the same time, the Shiite terror group launched a major social/real-estate project that bolstered its political standing: It purchased lands on the outskirts of the villages, built homes on these lands and offered them to poor Shiite families at bargain prices (to rent or buy), one the condition that at least one rocket launcher would be placed in one of the house's rooms or in the basement, along with a number of rockets, which will be fired at predetermined targets in Israel when the order is given.
In addition, Hezbollah has set up camouflaged defense positions in villages which contain advanced Russian-made anti-tank missiles it had received from Syria. Hezbollah gunmen have planted large explosive devices along the access roads, and inside the villages structures that were purchased by the organization were converted into arms caches. The Hezbollah gunmen are focusing their efforts on finding ways to hide underground to protect themselves from IDF fire and to prevent Israeli intelligence from tracking them down so they will be able to continue fighting even when IDF forces are nearby.
In this manner some 180 Shiite villages and small towns situated between the Zahrani River and the border with Israel have been converted into fighting zones in which Hezbollah is preparing – above and below ground – for the next conflict with Israel. Hezbollah has some 65,000 rockets and missiles at its disposal.
Rockets in the basement. Bint Jbeil (Archive photo: Rinat Malkes)
Another issue, perhaps even more urgent, relates to Hezbollah's preparations for the day Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime collapses. According to experts, Hezbollah's leadership is aiding Assad not only because it was ordered to do so by Iran, but also because Nasrallah believed at the onset of the revolt that the Syrian president would be able to crush the opposition within a short period of time and then be indebted to the Shiite "brothers" from Lebanon and bolster the ties with them.
During the early days of his rule, Assad surprised Nasrallah on a number of occasions. He supplied Hezbollah with advanced weapons that his father Hafez Assad never even dreamed of transferring to the Lebanese terror group. Most of Hezbollah's heavy mid-range rockets and anti-tank missiles were supplied by Syria – not by Iran. But Nasrallah realized recently that he bet on a dying horse, and now he is trying to minimize the damage.
Bint Jbeil after the 2006 war (Archive photo: Rinat Malkes)
The Hezbollah leader is currently trying to transfer from Syria weapons he was supposed to receive – as part of a past agreement - only in the event of a military conflict with Israel. He is even making certain to maintain territorial contiguity between Shiite population centers in north Lebanon and the Alawite enclave that is gradually being established along the Syrian coastline. Moreover, Nasrallah is working to maintain his legitimacy inside Lebanon amid the criticism leveled at him by other ethnic groups over his support for the Assad family. However, he is focusing mostly on the preparations for a war with Israel.
Despite the fact that there are those in Israel who claim that the deterrence achieved against Hezbollah during the Second Lebanon War has been eroded, it is fairly clear that at this point Nasrallah's organization does not want to get involved in a major conflict with the Jewish state. Lebanon's national elections are scheduled for June, and Hezbollah does not want its political legitimacy and dominance to be challenged because it dragged the country into a devastating war with Israel. There is enough tension and violent clashes between Shiites and the Lebanese Sunnis, who are assisting the Syrian rebels trying to topple Assad.
However, it is also possible that Hezbollah will decide to attack us with full force if it gets the impression that Israel is planning to attack it first. As strange as it sounds to Israelis ears, Hezbollah sees us as an unpredictable and treacherous country that is capable of launching a preemptive surprise attack. For example, after the recent bombing of a Syrian convoy transporting anti-aircraft missiles, which foreign media outlets attributed to Israel, Hezbollah forces were placed on high alert for fear that the IDF would also attack targets in Lebanon. The alert level was lowered a few days later.
Part two of Ron Ben-Yishai's analysis will be published Monday
See all talkbacks "Hezbollah moves into south Lebanon villages "